the house of the dragon of HBO makes sure, from its first scenes, to make it clear that it comes from the famous Game of Thrones. In fact, he begins by clarifying that the events he will narrate take place 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. It is evident that the tragic queen, whose story crossed Poniente (Westeros) with the last trace of the fire of violence, is a huge reference.
So much so that the prequel to the saga of George RR Martin underpins his memory immediately. In a sober explanation, the series begins its journey on television making it clear where it comes from. And probably, the importance that comparisons will have in its plot from now on.
This is not a minor or casual precision. The success of Game of Thrones it marked an entire decade and turned its characters into milestones of popular culture. So that The House of the Dragon does not ignore the phenomenon. It takes it to another level and ponders it from a different perspective from the essential.
If Robert Baratheon’s Westeros was dark, gloomy and with a certain decadent air, the kingdom ruled by the Targaryens has an evident vitality. And at least, in his first five chapters, he tries to distance himself as best he can — not always effectively — from the narrative that preceded him.
the house of the dragon
Yes Game of Thrones appealed to a dark, contained and cruel atmosphere, its prequel has trouble defining its own. And although the production doubles the bet on violence, explicit sex and palace intrigues, the result falls short compared to its famous predecessor. A weight that it tries to bear without success and that turns it, in some of its lowest moments, into a peculiar luxurious imitation of a much more complex and elegant production.
The house of the Dragon, a gigantic board of singular pieces
From the aesthetics to the way of narrating its argument. The HBO Max production links its essence with a journey towards a complicated family context. The voices that will show the violent and mad genealogy of the men capable of riding the back of a dragon, begin with a domestic scene.
A voice that tells of the amazement of the powerful blood that makes them reign, by the force of the sword and authority, in a hostile territory. And it will be that look at the instances of the intrigues of the kingdom, from the mysteries that surround it, the dominant tone as the premise advances.
The name of the Targaryens was invoked with horror in Game of Thrones, a black, bloody and fearsome legend. In the house of the dragon, they are superpresences closer to the mythical than to the human. And the series makes that clear with its opening sequence. The blonde hair and formidable throne room are immediate highlights. And of course, the journey to the Iron Throne is the setting for a journey to the origins of all enigmas. How did such splendor come to fall into the ashes?
A long-standing myth
The production is also aware of the weight of the myth that surrounds its characters. And as a dragon larger and more formidable than young Drogon ever was streaks across the sky, the show makes a vital point clear. This is the narrative of a rich, sophisticated era in which the influence of its monarchs was heavy and difficult to ignore.
During the first ten minutes, the script admires novel spaces and achieves, make an immediate impact. King’s Landing is a thriving city, over which a splendid winged beast flies freely. They are not enigmas, myths or rumours. They are part of everyday life. And the series is responsible for making it clear immediately.
Before and after, the Targaryens in the foreground
the duo of showrunners Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, show the territories of the most powerful house in Poniente from astonishment. Everything is bigger, exuberant and formidable. As if the production should embody the ambitions that ended up bringing down an Empire of fire, The House of the Dragonn unfolds all its weight in images. But different from Game of Thrones, the stage is much cleaner, neater. And with fewer incentives than one might suppose, in an argument you want to tell a battle in the shadows of power.
However, the show has real difficulty handling the finer points of the delicate balance of power it wishes to detail. The scenes have something rushed, obvious, wanting to make it clear, that this is a new story. And it is that sense of urgency that makes his proposal less spectacular. The one that makes it seem like an involuntary copy of a denser and more elaborate point of view.
The House of the Dragon is the new series of the Game of Thrones universe
The high flight of a dangerous Kingdom
Game of Thrones it was located in a stratum of the epic fantastic and was analyzed under the conception of the magical in its most gloomy variant. By contrast, the house of the dragon has a distinctly medieval air that, at times, makes her seem unbelievable because of her artifice appearanceeither. During the first chapter, everything related to the way power unfolds around the throne lacks real weight. However, make it clear, almost immediately, that the violence gravitates in the real instances and that it will break out soon.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock, as a teenager, Emma D’Arcy as an adult), was born with a predestined destiny. And that is to reign in Westeros. With all the splendor of the Targaryen house behind her, she is not only the eldest daughter of a powerful regent. At the same time, she is the demonstration of the link with the ancestral fire of the house in which she was born. The character has a marked air of tragic heroine, with a face that will understand the misfortune of his privileged position rather soon. Soon-to-be-willed heiress, she builds her way with the will to Reign, despite the horrors that surround her.
Whether it’s because she has excessive similarities to Daenerys or because the plot takes effort to give her personality, Rhaenyra disappoints. Or at least, the portrayal of her that is made of her, a correct but weak adaptation of the literary version of her in the book “Fire and Blood”. Much more successful is Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine), tormented by duty, a recent tragedy and then love. However, this bumbling King, unable to comprehend the intrigues around him, is a pale shadow of his brother Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith).
A war about to break out
The friction between the two and the weight of the ambitions that surround the fragile peace of the Kingdom, is sustained with precarious eloquence. And what is more worrying, not always with all the careful perception of the behind-the-throne string-pulling that it should show. The narration fails to be convincing and on more than one occasion, the long explanatory dialogues are left halfway. Between shocking images and increasingly violent events, this legendary and unknown Westeros is shown without real impact.
Of course, Daemon is the center of interest. The character is the vivid portrait of a fearsome and twisted villain, destined to be the center of the story. Smith portrays him from a certain rogue bravado that manages to give several edges to his violent dissatisfaction. But the argument does not have them all with itself to battle with the clichés in which the actor stumbles with regrettable frequency. Much more interesting and complex is The Hand of the King, Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) who will move the manipulation mechanism.
Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey as a teenager, and Olivia Cooke as an adult) is one character for now, surrounded by little plot bumps. During the first five chapters, the script fails to solve the flaw of her ambiguity. Or achieve it, at least with skill. And it is this central piece on the board of the civil war that will happen soon, one of the weakest points in the series. Also, one of the least convincing in a setting of formidable figures. Or at least they try to be.
dragons fly high
With everything, the house of the dragon makes a careful display of its scenario that announces an intense, brutal season that will mark history. Will it be as formidable as it was Game of Thrones? It’s too soon for such a sightbut it is evident that the production tries with all the weapons at its disposal.
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With a bet that doubles the explicit violence, sex, tricks of power and lavishness, the house of the dragon try to surprise And she succeeds, in some of his best moments. However, he still fights for his personality, without much success.
Is it the narration of an independent story or the setting that contextualizes a larger event? Nothing is very clear yet. But yes, a point of considerable importance. The house of the Dragon is written by dint of legends. And perhaps, that is its most interesting point, in the middle of the small white spaces that frequently blur its stage.