Rhaenyra Targaryen: (opening narration) As the first century of the Targaryen dynasty came to a close, the health of the Old King, Jaehaerys, was failing. In those days, House Targaryen stood at the height of its strength, with ten adult dragons under its yoke. No power in the world could stand against it. King Jaehaerys reigned over nearly sixty years of peace and prosperity, but tragedy had claimed both his sons, leaving his succession in doubt. So, in the year 101, the Old King called a Great Council to choose an heir. Over a thousand lords made the journey to Harrenhal. Fourteen succession claims were heard, but only two were truly considered. Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, the king's eldest descendant, and her younger cousin, Prince Viserys Targaryen, the king's eldest male descendant.
Nice try, HBO. Fools me once...
The ending of GoT made me not even excited for this show. I didn't even watch it when it came out because I wasn't aware it was being shown. How wrong I was to ignore this. It is so good and if it ended with this series, I think it has been better than GoT. Great acting, great Story and even better visuals. It has given me hope for everything as I was so let down with the GoT ending. I just didn't want to see anything that would remind me of it.
As one of the book readers I was very pleasantly surprised with the changes and think almost all of them improved things. I guess I see it as what actually happened rather than a history telling of what happened as with the books. Viserys was 10/10 and I could have watched a show just on him and his awful time as being King. It was very poetic watching him.
I am so hyped now for this show. It feels nice to feel that way about it again. I know it will be awhile for the next series and then another wait for that... But I am ok with it and if they can do what they did with series one I will be a happy man.
The time jumps between episodes are way too often and they skip too much time. It is like watching a dramatization of a history documentary, but for a fictional world. It fails to be anything. It is better to watch the last season of GoT than this xD
It's an excellent first season. Much better than disastrous last GoT season. It looks good. Dialogues are a highlight. Most actors are excellent. King Viserys, young and adult Alicent and young Rhaenyra are wonderful. I like that it feels like GoT but it's not just a mere copy. It's awesome entertainment for an adult viewership. Is it all perfect then? No:
Great performances and a really good start for the series.
This was a great season of television. Was it perfect? No, far from it. Did it reach Game of Thrones' heights? No, but it came close to resembling them a couple of times. There are some obvious issues with the writing in the show - it's clear that the actual quality is not Game of Thrones level - but it's still a wonderfully entertaining show that is leaps and bounds better than any other big fantasy show out there. Compared to The Rings of Power, for example, this show is phenomenal. Definitely one of the best shows this year, though I'm not sure it quite makes my top 3. Looking forward to season 2.
Everyone who claims that the first season of House of the Dragon is good, should not be taken seriously ever again. Yeah, the dragons look cool and all, but it has so many problems.
My biggest issue are the terrible executed time jumps. It's hard enough to care for the poorly casted characters without it. We spanned 20 years (or something like that) in 9 episodes... Is the story of House Targaryen really that boring? It's impossible to tell a compelling story this way. That shows in its lack of a clear structure. It's just a bunch of uninteresting infighting between characters without any depth, nothing more.
This is only interesting for fans of Game of Thrones. House of the Dragon doesn't stand on its own at all. It's bad enough that they choose the keep the intro theme the same. The only reason this is getting ratings of 75% and up is because of GoT-nostalgia, it has nothing to do with this show. Ask yourself: is this show compelling in the slightest if you didn't watch Game of Thrones? I'll help you, the right answer is: no. You would stop watching after the 4th episode, because it's hilariously bad. If you're being honest to yourself, you know that this is true.
Also, Game of Thrones showed off some amazing locations. This was nothing like that. All the sets are dark, grim and closed off. You see nothing of this (supposedly) big and vibrant world and it looks cheap because of it. Why would anyone want to be king or queen of this mess? When you show the beauty of the world, we get why they are fighting over this. This is not the case now.
I could go on, but I really don't feel like it anymore. Watching season 1 each week felt like a chore. It's a feeling that I never had with Game of Thrones. Even in the later seasons. I really hope they can turn this around in season 2. I'm not that familiar with the book that this is based on, but with a real story and more locations, this might become worth watching again (if it doesn't feel like a GoT-history lesson, like this does). The finale made me somewhat hopeful that this was just a setup (executed terribly) for something better. I truly hope so.
