House Of The Dragon’s Season 2 Opening Credits Change Is Deeper Than You Think
If you watched the Season 2 premiere of “House of the Dragon” — and odds are that you did — you probably noticed that the entire title sequence has changed. Gone are the signets and symbols of different houses and families within Westeros, from the Targaryens to the Velayrons, connected by a flowing river of what appears to be blood; in its second season, the fantasy series that serves as the first official spin-off for “Game of Thrones” has completely changed up its opening, depicting a tapestry being stitched in real time that appears to depict the Targaryen civil war known as the “Dance of the Dragons.” Speaking to /Film, showrunner Ryan Condal, who also worked on “Game of Thrones,” said that he and his team were intent on setting up something new to keep Season 2 fresh.
“Yeah, I mean it was after a lot of discussion, and obviously this would be post airing of episode one discussion, but I felt like the sort of ancestral credits were correct for [Season 1], the idea of this bloodline and family tree,” Condal said. “But this story now in [Season 2], now that all that stuff has kind of been set and established and entrenched, it felt more like we were watching a living history and my feeling was continuing to follow the Targaryen family tree now that we’re in real time and really, I mean, maybe there will be some children born as we move forward from here into the future, sort of that story had been set.”
Ryan Condal made his mark on House of the Dragon by switching up the introduction
Karwai Tang/Getty Images
As Ryan Condal put it, the story seen in “House of the Dragon” is happening in real time for the viewer; after all, Season 2 picks up very shortly after Season 1 leaves off. Not only that, but he and his team were inspired by real tapestries from the medieval period, which were often used as their own form of storytelling.
But again, we’re watching this living history as it unfolds,” Condal continued telling /Film. “So it felt more interesting to see that dramatized in the way that histories were kept back in the Middle Ages, which was with beautiful tapestries. And so I think as you’ll see as the season goes, you’ll see a bit of evolution in that version of the story we’re telling. But I think these are the credits as we go from here to the end.”
This is sound enough reasoning from Condal, but it’s also interesting to note that Season 2 is Condal’s first one as the sole showrunner; “Game of Thrones” veteran and former co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik left the series behind after Season 1. Though Condal said he expected this to happen when the news broke, it’s still interesting that, in his first season as the show’s creative leader, he saw fit to change up the opening credits. Not only that, but Condal is making an extremely positive overall move for the series … by setting it firmly apart from “Game of Thrones.”
Changing the title sequence for Season 2 of House of the Dragon is an extremely smart move
Theo Whitman/HBO
To be absolutely frank, the Season 1 credits for “House of the Dragon” needed to change … because they looked far too similar to “Game of Thrones.” Yes, the latter depicted different regions of Westeros (specifically, the ones visited during each specific season), but the “ancestral” design Condal described in the interview wasn’t particularly clear, and it was definitely difficult to see a major difference. Beyond that, “House of the Dragon” does utilize the same theme music as “Game of Thrones” — and that by itself is fine and even commendable, as composer Ramin Djawadi is an extraordinary talent and has provided some of the most striking scores in recent memory on both shows. The combination of the theme music and Djawadi’s original score, though, made the vibe too familiar.
Yes, “Game of Thrones” is the predecessor to “House of the Dragon,” and yes, it’s still regarded as one of the best shows in recent television history. It also ended with an absolute thud and undid a wild amount of its cultural goodwill in the process. “House of the Dragon” has a chance to chart a strong and better path than its predecessor — particularly because its story is a closed loop, thanks to George R.R. Martin’s novella “Fire & Blood,” which serves as its source material — and it needs to strike a solid balance between honoring “Game of Thrones” and writing its own narrative. With this new title sequence, Ryan Condal and his team seem to be doing just that.
New episodes of “House of the Dragon” air every Sunday on HBO at 9 P.M. EST.