Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 4. We’ve all been hoping to see more dragon battles in House of the Dragon with Season 2, but perhaps we got more than we were hoping for with the tragic conclusion to Episode 4.
Nothing in House of the Dragon pulls on your heartstrings quite as much as hearing one of its dragons in agony, and with the battle that concludes Episode 4, this has never been more apparent. Watching Meleys take on Sunfyre, and later Vhagar was unexpected, but the best dragon-on-dragon fight we’ve seen yet. It is so well executed you begin to feel more for the dragons than the riders themselves.
While there are many dragons in House of the Dragon, we don’t see them often. Despite this, the show does an excellent job of building our relationship with them through the riders, and how they feel connected to the beasts, which makes them heading to battle special. In fact, before this episode, we’d never seen Sunfyre, but that doesn’t make the impact of its pain any less effective.
Entering combat in such a fluid and graceful way, these beasts quickly descend into mayhem. Using their claws to open up lacerations on the body, or chomping down to sever flesh with their teeth, there’s nothing graceful or magical about these battles, they’re truly a gritty, bloody mess, and it only gets worse when Dracarys is uttered.
Dragon combat is always considered a last resort, and the way that it is shown on the battlefield echoes this sentiment further. Whether it’s dragons torching soldiers, castles, or each other, these attacks are violent, messy, and bad news for everybody involved. But that’s where the visual and audio teams behind House of the Dragon shine.
Dragons in this series look about as real as a fantasy creature could, even during the more complex battle moments. The way the team has captured emotion in the eyes of dragons without making it them cartoony, or comical is an impressive feat, and we see that on full display in the latest episode. Be honest, who didn’t hold back tears seeing Meleys and Rhaenys say their final goodbyes?
Complimenting the visuals, those screeching cries from the beasts when in pain will have shivers sent down your spine. It’s truly heartbreaking to see one of these dragons fall in combat, and when that’s combined with the major stakes at play, it is exactly what makes Episode 4 one of the best to date.
On the front of dragon combat, it remains to be seen how House of the Dragon will top this going forward, but with many more episodes set for Season 2, we’re more eager than ever to find out.
Published: Jul 7, 2024 11:37 pm