Four Dragon-Sized Plot Holes in ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 1
House Of The Dragon had a great first season, but it was not without issues.
House of the Dragon had a solid first season. Even though the show had some issues, it delivered enjoyable episodes and was a strong comeback for Game of Thrones. It even stacks up pretty well vs the competition. Yet like all shows, it had some plot holes. Some were minor and some were pretty major.
***BEWARE, HERE BE SPOILERS***
Otto Hightower is an Idiot in House of the Dragon
Otto Hightower is supposed to be a very smart man. He’s a capable Hand of the King and successfully plays the game of thrones, gaining power and prestige for his house. And yet there are a few instances where he just comes off as a total idiot. I think the biggest for me is in Episode 2. Daemon, the King’s Brother, has taken over the castle of Dragonstone with a few thousand men. He has an army, a castle, and a dragon. He is acting in defiance of the king’s wishes and orders. So what does Otto do? He takes 20 men there alone to confront Daemon.
Now Daemon and Otto hate each other. People constantly say Daemon is made and bloodthirsty. So why in the heck does a smart man like Otto go almost alone to face him? The plan was never going to work and he is only saved from failure and maybe death by Rhaenyra. To make things worse he does basically the same thing in Epsiode 10. This makes no sense and is a bit of a House of the Dragon Plot hole.
The War in the Step Stones
via HBO
In the background of a lot of Season 1 is a simmering war down in the islands known as the Step Stones. We get the most direct view of this in Episode Three. Here the forces of the Sea Snake and Daemon are facing defeat by the army of the Crabfeeder. And yet the war makes no sense. Daemon’s troops have two dragons and should be dominating. It shows that if one dragon attacks archers can hold it off, but it seems like two dragons could deal with them. In fact, later on, this is pretty much what they do, have one dragon rider distract the enemy, while the other attacks. It works, but how come it took so long to pull this off?
The Price of Aemond’s Eye is a Plot Hole 
In House of the Dragon Episode 7, Prince Aemond claims the mighty dragon Vhagar. Afterward he gets in a fight with his cousins and in the fight, Lucerys Velaryon takes out his eye. A lot of complaints follow and people demand justice. But not Aemond. He states “Do not mourn me, mother. It was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye, but I gained a dragon.” Later in Episode 9, he’s shown as an in-control character, the learned one who would be a good king, if only he was older. Yet in episode ten, when confronting Lucerys again, he demands Luke pay him for the loss of his eye, with one of his own.
The whole situation is kind of a House of the Dragon Plot hole. If Aemond made a fair trade, an eye for a dragon, then Luke owes him nothing. We haven’t really seen Aemond be bad about the eye before. Yet all of a sudden it’s this major thing to him. Odd.
Criston Cole Gets Away With Murder and It’s a Plot Hole
This might be the worst House of the Dragon Plot hole. In Episode 5, Criston Cole ruins a royal wedding by murdering a knight in cold blood. This happens in plain view of the whole court. It ruins days of planned celebration. The knight he kills, Joffrey Lonmouth isn’t a nobody either. He’s a bannerman (and secret lover) of the new Prince Consort, the husband of the Crown Princess. He also serves the richest and one of the most powerful houses in the realm. There is no explanation for the murder, which is brutal. And yet someone Cole, a person who thought a Kingsguard has no importance otherwise, escapes any sort of punishment. How?
Let us know which House of the Dragon Pothole annoyed you the most, down in the comments!
