House of the Dragon: Driftmark - Episode 7 review

Created: 10/04/2022 11:37 am

House Targaryen and House Velaryon mourn the passing of Laena (Nanna Blondell) in House of the Dragon episode "Driftmark" © HBO

Weddings and funerals often go hand in hand in the HBO fantasy series "House of the Dragon" - as in its predecessor "Game of Thrones".

So also in the seventh episode, Driftmark.

However, you should turn up the screen brightness.

"All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Tolstoy might have loved "House of the Dragon," as the HBO fantasy series demonstrates his cited Anna Karenina principle in the most absurd way.

In the seventh episode of the ten-part season opener, the tensions of the Targaryens increase to new levels, so that they have to violently discharge themselves several times.

Of course, no family in Westeros, George RR Martin's rugged, magical continent, is entirely happy - perhaps the Starks were before the start of the first Game of Thrones season?

But nobody can top what the Drachenhaus is currently presenting in terms of misfortune.

At the big family reunion on the eponymous island "Driftmark",

the seat of the double or triple married seahorse clan of the Velaryons, the reason for the gathering is a tragic one: Lady Laena (Nanna Blondell) recently died in childbirth - or strictly speaking by Vhagar's "friendly" dragon fire.

All the main characters have come to the maritime funeral service, blessed by the deity Merling King.

Viserys (Paddy Considine), the brother of now twice widowed Daemon (Matt Smith), has his hands full keeping the family peace.

Too bad that his new and old extra hand Otto (Rhys Ifans) is actively working against him again and cheering on the feud.

blessed by the deity Merling King, all the main characters have arrived.

Viserys (Paddy Considine), the brother of now twice widowed Daemon (Matt Smith), has his hands full keeping the family peace.

Too bad that his new and old extra hand Otto (Rhys Ifans) is actively working against him again and cheering on the feud.

blessed by the deity Merling King, all the main characters have arrived.

Viserys (Paddy Considine), the brother of now twice widowed Daemon (Matt Smith), has his hands full keeping the family peace.

Too bad that his new and old extra hand Otto (Rhys Ifans) is actively working against him again and cheering on the feud.

"House of the Dragon": That's how you know the cast

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Soon queens are daggering at their stepdaughters and grandchildren, gouging out the eyes of half-uncles and nephews, and second cousins ​​are being eliminated as husbands so that even more closely related incestuous relationships can be contracted.

Again, what screenwriter Kevin Lau ("Westworld") and director (and co-showrunner) Miguel Sapochnik bring to us in terms of dysfunctional family dynamics would make even Tolstoy blush.

However, the Russian writer would first have to turn up the screen brightness so that he can see everything.

Because the episode is sometimes darker than in the notorious "Long Night" from "Game of Thrones".

Read more at serial junkies.de.

(Bjarne Bock)