Game of Thrones
2011
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Find out the ratings, reviews, and trailers for House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel based on George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood". Watch the show on Max, Prime Video, or Fandango at Home.
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93% Tomatometer 872 Reviews 82% Audience Score 10,000+...
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Jun 6, 2024 · House of the Dragon: Season 2 First Reviews: Gorgeous and Expertly Crafted, with Epic Dragon Fights. Critics say the second season of HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series thoughtfully explores...
Aug 19, 2022 · The reviews are in for HBO‘s highly anticipated House of the Dragon. The review embargo was lifted Friday for the Game of Thrones prequel, and its initial notices are largely positive, with...
93% Tomatometer 872 Reviews 82% Audience Score 10,000+ Ratings The reign of House Targaryen begins with this prequel to popular HBO series "Game of Thrones;" based on George R.R. Martin's "Fire...
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- Paddy Considine
- Clare Kilner, Geeta Patel, Greg Yaitanes
- August 21, 2022
- The Game Of Thrones prequel has begun to move out of its predecessor’s shadow – but it still needs to do more with its dragons.
- Every Dragon in Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon
- Who’s your favourite Targaryen?
- What We Said About That Other Big Fantasy Show
- Every IGN Game of Thrones Review
- Verdict
- House of the Dragon - Season 1 Review
- More Reviews by Helen O'Hara
- IGN Recommends
By Helen O'Hara
Updated: Oct 29, 2022 3:07 am
Posted: Oct 26, 2022 4:43 pm
House Of The Dragon is now streaming on HBO Max. The below review discusses some details of the plot, but no major spoilers. See below our spoiler-filled reviews of each episode:
House Of The Dragon: Series Premiere Review
House Of The Dragon: Episode 2 Review
Showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik (who has bowed out of Season 2 ) set the tone with an opening episode that offered grisly violence, royal plotting, and medieval pageantry – and a small blonde girl on a dragon, lest we forget where we’re coming from. The ties to Game Of Thrones were obvious and immediate in those early episodes, down to the reuse of Ramin Djawadi’s iconic theme music. But the brand new cast, and the focus on a family already in power but riven against itself, felt fresher.
That’s not to say it was always smooth sailing. Even the showrunners seem to understand this first season as a slow burn, and recently promised that the next season would pick up the pace. Some episodes dragged, and the shift from the immensely likeable and charismatic Milly Alcock and Emily Carey to Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, as Rhaenyra and Alicent respectively grew up, took a disjointed minute to process. But to the credit of the cast and creators they’ve covered 20-odd years of Targaryen family history without stinting on the requisite plotting and gore. Not bad for 10 episodes.
Rhaenyra
Daemon
Viserys
Rhaenys
The show has also faced, mostly with success, its core problem: the Targaryens make less sympathetic leads than Thrones’ Starks. Ned’s family stuck together; circumstances may have divided them but they rarely knowingly took up arms against one another. They also didn’t sleep with one another, leading to, for example, cases where one’s son is also one’s great-nephew. Of course, that’s the entire point. A civil war brews because of House Targaryen’s original sin: when they came to Westeros they fought to preserve their dragon-riding abilities via inbreeding rather than standing up for their women’s right to rule. Otherwise, Rhaenyra would simply take the throne and no one would make a fuss.
Paddy Considine is an actor who can’t help but draw you in, so his Viserys remained sympathetic.
House Of The Dragon was on TV at the same time as Prime Video's The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, which Samantha Nelson gave an 8/10 for IGN. "Some inconsistent plotting and unnecessary misdirection slows it down, but doesn’t derail the story, and when it reaches its climax in the sixth episode it all comes together brilliantly," she wrote. Read the full review here.
It's not totally absent. House Of The Dragon has faithfully delivered the dragon bit of its promise. But what has been under-examined is what those relations between beast and rider mean beyond mere firepower (pun intended) in a world with numerous dragons and multiple dragon riders. Are they broadly similar for everyone or as different as each person and dragon? Viserys rode old Black Balerion just once, only to be left dragonless when the great beast died. The mere fact of his flight bolstered his claim to the throne, but how much did Balerion’s death then emasculate him? We were first introduced to Rhaenyra proclaiming her love of dragonflight, but she’s barely mentioned it since. Worse, there have been few scenes of riders simply visiting their dragons, or talking to each other about how those relationships work. You don’t even need expensive effects. Wouldn’t some dragon chat have made sense as a way for obvious dragon geek Daemon and self-professed enthusiastic flier Rhaenyra to bond? We need to care as much about dragon deaths as we do about the humans for the coming war to hit as hard as it should, rather than simply having them lurk expensively in the background.
House Of The Dragon has managed to take Martin’s deliberately dry pseudo-history and turn it into a character-led drama.
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But enough nitpicking. It’s a great time for fantasy when House Of the Dragon, Lord Of The Rings, Wheel Of Time, and The Sandman are reaching the screen, and while we can quibble about detail they’re all generally doing their source material justice. House Of The Dragon has managed to take Martin’s deliberately dry pseudo-history and turn it into a...
Early on it sometimes felt too faithful to its predecessor, but after ten episodes House Of The Dragon has forged its own identity and established itself as a worthy prequel to Game Of Thrones. That’s largely thanks to strong writing, a wildly overqualified cast, and a veritable flock of dragons. More of the same next time, but a little more confid...
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Review scoring
amazing
After 10 episodes, House Of The Dragon has officially emerged as a worthy successor to Game Of Thrones.
House of the Dragon - Season 1 Finale Review
House Of The Dragon - Episode 9 Review
- Helen O'hara
6 days ago · Season 2 of HBO's 'House of the Dragon' is a bigger, bleaker version of the 'Game of Thrones' prequel.
Jun 6, 2024 · House of the Dragon Returns with a Captivating Yet Convoluted Second Season. Kaiya Shunyata June 06, 2024. Tweet. In the final episode of season one of HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) stared straight into the camera, forehead straining and eyes shining with tears. In the wake of her son Lucerys ...
