Foreign [Music] Does not remember blood Season one of the Game of Thrones Prequel finished with a bang or a dragon Snap anyway After 10 episodes House of the Dragon Has established its core cast introduced Us to three generations of targaryens And laid the groundwork for a civil war That looks set to consume Westeros as Well as the next few seasons of the show Go to it then in real life it would Sound perverse but in a Game of Thrones Spin-off it's positively a compliment to Note that it's delivered the Dragon-related Mayhem family plotting And murder that we hoped for Set some 200 years before Thrones House Of the Dragon had a huge amount of World Building to do though viewers at least Arrived with a basic understanding that All those Platinum blondes might have Something to do with Daenerys sure Enough her Targaryen ancestors are here At the height of their power on Westeros Ruling on a pose because the alternative Is being toasted to a crisp Showrunners Ryan Condell and Miguel Sapochnik set the tone with an opening Episode that offered grisly violence Royal plotting and medieval pageantry And a small blonde girl on a dragon lest We forget where we're coming from the
Ties to Game of Thrones were obvious and Immediate in those early episodes down To the ReUse of rameen javedi's iconic Theme music but the brand new cast and The focus on a family already in power But Riven against itself felt fresher Did everything I've given you you've Thrown back in my face you've only ever Tried to send me away to the veil to the City watch anywhere but by your side That's not to say it was always smooth Sailing even the showrunners seem to Understand this first season as a slow Burn and recently promised that next Season would pick up the pace Targaryen Must understand this to be king oh Queen Some episodes dragged and the shift from The immensely likable and charismatic Millie Alcock and Emily Carey to Emma Darcy and Olivia Cook as rhaenera and Allison respectively grew up took a Disjointed minute to process but to the Credit of the cast and creators they've Covered 20 odd years of Targaryen family History without stinting on the Requisite plotting and Gore not bad for 10 episodes [Applause] The show has also faced mostly with Success its core problem the targaryens Make less sympathetic leads than Game of Thrones as Starks Ned's family stuck Together They also didn't sleep with each other
Leading to for example cases where one's Son is also one's great nephew But I came to Dragon to overcome the ick Factor of the incest the show has gone Out of its way to make at least some Targaryens likable Paddy considine is an Actor who can't help but draw you in so His viserys even in moments of Selfishness or foolishness remain Sympathetic I love you rhaenyra whether Played by Alcock or Darcy is similarly Well-meaning even if her Reserve means That few outside her immediate family Realize it everyone says doggerans are Closer to Gods than to men But they say that because of our dragons Without them we dislike everyone else And even Matt Smith's Damon is an Uncannily shrewd judge of character for All his intemperate outbursts violent Tendencies and immoral ways Against that however the show makes Allison's Offspring significantly more Grotesque than they were in George R.R Martin's Fire and Blood to these three Strong boys I tell you to say that again Why do you not think Yourself Strong They weren't what you'd call nice kids Even there but neither did they show Quite the depths of depravity that aegon Targaryen does on screen do you know How the ACT is done At least in principle I had to put you And all that meant to me cousin Nora
Appear quite so outrageously Sinister as You and Mitchell's aemond nephews If you come to train They're matched by Laris strong schemer Sadist and foot fetishist at least That's an original Twist on the basic Model plotter one of the little spiders Is your lady in waiting not everything Has been as clearly laid out the idea of Greens supporting Allison and blacks Supporting rhaenyra might have worked Better if there had been much sign of House colors being significant at any Point before or after Allison came to Dinner in a nice New Look similarly the Fundamental point of differentiation Between the targaryens and their allies The valerians and everyone else is the Fact that they have dragons Foreign Strangely underplayed it's not totally Absent though House of the Dragon has Faithfully delivered the dragon bit of Its promise but what has been under Examined is what those relations between Beast and writer mean Beyond mere Firepower pun intended Perhaps despite the slow build that was Too much to fit in this season perhaps It will come perhaps two the show's Rather frequent and obvious callbacks to Game of Thrones will ease off now that It's established its own characters and Identity but enough nitpicking House of
The Dragon has managed to take Martin's Deliberately dry pseudo-history and turn It into a character-led drama that could Be every bit as thrilling as Thrones and That's impressive in itself what's even Better is that we will look back on this Season despite the riots and Dragon Action and sea battles as the Calm Before the storm next season the Targaryens go to war we have around two Years before we get to see it but if They nail the dance of the Dragons it's Going to be worth the wait [Music] No early on it sometimes felt too Faithful to its predecessor but after 10 Episodes House of the Dragon has forged Its own identity and established itself As a worthy prequel of Game of Thrones That's largely thanks to strong writing A wildly overqualified cast and a Veritable flock of dragons here's hoping For more of the same next time but a Little more confidence too they've Earned it [Music] For more fantasy reviews check out what We thought of The Lord of the Rings the Rings of power and the Sandman for Everything else stick with IGN [Music]
