HBO's 'House Of The Dragon' Episode 1 Review

The prequel, HBO's House of the Dragon to one of the world’s most popular shows, Game of Thrones would obviously have to live up to some highly held expectations. While it is totally unfair to judge an entire show over the first episode, this review is about to do precisely that. Just a small disclaimer that the show will start to make a lot of sense over the episodes and any questionable behavior will surely have a reasonable explanation in the later episodes. 

The season starts off by introducing the members of the House Targaryen and it isn’t that explosive, to begin with, in terms of action and dragons. However, the brewing politics within a Targaryen household has already started exploring the seams. Right now, the house is in the middle of a discussion around succession. King Viserys (Paddy Considine) is worried that he won’t a successor to his throne. His firstborn, Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), is the perfect candidate, but she’s a woman so clearly she cannot be on the throne (casual misogyny 101), but it’s not like Viserys’ brother, Daemon (Matt Smith) could take it up. He’s battle-hardened and quite the casanova. His closest ally and lover is the dancer Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno). 

Again, it is no surprise that the one Asian character in the show is either a dancer made for visual entertainment (generally the man’s) or a one-dimensional fighter with highlights. Like Fantastic Beasts, where Nagini is a person before becoming another man’s (Voldemort’s) possession, this show seems to follow that tangent too. Again, it is too early to judge an entire show based on this first episode. But as for now, it checks all the boxes for a George R. R. Martin adaptation, violence, politics, nudity, tense family conversations, and the Targaryen favorite, incest. 

After multiple considerations, we see King Viserys claim Princess Rhaenyra as heir to the throne, a move that will set a number of events rolling and move the show forward in all its brilliance. While people are still skeptical of a show trying to follow up Game of Thrones, the expositional aspect should make things interesting once the characters and the setting have been clearly established. Although, the presence of this show begs a larger question about spin-offs and corporations trying to milk money from a previously successful cow. Like Lord of the Rings with its current series or the Star Wars universe churning out content for every character and the Marvel universe releasing sagas of content. 

Essentially franchise fatigue is what most are scared of when it comes to this show. Will it be able to tell a story on its own, or will it just be a cheap copy of something that was once great?

House of the Dragon is currently streaming on HBO Max.