The House of the Dragon - Season 1

Wherein I Talk About THE Fantasy TV Show

This isn’t an in-depth analysis or anything, just general thoughts about the show my wife and I have been watching lately.

My history with Game of Thrones goes back to the books. In the early 2000s, my brother gave me the first book. He gave it his highest recommendation. I was in my 20s, and somehow, a court drama with vague references to something supernatural won me over. I’m not sure how George R.R. Martin did it. I wasn’t reading much then, but I ate those books up like the Cookie Monster, sloppily and filled with crumbs.

What was a juggernaut in fantasy novels became must-watch television for seven-and-a-half seasons before the audience turned on the show and proclaimed it the worst thing to happen to television since the ending of Lost.

It is a complicated story. George, the writer of The Game of Thrones, has never finished the series. I love this clip where he asks Stephen King how he writes so fast.

The TV series caught up to where George had written to and then had to stand alone on its merit. If you didn’t know, internet fandom is fickle. They turned on The Game of Thrones show, declaring the last season a failure.

My take is that without George’s beautifully rendered plots and fantastic characterization to guide the show, it suffered. The writers of the final season no longer had a final document to work from, and it is apparent when you’re watching the show.

Despite the critical response of fans, people watched the final season. It was ‘essential’ viewing.

Let me take a second to talk about the show’s first six seasons. Firstly, never before had we seen such a wonderfully rendered fantasy world on television. Secondly, the first season let us know that no one in the series was safe when they killed Sean Bean by beheading him. Thirdly, there were a lot of strange, sexy times in this fantasy world - and people mostly loved that. I’m sure there were more reasons people loved the show (ahem, characters and plot), but these three things made the show special.

Anyway, the show ended. People died, people lived, the dragons came back, and the Ice Walkers murdered the North. It had the requisite seventeen endings in true Peter Jackson LOTR fashion, and then - seventeen sequels and prequels were announced.

As it goes in Hollywood.

One of those prequels was called The House of the Dragon.

Yes, we’ve finally caught up to my initial talking point.

My wife and I tried to watch this when it first came out, but we were in a puritanical moment, and Game of Thrones isn’t something you want to watch when you are trying to clear your mind of violence.

There are always tricky scenes in this fucking show. The first episode will break you if you don’t want violence. There is a difficult birth (one of many in this series), and a newborn is removed from its mother, killing the mother (the infant dies moments later - spoiler).

And yet, years later, here I am, watching this series. In fact, I have one episode left.

Here’s the thing. I haven’t read Blood and Ice, the book this series is based on, so I have no idea what will happen. Once again, this is a court intrigue, but this time, they start you off with dragons from day one.

One man, King Viserys, is trying his best to get his family to get along. If you think you have a strange family dynamic, watching this show will make you feel better about your dysfunctional Christmas dinners.

Your POV character is Rhaenyra, his heir, the first woman to have this ‘honour’ bestowed on her. The show is the fallout of what happens after this event.

Everyone has a bad time, and the family is dysfunctional. It's a bit of an understatement, but I’ll leave it like that for those inclined to watch.

As you get deeper into the season, things get progressively worse, making the show compelling. It is like watching a train wreck. Once again, I don’t know what will happen in this show, and that is where they get me. Relationships blossom and sour in every episode. Characters you like are beheaded. Everyone sleeps together, never with the person you want them to sleep with.

Writing about it without spoiling it isn't easy, but I’ll discuss specific performances.

Emma D’arcy shares the standout role of Rhaenyra with Milly Alcock. They play the same character in two time periods. Both are wonderful. Emma’s first scene is so good. She has just given birth and is summoned by her queen. What a way to enter a show!

We can thank the House of the Dragon’s press for giving us Emma’s negroni moment. It sailed many people’s boats.

Olivia Cooke, also featured in the video, is wonderful as Alicent Hightower (These names! They’re so fantasy!!), a role she shares with Emily Carey. The character is one that becomes more and more entrenched in their moral chastity as the episodes progress. It is something that is reflected wonderfully by the costuming and prop department.

Matt Smith, as a Doctor Who fan, is wonderful. His role as Daemon Targaryen, is such a departure from his Doctor Who character, and I love when an actor gets to stretch themselves.

Everyone in the show is great. If you watch the series, you’ll probably end up hating them all.

In summary, The House of the Dragon is a brutal, bloodthirsty series where you’ll hate everyone and if you like someone they will die or turn into someone horrid. If that sounds like a good time, then you’re in luck, the second season is coming out this summer.

It constantly surprised me and horrified me and there were a lot of ick-y scenes that made you want to scrub yourself down afterwards. So job well done, I expected this series to be a whole load of garbage and it was pretty great. Just make sure you’re mentally prepared.