Lastly, I hate Matt Smith's stupid face and I don't want to see it ever again.
Unfortunately, this very uneven TV series season does not really take off. Bad writing for sure. Hopefully, HBO will rebound for season 2, and save this TV series.
What a mixed bag of a season. This started out strong like the show knew it had something to prove after the past few seasons of GoT, the first two episodes were much stronger than the lukewarm reviews gave it credit for.
And then came multiple episodes that were generally still quite good but with a significantly dumb moment at the end (Daemon running through a hail of arrows not getting hit till the very end with only a superficial shoulder wound; everything at the royal wedding (figuring out Criston's banging the princess because he's staring at her too much? at her wedding? when he's her bodyguard? instead of holding onto that information immediately going up to Criston to confront him with it. Criston just losing it and beating a dude to a pulp and nobody stopping him. Alicent finding him RIGHT when he's about to seppuku himself); Lady Laena going from being in the throes of a painful childbirth then disappearing the moment 2 out of 5 people in a room turn their back on her and managing to walk all the damn way to her dragon and putting several hundred yards between her and Daemon when she had just spent hours trying to push a bowling ball through her vagina).
And then the last couple of episodes were just an all-around disappointment (having now watched the season finale, that one was aces and up there with the first two episodes). Episode 9, generally the most explosive episode of the season in GoT, was a bit of a mess. Criston Cole put his hand on an old man's shoulder to push him down into his seat and the next scene is the dude slamming his head on the table so hard he dies and bleeds out? He went from standing up with his head perpendicular to the table in one scene to his head flat on the table the next. The way the scene was cut with Cole's hand on his shoulder one second to him slamming his head on the table the next, there was no indication Cole pushed hard enough nor that he did so at an awkward angle for the old man to end up that way. The worst-directed and edited scene of the series. An episode that should've felt like there was a ticking clock in the race to find Aegon and quickly crown him as the various schemers try to put their plans in action in the immediate wake of the king's death felt more like just going through the motions and checking items off a list. And then toss in every dumb thing about Rhaenys bursting through the ground with her dragon (just one of many: the doors were shown as nearly being closed on the people one moment then 20 seconds later Rhaenys flies through wide open doors??).
The wigs are also not great. Some look more natural than others (Caucasian females got the better end of the stick) but were generally risible (Matt Smith's got much better when it was shorter but his initial wig looked like shit Legolas cosplay). The one on young Laena's head can charitably be described as Great Value Elsa from Frozen knockoff.
The time jumps were also jarring. Realizing that there's a lot more meat in the story to get to, I still wish they had spent the first season on the youngest generation of actors because they deserved it, Milly Alcock knocked it out of the damn park as Rhaenyra and deserved a whole season. Throw in some actors aging up a decade while others looking like they aged up 3 years and then there's Ser Criston Cole, blessed by the gods with beautiful hair and apparently eternal youth.
HBO had made no secret about wanting GoT to run longer and had ~5 pilots in production after the series ended, they should've milked this for all it's worth and let it progress slowly even if that meant delaying some of the juiciest most dramatic parts of the story to later seasons, instead the pacing felt off and really didn't let the complicated, tumultuous relationships between characters breath and ebb and flow a bit more. It's hard enough keeping track whose child is whom in the circle that is the Targaryen family tree, it's harder still when they're played by a different actor every other episode.
This first season of House of the Dragon has done the impossible: to actually make us care about the incredible world of Westeros once again after the way GoT ended. And not just that, but to match, if not even surpass, the quality and the highs of the best GoT seasons AND to make its own identity within the familiar world of Westeros?! Bring on the Dance of the Dragons!!!
Loved the first season, looking forward to more.
The first seven episodes are a very mixed bag. Confusing characters, time shifts, change of two lead actresses, and lack of exciting developments are in it together with excellent acting, CGI, world building, mask and costume design.
Especially the decision to unnecessarily exchange the actresses for Rhaenyra and Alicent mid-season was bad. Not catastrophic like GoT season 8, but still bad to the extent that it tainted this season notably and makes one wonder why the showrunners keep sabotaging themselves.
Starting with episode 8 however, the show finally becomes what was expected of it and delivers episodes that are much better than the previous ones.
I'm looking forward to the next season.
