‘House Of The Dragon’ Premiere Review – A Betrayal For Power and Kingdom

The latest Game of Thrones spin-off is a prequel story that takes place 172 years before the events of Aerys II Targaryen, also known as “The Mad King” and our Lord & Savior, Daenerys Targaryen, the mad king’s daughter. The premiere of House of The Dragon immediately introduces you to all of the big players and possible conspirators vying for the infamous iron throne. Not only are we introduced to the main characters, but we are also treated to a fully grown and majestic dragon on which a young Rhaenyra Targaryen rides upon. Rhaenyra is played by two people, the teenage version of the character is played by Milly Alcock while the adult version will be played by Emma D’Arcy, who will be introduced to you later in the season.

In the year 103, not much has changed in terms of the culture of those in power and the people beneath them. Medieval behaviors, attitudes, chivalry, and politics are ever present – sometimes seemingly stronger than what we’ve already seen. All the famed houses are present but more so take a backseat in this introduction episode – the main focus is on House Targaryen, and even within that house chaos is looming. Viserys Targaryen (played by Paddy Considine) is the current king who rules over King’s Landing, and is expecting a new heir to the throne with his wife Queen Aemma Arryn (played by Sian Brooke) and throws an early celebration – which includes jousting and some much-needed brutality to spice up the episode. Who doesn’t love a good old fashion knight-in-armor brawl?

We are also introduced to the King’s brother Daemon Targaryen (played by Matt Smith) who seems to be the problem child in House Targaryen. Having a name that’s eerily close to “demon”, you can kinda expect the man to be the biggest thorn in your side…or in this case, a dragon’s scale? Anyway, the guy just looks like bad news. What’s ironic about this character is that he appears to be the adult version of Joffrey Baratheon, in the sense of being erratic and unstable with an unsavory lust for cruel punishment. In a similar likeness to Joffrey, Daemon is the cocky type. Quick to boast of his accomplishments, but doesn’t really solidify his victories. The only difference here is Daemon is this way because of how he’s been treated by Viserys their entire lives, and consequently the King’s treatment of him during his time on the iron throne. This is something that’s been alluded to during the episode and we are given front-row seats to witness how it all unfolds.

HBO didn’t cheap out on the visual effects with the CGI of their pet dragon nor the locations in which the series was filmed – much of what we’ve seen from the locations in the first episode harkens back to the original series, which is always a feast for your eyes. House of The Dragon enthralls you into the drama within House Targaryen with the King making some extremely tough decisions, and to some, highly questionable. He describes a prophecy to Rhaenyra that possibly brings us back to the many challenges the characters of the first season faced, and possibly some new ones that we weren’t privy to in the very beginning that builds out the lore of this famed series even more than we could possibly imagine. House of The Dragon starts off somewhat slowly, of course, due to the highly political nature of the first episode.

However, this is only the beginning and the initial setup of what’s in store for us. Based on what transpired in the episode, I can conclude friends who were once thick as dragon’s blood (Daemon’s words, not mine) will betray each other. Families will throw all meaning of the word out with the bath water, and caution will be gone with the wind as fast as dragons could fly. Being part of the audience gives us a first-hand experience of what it truly means to dine with kings and party with thieves, and I’m eager to experience this treachery and misfortune through the many eyes of the characters we’ll grow to love.

House of The Dragon airs every Sunday at 9pm ET on HBO, and you can catch more summaries here at GVN!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DotnJ7tTA34]