Best Series About Sibling Rivalries from House of Dragon, Game of Thrones to Succession
Siblings Rivalry between families can be brutal, violent, treacherous, and even bloody. Still, it is also exciting and arouses curiosity when we see it in the form of a good series, where the consequences and the price to pay can be very high. The story of House of the Dragon, for example, revolves around a rivalry between siblings who want the throne, and between people who believe they can gain power and privilege through this. But the “Dance of the Dragons” is not the only battle between siblings played out on television.
7 Brutal Series About Sibling Rivalry (like House of the Dragon)
And yes, your siblings can be the people who know you best, the ones who accompany you in your best and worst moments, the ones who defend you from everything, and the ones who are there unconditionally, but they can also be destructive forces, who know perfectly where and how to attack to leave you destroyed. Most of us love our siblings, but a little rivalry can arise for many reasons, such as a battle for the throne, for the CEO position in the family company, or for parental approval, or at least that’s how it happens in the series.
Game of Thrones
Before House of the Dragon, there was Game of Thrones, where we got to see the rivalry between the Lannister siblings (Cersei and Tyrion), but also between the Targaryen siblings (Daenerys and Viserys), and the Baratheon siblings (Stannis and Renley). The series takes place after the death of King Robert Baratheon, which leaves his son Joffrey as king of the 7 kingdoms, and some of the leaders of the most powerful houses wanting to take the throne from him, including Daenerys Targaryen, who decides to make a long journey to King’s Landing to reclaim the throne that was taken from her family.
House of the Dragon
This period drama is brutal, dramatic, intriguing, and violent, and best reflects how savage sibling feuds can be. The series takes place many years before Game of Thrones and begins when Viserys I sat on the throne. Upon his death, he leaves his daughter Rhaenyra as his heir, but his second wife, Alicent, takes the crown for her son Aegon II, sparking a brutal family war as both sides seek to claim the throne but end up dividing the kingdom and unleashing a wave of violence, blood, and fire.
Succession
This HBO series shows the rivalry between the Roy brothers. Starring Brian Cox, Sarah Snook, and Kieran Culkin, this series begins when the patriarch of the Roy family says he is going to retire and intends to leave one of his sons as the head of the family company, but in the end, he does not retire and pushes his children into a battle, where each one tries to do everything possible to beat the others and stay with the highest position in the million-dollar business, full of secrets, problems and bad decisions that can destroy them all.
The Sandman
Tom Sturridge stars in this fantasy series that also features a rivalry between immortal and powerful brothers. Sandman is something of a god of dreams, who manages to escape after spending decades as a prisoner of a human who intended to use him for his own benefit. After regaining his freedom, Sandman discovers that his realm is in disarray and that his most powerful tools are missing, so he must recover them before someone else finds them and unleashes even more chaos and darkness with them.
Downton Abbey
This iconic period drama series features a sibling rivalry that isn’t as destructive as House of the Dragon but is also intense and causes plenty of trouble. The series follows the Crawley family, a wealthy family from early 20th century England, who must deal with changes in society, finding good husbands for their daughters, a series of family tragedies, their business dealings, and the need to have an heir to manage all of the family’s properties.
The Acolyte
The Star Wars series with Amandla Sternberg stars twins who don’t get along at all and who are at the center of a conspiracy connected to 4 Jedi and the dark side of the force. It all begins when several Jedi masters are killed by a mysterious warrior, leading a master and his padawan to search for a student who abandoned the order and who seems to have an important connection to what is happening and to a powerful villain who marks the birth of the dark side.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Zuko and Azula have one of the most brutal sibling rivalries, both being children of the Fire Lord and both wanting to gain their father’s approval. In the series, two siblings from the water tribe find the Avatar trapped in ice, free him, and help him carry out his quest to learn to control all the elements in an attempt to bring peace and balance to the world, all while the fire nation tries to dominate everyone else. Zuko is an exiled prince who seeks out Avatar to try to regain his honor and prove to his father that he is the warrior he can trust.
