House of the Dragon: HBO defends the darkness of scenes in the Game of Thrones spinoff

After some viewers complained that it was too dark to see what was going on screen in the most recent episode of its Game of Thrones spinoff, HBO defended the programme.

On Monday, the seventh episode of the television series House of the Dragon was made available.

However, a few spectators griped or made jokes about how the dim lighting made it difficult for them to see what was happening.

HBO Max responded by stating that the scene’s poor lighting was chosen on purpose as part of the creative process.

The network responded to multiple tweets from viewers who expressed concern about the darkness with the same statement.

‘You have to watch House of the Dragon at night in the dark with tightly drawn blackout curtains because if you try to watch while the sun is out, you can’t see a damn thing,’ one fan stated.

One remarked, ‘It’s astounding they can’t provide better lighting for the gloomy scenes with the budgets Game of Thrones and House of the Dragons have.’ ‘You might as well drive at night while wearing sunglasses.’

The latest episode’s director, Miguel Sapochnik, previously defended The Long Night, a gloomy Game of Thrones episode, in an interview with the IndieWire Filmmaker Toolkit podcast in 2019.

Everyone involved made the decision after giving it careful consideration and buying wholeheartedly into the notion that it was about embracing the dark.

‘I have no control over how others watch it. I have never produced something intended to be viewed on an iPhone. Everything I’ve created has been done so in an effort to be experienced by as many people as possible.’ ‘The Long Night is designed to be seen in a theatre with as many people as you can fit inside of it, therefore I don’t have a remedy for the issue that resulted from that.’

House of the Dragon, however, did not have a theatrical release like Game of Thrones did. It was released on TV and streaming earlier this year and received mixed reviews from critics; while the Wrap said it ‘pales in contrast’ to its predecessor, the Guardian called it ‘a resounding success.’