‘House Of The Dragon’: HBO responds to fan complaints over “unwatchable” lighting

4 October, 2022

House Of The Dragon

HBO has responded to complaints about the lighting on House Of The Dragon, with some fans describing recent episodes as “unwatchable”.

Episode seven of the Game Of Thrones prequel drew particular criticism from viewers for featuring a number dimly-lit scenes.

“I’m gonna need @hbomax to issue a written apology for literally a whole episode of black screen of #HouseOfTheDragon,” tweeted one viewer, while others described it as “ridiculous” and “unwatchable”.

In direct response, HBO Max’s help account replied: “We appreciate you reaching out about a night scene in House of the Dragon: Episode 7 appearing dark on your screen. The dimmed lighting of this scene was an intentional creative decision. Thanks!”

Episode seven was directed by Emmy winner Miguel Sapochnik, who also directed a famously dark, season eight episode of Game Of Thrones.

After the GoT episode, titled ‘The Long Night’, aired, Sapochnik told IndieWire: “It made sense that this was the last hope humanity has, the last beacon of light, and from the perspective of where we needed the story to go — which was to reach a surreal, chaotic climax — we needed an environment that was friendly to that.

“So all the reasons for doing it were there, and nobody sat there and wondered if it was gonna be too dark.”

Elsewhere, House Of The Dragon recently released a trailer for episode eight, teasing war, the vacancy of the Driftwood throne, and a second time jump.

Aegon, Aemond and Rhaenyra Targaryen’s sons will now be portrayed by older actors. The first time jump of the series came in episode six, with Emma d’Arcy and Olivia Cooke taking over as the adult versions of Rhaenyra and young Alicent. The two characters had previously been played by Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, respectively.

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