'House of the Dragon' – Season 1


Yes, I know that everyone else has already watched 'House of the Dragon' and said probably everything there is to say about it. Not me though, I never seem to watch TV shows at the same time as everyone else and come to the conversation at around about the time that everyone else has packed up and moved on to the next show. Dammit.

I'm not as late to the party as I was to 'Game of Thrones' (I started watching the first season when everyone else was gearing up for the Red Wedding...) so maybe there's hope for me yet ;o) In the meantime, lets see if I can add anything new to what has already been said about 'House of the Dragon'... I'm working on the assumption that everyone else has already watched the show so if you haven't, beware of possible spoilers to come.

The show is set 172 years before Danaerys Targaryen started measuring herself up for the Iron Throne and the Targaryen's rule under the kingship of Viserys. The King grows old though (and leperous, I didn't see that coming) and his extended family grows restless at the prospect of what will happen after. Will Viserys' daughter ascend to the throne he promised her or will someone else take it?

Ten episodes later and... it was alright. 'House of the Dragon' didn't keep me coming back like 'Game of Thrones' did (turns out that I need pitched battles and zombies in my fantasy more than I realised, who'd have thought it...) but there was still plenty to keep me ticking over, even if I didn't tear through the episodes particularly quickly. 'House of the Dragon' was a more understated affair but the plot has plenty of meat on it and that's not a bad payoff. What got me about this show was how even when the people of Westeros are trying to get along, they can't help but mess it up for themselves. You've got people like Otto Hightower looking out for his family (no matter the cost to the kingdom) and the properly creepy Larys Strong (nice work Matthew Needham, nice work...) spying an opportunity and going for it, satisfying a few urges along the way. I'm not sure that I liked the whole 'evil disabled pervert' thing but Larys still makes for a surprisingly good Littlefinger/Varys substitute. And then there's Alicent Hightower, fighting to keep her head above water and do the right thing by her people but still playing a game that she really doesn't want to. And poor old Viserys, the gods maybe did him a favour by taking him away at the point he thought his family were actually reconciling. If the leperosy hadn't did for him, that state of his family would have.

And that's only scratching the surface of what's happening here. No pitched battles yet (don't let me down Season 2) but a lot of vicious intrigue that I'm keen to see play out. 'House of the Dragon' isn't 'Game of Thrones' and that's a good thing I think; it's taking on it's own shape and I think that bodes well for future seasons. I'll have to make sure that I stay caught up somehow ;o)

(And yes, someone missed a trick by not signing Matt Smith up to play Elric but too late now, Melnibone's loss is Westeros' gain)

Comments

  1. Jim27 March 2024 at 20:49

    I guess I'm lucky in that I didn't watch Game of Thrones until after watching House of the Dragon!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Graeme29 March 2024 at 01:03

    I think there's definitely something to be said for watching it in that order :o)

    ReplyDelete

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