After the disappointing last season of Game of Thrones, many predicted the worst for this other adaptation based on George RR Martin's novels, in this case, ''Fire and Blood''. However, not only is it a success, but in some ways, it is even superior to the original series. First of all, it is obvious that the creators of the series take their work seriously: the sets, the cinematography, the costumes and the special effects are all elements that elevate House of the Dragon to a high level of quality (the making-of of each episode are to be seen). Ramin Djawadi, a renowned composer of the GOT soundtrack, returns with even more beautiful, intense, emotional and epic pieces! Aside from the main theme common to the two series, we remember these GOT classics like ''The Rains of Castamere'', ''Winds of Winter'', ''The Tower of Joy'' as well as the music associated with Winterfell or Daenerys. From HOTD, we will remember the march of Viscerys on ''Protector of the Realm'', the coronation of Rhaenyra on ''The Crown of Jaeharys'', her marriage to Daemond or the sublime music which accompanies the intimate scene between her and Criston Cole.
But more than anything, it is the acting and the quality of the writing that make the series successful. Unlike GOT, which simultaneously followed dozens of characters across Westeros and beyond, HOTD takes place approximately 300 years before Daenerys and focuses on the intrigues of the Targaryen family, from its peak to its bloody downfall caused by internal wars. Some episodes feels extremely packed as lot is going on because the first season covers a period of around thirty years. As a result, characters sometimes appear and die in the same episode while Rhaenyra, Alicent and their respective children are played by different actors to emphasize the jumps in time, which constitutes one of the rare downsides of the season because some passages move too quickly and leave the impression that we are missing information. In short, we don't always have time to digest all the intrigues. We should also highlight the unusual fact that there are four childbirth scenes during the season, each equally brutal!
The strengths far outweigh the few weaknesses and make House of the Dragon the best series since... season four of Game of Thrones! I rated each episode and it gives me an overall total of 8.2/10. This is a must watch for sure!
But more than anything, it is the acting and the quality of the writing that make the series successful. Unlike GOT, which simultaneously followed dozens of characters across Westeros and beyond, HOTD takes place approximately 300 years before Daenerys and focuses on the intrigues of the Targaryen family, from its peak to its bloody downfall caused by internal wars. Some episodes feels extremely packed as lot is going on because the first season covers a period of around thirty years. As a result, characters sometimes appear and die in the same episode while Rhaenyra, Alicent and their respective children are played by different actors to emphasize the jumps in time, which constitutes one of the rare downsides of the season because some passages move too quickly and leave the impression that we are missing information. In short, we don't always have time to digest all the intrigues. We should also highlight the unusual fact that there are four childbirth scenes during the season, each equally brutal!
The strengths far outweigh the few weaknesses and make House of the Dragon the best series since... season four of Game of Thrones! I rated each episode and it gives me an overall total of 8.2/10. This is a must watch for sure!