House Of The Dragon stalls out as the noose tightens

You’d think that with House Of The Dragon trimming its later seasons to a svelte eight episodes, there’d be little time to tarry with the Dance of the Dragons underway. Yet after its blistering first two installments—episodes clearly meant to conclude last season—season three has settled into the character- and lore-saturated rhythms that so often slow this fiery dance to a shuffle. Is HOTD ever going to get to the fireworks factory? No doubt, and with pressure-cooker episodes as thorny as this, I’m fine with the longer fuse—though viewers who don’t savor every lore dump and weirdo Green Man sighting may find their patience beginning to wane at this late hour.