Completely falls apart halfway through.
This turned out to be a good season, despite all the time jumps (and consecutive changes in the cast) which threw me off the plotlines sometimes.
But I can understand now how house Targaryen arrived at its reputation... the sane ones, like Viserys or Rhaenyra, are slowly driven insane by whisperers and sycophants, not to mention endless ambition to put idiots, deviants or simply insane ones on the throne... and the peace Viserys fought so hard to keep, is lost.
The only downside is that due to all the timejumps we don't get enough explanations for the actions of the minor characters, such as Larys, and some events are simply ridiculous: I mean Criston goes around murdering people in full sight of everyone... and doesn't face any consequences?
However, as good as especially the final 2 episodes are, HoD remains spin-off to GoT... and as such, every topic regarding depravity, treason and bloodshed, has already been dealt with. So, HoD doesn't really show anything new, unfortunately. The most obvious sign is the reuse of GoT's main theme... But then again, this turned out to be another game of thrones, didn't it. (One we already know the end of, even...)
Pointless drivel. There is no common thread to follow. None of the characters are likeable. It just isn't engaging at all.
I think it's a good show, but far from GOT. Comparisons are not my thing, this should be treated/criticised as a different show, but I'll try not to compare with GOT, but just with what a show must be to be really good.
Mos time jumps were ok, but the time jump mid way sucked - big time.
From episode 5 to 6, some of the main characters grow up. The connection that was previously built is just trashed.
The actors are good, for sure - after episode 7/8 you get used to them, but visual effects could've handled this.
For a show with dragons, only 2 episodes really brought some good action and made them part of the story.
This is a story about the house of the dragon, but as weird as it sounds, I think the Hand and the Queen, are the characters that draw more interest as the story develops. Prince Daemon shifts mid season... King Viserys hangs to life so poorly, that one wished he begone already. Princess Rhae, well - undecided would be a good adjective.
I won't be waiting for the next season, as much as other shows. There's nothing that really appeals, other than the dragon fights...
Going into comparison with GOT, this stands to lose big time, because it's again a game of who sits in the throne, but with a lesser story. No compelling characters or stories. We kinda see what's going to happen. No plot twists. No unforeseen deaths. No lust or antagonism. Poor battle scenes, if any can be salvaged.
GOT gave us a lot! Looking back, after all GOT seasons, I can understand that in one season this can't give us what all seasons of GOT brought, but I remember seeing each season and getting glued to the screen until the end, and wishing for more - this one, just doesn't.
Let's see if they lift off next season.
almost at the same level like got season1.
let's hope they keep it the same (as season 1 and not like got season x....)
"House of the Dragon" is at times closer to a high-budget fantasy soap opera than to a "Game of Thrones" prequel, and, as someone who grew up watching "The Bold and the Beautiful" as part of the family's daily lunch ritual, I absolutely mean that as a compliment (more or less). Soap operas can be great entertainment for the absurd twists and larger-than-life campy situations, but those usually occur once every two hundred episodes. On the contrary, "House of the Dragon" consistently rings on a high note, to the point that we have the opposite problem of typical soap operas and TV shows in general. As the source material is essentially a historical treatise covering generations without indulging in detail and minor episodes, there was no way that its TV counterpart could get away from inserting continuous time leaps and condensing seasons' worth of story into a few hours. This means that the pacing is so tight that you will hardly have any time to get bored, but also that character development often ends up feeling forced and mechanical as years, sometimes decades, can separate the ending of one episode from the beginning of the following. Yet, there will be times the show mysteriously indulges in minor episodes for no apparent reason.
The tone also tends to be a little uneven depending on the episodes, switching back and forth between moments of austerity with nuanced dialogue and moments of pure camp with gratuitous sex and violence. There’s no way you could be subtle all along with such a high-budget production that needs to appeal to the widest audience possible, yet a more even tone and pacing could have helped the whole thing feel more coherent. Things usually work within a single episode, but, its contradictions emerge by putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
The strongest aspect of “House of Dragon” definitely lies in its characters. Despite the development feeling a little bumpy due to the time leaps, most characters are charismatic and easy to connect with. The performances are also solid except for Mysaria (damn, she is even worse than Shae). The showrunners clearly want us to side with the Blacks, but at the same time, it looks like they are trying to justify the actions of both girls in the middle. The original material is much less apologetic, but with a TV show, we definitely need someone to feel for. I agree with the writers’ decisions up to this point, but at the same time, I would have preferred the situation to be a little more ambiguous, leaving us unsure of which character to side with.
