House of the Dragon Season 3’s most random romance is taken straight from the book

Theo Whiteman/HBO
Never change, “House of the Dragon.” By its very nature, the HBO prequel series has had the unenviable task of hitting certain mile markers on its way to telling a story with an ending that has already been spoiled by “Game of Thrones.” That inevitably means that certain twists and turns in the plot can feel somewhat … preordained, in a manner of speaking. (Less generous fans would probably call these moments “forced.”)

One such instance would have to be the Alyn/Baela romance, a pairing that even the nerdiest of book fans likely never saw coming in the show. For one thing, the two have shared maybe one real scene together throughout the entirety of “House of the Dragon” where they actually exchanged dialogue and managed to get to know each other a little. For another, uh, it’s been fairly well-established that they both have the same father in the Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). Not that this franchise has stayed away from incest before, I’ll grant you, but at least other such pairings like Rhaenyra and Daemon had some actual sparks. Alyn and Baela, by stark contrast, are giving us nothing.

Now, in all fairness, this is a relationship that comes straight out of “Fire & Blood” — but with a twist. This doesn’t actually happen until later in the story, and even then it’s done out of political need rather than romantic desire. It’s easy to see why showrunner Ryan Condal and his writing team would want to lay the groundwork for this a little earlier, but the execution of this can’t help but feel awfully random and rushed.

Read More: https://www.slashfilm.com/2223322/house-of-the-dragon-season-3-romances-explained/