A Superfans review: House of the Dragon episode 1

Dracarys!

Lords and Ladies of the Realm, we are firmly back in Westeros and on the King’s Road to yet another smashing HBO success with House of the Dragon. It is known.

Titled “The Heirs of the Dragon”, this pilot episode lives up to its name in more ways than one. I’ll admit to having my reservations about this show after the disappointing end of its predecessor Game of Thrones.I am happy to report that showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan J. Condal and creator of both the books and series, George R.R.Martin, have restored my faith in the visual version of the World of Ice&Fire.

My current feelings:

Recap:

With a goosebumps-inducing introduction of how this story is set 200 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen and a sweeping vista of Syrax,one of the 10 living dragons, flying above King’s Landing, we are shown the grandiose of the Targaryen rule in the time of its greatest prosperity.

As we meet the current king Viserys I (Paddy Considine), his wife Aemma (Sian Brooke) and daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), they are awaiting the birth of the royal couple’s unborn son and hosting a joust in celebration of the pending arrival. One person not keen on a new royal babe is the king’s wayward brother and current heir, the dashingly handsome Prince Daemon (Matt Smith, our favourite Doctor Who).

Rhaenyra and her father are heavily influenced, protected and envied by the Hand of the King Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) and his beautiful young daughter Alicent (Emily Carey). While the first wants to rid the king of his troublesome brother, the latter wants Rhaenyra to claim her birthright as the heir, since she is the firstborn child. Nursing their own hopes for the Iron Throne are Viserys’s cousin Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) and her husband, the Sea Snake Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint).

It is indeed a Game of Thrones, not unlike the one we have seen before, yet more pronounced as it centers on one family only. Under Greg Yaitanes,Geeta Patel and Clare Kilner’s excellent directors’ eyes, we, the audience are swept up in the madness, chaos and beauty of Martin’s world once again. The parallels drawn between the brutality of the queen being butchered during a medieval Caesarean section and the bloody battle happening on the jousting field took my breath away. This is the moment I knew I was going to be a simp for this show – the same way I knew it when Jaime pushed Bran from that tower in GOT’s first episode.

Violence will certainly be Daemon’s domain this season since we were treated to a particularly nasty gelding, chopping of hands and more as his City Watch tore through Flea Bottom. Incest too, will be Daemon’s grab for power as he is already showering his niece Rhaenyra with priceless gifts and lingering touches. The underlying sexual tension during their clandestine meeting in the throne room was subtle yet powerful. If only Cersei and her brother/baby daddy could see this now 😉

Bad boy Prince Daemon Targaryen will pull the kingdom asunder with violence and incest. Image credit: Sportskeeda

The dragons are HUGE and alive in this episode. Caraxes closes the episode with a banging flight when Daemon is banished by his brother for mocking the death of the queen and the prince but it is Syrax, Rhaenyra’s mount, who blesses us with the best homage scene to Dany and her Drogon:

Impressions:

I am firmly ensconced back into the world of Martin’s creation. I adored the many subtle callbacks to Game of Thrones: from Syrax flying over King’s Landing as Drogon did ,to Rhaenyra and Alicent walking across the courtyard in the Red Keep which will eventually become the massive map of the kingdoms that Cersei loved to walk on. It is also the same area which will cave in on her and Jaime during the penultimate episode of the final GOT season. It was gratifying to see the statuesque of Harrenhal in its heyday in the scene of the Great Council in 101 AC (After Aegon’s Conquest) – a callback to when Arya served Tywin Lannister during GOT season 2. Composer Ramin Djawadi’s reworked Game of Thrones theme song being worked in House of the Dragon‘s score is touching and fitting.

JK Rowling can learn a thing or two from Martin. Fantastic Beasts 3 was overfilled with glaringly-in-your-face forced Harry Potter callbacks and I hated it. In House of the Dragon, Martin and the showrunners lovingly layer their callbacks to appeal to the original series’s fans but do it so subtly and beautifully that new fans will fall in love with them at first glance.

Spoilers:

The moment that made my jaw drop is Viserys sharing a secret with Rhaenyra that has been passed down from king to heir since Aegon the Conqueror’s rule: Aegon dreamt of a long night when death would come from the North and be the end of mankind. Westeros , Aegon and his descendants believed, had a chance of winning this battle as long as a Targaryen sat on the Iron Throne!

It is a massive foreshadowing of what we know is to come in Game of Thrones. Daenerys didn’t know this secret because Aerys would either have told Rhaegar (Jon’s father) about it since he was the heir or no one believed him because he was the Mad King. Cersei, who was not the true Queen, and Robert who took the Iron Throne by conquest,would not have been told this secret and that explains their indifference.

Of course, I am now even angrier that GOT ended on such a shitty note, that Arya killed the Night King AND that Bran is the new King because Jon, as the last Targaryen, has been robbed of ALL of these honours. Ugh. I want to slow roast David Benioff and D.B. Weiss all over again!

Theory:

Since I have read the source novel Fire&Blood, I have a pretty good idea of what’s coming next but I will let the show surprise me with how it lets the plot unfold. I’d put a bag of gold dragon coins on the fact that the once-sweet friendship between Rhaenyra and Alicent is about to go south pretty quickly. Daemon is going to cause some fiery chaos with his paramour in the East and Otto Hightower is going to keep fighting for more power over Viserys.

MVP:

DRAGONS! While we have only seen Syrax and Caraxes up close in this first episode, I cannot wait to see the others too. Especially Vhagar who is the last living dragon of the eggs brought back from old Valyria.