“Breathe a fiery sigh of relief,” said Jack Seale in The Guardian. After two “forgettable” series, “House of the Dragon” has finally “found its focus”.
Set centuries before “Game of Thrones”, the new season of the spin-off sees a “power vacuum” emerge in Westeros, into which various rulers and royals “seek to step”. The third instalment kicks off with the bloody Battle of the Gullet at sea: an “orgy of CGI carnage” with “underwater punch-ups and dragonly intervention”.
But the “explosive” sequences early on thankfully don’t “come at the cost of nuanced character drama and thoughtful quasi-historical themes”, said Caroline Siede in Empire. In one “tremendous” episode, Emma D’Arcy (Queen Rhaenyra) is put at the centre of the action as we’re given a “high-wire day-in-the-life-style story about what it actually means to be a queen”.
Until now, the prequel had lacked an “over-the-top anti-hero”, said Ed Power in The Telegraph. The “long wait is at an end”, however, as “top telly totty” James Norton has been brought in to play the “love-to-hate” Lord Ormund Hightower. He goes “full fantasy panto” with his “absurdly OTT” performance, accelerating from “calmly psychotic to full-fledged loony” in one memorable scene. The “reliably charismatic” Matt Smith returns as Rhaenyra’s “power-mad husband” Daemon Targaryen. He is a “devilish delight”.
However, the “increasing prominence” of Mysaria only further highlights how “wretched” Sonoya Mizuno’s performance is, said Nick Hilton in The Independent. And the many “portentous conversations” in shadowy rooms lack the “earthy wisdom” and “wit” that made “Game of Thrones” so compelling.
The show at times “stretches itself thin” moving between so many characters on an “increasingly crowded board”, said Siede in Empire. But the “upside” is a “welcome sense of unpredictability” about what will come next, in a series that’s packed with plot twists. “More action-packed but as thoughtful as ever”, season three might just be the show’s “best offering yet”.
Game of Thrones spin-off steps up the action with plot twists and bloody battles