“House of The Dragon,” Max’s darling, is ready to triumphantly return this June with the release of two brand new trailers. Set in the world of the popular “Game of Thrones” series, “House of The Dragon” has big shoes to fill in the TV world — and even bigger rights to wrong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JTfKhwWNR4
IIt’s been doing a pretty good job so far.
“Game of Thrones” was once the most-watched series in the world. For years, it lorded over all other shows, appealing to hardcore fantasy fanatics and casual viewers, keeping them glued to their screens whenever a new episode was released.
Then, it all came crashing down with that last season, and the franchise was left in a state of limbo. The next book in the “Song of Ice and Fire” series was, and still is to this day, left unfinished. Despite being set centuries in the past, The “Game of Thrones prequel, “House of The Dragon,” has managed to scratch that itch for fans who are aching for that next bit of content after the bad taste left over from Season 8 of “Game of Thrones.”
One aspect of “House of The Dragon” that doesn’t get enough praise is the show’s overall feel. While the writing quality sharply declined in later seasons, it is indisputable that the quality of GOT’s visuals skyrocketed as the seasons went on, and HBO recognized it as their golden goose. Despite being on board with the show’s production for its earliest seasons, even book series author George RR Martin was disappointed in the show’s set designs because of the budget they had to work with back then. It had the heart of his writing but half of the spectacle.
“House of The Dragon” wound up bridging the massive fantasy scale of its predecessors’ later seasons with the gripping character drama of its early days. It really is the best of both worlds.
Now, it has been widely derided across all corners of the internet that the main element of “Game of Thrones” that fell to the wayside in later seasons, (once the showrunners ran out of books to paraphrase from)is the writing. Gone were the days of clever political machinations and seasons-worth of build-up to a satisfying finish, and in its place was an overcompensation of stale dialogue and plenty of ball jokes.
“House of The Dragon” somehow managed to circumvent this issue, even when the writers only had a fictional history book to work with. Series writers didn’t have scenes from a Martin’s book series to rip and paraphrase, yet they still managed to homebrew a slew of gripping scenes that dripped with excellent characterization and heart-stopping drama. Unlike previous showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, “House of The Dragon” showrunner Ryan Condal has shown that he is a great writer, skilled at adaptation.
But excellent writing also makes for great characters, of which “House of The Dragon” excels. “Game of Thrones” took off running when it started, producing such nuance-ripe characters as the witty Tyrion Lannister and the impassioned Daenerys Targaryen. Still, it lost its steam after a few years, and the characters suffered as a result. Tyrion became an advisor without any meaningful advice, and Daenerys’ passion gave way to a hamfisted turn to villainy at the finish line that fans around the world felt burned by.
A burn that the entire city she set on fire felt.
“House of The Dragon’s” cast takes inspiration from its predecessor’s roots. For every nebulous action that Prince Daemon takes in service of his ambitions, fans are given moments of genuine humanity by his visible care for his brother as well. He may be ambitious for the throne, but Daemon never once moved to harm or usurp his brother, often coming to his defense, verbally, when other characters slandered him.
“House of The Dragon” takes clear notes from the failures of its predecessor. The writing is on-point, the characters are sharp and nuanced, and the show’s overall vibe bleeds with the quality that fans have missed. Here’s to hoping that the series continues to soar on high to its conclusion rather than sink into the muck of schlocky writing that its predecessor did.
