by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Game of Thrones is one of the most talked-about, captivating, and divisive shows of the last 12 years. Fans are rabid about the show, defending and theorizing any detail they see on screen. But the show was undeniably different after they ran out of source material from George R.R. Martin. I was not in the camp that thought the final few seasons were a train wreck. I liked numerous details of the last few seasons, but I also think the show didn’t stick the landing. I also firmly believe that the final few seasons of Game of Thrones had unreasonably high expectations. So when they announced a spinoff series, which eventually became House of the Dragon, I didn’t know how to react.
The first season wrapped up now, and there’s a lot to say about it.
House of the Dragon, created by Ryan J. Condal and George R.R. Martin, is about the Targaryen dynasty when they were the main ruling house of Westeros. We follow the rule of King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) and his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra (played by both Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy). She is the heir to the Iron Throne. Lines of succession become an issue as conflicting interests and parties look to make their play in the game of thrones. House of the Dragon takes place almost 200 years before the original Game of Thrones series. The first season is 10 episodes and is now streaming on HBO Max.
Trigger warnings right off the bat. There are a lot of things in this series that will trigger a lot of people. Topics ranging from sexual assault to incest and murder to extremely gory kills are all at play. In essence, everything that you think you’d get from a Game of Thrones show is what you end up getting. I understand House of the Dragon will not be for everyone, nor will it be a show that can ever live up to the insane expectations set forth for it.
House of the Dragon is, above almost everything else, about a family and the political games they play. Season One is the world’s largest chess game, and is all opening moves. With opening moves, there is a great deal of waiting around for the opportunity to form a strategy. This season had a tall order: to introduce a ton of new characters, introduce the central conflict, and wait for the payoff down the road. There’s a part of me that struggles with how much happened in the first season of House of the Dragon.Introducing a lot of characters is tough enough. Season One of Game of Thrones has a similar issue. It’s overwhelming the number of characters they introduce.
Performances across the board are amazing. I have a few standouts that I think will be there for awards consideration at some point down the road. Considine’s performance as King Viserys is the steady hand House of the Dragon needed before it plunges into chaos. Viserys is known as a peaceful king, which gives him a calming presence and warmth the show lacks for much of the season. Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) is a calculating and ruthless player in the game for the Iron Throne. He strengthens his role as the hand of the king by positioning his daughter, Alicent (Emily Carey and Olivia Cooke), as a potential suitor for royalty due to the events of the first episode. I’ve always been a fan of Ifans’ performances, but I didn’t think he had this type of performance in him.
A character I’m conflicted with is Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith). I will give Smith credit for the range of his performance. Daemon, as a character, though, is unredeemable based on the events of Season One. He’s ruthless and violent, but he is also a skilled warrior and cares about his family deeply. His relationship with Viserys, his brother, is filled with ebbs and flows, and conflicts that drive a wedge between them. They find ways to be brought back together, and the final time we see them on screen together when Daemon helps Viserys on the throne is an amazing scene.
This leaves Rhaenyra and Alicent. Both characters are flawed, care deeply for their family, and experience a fair amount of loss. Their friendship at the beginning of the season captures how alike they are, and how being thrust into politics is toxic to both of them. The younger versions of Rhaenyra (Alcock) and Alicent (Carey) show the events that would shape them into the women they become. There is more of a focus on Alcock’s performance, as she is named the heir to the iron throne. Young Rhaenyra has an arrogance and entitlement that gets her into trouble, but she learns valuable lessons about what it means to rule. Alcock does a fantastic job of portraying naivety with a sense of street smarts. Carey portrays the role of a young Alicent Hightower with duty and dignity, that also shows grace and poise. She eventually succumbs to power that requires her to play politics. She doesn’t have much of a choice, as she will get left behind without playing politics.
D’Arcy and Cooke both give incredible performances as the adult versions. D’Arcy, in particular, gets a lot of time to flex their acting chops. In the last few episodes, Rhaenyra is put through the gauntlet as her life is thrust into chaos. D’Arcy manages to convey not only Rhaenyra’s grief, but her anger over everything that transpires as well. She has the strongest closing performance, particularly in the finale. I also appreciate what the show was trying to say about women in power and how unfair it is that women are kept to such high standards, but men can get away with so much because they’re men. It doesn’t get the message all the way through, but it makes an impact with the attempts.
The directing, the set design, and the special effects all deserve recognition. Miguel Sapochnik returns to Westeros to direct three of the episodes for season one. He and Clare Kilner, who also directed three episodes, stand out as top brass for how wonderfully the show is shot, and how each of them gets the absolute best from all the performers. The set designs, particularly all the castles around Westeros, are beautiful, and each of them shows personality from their respective kingdoms. Driftwood, Storm’s End, and Dragonstone all are gorgeous set pieces, and props to the set design department for their work of triumph. The dragons all look amazing. There’s a scene in the finale that showed two dragons flying next to each other in the rainy sky which is pitch-perfect. I certainly hope they can keep the effects up.
The promise of what’s to come is an intriguing thing to give a show credit for, yet here I am doing that with House of the Dragon. It’s a testament to how Season One ends, and I find myself very excited for what’s to come. Unfortunately, that does lend to frustrations with the pacing of season one and how the story felt all over the place. With so many different characters and story beats to hit, it’s a wonder to see how the showrunners managed to jam as much into Season One. Yet I still also feel like not a lot happened.
Sure, there is a case of prequel-itis House of the Dragon. I was glad to see that they kept the original Game of Thrones theme music, but updated the map to reflect the current time. We see a lot of kingdoms name-dropped in the last few episodes of the season because of the brewing conflict to come. Since we know this will eventually bleed over to Game of Thrones, it’s hard to invest in characters and stories since we know where this overarching story eventually ends up.
As much as I think the performances are great, all of these characters are pretty loathsome, and there isn’t a single likable one in the bunch. King Viserys is the closest I can think of as a character that I can root for. Everyone else is playing the game to the best of their ability. I’m a big fan of house Velaryon, particularly Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). The Sea Snake (amazing nickname by the way) wavers his allegiance through most of the show. As frustrating as it is to see him waffling like that, I do like where he ends up by the end of the season.
All of this is to say, I have issues with the plot and the storytelling devices used in this season. The span of the show depicts way too much time, and it leaves the series open to, “hey remember when this happened off-screen?” as a way to solve most of the problems that could come up with the show. We are given a conflict in the first three episodes involving the Crabfeeder (Daniel Scott-Smith) which is resolved quickly. I wasn’t sure what the purpose was of having that storyline, as it could have easily been drawn out a little longer. In addition, the central conflict that is to come when it comes to succession boils down to a grand misunderstanding by Alicent. I wasn’t a fan of how inorganic this conflict became, and how not enough people questioned the legitimacy of her proposal.
I’m torn on what to do with House of the Dragon. Season One has some great moments of directing and cinematography, as well as amazing performances from the majority of the cast. Between the pacing, the lack of someone to root for, and the overall story, this is a good but not great attempt to reintroduce us to Game of Thrones. I’m excited for what’s to come, but frustrated with how we got there this season. This feels like backstory, history, and introducing what this will be about in the future. That’s all good and well, but they forgot to give us some of the better stuff I’m sure they’re setting up for future seasons.
Score: 7/10
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