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It hasn’t exactly been a good week for fans of Westeros. A few days ago,George R.R. Martin seemingly confirmeda fear fans have had for years now: it’s unlikely that he’ll ever finish the last two books ofA Song of Ice and Fire. But an even bigger surprise came during the Golden Globe nominations, whichHouse of the Dragonhad handily dominated two years before. Despite mixed reviews for its sophomore season, critical reception has never stopped any Westeros-set series from having guild support.Even the maligned final season ofGame of Thronesgot (at the time) a record number of Emmy nominations and won Best Drama Series.
Instead,House of the Dragononly earned a single Golden Globes nod for its second season: Best Drama Actress for Emma D’Arcy. It’s by far the lowest number of nominations at the Golden Globes for a season in the franchise sinceGame of Thrones’final season (which also earned only one). And before that, you’d have to go back even further to 2013-14, when the second and third seasons (arguably the series’ peak) were completely shut out. Most current nominees —The Diplomat,The Day of the Jackal,Mr. And Mrs. Smith,Slow Horses,Shōgun, andSquid Game— have significantly lower viewership and pop culture prominence. So what happened?
House of the Dragon
The Sophomore Slump Hurt ‘House of the Dragon’
To begin with, let’s start with the obvious —House of the Dragon’s second season simply wasn’t as good as what came before. It certainly had its high points, not to mention maybe the show’s best episode to date, but as strong as its individual moments were, as a whole, it left something to be desired. Daemon’s storyline spun its wheels week after week while he was stuck at Harrenhal, and while the show felt like it was building to a breaking point in the Targaryen Civil War,the season finale was surprisingly uneventfuland anti-climactic.
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And deservedly so!
To date, every season in bothGame of Thronesand its spinoff has clearly built to a specific turning point that left viewers eager to see what comes next.House of the Dragon’s second season never really felt like it was building to anything in particular, other than stretching out the show’s run to reachits goal of four seasonswhen it felt like there wasn’t enough story to sustain that. As such, it felt strangely inconsequential, and the lack of a strong hook for the third season might help explain why the show’s hype has been diluted over the last few months.
Do the Golden Globes Matter for ‘House of the Dragon?’
In total fairness toHouse of the Dragon, it wasn’t HBO’s only significant snub at the Golden Globes this year. Esteemed comedy classicCurb Your Enthusiasmgot completely shut out of the nominations, as didIndustry, which just concludedits most acclaimed season to date. Part of this may be because the Golden Globes are less prone to play favorites than the Emmys and that they often provide a boost for newly buzzed-about shows. Case in point: half the shows nominated in Drama Series were first-time nominees.
And it’s important to note that just one awards ceremony isn’t necessarily indicative of industry support forHouse of the Dragon. As previously mentioned,Game of Throneswas snubbed a surprising number of times by the Golden Globes, and eventhe widespread pans the final season gotweren’t enough to stop it from dominating the Drama categories at the Emmys. So it’s too soon to say how this bodes for the show’s awards success going forward. Nonetheless, it’s hard to escape the feeling that the Golden Globes just madeGame of Throneshistory, and in a bad way.Game of ThronesandHouse of the Dragonare streaming onMax.
