Cal Gaunt
House of the Dragon’s latest episode was hard to watch for many Game of Thrones fans – with many viewers rushing to make the same complaint on social media. Warning: There may be some spoilers…
People are taking to Twitter and criticising the seventh episode of the HBO prequel, titled ‘Driftmark’, for its dark scenes – with fans finding it difficult to make out the characters and follow the storyline.
One tweeted: “House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones are so dark. I can’t see s***! Like who is talking right now?”
Watch House of the Dragon viewers slam this scene below…
A second person said: “We can’t see a damn thing on tonight’s episode of House of the Dragon.”
“This new House of the Dragon episode seems good, wish they’d spent some of that dragon money on lighting so I could actually see anything,” another added.
A fourth commented: “Cunner this episode of House of the Dragon reminds me of Game of Thrones episode ‘The Long Night’, it was so dark you could barely see what was going on.”
Someone else added: “House of the Dragon is literally the DARKEST show I’ve ever watched. I cannot see s***.”
“I keep hoping, every week, that House of Dragon will be well-lit and I can actually make out the action in a whole episode. Alas. This is not to be. #HouseOfTheDragon They seem intent on this whole episode being shot in the dark,” added another.
HBO responded to a tweet criticising the darkness of the episode, stating that it was intentionally dark and a ‘creative decision’.
@HBOMaxHelp wrote: “We appreciate you reaching out about a night scene in House of the Dragon: Episode 7 appearing dark on your screen.
“The dimmed lighting of this scene was an intentional creative decision. Thanks!”
Despite the criticism, the episode does have the series’ highest rating score on IMDb.
Related Article: House Of The Dragon Fans ‘Devastated’ As Milly Alcock And Emily Carey Leave Show
Game of Thrones – which preceded House of the Dragon between 2011 and 2019 – also suffered similar criticism from fans, most notably in the third episode of the final series, ‘The Long Night’, where viewers say they missed important battle scenes due to poor lighting.
In order to try and sort out the problem, writer and podcaster Joanna Robinson retweeted a link to a video with advice on optimal television display settings for watching dark shows and movies, while writing: “I liked this week’s episode of #HouseOfTheDragon, but sure yeah watch it with all the drapes closed and maybe, yeah, consider The Neil Settings. Though I hear they aren’t optimal for EVERY set?”
Episodes 6 and 7 had a new-look cast following a ten-year time leap from Episode 5, with Emma D’Arcy replacing Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra, Olivia Cooke replacing Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower and Laenor Velaryon changing from young Theo Nate to older John Macmillan – along with eight other casting changes.
The episode sees King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) and his court attend Lady Laena’s (Nanna Blondell) funeral in Driftmark.
me every week having to squint to watch house of the dragon. why tf is it so dark?? pic.twitter.com/LtBnaoey49
— christine thee ? ?abolitionist (@itsschriss_) October 3, 2022
Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and her uncle Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) are reunited before becoming physically intimate, which viewers previously slammed as ‘disturbing’ as the pair kissed in Episode 4, ‘King of the Narrow Sea’.
Later in the episode, Prince Aemond Targaryen (Leo Ashton) claims Vhagar as his dragon, leading to a feisty confrontation with his cousins which sees Lucerys Velaryon (Harvey Sadler) stab Aemond in the eye.
can #HouseOfTheDragon get over their dark aesthetic and let me actually see what’s on my screen #HOTD pic.twitter.com/wSH8TeizR2
— fck laura neal (@raging_fangir1) October 3, 2022
Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) demands Lucerys’ eye be gouged out as a mark of retribution, but when her husband Viserys refuses, she attacks Rhaenyra and stabs her in the arm before labelling her children b******s.
True to form, Viserys sides with Rhaenyra and promises that anyone questioning her children’s legitimacy will have their tongues cut.
Related Article: House Of The Dragon Viewers Warned Over ‘Disturbing’ Scenes In New Episode
I knew House of the Dragon was dark but it ain’t ever been this dark. Vhagar trying to figure out who woke her up like pic.twitter.com/Cn2VNbC3Ol
— Andrew Munz (@AndrewMunz) October 3, 2022
Elsewhere, following Lyonel Strong’s (Gavin Spokes) fiery death in episode six, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) is reinstated as Hand of the King, telling Alicent that they will soon prevail.
With Viserys and the court returning to King’s Landing from Lady Laena’s funeral at Driftmark, Rhaenyra and Daemon decide to unite against Alicent and her supporters.
They fake her husband Ser Laenor Velaryon’s (John Macmillan) assassination and marry in the Old Valyria tradition in a private ceremony attended by their respective children – the marriage ensuring the pure Targaryen bloodline continues.
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON continuing the classic Thrones tradition of making an episode so dark it's almost unwatchable pic.twitter.com/g1IXPlG6Nl
— Brendan Hodghoul (@metaplexmovies) October 3, 2022
Laenor, and his lover Ser Qarl Correy (Arty Froushan), secretly flee to Driftmark while his parents, the ‘Queen Who Never Was’ Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint) find a burnt body they presume to be Laenor’s.
Based in part on the George R. R. Martin novel, ‘Fire & Blood’, House of the Dragon is set around 200 years prior to Game of Thrones, 172 years before Daenarys Targaryen’s birth and a century after the Seven Kingdoms were united by the Targaryen Conquest.
The show sets out the beginning of the end of House Targaryen, with plot lines leading up to and covering the Targaryen civil war of succession, known as the ‘Dance of the Dragons’.
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