Is House of the Dragon woke? That is the question we’re trying to wrap our heads around. Since the series launched around the same time as Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, people have assumed that HotD is like its rival streaming series. However, while there is evidence that Rings of Power is woke, there is no evidence that the Game of Thrones prequel series is the same.
Some have suggested that House of the Dragon had to meet specific quotas in casting. For example, Emma D’Arcy, who portrays Rhaenyra Targaryen, identifies as non-binary, using they/them pronouns. Likewise, Emily Carey, who played young Alicent, is queer and uses the pronouns she/they. Moreover, the non-white castings for the actors playing the Veralyons, Corlys, Laenor, and Laena, are all played by black actors. The same applies to the actresses who portray Laena’s daughters, Baela and Rhaena.
House of the Dragon has been criticised for not including more queer representation outside Laenor. This issue was addressed in an article by the LA Times. We agree this is a valid concern. However, the story is not about LGBTQ characters. Also, HotD, like Game of Thrones, is a series set to a specific episodic structure, leaving little time to explore subplots outside the events that make up the Dance of the Dragons. The lack of representation and cultural diversity was also lacking in Game of Thrones.
The Actual Issues With House Of The Dragon
One valid concern that is understandable is the massive time jumps between episodes. Between episodes 5 and 6, there was a decade where a ton of stuff happened offscreen. These events include:
- Daemon and Laena’s marriage.
- The births of Jacaerys, Lucaerys, Baela, Rhaena, and Aemond.
- Viserys’ continued declining health.
- Laena finding and taming Vhagar.
If the series had more episodes per season, it would’ve been less straining on the plot. Unfortunately, Game of Thrones only took place over roughly a decade, according to ScreenRant. The first season of House of the Dragon takes place over 30 years.
The series could be told over multiple seasons, but where is the fun in that?
Also, a massive gripe people have had with House of the Dragon is what happened with the lighting in the episode ‘Driftmark’. Most of the attack was dark, and it was hard to determine what was happening half the time. This was an issue that GoT had with its episode ‘The Long Night,’ where everything was dark, and no one could see anything.
Now, with House of the Dragon, stills did come out of the scenes with Rhaenyra and Daemon, and they can be seen as the scenes were shot during the day. Vulture had an article about it. The darkening of these scenes and Aemond taming Vhagar was a real shame, as it would’ve been cool to see those scenes.
There are more things to be concerned about than whether the show is woke. What about who the better mother is, Alicent and Rhaenyra? What about the sexism that happens in the story? The show is supposed to be about entertaining the masses. Not dealing with the woke crowd and everything they deem an issue.
