After a two-year break, the “Game of Thrones” spin off “House of The Dragon” has returned for its second season. Season two premiered June 16 and made headlines with the much-anticipated fan favorite dragons hitting the screens every Sunday night at 9 p.m.

“House of The Dragon” is a prequel to the “Game of Thrones” series and is based on the George R.R Martin book “Fire & Blood,” which takes place 170 years before the “Game of Thrones” series.

These are intricately written books with an immense fan base, so after the controversy and disappointment surrounding season eight of “Game of Thrones,” fans had high expectations for “House of The Dragon,” especially since House Targaryen is so beloved by fans of the show.

The ending of season one left many of us on the edge of our seats. The war between the Blacks and Greens grew stronger even though Rhaenyra did not want to fight. Then, though, her son Lucerys was murdered by his own uncle’s dragon. This represented the first bloodshed in a long war ahead.

The season ends with Rhaenyra receiving news of her son’s passing. The scene slowing zoomed in on her face with the look of despair only a mother could have. We know now that any hope she had to peacefully claim her throne had completely dissipated — this means war.

After two years of waiting to see Rhaenyra drop the noble and moral queen trope and shed some blood for her son, fans were still left waiting. Season two had some good moments but it’s hard to say it was a good season overall. Many characters’ arcs and storylines were given a more filler feel and didn’t really lead to anything significant happening until the very end of the season.

Daemons Harrenhal’s storyline, for example, was not only boring and repetitive, but not much even came of it. As most book-turned-movie adaptations, there has been a few changes made to the “Fire & Blood” narrative. Daemon’s visions at Harrenhal being one of them. While yes, it makes sense that he had visions while staying at the cursed Harrenhal castle, this psychological journey he experienced is completely original to the show. He did spend many months in Harrenhal according to the book, so that part was accurate, but it seems we saw more of it than we should, possibly to give the actor more screen time.

Anyone not familiar with the book wouldn’t understand how differently Queen Heleana is portrayed in the series. We see she has three main characteristics by season two; she is a dragon dreamer and can can see visions into the future, she is hesitant to ride her dragon Dreamfyre and she seems like a nice girl who just wants to lead a normal life without being tied to the throne. In the book she is quite the opposite.

“In the book, she is a plump, pleasant and happy young woman, cheerful and kind, adored by the smallfolk,” author of the book George R. R. Martin mentioned in his blog. But upon meeting actress Phia Saba, who portrays Helaena in the House of the Dragon series, he “could hardly take issue” with the changes made to her character. “Phia Saban’s Helaena is a richer and more fascinating character than the one I created in Fire & Blood,” he states.

Although some changes he didn’t mind, there were some he really couldn’t wrap his head around. George R.R. Martin took it upon himself to share his thoughts on his personal blog, which has since been deleted.

In an early Sept. blog post he discussed how the show’s rendition of the killing of Prince Mealor was a scene he “argued against.” He believed many of the changes the showrunner Ryan Condal made would contradict later storylines. Martin thought the TV version of the scene was “underwhelming” and “watered down.” He felt that the scene was stronger in the book than in the show and that the changes made in the series would eventually snowball into issues later in the narrative.

“House of The Dragon” season two received an 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7 percent decrease in rating compared to its 90 percent after Season one. Overall, a very great rating to a very interesting series. Regardless of how many felt after watching season two, I highly recommended the show. It has fighting dragons — and no reality show can beat that.

The now bingeable series can be streamed via HBO Max with two full eight-episode seasons.