Well, here we are, just over three years after the finale of Game of Thrones, the sour taste of that final season of one of the most popular television series of the 21st century still lingering on our tongues, to begin another saga set in Westeros. This time, instead of diving into a sprawling epic that encompasses dozens of characters, many locales, and too much story to cover in eight seasons of television, we’re going to spend our time watching the Targaryen dynasty (roughly 200 years before the events of the Thrones finale) nearly come apart at the seams as two heirs fight – with men and dragons – for control of the Iron Throne.
Now, it’s next to impossible to predict whether House of the Dragon will turn out better than its forebearer did, but it has a lot going for it from the jump. First of all, the series lacks the fractured focus of Thrones – instead of tracing a story through various characters, in various places, with various plot threads that only occasionally intersected, the main arc of this series is very clear from the beginning: This is the story of Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith, looking more like Legolas than a Targaryen thus far) fighting against his niece Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock in this first episode, although her older incarnation in later episodes will be portrayed by Emma D’Arcy), King Viserys I’s (a great Paddy Considine) newly named heir to the throne for control of Westeros. Yes, there will be numerous subplots – we can already see Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and her husband Lord Corlys Velaryon (Eve Best and Steve Toussaint) jockeying for position as well as Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) positioning his daughter and Rhaenyra’s best friend Alicent (Emily Carey while Alicent is young, Olivia Cooke in later episodes) to sweep in and gain favor (and a place alongside) the grieving Viserys.
Some of the best elements of Game of Thrones were those of palace and courtly intrigue; watching the various members of the Small Council and the various Houses try to insert themselves into affairs of court, playing the game of thrones in an effort to get ahead. Remember, it was Ned Stark’s inability to play this game that cost him his life in the first season of Thrones. And here, it appears we have a host of characters well-versed in just what it takes to play the game and win. When you factor in the power of dragons, well, that certainly sounds like a complex game to play, indeed.
As a premiere, House of Dragon doesn’t hit the highs of Game of Thrones. Where Thrones presented us with clearly drawn characters – at least several of the key adult characters – Dragon was more concerned with churning through the expositional plot than really giving us a feel for any character outside of Daemon. And, even there, all we really know about him is that he’s convinced he deserves the throne but doesn’t have the proper temperament to rule. Violent, petty, willing to cheat and cut corners, Daemon is spoiled and entitled – and uses the power he has to enact his wants and his will through violence. In our first (but not last, certainly) sexposition scene of the series, we are told that Daemon believes himself the rightful heir. And then, in a later sexposition scene, we are told that his joy in the loss of his nephew (and, it is inferred, sister-in-law) resides in the knowledge that Viserys must now name him the heir to the throne. So, not so much character development as character exposition where we get told what to think and don’t get much time spent with this crucial character to determine how he sees himself.
Similarly, we get very little time with Rhaenyra, our co-lead of the show. We learn that she’s smart but not motivated, that her relationship with her father has been stunted by his desire for a male heir, and that she’s far more concerned with riding her dragon and avoiding her responsibilities because she saw little more in her future than marrying and producing children (who she saw that future with we don’t know, but she has a crush on a common born knight and Daemon certainly was, in true Targaryen way, creepily flirting with her a times during the episode). How her new role as the heir to the throne will change her world view and her work ethic remains to be seen, but for House of the Dragon to reach the great heights of Thrones the series needs to take the time to explore both Rhaenyra and Daemon, color in their characters, and let us understand just what is at stake for the realm should either end up on the throne.
Beginning a series with world building isn’t a bad thing. But when so much of this world has already been built – albeit a future version where the Targaryens have failed in their goal to keep the realm united for the winter that is coming – it’s disappointing to not get more character foundations rather than story foundation right out of the gate. That being said, this is the beginning of a long war to come. We have lots of story to get through and time for the characters to grow. I, for one, am intrigued to see just how interesting this history of the Targaryen dynasty turns out to be.
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I hope they turn this into an anthology series, featuring all the major Targaryen events: Dance of the Dragons, Blackfyre rebellion, Doom of Valyria, Aegon’s Conquest, and Robert’s rebellion. They wouldn’t even have to make a new series, this one’s already named, “House of the Dragon“.
I really like how each dragon has its own look, they’re not basically copied and pasted from one. They seem to all be different sizes and colours which makes this show seem like more attention was paid to the detail.