House of the Dragon season 1 is a very familiar series to anyone who watch Game of Thrones since its actually from the same Universe, where every smile is a threat and every toast might involve poison, it is a return to Westeros that actually feels like a real return because Seaons 1 was so so good. I had a good time watching it all over again a few weekends ago, the show wants to rush past the juicy family drama to start building up a scenario of war but not your common tanks and soldiers war. The details and production is awesome, dragons look mean and heavy and sets and costumes look great too making it very immersive, even though when most viewers watch it for the CGI dragons they still didnt feel that way and this season made sure the beasts feel like ancient weapons more than pets, which I loved. What I like the most about Season One is how the show focus a lot on the royal family duties, the opening council where a woman is denied the throne, the hunting trip where smiles carry knives, a walk into a brothel that detonates a whole palace, it is the political knife fight that made the early GOT great and these series channel that energy hard when they want to. The time jumps, some work, some do not, I get what they were trying to do, show us decades of grudges turning into open wounds, at times I wanted to the series have at least two to four more episodes, I can understand how expensive running show can be but I think fans did support the series based on how much buzz was back then, although I can also understand that it can be all social media talk and none of the cash going in.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198330/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
The show rides with Rhaenyra, Alicent, Viserys, and Daemon, and I think it mostly nails this characters perfectly building up the story even though as any other series it has its ups and downs, Rhaenyra is stubborn and messy and still trying to do right by a legacy she did not ask for, her choices land like real choices with real fallout, sometimes selfish, sometimes brave, sometimes both, it makes her human and is something viewers would like. Alicent gets pushed by duty until she becomes a sinner and this eats up her mind, I know book readers see her as straight up schemer, here she is more someone who keeps reaching for the moral high ground and stepping on a rake, it also turns her into a person trapped by a system that rewards loyalty then punishes it, that clash with Rhaenyra at the funeral and the dinner later are the show for me, two women held apart by old men, old rules and old lies. Viserys, that performance is unreal, a king who wants peace in a world that only respects force, he is kind where the crown needs force out and you watch him try to hold a storm together, I can not remember the last time a single walk to a throne said that much about a character, that whole scene is pure gold from every other single character in the room, wouldnt be the last either. Daemon is the one that its a bit shaky for my like, he swings from fierce to tender and back again sometimes in the same scene and I am not always sure the show knows which version it wants but there are moments where he feels like the only Targaryen who can see the board five moves ahead, then two scenes later he lights the board on fire, chaotic in a way that is fun as hell to watch even if uneven.
Politics wise the season is a slow turd taking probably more time stuck in politics than it should when everyone is expecting send the army they just decide to keep peace until everyone hates each other enough. There is also the small things matter, a green dress, a bastard rumor whispered too loud, a sword practice that turns into a public accusation, a dragon claimed at a funeral, the show is at its best when it lets gossip do more damage than steel. Those kids, the next generation, that is the smartest choice they made, letting the beef pass down like bad blood, so by the time a dragon bite ends the season, it feels like the kind of mistake people make after twenty years of being taught to hate, that last shot lands, not because of shock value but because all the little cuts finally bled out. I also liked how the show treated dragons like living nukes, you can point them but you can not always control them, the flying scenes are not just flights, the older ones feel like bone and rage, the younger ones twitchy, that small touch really helps sell why the coming war is a nightmare, not a playground. Court games are sharp too, Otto is the steady viper, Lyonel and Larys add new flavors, Corlys and Rhaenys bring that salty steel and I liked that you can see the sea snake play legacy chess while everyone else plays throne chess, it makes the world feel broader than the Red Keep.
There are stumbles, Mysaria is a whole misread for me, the accent choice distracts more than it adds even making it very hard to understand what she is actually saying and the character’s network never feels as dangerous as it should trying to replicate the master of whisper from GOT, lets remember that this are not only positions within the court but basically traditions and this time didnt have the same impact, she is important on paper but not in the room and that is a miss because the spy game could have added more pressure on already cracking royla family. The time gaps also hurt a few characters, the wedding blow up then we jump, the fallout from certain choices gets handled in a line or two, you can feel the show wanting to be in season 2 already, recast are always hard and going from the younger version to a more adult version of some of this characters kinda hurt the show. Some character swings are very noticeable, Daemon’s monster to husband oscillation is fast, Alicent’s line from resentment to open opposition happens off screen in pieces but still fast and a couple supporting folks get reduced to functional secondary characters when they had room to be more, Harwin for example gone right when he was adding a lot of context, but even with the bumps, the acting holds it together and the script, when it slows down, really takes it time to breathe, the dinner scene is the best thing they did, everyone playing nice because a dying man asked them to, then the masks slip as soon as he leaves the room, that is pure Westeros. On the craft and quality, as I mention above this thing looks expensive and heavy, the lighting likes candles not spotlights, armor looks used, Dragons dont look like cheap CGI tricks, the Red Keep finally feels truly lived in and Driftmark felt needed more development but its something they left for the second season but I do have to mention it would have expand more the locations, probably this are the two or four episodes I was asking for. The soundtrack leans on familiar tones but spins new ones that fit this family’s colder, more ritual world. The dragons are varied, you can tell them apart by silhouette and sound, the old queen is a whole mood, and that coronation interruption is silly but that was the intention because things could have ended right there but it would be stupid to do such thing, I know how people would rolled their eyes a bit because I did too but then cracked a smile, so fair play. The show also remembers that violence is not just gore, it is decisions, childbirth scenes are rough, the cost of power shows up in bodies and scars, not just battlefield glory and I will take that over random beheadings any day, GOT.
I think we could have sat longer with the marriage negotiations, the Stepstones aftermath, the fallout of brothel rumors, more time with Harwin and Rhaenyra’s domestic chaos, more realm politics beyond King’s Landing, thats probably with GOT work for me so well because it took its time at least on the first seasons and started to expand that huge world they created. I also think the writers wanted to hurry to the civil war and I am in the camp that says the fight is less interesting than the reasons we get there, the season still earns the jump because of the kids and the dragons being forces of chaos but the path could have been milked for even more hurt. Still, as a first season, it is confident and mean in the right way and the core relationships are strong enough that I care who burns and who bends, which is the whole point. So yeah, I recommend it, with a not up front, if you wanted an even longer slow burn before the sparks, you will feel a bit short changed like me but not enough to turn you off. I would not hand it a perfect score but I am very comfortable saying it is one of the best returns to a big franchise we have gotten in a while, also a Spin Off that does work and adds to the story. I just wish it had trusted its own best scenes more often to extend the drama and let the series spread its wings wither. Season 2 is just another monster on itself that I will review soon, but sadly it got very messy and turn out to be more of a downgrade than just continuation. I know that the series came out years ago but with Season 3 around the corner in 2026 I wanted to watch Season 1 and 2 again to keep a fresh mind and put up my opinion about it.
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