House of the Dragon Episode 1 Review: Fire and Blood In The Name Of The Iron Throne! Game Of Thrones Is Back

Cast: Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint

Director: Miguel Sapochnik

Streaming Platform: HBO Max

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4.5/5 (four and half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Criticism of the first episode of House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel that HBO Max launches on August 21, 2022, as its big bet. Game of Thrones has left all viewers with a brand of fire, so it was lawful that at some point it would try to replicate its success with a series derived from that one, which brought together large masses in front of the television, and it is even more logical it stars Kings of Flame: House of the Dragon. Several circumstances are combined to make it an optimal decision: only a blockbuster can take advantage of the dragons, in their splendor at the time of the Targaryens’ reign; there is a long book, “Fire and Blood”, in which the deeds of the noble house are narrated (and it is a closed story) and the circumstances concur so that the epic fantasy is living a happy moment.

We do not think we offend anyone if we firmly affirm that Game of Thrones was one of the largest, most important and probably also unrepeatable serial phenomena in the history of TV – on the other hand, a few weeks ago we had already tried (perhaps in vain) to encourage everyone to make peace with the last season. But if for some reason you are still not convinced, or if you have even partially forgotten the strength of those stories invented by George RR Martin and then skillfully transposed into images by HBO, do not worry because most likely this prequel entitled House of the will take care of it. Dragon to change your mind. And we assure you that just a few notes will be enough – the famous and beloved ones by Ramin Djawadi, once again the author of the soundtrack – to bring us all back to Westeros.

House of the Dragon Episode 1 Review: The Story

The plot of House of the Dragon is set almost two centuries before the events seen in Game of Thrones: a good 172 years before Daenerys was born and her father, the Mad King, was assassinated by Jamie Lannister. When dragons still ruled the skies and their masters, the Targaryens, were in absolute control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. But even if we are talking about very earlier times and we can therefore find ourselves disoriented during so many families we do not know, of one thing we can be certain: that iron throne forged by over a thousand swords is and will always be the ambition of many and the cause of wars and intrigues within the Red Fortress as well as elsewhere. And it is precisely from the proclamation of the new King Viserys Targaryen (a convincing Paddy Considine) preferred, as a man, to his cousin Rhaenys Velaryon that the problems begin: at the same time as the coronation alliances, feuds and vendettas are born that will last decades and will have repercussions on the entire continent.

All for a throne made of swords. In its essence, therefore, the plot may seem the same as in the original series; the substantial difference, however, lies in the fact that in Game of Thrones it was precisely the sudden lack of a King that caused the beginning of the “game of thrones” between multiple enemy families and very different from each other, while here it all begins with the settlement of new monarch who in reality does nothing but consolidate the absolute supremacy of the Targaryens. Unlike GOT, here there is no rooting for one family or another, all the intrigues (or almost) are at court in King’s Landing, just as (almost) all the fights are internal. As a result, the narrative is much less fragmented, with a few “jumps” from one part of Westeros to another and not as many “points of view” as we were used to.

House of the Dragon Episode 1 Review and Analysis

House of the Dragon was born with the clear intention of not leaving the fans of the Game of Thrones franchise orphaned from the best atmospheres of Game of Thrones. And in this, starting from an exciting and emotional pilot, the show conceived by Martin and Ryan J. Condal can be said to be fully successful. The first element that strikes those who loved Game of Thrones is the strong sense of nostalgia, well expressed by the tones of a product that wants to be first a clear and heartfelt tribute to the first seasons of GOT. The intrigues and plots of the court are at the center of a story that puts aside the action and the chivalrous epic typical of the most recent iterations of Game of Thrones, but without giving up a sumptuous staging and treated in detail.

In the wake of the source material, in which George RR Martin outlines with the usual precision a political plot in which fantasy is only the frame, in the same way, House of the Dragon puts the characters and their introspection at the center of its narrative mixture and their respective evolutions (a few days ago we introduced you to the characters of House of the Dragon). Competitors of a new “Game of the Throne”, perhaps not quite as compelling as the main work, but expertly orchestrated and conducted by excellent protagonists. In the first five episodes, at the end of which there is a time jump that moves the story towards rather different tones and developments, the ground is slowly prepared for the second half of the story, which begins with an extremely intriguing and dramatic sixth episode. To tell the truth, all the episodes turned out to be extremely intense, always lasting more than 50 minutes and sometimes even more than 60 minutes, but full of well-paced and never boring content.

