House of the Dragon: The Complete Second Season (Blu-Ray)

"House of the Dragon" is an original American fantasy drama television series co-created by author George R. R. Martin and showrunner Ryan Condal for HBO. A prequel to the 2011~2019 "Game of Thrones," it is the second television series in Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" franchise. Based loosely on Martin's 2018 "Fire & Blood" novel, the series begins about 100 years after the Seven Kingdoms are united by the Targaryen conquest, nearly 200 years before the events of "Game of Thrones," and 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. Featuring a cast of notable actors, the show portrays the events leading up to the decline of House Targaryen, a devastating war of succession known as the "Dance of the Dragons." An original series by HBO (Home Box Office, Inc.), shown over two seasons, the first season ran 10 episodes and premiered on August 21, 2022, and the second season ran 8 episodes and premiered on June 16, 2024, with each episode running approximately 54 to 70 minutes.The series focuses on the "Dance of the Dragons," a civil war caused by the rivalry between Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower, drawing from Martin's "Fire & Blood," a fictional history book about the Targaryen kings of Westeros. Unlike the "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels, which are told from the perspective of characters, "Fire & Blood" is a history book written from the perspective of the dynasty archivist librarian Archmaester Gyldayn that details the 300-year reign of House Targaryen in Westeros, written by George R.R. Martin as a supplement, which gives an account of the Targaryen dynasty that provides the foundation for the story while making notable alterations to certain events, character motivations, and timelines.George R.R. Martin himself has acknowledged some deviations from the book and has been open about his concerns over the show, criticizing changes to the story, such as the elimination of Maelor and the use of a four-legged dragon instead of the correct two-legged dragon, and that he was disappointed with the season finale. For the future, Martin has said that he wants to fight for a faithful adaptation of his story, but he also wrestles with the idea of giving up on participating in writing for the show to focus on enlarging his "A Song of Ice and Fire" series of novels. Having completed the last of five novels in 2011, he announced that he plans to release a second volume of "Fire & Blood," titled "Blood & Fire," after he finishes writing "The Winds of Winter" and "A Dream of Spring," but there is no news on where he stands in completing these.It is disappointing when eminent authors sell film and television rights to their notable writings for a dollar, a metaphor for compromising their creative genius and control in exchange for wealth and fame. George R. R. Martin's writings and collaborations, particularly "A Song of Ice and Fire" and "Fire & Blood," are brilliantly imagined and created, original and highly acclaimed. They spawned the television series "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragons." However, these original, masterfully marvelous, creative writings are poorly represented in their adaptation to television series. The screenplays for these series are not adaptations from their literary beginnings; they are rather new stories, innovative narratives, faithlessly built on the foundations laid before them. The screenplays are intertextually woven from the same cloth but not with the same thread. The new narratives are disjointed in their continuity, even conflicted and sometimes incoherent in their divergence from the source. The problem is not with the production values, casting, or direction, but with the flawed screenplays. The changes in characterizations, arcs, and plots are so counterintuitive that they belie their source; the changes make no contextual sense in their attempt to improve the original concepts. We are left wondering why as we watch the rivalries play out.For example, in the "House of the Dragons," Rhaenyra and Alicent are portrayed as friends who became enemies; whereas in the novel, they are ages apart. So, why make them friends; to intensify their rivalry? Balderdash! There are many such introspective subplots forming the altered narrative in the screenplay that diverges from the source.It is pointless to compare the film to novel, for the adaptations are paradoxical. They are incomparable. The series should stand on its own merits, and this it does. But it is not Martin's "Fire & Ice." It is a 'wannabe,' an aspirational imitation, as if the screenwriters could emulate Martin's creative genius. It would have been better if they had literally adapted the novel to avoid the schisms from omissions in complexities. The same mistakes were made in "Game of Thrones," to great shame. Let us hope that "House of the Dragon" does not face the same disappointment in its end.The series is nonetheless intriguing, suspenseful, and exciting. The characterizations are charismatic and captivating. And the scenes and dragons are tantalizing, although the dragons should have been as characteristic and ferocious as those in "Game of Thrones." There is more to come in this series. We are told a third season for "House of the Dragon" should premiere sometime in April 2026, and it has been confirmed that there will be a fourth season to reach the end of its Targaryen saga, which we should see sometime in 2028. We will need to rewatch the initial seasons lest we forget what has happened with so much time between seasons. Buying the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc sets is convenient and provides a near-cinematic viewing experience from the codec H.265 Native 4K (2160p) resolution in Dolby Vision original aspect ratio of 2.00:1 and Dolby Atmos audio.

This series maintains quality from the first season. Good characters, believable dragons, ambiguous villains. A little disappointed by the number of episodes, but all good. Substantial printed material in this package.

Awesome series

This is a well put together BluRay set. The video image is clean and crisp and there is an enormous amount of subtitle options and video extras contained across 4 discs. Each disc has 2 episodes. There is a standard 4 disc plastic BluRay case enclosed within an extra cardboard sleeve. Between the sleeve and the plastic case is a folder with large trading cards representing the various families and major characters of the show. These are on a think card stock and the artwork is reflective and very well done. I do wonder however what these are for. Certainly not for trading? I would have gladly paid less to have less frills since I will never look at those cards again.The plastic container itself has the standard problem of having a poor purchase on the discs and therefore they arrived scattered and loose in the case. This is typical and discs get scratched this way.As for the show itself, it’s less compelling than Season 1 was, and the story does advance, just not as fast as one might expect which is disappointing. The pacing hopefully will improve in Season 3 so this doesn’t drag on for eternity like Game of Thrones did.

Love this show

Had to get it loved the first season second season was just as good can’t wait for the third

I like the Game of Thrones and I enjoyed the sequel of Game of Thrones

Not rating the show, just the presentation, and it is 10/10. The show is one of the best looking pieces of TV yet released. Sound is top shelf as well. Packaging is beautiful. If you love this show and hate streaming compression ruining your dark battle scenes you can’t get better than this.