House Of The Dragon Premier Was OUTSTANDING, Lived Up To Expectations

Thank the Seven that HBO revived this franchise. The House of the Dragon premier blew away all expectations as the show burned the stain of Game of Thrones Season 8 with a fantastic episode.

I knew this series was going to be good, and I’m glad I was proven right. For the past three years, every fan of this franchise has had to either live with watching the dreaded reruns of GOT Season 8 or listen to critics bemoan and disrespect this series before it even came out.

I’m so happy that the ‘haters’ of HOTD were proven wrong as Episode 1: Heirs of the Dragon was outstanding.

The use of a prologue scene of the Great Council of 101 to introduce the succession crisis theme was a brilliant decision by showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik. It not only emphasized how bitter a rift a succession issues can create, but also foreshadowed what is to come of our main character: Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.

Let me just say that Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra Targaryen was yet another brilliant casting choice by HBO. She nailed the role of the sassy, brave, endearing, yet self-doubting young princess who is forced to fight for her right to rule. Plus, her dragon Syrax was really cool.

Moreover, Rhaenyra’s friendship with Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) was one of the standout moments of the show as both girls’ troubles, fears, joys, etc. provided a much more grounded, personal look at the world of Westeros that was sorely missing from Seasons 5, 6, 7, 8 of GOT.

It was refreshing to watch two people just interact and function in their environments (as any other human would), rather than always being focused on killing White Walkers and seizing the Iron Throne.

Now, don’t let me fool you into thinking that the game for the Iron Throne isn’t in full swing. Because it is.

In fact, it’s in swing more than ever before with the introduction of Ser Otto Hightower, King Viserys Targaryen, Queen Aemma Arryn, and Prince Daemon Targaryen. If it wasn’t for these four characters and their actors, I would have said that Milly Alcock’s Rhaenyra was the obvious standout performance. But it really isn’t as I could make a case for any of these five characters having the best story.

That’s just how good these actors were. Especially Aemma Arryn and King Viserys.

Sian Brooke (Aemma Arryn) and Paddy Considine (King Viserys) were outstanding as they portrayed the most realistic marriage/love story I’ve ever seen in the GOT/HOTD universe.

Ned Stark and Cat Tully and Jon Snow and Ygritte’s love stories from GOT were really great too, but there was just something different with how Paddy Considine and Sian Brooke’s on-screen chemistry matched. They just seemed like an actual couple that has been in love for years.

And when you add Rhaenyra into that mix, their familial bond seemed as authentic as the Stark one did from Season 1 of GOT.  It really gave a familial drama that was sorely lacking past Season 4 of GOT.

I wish we could have seen more from Aemma Arryn, but her death was obvious from the start as we already knew Alicent and Viserys eventually get married. Still, that doesn’t make me miss Aemma Arryn any less.

And how about that Aemma Arryn childbirth scene. That was just brutal.

Speaking of brutal, Otto Hightower and Daemon Targaryen fit that description like a glove. But in their own, unique ways.

Whether through Otto Hightower’s shrewd and ruthless political machinations (such as getting Daemon banished from court), or through Daemon Targaryen’s violent, blunt force methods (such as his tourney jousting and punishment of the King’s Landing criminals), both of these characters were able to brutally get their opinions and wills across to the King’s Landing court.

Furthermore, their hatred for one another just makes their characters so much better.

The utter hatred Matt Smith’s Daemon and Rhys Ifans Otto displayed to one another was a fantastic testament to the acting skills of Smith and Ifans. You could physically feel the hatred in the characters eyes and words each time they were forced to interact with one another. Especially in the tourney scene.

When Daemon Targaryen specifically singled out Otto’s son to joust, dishonorably defeated him by crippling his horse and injuring the young Hightower knight, then received Alicent Hightower’s favor (who is Otto’s daughter and Gwayene’ brother) immediately afterward to simply provoke Otto, I couldn’t help but laugh.

The sheer hatred Otto displayed, even though he was just sitting down, towards Daemon as he was celebrating was just too hilarious not to laugh at.

I’m expecting even more great scene between these two characters.

Moving on, as I already mentioned, the tourney and childbirth scenes were by far the best moments of the show. They had everything that made Game of Thrones great: fantastic storytelling, emotional character deaths, breathtaking action/fight scenes, high stakes political maneuvering, and devious plotting (which I’ll get to in a second).

Season 8 had great action scenes and emotional characters deaths, but there was a distinct lack of plotting, consequence, and top-notch storytelling. Obviously, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapohcnik wanted to ‘right that wrong’ with this episode. And they more than did that.

The episode ended brilliantly with an emotional Aemma Arryn and Prince Baelon funeral scene, Daemon Targaryen’s subsequent exile to the Vale, Alicent and Otto’s plot to seduce Viserys (well, Alicent doing it, not Otto; I don’t think any of us want to see that), and Rhaenyra being named heir to the Iron Throne.

That Rhaenyra scene was another great moment as each lord bowing before, some more reluctantly than others (cough…Lord Baratheon…cough) was a great set-up into how troublesome her eventual rise to the Iron Throne will be.

Whew, what a ride that episode was. I haven’t been that excited for an GOT-related show/media entity since Episode 1 of Season 8 acme out. Thankfully, this episode was not even remotely disappointing.

Anyway, to get to a few theories I have for the rest of the season: 1. I think Grand Maester Mellos killed baby Prince Baelon (he was alive when he was born, then died when put into Mellos’ care), 2. Otto Hightower and the maesters are plotting with one another (and he could have ordered Baelon’s death), 3. The Maesters are purposefully letting Viserys’ wound become infected in order to kill him and get the realm to turn on the Targaryens.

As for my critiques of the episode, I wish we saw more from Princess Rhaenys and Lord Corlys Velaryon. The few glimpses we saw from these characters showed how spectacular Steve Toussiant (Corly Velaryon) and Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) will be as these two, but I wish we could’ve seen more.

And the whole “Aegon I knew about the White Walkers prophecy” was kind of dumb.

I realize that the show had to tie in the White Walkers plot to this series for continuity, but the utter disappointment that the Night King and his walkers ended up being is still a sore spot to remind the fans of. Hopefully, they keep this revelation and secrecy on the backburner.

Why did Aegon the Conqueror write the prophecy on a random Valyrian steel dagger? Why not put it on Blackfyre, his legendary Valyrian steel sword, that was passed down from king to heir for centuries? That seems like a far easier way to keep this secret as only the king and his heir would have access to the blade, and a five-foot long sword is a lot harder to lose than a small hand dagger.

I’m surprised no one has lost that thing already.

Anyway, those are only small issues I have, and shouldn’t matter too much once the season trudges along. Nonetheless, House of the Dragon Episode 1: Heirs of the Dragon gets an 9.1/10 from me, and I’m super excited to see where Episode 2 and beyond takes us in House Targaryen’s journey.

 

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