Yes, thanks to writing that has so far proved to be excellent, as well as to a cast that we have appreciated not a little, but also to an extremely solid direction and a virtually flawless visual sector, which projects the series on peaks of absolute excellence. Despite not having a central role in the story, dragons often and willingly occupy important minutes: sequences that show the muscles of the VFX department, powerful and tending to levels even higher than the last two seasons of Game of Thrones. House of the Dragon does not even skimp on violence through scenes of rare rawness, at times even more bloody than Game of Thrones. In short, the highly anticipated fantasy show by HBO and Warner seems to have started on the right foot: close to GOT fans for nostalgia and themes, respectful of everything that made Martin’s work sumptuous in the staging, and ready to occupy another place in the Olympus of the television industry.

The writers, Ryan J. Condal and George RR Martin himself present us with someone to love and someone to hate, but the characters don’t have the charisma of the original series and the story doesn’t go to the open grave like that one. There is also not much room for maneuver to surprise the audience, who have the feeling of having already seen everything in this fictional universe. Take for example the first joust, the battles that we remember as something completely new, or the physical and sexual violence. Until the first flight of a dragon or on the back of this fantastic creature.

Be that as it may, The House of the Dragon starts off showing muscle and giving an account of how careful the production is with very high values ​​in all departments. The bar is very high and there is a real desire to satisfy the spectators by putting in front of them a very juicy dish in which nothing is missing. We miss, yes, something new and genuine. The good news is therefore for the laymen who enter this world now, that there will be some. For them, being everything new, it will be easier to be dazzled.

Blood on Blood: When Repeating A Master Move Is Impossible

The worst enemy of House of the Dragon is Game of Thrones. The characters, the story, and how new and exciting it was to experience a trip to Westeros for the first time… It can’t be repeated, just like you can’t bathe twice in the same waters. Although it is reasonable (and even desirable) for there to be continuity between the two series, it is very difficult for the latter to overcome the ghost of the first and find its tone. Already in the first episode, there are bloody deaths, and explicit sex and the plot core is raised, but it lacks grit, despite the more than correct main performances and having Miguel Sapochnik as showrunner and director.

He, who had just shot some of the most celebrated episodes of the series, such as “Battle of the Bastards” or “The Long Night”, among others, does an excellent job composing very well-choreographed and colorful sequences, but this first episode It doesn’t have anywhere near the impact that “Winter is Coming” had. It’s also not fair to judge House of the Dragon purely comparatively, of course, but he makes it hard not to. They say that every time a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin. HBO has launched it and we are clear that they want it to be expensive again, but it has barely started its journey and it is starting to turn. Next week, we will continue to report on the progress, and we trust that it will continue to consolidate: the foundations are very good.

The Princess On The Iron Throne

However, what is evident is the central importance in the story of the figure of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen: daughter of the King and natural heir to the throne, she has a strong character from a very young age and for this reason, she is much loved by the people and subjects but also feared. by those who would never want to see a woman reign over Westeros. Brilliantly interpreted, in the first five episodes, by the Australian Milly Alcock, Rhaenyra seems to be the absolute protagonist of the series, with a look and a character not too dissimilar from that of her future descendant Daenerys. However, if the future Queen of Dragons had to fight all her life to return to King’s Landing and take that crown back by force, Rhaenyra is already destined for the throne, she has already been promised by her father several times and publicly, but she knows very well that she too will have to fight to get what is due to her by birth, but that not everyone will recognize them.

Because she is a woman: a theme that is much more present and accentuated than GOT, which makes this House of the Dragon particularly fascinating and very current, perhaps even more than the previous series was. Some very courageous and “modern” choices of Rhaenyra, as well as the often stormy relationships with her family or her childhood friend Alicent Hightower, capture the attention of the viewer but at the same time make us part of those same intrigues, inserting ourselves in situations where there is no way out. And this is how, episode after episode, the plot becomes more and more dense and complex while always keeping the princess herself at its center.

House of the Dragon Episode 1 Review: The Last Words

House of the Dragon seems like everything Game of Thrones fans could wish for: while not reaching the charisma and writing quality of the original work, the first episodes push a lot on the nostalgia factor, on the music and on the atmospheres that have captivated for years the Game of Thrones fandom. Then, however, the story takes a turn of its own, thanks to effective characters and excellent acting interpretations. On everything, even though the story remains well written in our opinion, the quality of a staging that wants to fly high again, surmounting the bulk of the television industry by several spans: thanks to the product range of the project, of now mammoth levels, and the VFX department, but also of the directorial contribution.