"House of the Dragon" HBO's Redemption Arc?
To be completely honest, I was not sold on House of the Dragon when it was first announced, and who can blame me? After all HBO and D&D ruined any and all goodwill fans had from Game of Thrones, and with each passing year fans were losing more and more hope for Winds of Winter to ever be released. Once strong and proud fanbases were quickly dying, and with no new content to satiate them, it quickly turned ugly with even the once glorious r/freefolk quickly falling into a disarray. I mean, by that point fantasy/sci-fi spinoffs were unproven, The Mandalorian, was the only Star Wars one worth watching, The Rings of Power had yet to release, and Marvel was quickly wearing its welcome out with each passing formulaic show. In fact, I originally planned to watch the show once the entire season finished, failing to see any world in which I should keep up with a show that had ruined all my hopes and dreams of my favourite fantasy series.
However, the first episode dropped, and people quickly began to talk, HBO Max numbers for the episode were at a record high, the twitter engagement was getting tens of thousands of likes, and most importantly, it was good. And just like that, I was hooked, fish and line, with only the smallest glimmer of hope, the tiniest piece of bait to reel me back in. I mean, could you blame me? I had the chance to witness two titans of fantasy, Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, compete head to head, while finally getting to be part of the hype that I missed by only joining the GOT fandom around the time of season 7.
And oh boy, when I say this show delivered, it delivered. While I wouldn't say its Game of Thrones level, its pretty darn good, and other than some lapses in the last couple of episodes, it blows Rings of Power out of the water. I mean what separates it from its predecessor is that it does not really focus on too many storylines, which allows fans to get to the meat and potatoes of the plot, which is integral, considering the dance of the dragons alone spans multiple decades. However, that does not mean the show is without fault, and sometimes, you just wish there was more. While I understand having this entire season serve as setup, it basically jumps every 2 episodes, and it never really tells you how much, so it can be very jarring, especially when characters like Viserys age, but Criston Cole and Daemon basically stay the same the entire time.
Part of this is because the source material, Fire and Blood, is literally a history book, and many of the in-between details are never filled in, forcing the showrunners to fill it in, which they do masterfully at some parts, and not so much at others. Speaking of the showrunners, at certain points in the show, they seem to take perhaps a bit too many liberties, when translating the medium of a book to that of a full blown TV show. Now, while I understand that some of the accounts in the book are spotty at best, was it really necessary to have Rhaenys decide not to end the war, and then give her some random bullshit decision that satisfies absolutely no one? Like, Laenor actually surviving with his gay lover and living out the rest of his days happily is kind of cute, especially because it makes Rhaenyra seem less like an asshole, but Rhaenys literally makes no sense in the ending of episode 9.
Now, I've held off on it long enough, but I'll admit, I'm starting to get a bit antsy about the Green vs Blacks war that is coming between fans. While it is fun to root for your favourite war criminals, the discussions have already been heated and leaked over to even the most oddest corners, including r/popheadscirclejerk for some reason. To me, part of this feels like stan culture, I mean even when Game of Thrones was on, I never saw so many "stans" invested in their favourite girlie, even when Daenerys and Cersei were in Game of Thrones. Part of me thinks its because of the viral clip involving two cast members talking about wine on tiktok, but even in the most devoted corners such as r/freefolk, the toxicity and divides open wider and wider. Personally, I'm on team black, because in my eyes, Rhaenyra was named heir by her father, and therefore deserves the iron throne, bastard children or not. However, I've seen this happen before, especially with Attack on Titan, where fans don't get what they wanted for their side, or they feel their side is being misrepresented, and it starts to get sort of bigoted. I mean I'm already seeing posts talking about how they would let Daemon choke them, despite the fact its clear abuse.
Now, you might be wondering why I gave such profuse praise to this show, yet have barely actually discussed what I love. Well first off, everyone's already talking about it, so I would simply be repeating what they love, and secondly, I just really wanted to talk about my thoughts on the show moving forward. I mean of course, Paddy Considine deserves his flowers, his performance in episode 8 legitimately moved me with how powerful it was, and I almost even cried when I saw how happy he was that his family was enjoying themselves. He's not the only actor who deserves praise to, I mean I loved the Velaryons, and I'm not quite sure why everyone was so mad they were changed to be black. Personally, I thought it just made them that much more visually distinct, and frankly it was a welcome change to the all-white cast that fantasy loves to employ oh so often.
