House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon is not merely a prequel; it's a masterfully crafted tragedy that complements Game of Thrones very well by filling in the rich historical tapestry of Westeros. Instead of trying to replicate the sprawling, world-spanning chaos of the original series, it wisely chooses a more focused and intimate approach, zeroing in on a single, doomed family. This laser-like focus allows for a deeper exploration of its characters and their devastating political machinations, driven by ambition, legacy, and patriarchal expectations. It successfully captures the same moral ambiguity and high-stakes political intrigue that made its predecessor a global phenomenon.

A significant part of the show's success lies in its excellent CG, which brings the age of dragons to vivid and terrifying life. The dragons here are not just CGI props; they are fully realized characters with their own personalities and relationships to their riders. Each one, from the ancient and colossal Vhagar to the fierce Caraxes, is rendered with stunning detail and a sense of weight that makes every flight and every fiery breath feel truly epic. The visual effects team deserves immense credit for making these mythical beasts feel so grounded in the world, allowing the story's spectacle to feel both grand and emotionally resonant.

While a few pacing choices in the first season felt rushed, House of the Dragon is an undeniable triumph. It is a compelling, beautiful, and faithful return to a world we thought we knew, proving that even a story we know the end of can still be an unforgettable journey.

Summary: A beautifully shot and compelling prequel that enriches the lore of Westeros, featuring stunning visuals and a more contained, character-driven plot. A must-watch for any fan.

House of the Dragon is a prequel to Game of Thrones. The television series was created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO. It's the second series in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire franchise. It is based on parts of Martin's 2018 book Fire & Blood.

The series begins about 100 years after the Seven Kingdoms are united by the Targaryen conquest, nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, and 172 years before the birth of the Daenerys Targaryen caricature featured in Game of Thrones.

House of the Dragons portrays the events leading to the decline of House Targaryen, and the devastating war of succession known as the "Dance of the Dragons".

As I stated in my review of The Game of Thrones, I was not that interested in watching Game of Thrones for several years. And, after watching a bit of one episode, Game of Thrones did not look very interesting to me. But, once I decided to find out what all the hoopla and massive fan base was all about, I decided give it a try. I not only purchased the complete series of Game of Thrones on DVDs, but I also purchased House of the Dragon Season 1, and then Season 2, when it came out, all on DVDs as well.

And, yes, also as I previously stated, I subscribe to several streaming services, and could watch most of the TV series I want much more easily by streaming them. But, I'm a collector, and I love collecting, and I'm collecting TV series DVDs. Don't hate me.

Anyway, before watching Game of Thrones, I checked online regarding whether I should watch House of the Dragon first before watching Game of Thrones, since House of the Dragon is a Prequel. I read several opinions that stated that it was best to watch Game of Thrones first, because I would better understand the story in House of the Dragon given it is the same of the fantasy world creation in which both series exist.

Therefore, I watched Game of Thrones first, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and then watched the first two seasons of House of the Dragon and enjoyed that story as well.

After watching both series however, I gotta disagree with those opinions I read on the Internet about which series to watch first. I think watching House of the Dragon first would have better prepared me for watching Game of Thrones. I was easily able to grasp the story, characters, and what was going on in House of the Dragon fairly easily.

Season 1 of House of the Dragon, was more what I would have called a game of thrones than anything else. The intrigue, suspense and political rivalries of the characters in the different kingdoms, and they're quest for power and riches was interesting yet complex. I felt it was similar to watching the intrigue, suspense and political rivalries of the Borgia TV series', or even the political chess game of the Trump administration.

The story in Season 1 of House of the Dragon was mostly about the Targaryen King trying to keep his rule all the while trying to maintain the peace. It was entertaining in a way, but, after episode after episode, it sometimes proved a little boring. That was at least until the last few episodes where... Bammm upside your head and your side blinded by what happens in the story, leaving your mouth haning open. And, of course, the season ends in a cliff hanger, prompting me to immediately begin to watch Season 2.

Season 2 of House of the Dragon is more similar to the Game of Thrones series in that there is still that suspense and political intrigue, but there also seems to be non-stop action, adventure, war and bloodshed. And, of course... Dragons!!!

The writing is equally as good as Game of Thrones, except for the slower pace and some of the more anguishing relationship based episodes in Season 1, which like I said, proved to be kind of boring. But, what was never boring was Season 2, which I spent many hours binge watching. The acting, production, direction, cinematography and special effects were all also excellent and equal to that of Game of Thrones.

My review seems to be, in some ways, the opposite of many other reviewers who seemed to love Season 1, but hated Season 2. But, I guess everyone's got a right to their opinion, right.

However, now I'm faced with the problem I hate. And that is that when I begin watching a series before all the seasons have been released, I'm left having to wait, sometimes years, before I can get back to the story to see what happens.

So, I now have to wait until sometime in 2026 to watch the release of House of the Dragon Season 3!

I loved Game of Thrones but wasn't really sure what to expect when I first heard about this but the trailers looked pretty good so I gave it a chance. Then after reading the critics reviews and listening to all hype that was surrounding the show I was expecting this to be the next great series. It's not. I should have known since the reviews are so mixed but people were hyping it up for months and again the trailers were pretty good. I'm a few episodes into season 2 right now and it's going to be a struggle to finish the rest of the season. It definitely hasn't been nearly as good as I thought it would be and judging by the mixed reviews I'm guessing the rest of the season will be much of the same.

This work has reached an unparalleled level of awfulness, the worst episodes are in the second season.

I'm tired and angry at this work and the stupid games the writers are playing. I didn't expect the series to reach such a level of triviality and disgust that has reached its peak. In reality, this is the price of GRRM selling the rights to his world after spending a long period of his life on it. You write and leave, and it ends up in the hands of a network that doesn't care about quality, and they team up with some bad writers, who I'm too embarrassed to call them writers, and then HBO put them in an animal barn instead of a writing room.

This ugly quality only comes from an animal barn, and I believe even if you were in an animal barn, you would be able to produce better ideas and writings, better than the work of the writers of House of the Dragons who think they can write innovative and new lines better than the original source... Unfortunately, this is the painful result.

Being a huge fan of Game of Thrones I couldn't wait until House of the Dragon came out. Then when it did I actually enjoyed it. Season 1 was pretty good, not GoT good but still good. Well, it didn't last because season 2 was a major drop off in quality. The thing I disliked the most was the time jump came, it just came way too early. I would've liked to seen more of the earlier episode years before they jumped ahead. I'm hoping season 3 will be better but I'm adjusting my expectations.