“House of the Dragon” premiered three Sundays ago and it fucking rocks. It had been almost three years since the controversial ending (to put it mildly) to Game of Thrones that we had some original GOT content.
HOTD is telling the story of the fall of House Targaryen. The Targaryen dynasty existed well before the events of GOT, and while Daneryus is one of the most famous GOT characters, we know relatively little about what her ancestry ruling was like.
Through three episodes of HOTD, I think it’s safe to say that I’m ready to get hurt again. The writing, acting, and storytelling through about 180 minutes of content have been elite. HOTD reminds me of the earlier seasons of GOT where politics moved so much of the plot. Even with relatively little action, HOTD is must-see TV.
Focused on King Viserys, HOTD is currently centered around the drama of succession. Viserys, in the first episode, lost his wife and son in childbirth, leaving only his daughter, Rhaenrya, to be next in line for the succession of the crown. A queen had never ruled in the seven kingdoms up to that point, and the the pressure to set up a line of succession started to eat at Viserys.
What’s interesting about HOTD that game of Thrones never had is the time moved between each episode. GOT takes place over, roughly, ten years, about a year per season. HOTD is different, moving about two years in between every episode. I really like this, it makes every scene that much more important and lets us see huge plot lines move quicker.
The most recent episode was the best one yet. We finally got to see some large-scale action, including some really cool dragon scenes. Despite this, the best part of the episode was the hand-to-hand combat led by Dameon, Viserys brother and a rival for succession. You have to watch the scene for yourself, but it’s arguably one of the best combat scenes in the GOT universe already.
This is all to say that HOTD is the best show on television right now, and even though HBO Max has the worst streaming platform you could possibly think of, it’s still worth getting it just to see the awesomeness that is HOTD.