Final Score: 84/100
Overall, I love this show, and would recommend it to anyone who wants a good fantasy show that paces itself, has interesting characters, and is just well produced. If you're tired of the low budget Marvel miniseries and Netflix tv shows then prepare to be impressed because this show is absolutely gorgeous and the production value is fantastic from the CGI to the music. I mean HBO really does know how to make TV shows and they continue to add to their already impressive resume, especially in the streaming era. I mean what more can I say, its got great actors, a good story, a big budget, and a huge setup for what should be an absolutely entertaining series.
However, the first episode dropped, and people quickly began to talk, HBO Max numbers for the episode were at a record high, the twitter engagement was getting tens of thousands of likes, and most importantly, it was good. And just like that, I was hooked, fish and line, with only the smallest glimmer of hope, the tiniest piece of bait to reel me back in. I mean, could you blame me? I had the chance to witness two titans of fantasy, Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, compete head to head, while finally getting to be part of the hype that I missed by only joining the GOT fandom around the time of season 7.
And oh boy, when I say this show delivered, it delivered. While I wouldn't say its Game of Thrones level, its pretty darn good, and other than some lapses in the last couple of episodes, it blows Rings of Power out of the water. I mean what separates it from its predecessor is that it does not really focus on too many storylines, which allows fans to get to the meat and potatoes of the plot, which is integral, considering the dance of the dragons alone spans multiple decades. However, that does not mean the show is without fault, and sometimes, you just wish there was more. While I understand having this entire season serve as setup, it basically jumps every 2 episodes, and it never really tells you how much, so it can be very jarring, especially when characters like Viserys age, but Criston Cole and Daemon basically stay the same the entire time.
Part of this is because the source material, Fire and Blood, is literally a history book, and many of the in-between details are never filled in, forcing the showrunners to fill it in, which they do masterfully at some parts, and not so much at others. Speaking of the showrunners, at certain points in the show, they seem to take perhaps a bit too many liberties, when translating the medium of a book to that of a full blown TV show. Now, while I understand that some of the accounts in the book are spotty at best, was it really necessary to have Rhaenys decide not to end the war, and then give her some random bullshit decision that satisfies absolutely no one? Like, Laenor actually surviving with his gay lover and living out the rest of his days happily is kind of cute, especially because it makes Rhaenyra seem less like an asshole, but Rhaenys literally makes no sense in the ending of episode 9.
Now, I've held off on it long enough, but I'll admit, I'm starting to get a bit antsy about the Green vs Blacks war that is coming between fans. While it is fun to root for your favourite war criminals, the discussions have already been heated and leaked over to even the most oddest corners, including r/popheadscirclejerk for some reason. To me, part of this feels like stan culture, I mean even when Game of Thrones was on, I never saw so many "stans" invested in their favourite girlie, even when Daenerys and Cersei were in Game of Thrones. Part of me thinks its because of the viral clip involving two cast members talking about wine on tiktok, but even in the most devoted corners such as r/freefolk, the toxicity and divides open wider and wider. Personally, I'm on team black, because in my eyes, Rhaenyra was named heir by her father, and therefore deserves the iron throne, bastard children or not. However, I've seen this happen before, especially with Attack on Titan, where fans don't get what they wanted for their side, or they feel their side is being misrepresented, and it starts to get sort of bigoted. I mean I'm already seeing posts talking about how they would let Daemon choke them, despite the fact its clear abuse.
Now, you might be wondering why I gave such profuse praise to this show, yet have barely actually discussed what I love. Well first off, everyone's already talking about it, so I would simply be repeating what they love, and secondly, I just really wanted to talk about my thoughts on the show moving forward. I mean of course, Paddy Considine deserves his flowers, his performance in episode 8 legitimately moved me with how powerful it was, and I almost even cried when I saw how happy he was that his family was enjoying themselves. He's not the only actor who deserves praise to, I mean I loved the Velaryons, and I'm not quite sure why everyone was so mad they were changed to be black. Personally, I thought it just made them that much more visually distinct, and frankly it was a welcome change to the all-white cast that fantasy loves to employ oh so often.
Final Score: 84/100
Overall, I love this show, and would recommend it to anyone who wants a good fantasy show that paces itself, has interesting characters, and is just well produced. If you're tired of the low budget Marvel miniseries and Netflix tv shows then prepare to be impressed because this show is absolutely gorgeous and the production value is fantastic from the CGI to the music. I mean HBO really does know how to make TV shows and they continue to add to their already impressive resume, especially in the streaming era. I mean what more can I say, its got great actors, a good story, a big budget, and a huge setup for what should be an absolutely entertaining series.
Comments
Post a Comment