Overall, "House of the Dragon" definitely makes good use of all the things we loved about "Game of Thrones", and successfully takes us back on a gripping journey to Westeros to recover from the PTSD caused by the seventh and eighth seasons. Yet, at the same time, its inconsistencies in tone and sometimes questionable narrative choices still keep us unsure, if not slightly worried, about the series' future.
Started off really well but slowed to a crawl after the 3rd episode before reaching a relatively interesting season finale. The first season was let down by vast amounts of padding, long periods of dialogue that didn't actually add much to the story at all, just dragged it out. The time jumps and changes of actors made it feel very disjointed such that there were frequent WTF moments. The way the story is told it's as if they are dramatising single snippet events which occurred over a long period of time rather than telling a tightly knit well written story. The focus is all on who WILL ascend to the Iron Throne and rule the kingdom, there is nothing really about who SHOULD and why, nothing to make the viewer actually care. They are all a pretty lacklustre bunch and it's hard to find a reason to root for any of them, if you can stay awake long enough that is!
This is my favorite show that I've watched so far this year and I don't anticipate any show beating it. For me, this first season of HOTD is right up there with the best GOT seasons. The season started out strong and only got better and better each week all the way up to the end. You just can't get any better than this when it comes to script writing, dialogue, and acting. Throw the great direction and visuals on top of that and you get peak fantasy TV. The political and family tension and conflict is so good, and I like that with this series we're able to get all of that in a much more intimate way by focusing in on just the Targaryens. This season did branch out to include more houses here and there, but for the most part we are following along with Viserys' family as it starts small but grows larger and more complicated over the years. All the while there is a steady increase in tension throughout the season until it finally all boils over by the end and sets us up for the Dance of the Dragons which is to come. The show very well could have started with the adult actors or started closer to the beginning of the civil war, but by taking the time to introduce us to the characters when they are younger and watch how they grow and how their relationships change with one another, we're able to become way more connected with the characters and it makes everything hit harder. And I do think that the show handled its several time jumps and decades-long storytelling in this first season surprisingly well. It was something I was unsure about at first, but ended up really enjoying. The characters are just so well-written and nuanced, and I have to say that King Viserys was my absolute favorite character in this first season. So many characters were knockouts for different reasons, and we are going to get more time with most of them in the seasons to come, but for me Paddy Considine KNOCKED this performance out of the park and his portrayal skyrocketed Viserys as one of my favorite GOT characters. His entrance in the throne room in episode 8 was my favorite scene of the entire season. I could go on and on for days about this season and how much I loved it, but to sum it up this was just the prime example of spectacular writing and execution in storytelling and character work. I could try and nit-pick it, but it would be hard to do so as I can't really think of anything I would change. And at the end of the day not many shows have gotten me as excited and enthralled into its world as this first season has. I know I've watched something special when I can't stop thinking about it after it's over, and that was the case each and every week in this first season for me. Absolute banger.
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It would seem that the Game of Thrones is back with the origin and demise of house Targaryen. While this is good it’s clearly just the beginning of what will ultimately be a
long war, with the necessary politicking and
groundwork being set using this 1st season.
It will be interesting to see where this goes.
It took way too long to get going, but the last 2 episodes are worth the wait.
Season 8/10
Last 2 episode 10/10
So, just finished it, and I'm really happy about what they have done, most new series u start to watch it while you are worried about what it's gonna be good or no, but this one was already giving u trust just from the Early trailer's, and yes! they have done really great job starting from storyline and soundtracks a whole big part besides the casting, everything was really great and I'm totally sad that i will have to wait for about 2 years
I'm really excited for what coming next bc for sure it's gonna be hell as you see, Thank you for making it and that you gave me GOT vibes and that feeling, Waiting!!!
Shout by niloymahirBlockedParent2022-09-15T11:19:04Z
Guys say whatever you want but the truth is It's not so bad! So f##ing forget game of thrones ending and give this guys the respect they deserve, atleast they are trying hard to make things right.