Review: House of the Dragon, "Driftmark" | Season 1, Episode 7
A messy reunion worthy of a reality show signals another turning point for this dysfunctional family
By choosing not to read Fire & Blood before House of the Dragon debuted, I knew spoilers could happen. The “facts” of this story have been apparent to readers of the book from the beginning, and I accepted that as a necessary consequence of my desire to let this narrative unfold as it would for most viewers.
But the truth is that I was never going to be like “most” viewers, because I live on the internet, and I am writing about the show professionally, which combined creates lots of clear opportunities for casual spoilers. None of these come with malicious intent, nor do they necessarily ruin the story being told. But I still find myself realizing that the “pure” experience I’m chasing is really only available to the person who never has to Google how a name is spelled, and who lacks social media connections to folks who have read the books.
And the truth is that book readers had no chill with the incest angle. I don’t hold this against them, and on some level appr…