This is the ‘House of the Dragon’ you’ve been waiting for — or at least, the beginning of it

Gone are the rapid time jumps from the show’s first season. Now — at least, in the four episodes provided to critics for review — we’re more firmly anchored in the action of the present. The series picks up immediately in the aftermath of Lucerys’ murder. Lord Corlys Velaryon has lost an heir. Aegon’s side, the Greens, has drawn first blood. Rhaenyra has lost a son.

“House of the Dragon” is still built on the pain of Westeros’ most powerful mothers, but now it’s more nuanced than the gratuitous and gory childbirth sequences that plagued season one. Emma D’Arcy’s vulnerable, razor-sharp performance as Rhaenyra continues to be riveting, particularly as Rhaenrya mourns Lucerys’ death and does her best to avoid plunging the continent into all-out war. On the other side, Alicent (an excellent Olivia Cooke) grapples with the implications of the path she’s set her son on and its effects on her immediate family.

Still, “House of the Dragon” certainly delivers on sweeping spectacle when needed. However, it doesn’t bring out its dragons willy-nilly, and that’s for the better. As the closest thing to a weapon of mass destruction in this universe, both sides of the war understand that you can’t take back a dragon on the battlefield. That hesitancy translates into a greater degree of restraint when it comes to actually throwing the dragons on screen, and makes the moments where they do come into the fray all the more impactful.

Season two ultimately makes the show’s first season feel like a prelude, and course-corrects some of the show’s earlier impulses to cover vast swathes of history rather than dig into the characters driving it. Only time will tell if those characters still get a chance to shine and grow (or in some cases, devolve) as the war drags on.

But for now, the first episodes are a good start.

“House of the Dragon” season two premieres June 16 on HBO.