House of the Dragon has as many female-directed episodes in one season as Game of Thrones had in eight

The epic fantasy series Game of Thrones changed the game for television. Its spinoff House of the Dragon, is changing the game for female directors in the franchise. Out of the 19 directors on Game of Thrones’ nine-year run, only one had been a woman. The Emmy Award-winning TV director Michelle MacLaren was the only woman to have ever directed the series.  She has directed and produced several episodes of Breaking Bad, along with The X-Files and Better Call Saul. She directed four episodes of Game of Thrones. Meanwhile, House of the Dragon has four episodes led by women in the first season alone.

The spinoff’s highest-rated episode yet, episode 5, has been directed by Claire Kilner, who will be directing three episodes this season. She also directed episode 4, and viewers on social media platforms lauded her execution and handling of the intimate scenes. She says, “It was important to know what’s a woman’s point of view here.” Additionally, Geeta Patel will direct the eighth episode of the show, bringing the total of female-directed episodes to four.

Read More: House of the Dragon gets its first female director for Episode 4 — Clare Kilner

Spotlight on the Women

Game of Thrones received a lot of heat for its lack of women leading the operations. It was also heavily criticized for scenes involving sexual abuse, but later on, most fans became used to it. It almost became the ‘Game of Thrones signature style’; explicit scenes of abuse and cruelty. But House of the Dragon seems to want to put the focus back on good writing and rich, fleshed-out characters. The showrunners are putting a conscious effort into improving the portrayal of female characters in this universe.

The show is adapted from the book Fire & Blood which has very little about the relationship between the younger ladies. It was a spectacular decision of the showrunners to ‘show, not tell’ the evolution of their relationship. By displaying how close they were at the beginning of the story, their progression into sworn enemies will leave a greater impact on the viewers. The co-showrunner Ryan Condal explains in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “Because the history is written by men, we were really interested in the dynamic forces that a certain medieval level of innate chauvinism puts on the two women.”

We love how involved women are in the story of the show and in leading it. Claire Kilner will also be directing the drama-filled penultimate episode of the season ‘The Green Council’. What are your thoughts on the show so far? Let us know in the comments.

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