HtoD: The Fifth Episode shows the problems of the series

The fifth episode 'House of the Dragon' does everything a little differently than the previous episodes. Our author Michael Hille finds: With this, the series shows what has been the very big weak point of the fantasy epic so far.

House of the Dragon: He who says A should also say B

What is different from the previous episodes in the fifth "House of the Dragon" episode? It's simple: for the first time, the series doesn't make a major time jump between two episodes. We remember: episode 2 took place six months after episode 1. The third episode took place more than three years after episode 2. And episode 4 again took place a year later. Episode 5 is the first time that an episode directly follows the events of the previous one.

The many time jumps make sense for "House of the Dragon", after all, a truly extensive template must be adapted somehow. Nevertheless, this leads to problems narratively. For example, we rarely see the direct consequences that an action has on the respective character - because we regularly miss months in the development. This is especially unfortunate in the case of the female protagonists Rhaenyra and Alicent, because we can only guess how they turn from young girls into stalwart women - we simply see too little of what happens to them over the years.

It's almost a little silly to go hard on "House of the Dragon." The five episodes so far, which now marks the completion of half of the first season, have offered terrific entertainment, been a huge hit with audiences, and won back trust in the "Game of Thrones" universe. And yet: One point of criticism burns on the soul of many a fan - and it becomes all the stronger with the newly released fifth episode.

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The repercussions of the previous episode's sex scandal are so actually felt, for Rhaenyra and her uncle Daemon. Instead of a blank space, this part of the story is really told out. Daring actions and their sometimes brutal consequences were once the strength of "Game of Thrones" - so it's no wonder that they also do "House of the Dragon" good.

Thus, after these five episodes, a split conclusion can be drawn: "House of the Dragon" does a lot right. The Westeros world is once again captured with powerful imagery, the action scenes are a show, and all the actors are excellently cast. But the impression remains whether this half season should have been a full season to do justice to the developments and stories of all the characters.