House of Dragon is good but it did not live up to the expectations

“House of the Dragon” is a television show produced by HBO, and the prequel to “Game of Thrones.” Around a decade ago, people were obsessed with “Game of Thrones” until the end. There was a widespread dislike for the ending however people still think that the first seasons of “Game Of Thrones are amazing.” It was a show that was like no other, due to the fact that it wasn’t uncommon for the main characters to suddenly die, and that got people excited about every episode. Does the new show live up to “Game Of Thrones” expectations? I had very high expectations for this show, due to how much I had loved the first show, however, “House Of Dragon” is not as good as it could have been.

The story takes place around 200 years before the Game Of Thrones and our main focus is the Targaryens. Our main character is Rhaynera Targaryen who wants to be the heir to the iron throne after her dad Viserys, since at the time, she has no male siblings. The council doesn’t know how to react since they’ve never had a female heir. Rhaynera’s childhood friend, Alicent, marries Rhaynera’s dad and becomes the queen of the realm, giving Viserys a male heir which ends Rhaynera’s and Alicent’s childhood friendship. For this review, four different categories will be ranked. Plot, performances, pacing, and cinematography because these categories are what make a good show.

The plot gets a ranking of 4 out of 5. It’s an adaptation of George RR Martin’s book “Fire & Blood,” which is the prequel to the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. The story of a woman trying to gain power in a world where they’re used just to make heirs is very intriguing and it’s interesting to watch how the council reacts to Rhaynera wanting to be queen. It’s a beautiful story and it has multiple characters with different ideas and motives. It still follows the “there is no such thing as good or bad” message that “Game Of Thrones” had. George Martin doesn’t try to be safe and doesn’t care about causing scandals and that translated into “House Of Dragon.” Overall the plot is shocking and leaves you with adrenaline rushes waiting for what will happen next.

Another great thing about this show is the performance, which is one of the best qualities. Milly Alcock, Matt Smith, and Paddy Considine were phenomenal and successfully brought the Targaryens to life. They expressed sorrow, pain, and happiness, and made them look like real human beings (with dragons and unhumanly blonde hair). A lot of the characters were portrayed very differently than how they were in the books and didn’t have enough time to be fleshed out but most of the cast tried to make the best of their characters; 5 out of 5 for the performances. The replacement actors for the time skips such as Emma Darcy and Olivia Cooke did great too, it’s obvious that they tried their best even with how weirdly the pacing was set up.

One of the biggest problems that “House Of Dragons” seems to suffer with is the pacing. Throughout the entire season, there are weird time skips of a few years in between episodes and this makes the story very hard to follow. There are new characters like Sir Harwin Strong who pop up and we have to fill in the gaps about the relationships he has with the characters we already know. Yes, adapting George RR Martin’s books is hard. They are very detailed and have multiple plots, however, “Game Of Thrones” did that successfully for the first few seasons. We could see the passage through time and the different plot points happening without feeling disoriented. Tuning on to the next episode and seeing a completely different person and being told that’s supposed to be Rhaynera was very weird. The pacing gets  2 out of 5, Emma Darcy is a great actress however the time skips and the different actors really take you out of the fantasy land of Westeros and brings you back to reality and you realize, “these are actors” which is not good.

The cinematography in this show is amazing and creative; most scenes in the first season are beautiful. The CGI for the dragons isn’t bad, they are animated well and look realistic. The scene of Rhaenys crashing Aeogon’s coronation with her dragon, Meleys, was one of the most dynamic and probably best scenes in the first season. This is also a strong part of the show, it gets 4 out of 5. You can’t get enough of the visuals and scenes like the one with Laena flying with Vhagar in the sky are so beautiful and so well-made. 

I think “House Of Dragon” has its flaws however it’s still a great show. I don’t think it reaches early “Game Of Thrones” expectations, but to be honest, I don’t think anything will ever reach that. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t enjoyable and fun to watch. I think people missed the mythology of Westeros on their televisions and I think “House Of Dragon” does an all right job at bringing that world back on our screens. You can watch “House Of Dragon” on HBO, and I hope you watch it and form your own opinion based on your own thoughts and enjoyment of the show. Did the show reach your expectations?