House Of The Dragon: Celebrities attend UK premiere in London
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There’s recognisable elements from Game of Thrones: the cast, the political schemers, the dastardly villains, the obligatory brothel scenes, and of course the sky-high production values, but this is a very different story. Smaller in its ambition compared to the apocalyptic, end of the world prophetic stuff of Thrones which kept viewers on the edge of their seats.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from House of the Dragon episode 1
Within the first episode of Game of Thrones, viewers were taken on an epic journey starting with the impending approach of the White Walkers beyond the Wall and ending with Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) hurling Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) out of a window after the child discovered his affair with his Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey).
House of the Dragon has no such theatrics or cliffhanger with the show quietly setting up the main players and placing us within the correct period of Targaryen history.
The title card is at pains to stress this story is set well before Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and the destruction of the Iron Throne and not to expect any familiar faces to pop up.
House of the Dragon’s creator and veteran Game of Thrones director Miguel Sapoochnik, along with the show’s writer Ryan Condal, have said they tried to take the best bits from the multi-Emmy-winning series and change other bits, most notably featuring black actors in the show.
Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin is also involved with the show, which mines the Targaryen history book Fire and Blood for its source material.
Game of Thrones was known for its slow-burning storytelling but even the opening episode of House of the Dragon feels stilted.
Each season of Game of Thrones was never the sums of its parts but as a whole told an impressive, wide-ranging story, and perhaps the same may be true of House of the Dragon but only time will tell as the series goes on.
Perhaps the verdict come the season one finale will be very different when the whole arc has played out.
The casting has been well done. Standouts include Matt Smith – who is no stranger to filling big shoes thanks to Doctor Who – makes a suitably hateable villain as would-be heir Daemon Targaryen with echoes of Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), thanks to his mercurial demeanour coupled with his penchant for indiscriminate violence and rutting.
Rhys Ifans makes for a steely Hand of the King as Otto Hightower, who hides his ambition behind a mask of unwavering loyalty, sending his young daughter Alicent (Emma Carey) to “comfort” the grief-stricken king in his hour of need.
Both Steve Toussaint and Eve Best show promise as Ser Corlys Velareon and Rhanys Targaryen respectively.
Paddy Considine gives a good turn as the kindly King Viserys, whose naivety will see him fall prey to all around him as Daemon warns him.
There are also some character parallels with flashes of Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) and Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) when Rhaenrya says she wishes to be a knight on the battlefield and the aforementioned Daemon.
Perhaps one of the more jarring moments comes from the City Watch’s wanton slaughter of “rapers” and criminals with Daemon meting out some hefty penalties including a public and stomach-churning castration; the whole sequence feels like gratuitous violence rather than truly serving the story.
In fact, there are lots of unnecessary moments of visceral gore, climaxing in Aemma Arryn’s (Sian Brooke) forced cesarean birth juxtaposed with knights smashing each other to bloody pieces at the tourney supposedly celebrating the birth of her son.
HBO already has one family drama about empire-building and backstabbing siblings, does it really need another one, albeit set in a medieval fantasy world complete with dragons?
This is what Game of Thrones does Succession looks like with mixed results.
All in all, House of the Dragon does show promise for great things ahead with the series opener slowly setting the scene and bedding it.
The show has been beautifully shot and acted with the characters brought onto the stage and events put in motion.
The jury is out on whether House of the Dragon could ever best its parent but again this remains to be seen.
Make no mistake, House of the Dragon is no Game of Thrones. This is a political drama with lower stakes and could be compelling in its own right, just don’t expect this prequel to usurp its predecessor’s crown any time soon.
House of the Dragon airs on HBO on Sundays and Sky Atlantic on Mondays and streams on NOW
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