Review: House of the Dragon, "The Rogue Prince" | Season 1, Episode 2
A strikingly linear second episode makes us a fly on the wall for this succession drama
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With HBO’s largest premiere ever and a swift second season renewal, there is no arguing that last week’s premiere proved House of the Dragon is capable of carrying the Game of Thrones franchise into its next era.
What remained unclear coming into this week’s episode was how exactly it would approach that task. The setup of “The Heirs of the Dragon” was clear: an initial prologue, followed by a detailed account of the death of the Queen and her newborn son and the divisions in the Targaryen dynasty created in the process. But that offered more clarity on the show’s story than how it intended to tell that story, which is ultimately where the show will live or die as a prequel to the biggest show in television history.