Less wildfire and more sputtering candle, HBO has returned to the painfully lavish world of Westeros. Over the last year we’ve witnessed one of the weirder, most defensive, lead-ups to a new series in recent memory, and for good reason.
Not since Battlestar Galactica or Lost has a series finale soured so many on what was once can’t-miss prestige TV. And I’ll be honest: after eight seasons of individual episode reviews, I’d had most of the original series committed to memory, both for good (Season 1 Tyrion! Clapping eyes on Pedro Pascal for the first time!) and ill (Daenerys roasting innocents in King’s Landing, everything about Euron Greyjoy.) And yet I don’t know many people who’ve really been looking forward to the new Game of Thrones prequel series. The months of press leading up to the premiere seemed to confirm this reticence, as producers scrambled to assure potential viewers that there won’t be gratuitous sex and rape, that this was more “feminist” because Targaryen women did shitty things and also died in childbirth a lot, while also reminding us sexual assault and extreme violence is also “just how things are” in George R.R. Martin’s quasi-medieval world. This didn’t feel like the usual press junket pleasantries ahead of a major new television show.
And, at least so far, House of the Dragon doesn’t feel like a major show. Much like the Westworld fandom, the audience for HBO’s genre offerings may have moved on.
Take the fanfare around Better Call Saul, for example. One major prequel series ended its run a week before another had its start. It’s impossible not to think of the artful, surprising Breaking Bad spinoff and examine what that show promised its viewers and what House of the Dragon delivers to its own audience. By virtue of being a prequel, House of Dragons can never fully stand alone, but it seems determined not to try.
And that might work in its favor.
Note: here there be dragons spoilers. But also lots of dragons.
“Prestige television” used to mean a little something, like high production values, standout performances as characters were put through an emotional wringer, but above all, excellent writing. Nobody was begging for a show about how Walter White’s ridiculous lawyer got his start, but Vince Gilligan and crew not only drew on the massive popularity of Breaking Bad and its formidable cast of established characters, but somehow added suspense at every turn despite knowing many characters’ ultimate fates. We were irrevocably drawn into the story of a man wrestling with his conman nature while clashing with a Mexican drug cartel, the American justice system, his cold and stubborn brother, and his own conscience. And new characters were introduced who soon equaled or even surpassed familiar faces in popularity.
If we’re ranking badass blondes, Rhaenyra Targaryen has nothing on the emotional wallop that is Kim Wexler puffing on a cigarette. And Better Call Saul’s Lalo Salamanca embodies more chaotic malevolence in a flash of his grin than Matt Smith’s cartoonishly “evil” jilted heir, Daemon. (Then again, I’d be pissed off, too, if I had to wear Henry Cavill’s discarded wig from The Witcher.)
But, okay, it’s asking a lot, but if we forget the critical and fan reaction to Game of Thrones’ ending, the gigantic space the show once occupied in the cultural zeitgeist—and if we admit very few people can create a television series like Vince Gilligan—what does House of the Dragon have to offer?
Well, Ian McShane would probably still say “tits and dragons,” and so far as the first hour goes, there are both, but perhaps not as much as you might expect, at least by HBO premiere standards. We also have a lot of largely bland faces with complicated names, some exciting action, a lot of gore on and off the jousting field, and a few nice beats of nostalgia.
It was pleasant to see the Red Keep again, to put faces to a few historic names (I see you, Rickon Stark.) The costumes are gorgeous. The music is good. The dragons look incredible and it was a wise move to open the episode with a blonde girl riding a dragon before we even glimpsed the opening credits. The shadow of Khaleesi is obviously so long it can reach 200 years into the past.
There were a few performances that stood out: I want some justice for Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was, and she and her husband Lord Corlys Velaryon seem like ones to watch. You can tell this pair seems a bit more in touch with reality than anyone else on the Small Council. Milly Alcock as dutiful daughter and dragonrider Princess Rhaenyra has a spark that keeps her interesting.
But it still might not be enough.
Remembering the original series’ Targaryen family tree is lot to expect from more casual fans. Ride-or-die Thrones fans might find themselves happy to meet some new dragons, and their critical importance as the source of the Targaryens’ power and dominance is never far from mind. But the characters seem flat. While tossing Bran Stark out of a window wasn’t exactly subtle, Daemon’s glowering command of the goose-stepping Gold Cloaks has little emotional heft. He just seems like a jerk. While not as bad as Euron Greyjoy, it’s not really a love-to-hate-him-scenario like Joffrey, either.
As Princess Rhaenyra struggles to remain the first female heir to the Iron Throne, things will get more and more bloody, for sure. Trouble is brewing as opportunists always smell a power vacuum, which will lead inevitably to the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. But the stakes feel much lower without the sprawling, existential threat of White Walkers and a cast largely (for now) confined within King’s Landing. If Daenerys wasn’t such an epic, memorable character, no one would care about her ancestors. But not even Saul Goodman himself could argue that these dragons have any real fire beyond HBO’s commitment to keeping the Game of Thrones money machine from sliding into its own Doom of Valyria scenario.
Time might prove different, but so far House of the Dragon isn’t adding anything fresh to the Iron Throne, aside from more blood.
Dragon eggs:
- Full disclosure: I haven’t read any of GRRM’s supplemental books (aside from the Dunk and Egg stories,) so I don’t know what’s ahead. I’m preferring to watch this show in as much of a vacuum as I can.
- Viserys I (Paddy Considine) seems like a genuinely decent dude who cares about his family, even his obviously scheming brother. Of course that’s seen as weakness by most in Westeros. You don’t get the sense he’ll be here long. I also thought he played Luna Lovegood’s dad in the Harry Potter movies, but that actor (Rhys Ifans) is actually playing Viserys’ Hand, Otto Hightower. Must be the same wig.
- I was beyond relieved when Otto’s daughter Alicent was pushed to visit the grieving king in his bedroom and it didn’t become an overt sexual manipulation scene. She also seems mostly kind, though dating your best friend’s dad is definitely A Choice. Not that she is, yet. But there could be a spark of some genuine companionship there instead of just powerlust.
- “The childbed is our battlefield,” the soon-to-be-late Queen Aemma tells her daughter, and boy is this show at pains to demonstrate it. Though I will says the jousting scenes were a bit thrilling. You could really feel the weight of that armor.
- Balerion, the mount of Aegon the Conqueror, gets another bony cameo in the Red Keep. (If you remember, this giant dragon skull was where Arya hid when she overheard Varys and Illyrio plotting way back in season one.)
- How about the actual dragons? There’s definitely some literal magic missing from the series thus far, and the mighty beasts seem a bit more like house cats. But as we know, a dragon is no slave, so I’m hoping these special creatures will get some mystery of their own.
Theresa DeLucci is a regular contributor to Tor.com. Her fiction has appeared in Weird Horror, Strange Horizons, and Lightspeed. She’s also gotten enthusiastic about pop culture for Wired.com’s Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. Send her a raven via Twitter.
