House of the Dragon (Season 1) is a Promising Return to Form

Following up Game of Thrones after the utter catastrophe that was season eight was never bound to be easy. Sure, making something of higher quality than the finale wouldn’t have been hard (on a writing front, at least.) But getting the spurned audience to come back? That was another matter entirely.

House of the Dragon is a very impressive return to form. It goes back to what made Game of Thrones so special in the first place. Deep and interesting characters, organic and compelling dialogue, genuinely shocking and uncomfortable gore, and nigh constant twists and turns that keep the viewers guessing. It’s all here!

Is it perfect? No. But we’ll get to that.

Several centuries before the events of the original series, we return to Westeros at the height of the Targaryen dynasty. King Viserys Targaryen rules over the Seven Kingdoms in peace. But tension is slowly brewing from within. At the peak of their power, only one thing can threaten the House of the Dragon: itself.

Whereas the original series focused on the large scale of the world, with all of our many, many, many characters being scattered across its various corners, this prequel focuses almost exclusively on the Targaryen family and their immediate associates. We’re still taken to several varied locations, all of them jaw-dropping, but the majority of events are focused on King’s Landing.

As for the Targaryens themselves, they’re an odd blend. Viserys and Daemon are amazing (seeing Matt Smith being a mean psychopath after growing up with him as the 11th Doctor is just weird to me.) The Hightowers are an interesting addition; Alicent’s character arc is downright insane! Rhaenys and the Velayrions make for a compelling addition to the conflict; you genuinely have no idea which side they’ll fall onto until they finally pick one.

The only characters I don’t care for are the children of Rhaenyra and Alicent. It’s partly because they haven’t had enough time in the spotlight to be fully developed. It’s also partly because they’re just annoying (not the actors, mind; they’re all pretty good.) We’ll just have to see where they go in season two.

But what about the actual plot? It’s pretty good! This whole first season is essentially setup for the conflict that we’ll see in later seasons. Yet it’s still intriguing and compelling purely by how the characters are written. This is the story of a family gradually falling apart, despite the best efforts of the man leading it. It’s a genuine tragedy.

It doesn’t pull its punches, either. This show gets real dark and REAL gruesome. The birth scene in episode one legitimately had me winging and covering my eyes; I can’t remember the last time gore has made me that uncomfortable! And the final cliffhanger of the season is perfect! I cannot wait to see where it goes in season two!

With all of that said, there is one thing I cannot stand about this show: the ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ subplot. This felt extremely unnecessary. Like the show was trying to remind you that this is a prequel to Game of Thrones, even though it has basically nothing to do with it. If you cut it out entirely, you’d lose absolutely nothing.

The pacing is weird, too. You’ll occasionally shoot years, even decades into the future, all in the span of one episode. It can be a little difficult to keep track of things at times.

Now, let’s talk visuals. This is a pretty good looking show! The sets look great, the costumes are varied and colorful… for the first few episodes, until everyone just starts wearing black again. Oh, and don’t get me started on the music!

Even the CGI is impressive. The Targaryen dragons all look phenomenal! Which is good, given the larger role they play in this series. Hopefully they don’t end up going the Drogon route the original show did.

Overall, House of the Dragon is a solid show. It buries all the crap that ruined the original show and returned to what made it amazing in the first place. Characters and drama, twists and gore, it’s all here!

Will it reach the same heights as the original did at its peak? Will it fall horrifyingly short as its predecessor did? Only time will tell. But call me a fool, I’m feeling optimistic!

Maybe I shouldn’t say that. Optimism and I don’t really get along that often.