‘House Of the Dragon’ Episode One: ‘Game Of Thrones’ is Back, Baby

House of the Dragon brings back the disgraced fantasy series for a redemption arc.

House of the Dragon brings the spirit of the early seasons of Game of Thrones back to HBO. There are tons of exciting moments to dive into, so without any ado –

Warning: Spoilers ahead! 

For years, Game of Thrones was on top of the world. Not just as a fantasy show, but as a TV show in general. Then came a few series of declines. Finally, Season 8 was widely decried by… just about everyone. Many people noted that the show’s very legacy was ruined by Season 8 and the show’s end. Now HBO and George R.R. Martin are back with a prequel set nearly 200 years before Game of Thrones. Does it redeem the series’ legacy?

The Plot

House of the Dragon, episode one was overall pretty light on the actual plot. A lot of the episode was spent introducing characters and giving background. The main plot of the episode is simple. King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) is worried about the succession as his only child is a daughter. Lucky for him, his wife Aemma (Sian Brooke) is pregnant. He decides to throw a massive tournament to celebrate his son’s birth. Sadly, both his wife and newborn son die in childbirth.

This leaves Viserys not only heartbroken but also without an heir. His scheming small council then forces him to choose between his brother Daemon (Matt Smith) and his daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock in this episode).  However, an ill-timed word by Daemon causes him to be banished. Left without any choice, Viserys turns to his daughter and names Rhaenyra his heir, forcing his lords to swear support to her. The only issue is that a woman has never sat on the Iron Throne. And that’s really it.

The Good

Courtesy of HBO & Entertainment Weekly

Overall I think you would call this a good episode. It has some really solid acting. The sets and costumes and everything look great. The middle part of the episode dealing with Viserys’ wife Aemme’s death was strong. Her death really hit me emotionally. In addition, the show hung pretty close to the book material it’s drawn from. If you’re a book purist you should be pretty happy here. Sure a few dates and things were changed, but it’s not a big deal. If you are looking for more Game of Thornes then I think this will scratch your itch here.

The Bad

While the first episode of House of the Dragon is good, it does have its issues. Both the tournament and the justice handed out by the City Watch seemed over-the-top in their violence. Tournaments, both in GoT and real life, tend to be fought with blunted weapons and tried to minimize death. In the show, the tournament is very bloody, with highborn knights getting killed in batches. That just seems… odd. The City Watch parts also seemed poorly done. Are we supposed to understand they only rounded up actual criminals? Or were these just random people they claimed committed crimes? It was weirdly handled.

I think the other kind of issue is the focus of the first episode of House of the Dragon. This episode is entirely set in Kings Landing. It’s a very tight episode without any real side plots. If you are used to Game of Thrones’ big sweeping setting with events taking place all over the world, this isn’t it. If the core story doesn’t interest you… well, so far there isn’t much else to latch onto. The show also kind of lacks the main character right now.

Where Do We Go After House Of The Dragon Episode 1?

While this was a good episode, I think it might highlight some issues for the show going forward. While good, the episode was also pretty serious. There wasn’t a lot of fun or humor in it. It was a serious, dark show. And that might be an issue. Game of Thrones had a lot of humor. This show doesn’t have a Tyrion and that shows a lot. I think audiences might have an issue finding people to latch on to.

The episode also doesn’t really leave you wanting more in my view. There is no cliffhanger here. No real end-of-the-world draw like at the start of Game of Thrones.  I think it’s easy to watch to the episode and feel like you watched a good serious drama, but not really feel the need to see what happens next.

Next Time House of the Dragon!

Despite some flaws, however, this was a strong start for the show. It’s not Game of Thrones. But it was good and had great acting. The show is forging its own path, but with familiar trappings. As someone who likes the source material, I’m interested to see how they adapt it. Luckily House of the Dragon Episode One has gotten a lot of the setup and introduction out of the way. Getting into this world was always going to be a bit rough and I think they’ve done the best job they could. So I for one will be here next week to check out the episode.

Let us know what you thought of the episode, down in the comments!

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.