In Defense of House of the Dragon’s Extended Harrenhal Storyline

Michael McWhertor
is a reporter with greater than 17 years of experience covering video clip games, modern technology, motion pictures, TELEVISION, and amusement.

As Daemon Targaryen experiences problems week to week in the dark, dank rooms of Harrenhal, several House of the Dragon followers have actually had one concern on their minds: “When will this be over?”

But as Game of Thrones followers scream “Filler!” and craft Luigi’s Mansion memes, I’m right here to suggest for the Harrenhal happenings, and to commemorate the strange, scary, and incestuous happening in theRiverlands Harrenhal has actually enabled House of the Dragon to expand its magical side amidst much politicking in Dragonstone and King’s Landing, and bloody skirmishes elsewhere, and has actually provided the program a shot of visual variety. I’ll state it: Harrenhal is gorgeous and distressing, and refreshingly unlike every little thing else we see inWesteros (Not to be all “Getting a lot of ‘Boss Baby’ vibes from this,” yet Harrenhal’s outside is providing me cozy and blurry ‘Shrine of Storms from Demon’ s Souls‘ feelings. I like the means the program’s castle has actually been developed.)

But above all, Harrenhal has actually provided Daemon something to do, and allow him assess his personality while doing so.

Daemon has extremely couple of areas to address this factor that would certainly invite him. He’s fled– or been all-but-exiled– from King’s Landing, Dragonstone, Pentos, and theVale Being embeded the morass of Harrenhal is suitable, provided his desertion of Rhaenyra in her continuous time of requirement and her very own failure to get awayDragonstone He is worthy of to be stuck right here, and to shateringly challenge his devils.

Thankfully however, 4 weeks right into Daemon’s remain at Harrenhal, we’re in fact seeing some development. Maybe not in regards to Harrenhal’s fixing or the development of a working fort, yet the weeks of significantly fucked-up desires Daemon’s sustained have actually required him to challenge his connections with Rhaenyra, Laena, andViserys Daemon shows up to lastly be recognizing he might in fact remain in the incorrect, many thanks to Alys Rivers’ brand name of toxin treatment. It’s functioning, and as anybody that’s been to treatment recognizes, that type of adjustment does not take place over night. Sometimes it implies refining a sex desire regarding your mother.

As Alys states in her squabble with Daemon in this week’s House of the Dragon, “When something does not please you, you run.” Given that Daemon has couple of areas entrusted to go to, he has little option yet to observe her guidance and wait for the winds to shift, while likewise approving that escaping from his issues (and the ghosts that haunt both him and Harrenhal) isn’t the solution.

Or perhaps this is, like, personality development. Also perhaps I similar to seeing Daemon experience. After all, he placed his sibling via heck and is currently on his 3rd spouse, whom he’s silently outlining versus. Oh, he’s likewise indirectly in charge of the fatality of a youngster, many thanks to a messed up murder effort he contracted out. Daemon’s a prick, and a couple of weeks of poor rest and detachment from fact appear like the begin of a suitable penalty.

From a customer point of view, Daemon’s enduring at Harrenhal has actually provided us the short return of precious personalities, consisting of Paddy Considine’s Viserys and Milly Alcock’s more youthfulRhaenyra Purely from a fanservice point ofview, I more than happy to see these individuals back. Similarly, Daemon’s (and the customers’) prolonged remain at Harrenhal has actually likewise provided us time to invest with the fascinating Ser Simon Strong, had fun with sharp, underrated “well, actually” power bySimon Russell Beale Simon’s brought some satisfying comic alleviation to House of the Dragon, and I state the even more of him the much better.

So, yes, Daemon is rotating his wheels at Harrenhal; deservedly so. He’s revealed extremely little ability for adjustment to this factor, and he’s lastly requesting for assistance. Maybe his newest development– and the prompt fatality of Grover Tully— will in fact aid him proceed.

But I will not object if Daemon requires to place in the operate at Harrenhal for a bit much longer.

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Source: Polygon

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