Massive (and risky) prediction, I know. But I’m 99.99% confident that House of The Dragon will surpass Game of Thrones as a better T.V. show (and it won’t even be close).
When Game of Thrones was initially released back in 2011, it was the first show of its kind. There was not an “epic fantasy/political fantasy” show on any channel or streaming service. The genre for television simply did not exist.
“What about Lord of The Rings?” one might ask. “Those were fantasy movies that came out way before GOT. Clearly, a desire for fantasy shows existed.”
That is true, partly. The Lord of the Rings movies of the early 2000’s were similar to GOT (as they both are epic fantasy adaptations), and it was extremely popular. But there is a MASSIVE distinction between the two. They were movies, not a T.V. show.
Moreover, they had hundreds of millions of dollars in budget and used well-known source material to promote to the public. Simply put, as long as the movies were decent, they would be a massive financial success. Luckily for all of us, the movies were phenomenal and have changed pop-culture forever.
(HBO/Game of Thrones YouTube-House of the Dragon-Height of an Empire)
Now, back to GOT, everything that the show achieved (and failed on) pioneered the fantasy television market. As we can now see with dozens of new fantasy shows popping up across every network as they all try to be the next Game of Thrones.
That is one of the major factors as to why House of the Dragon will be better than GOT. It simply has the experience of what worked and didn’t work on GOT in its opening seasons that GOT never had.
Therefore, the second major factor is that HBO is in charge of production on HOTD, as they were on GOT.
The studio almost achieved the impossible with GOT by nearly creating the first, successful fantasy cinematic universe. By 2019, there were dozens of GOT spinoff shows in the works and ready to be pushed out for the impending HBO Max streaming service.
Unfortunately for HBO, Season 8 happened, and the franchise was irrevocably damaged.
Thus, HBO is just now releasing the first GOT spinoff, three years after the end of GOT, in order to revive the franchise.
By hiring Ryan Condal, an avid superfan of the books and experienced director, and Miguel Sapochnik, the best director from GOT, to be the showrunners of HOTD, the studio is clearly demonstrating they are going to give the fans what they want: a book accurate T.V. show.
That is why they also got A Song of Ice And Fire and Fire And Blood creator George R.R. Martin involved with production again as an executive producer. His input was sorely missing from the later seasons of GOT as DB Weiss and David Benioff ruined the show with their arrogant, terrible writing.
(HBO/Game of Thrones YouTube-House of the Dragon-Height of an Empire)
With the experience of the technical aspects and achievements HBO’s production team made on GOT and the minds of Sapochnik, Martin, and Condal creating the best, most lore-accurate story of the Dance of The Dragons, HOTD will have not only the best aspects of GOT’s visuals and CGI, but also a finished, complex story worthy of Emmy and fan admiration.
Speaking of the story, HOTD features the best aspects of GOT all in one plot: politics, complex characters, and dragons.
House of The Dragon’s central story, the Dance of the Dragons, is about the first Targaryen civil war that destroyed the dragons and nearly brought down Westeros and the dynasty.
This was the best (and only, in my opinion) choice that could have followed up Game of Thrones. The characters, plots, courtly intrigues, and dragons from the story all rival the best characters and plots from the main series.
Plus, HOTD’s story has one advantage over GOT: it doesn’t have any White Walkers.
Every fan’s opinion about the dreaded ice zombies and their magical ice monster over-lords was soured with the downfall of the Night King at Winterfell.
D&D’s horrific treatment of the unknown magical elements of Martin’s world (ex: White Walkers, Children of The Forrest, Lord of Light, Prince Who Was Promised Prophecy, Drowned God, Blood Raven, skinchangers, Bran Stark etc.) completely ruined the aura and mystery behind said phenomena.
That is why the $30M Long Night prequel was shelved after the HBO executives saw the pilot. It simply featured the ruined magical elements of GOT too heavily, which would have turned the fanbase away from the franchise forever.
(HBO/Game of Thrones YouTube-House of the Dragon-Height of an Empire)
However, unlike the other magical elements, Dany’s dragons were the only fantastical creatures that remained extremely popular with the fanbase. And, thankfully, the Dance of the Dragons has nearly twenty different, unique dragons to show us.
Finally, judging by some of the reactions posted online by GOT/HOTD fan channels, it is clear that HOTD Episode 1 will be filled with the same morally complex, action-orientated characters and plots that made GOT so beloved.
We can rest assured (as long as these channels are telling us the truth) that HBO has taken their time and incorporated what made GOT so good in the new show.
And that is why I believe House of the Dragon will be better than Game of Thrones ever was.
Images Source: Featured Image: (HBO/Game of Thrones YouTube) (Height of an Empire | House of the Dragon (HBO) – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (HBO/Game of Thrones YouTube) (Height of an Empire | House of the Dragon (HBO) – YouTube)
In Text Image 2: (HBO/Game of Thrones YouTube) (Height of an Empire | House of the Dragon (HBO) – YouTube)
In Text Image 3: (HBO/Game of Thrones YouTube) (Height of an Empire | House of the Dragon (HBO) – YouTube)
