House of the Dragon - Season One Review
By Conor Esslemont
After the infamously disappointing final season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, hesitation at the return of Westeros was entirely understandable. After several promising trailers, though, a sense of skeptical optimism was reached among fans of the classic series for the upcoming House of the Dragon. Upon the show’s debut, that optimism was well rewarded. Set nearly three hundred years before its parent show and sharing none of the same characters, House of the Dragon shares all of the brutal and glorious aspects of Game of Thrones that made it so beloved and controversial, but this time with a lot more dragons.
Spearheaded by showrunners Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, with George R. R. Martin as the executive producer, the series harkens back to the early seasons of Game of Thrones where politics and family drama were at the center of the story –and any character could die at any moment. Unlike the original show, however, House of the Dragon takes place almost entirely in the city of King’s Landing, focusing on the dragon-centric Targaryen family. The result is a much more streamlined story, and far less geographic jumping.
Based on Martin’s Fire and Blood, which reads as a history text instead of a novel, the show begins during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen, who, after years of being unable to produce a male heir, names his daughter Raenyra as his successor thus breaking the tradition of exclusively male succession. After Viserys has a second marriage leading to the birth of a son named Aegon, the conflict between Raenyra and those who would crown Aegon divides the family’s loyalties and sets the stage for a civil war over the Iron Throne, the iconic seat of power which is even pointier than before.
With this premise, House of the Dragon is off to an eager start. The plot has a slow-burning fuse, with superb writing and richly nuanced characters that inhabit every shade of morally gray. In true Westerosi fashion, there are the customary maimings, beheadings, and gruesome murders we’ve come to expect from the franchise. The inclusion of graphic violence and torture (and more incest than ever) is a staple of both series, but the approach to sexuality and nudity is more subdued this time around. The one confusing but necessary part of the series is the time jumps, with anywhere from two to ten years passing between episodes.
These jumps lead to the show’s risky decision to recast two of its leads halfway through the first season, with Raenyra being played by both Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy, and Alicent by Emily Carey and Olivia Cooke. The change requires some adjustment, but this decision pays off as both characters are played fantastically and consistently between their younger and older counterparts.
King Viserys himself is portrayed masterfully and tragically by Paddy Consadine, while Viserys’ brother, the cruel and chaotic Prince Daemon, is played by the ever-charming Matt Smith. Beyond the handful of lead characters, new fans may have difficulty keeping names straight (such as differentiating between Raenyra, Raenys, Raena, Baela, and Laena) which doesn’t hinder any of the enjoyment, but may necessitate a few Google searches.
Then, of course, there are the dragons. Seventeen dragons, to be exact. The lofty visual effects budget allows for a heavy use of the creatures, all of which are uniquely designed and rendered as realistically as possible. Audiences will be able to recognize Caraxes from Syrax, which is no small achievement. The arrival of the dragons, and their subsequent fire and carnage, creates many of the show’s most exciting moments, but somehow manages to never overshadow the story being told.
So, in staying loyal to the source material, House of the Dragon’s first season is a stellar beginning to the prequel show, supported by strong writing and great performances from its ensemble cast. Returning composer Ramin Djawadi’s score is as brilliant as always, and the twists and turns of the story are executed with the proper amount of shock and tragedy, delivering one of the best seasons of television so far this year.
