House of the Dragon season 2, episode 4 just beat Game of Thrones by perfectly bringing one of the most important moments in George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood to the screen. Although the Dance of the Dragons refers to the entire civil war that followed Viserys’ death, the conflict would only earn its name after the Battle at Rook’s Rest. House of the Dragon has made changes to the book, but I was sure that the show was not going to disappoint when it comes to the biggest battles from Fire & Blood.

Despite Game of Thrones’ disappointing final season, its legacy cannot be taken for granted. Game of Thrones is one of the most influential TV shows of all time, if not the most, which is why House of the Dragon had a very difficult mission as its successor. The idea of a House Targaryen prequel made me worried that HBO’s next ASOIAF show was simply going to rely on the popularity of Daenerys and her dragons, but gladly, I was wrong. House of the Dragon’s latest episode just proved that the show knows how to combine great action with strong storytelling.

House Of The Dragon Season 2, Episode 4 Beats Game Of Thrones’ Dragon Scenes

The Battle at Rook’s Rest was better than GOT’s Dragon scenes.

Game of Thrones has some fantastic fight scenes, including the ones featuring Daenerys’ dragons. However, the scale and the spectacle delivered by House of the Dragon season 2, episode 4 is beyond anything Game of Thrones ever did with Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion. Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons were a plot point of their own in Game of Thrones, especially because dragons and magic were gone for a while before the events of the show. Still, as important as they were to the story, Game of Thrones’ dragons never got a battle as awesome as HOTD’s Battle at Rook’s Rest.

House of the Dragon ’s first “dance” was highly anticipated, and the show did not disappoint.

Having read Fire & Blood before House of the Dragon, I could not wait to see what the battle involving Rhaenys, Aegon II, Aemond, and their respective dragons was going to look like.House of the Dragon may have been marketed as a show about the Targaryen and their majestic creatures, yet there was hardly any dragon action in season 1. This was expected, though, as the war would only escalate after the death of Luke Velaryon. House of the Dragon’s first “dance” was highly anticipated, and the show did not disappoint.

House Of The Dragon Does Something Game Of Thrones Never Really Did

House of the Dragon has an advantage over Game of Thrones.

“Fire in the sky” delivered something that Game of Thrones never did – a battle between dragons. The only exception was at the Battle of Winterfell, during which Drogon and Rhaegal briefly clashed against a zombified Viserion. Naturally, dragons fighting dragons is not something I expected from Game of Thrones since Daenerys’ children were the only known dragons in the world at the time. House of the Dragon, on the other hand, had the advantage of taking place when the Targaryen dragons still ruled Westeros. The Battle at Rook’s Rest included Meleys, Sunfire, and Vhagar.

ASOIAF is way more than just cool battles, which both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon have captured well. That said, I cannot deny how cool it is to have a major fight featuring the dragons in the sky taking place concurrently with a battle on the ground in a TV show. Before Game of Thrones and the big-budget, cinematic shows that came after it, what House of the Dragon’s latest episode delivered would have been impossible. “Fire in the Sky” did not take any shortcuts like conveniently skipping most of the fight once Criston Cole was knocked out.

House Of The Dragon’s Battle At Rook’s Rest Is A Reminder Of What GOT’s Battle Episodes Got Right

The story should be as important as the battle.

Game of Thrones’ best battle episodes all have one thing in common – the spectacle was only part of the reason why they were so great. As cool as it was to see wildfire in use for the first time or Twyin Lannister arriving at the last minute, what made the Battle of the Blackwater so good was how attached I was to characters such as Tyrion, Cersei, and even Stannis. The same thing can be said about all of Game of Thrones’ greatest battles, including but not limited to “Watchers on the Wall” and “Battle of the Bastards.”

Fortunately, House of the Dragon is doing something similar. Seeing Vhagar, Meleys, and Sunfire dance in the sky was incredible, but the buildup to it was just as good. From the moment Rhaenyra said she did not want to send dragons to the war earlier in the season to Aegon’s reaction once he realized what Aemond was about to do, the story has been just as important as the visuals. Hopefully, House of the Dragon will continue to treat its battles and other key scenes with this same level of seriousness and respect.