Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Episodes: 10
Duration: 60 min (per episode)
House of the Dragon: Season 1 (Blu-ray) – Series Review
It’s not that hard to admit that the final season of Game of Thrones was one of the most disappointing final seasons that has ever aired. Not only did it neglect a lot of the elements it had built up over the course of the first seven seasons, it just felt rushed and incomplete. Nonetheless, in retrospect, we should also be happy that we even got a final season with the current trend of arbitrarily canceling every possible series out there. Now, however, we received a Blu-ray copy of the hyped Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon. With the series delving deeper into the history of House Targaryen and their dragons, we were intrigued.
House of the Dragon takes place 172 years before the events seen in Game of Thrones. King Jaehaerys I Targaryen (Michael Carter) lost both his sons and due to this, he no longer had a direct successor. After assembling the Great Council, the matter of succession was taken to a vote, and Viserys (Paddy Considine) was chosen as the next heir and future ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Viserys was a calm man, but he was also desperately trying to secure his line of succession by conceiving a son with his wife Aemma (Sian Brooke). When his wife eventually goes into labor and it’s clear that there is something severely wrong, he has to make a choice no man would ever want to make: save his wife or save his unborn child. He chooses the latter, and for a few hours, he is the proud father of a son, who sadly passes away shortly after. His daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) is struggling with her father’s decision and she also believes that women are considered second-rate citizens who are only necessary for giving birth to heirs. Her father finally realizes the importance and capabilities of his beloved daughter and decides to name Rheanyra his heir. This creates a ripple effect for many years to come, as she will have to face constant danger and betrayal, and she will have to prove her worth.
The story evolves rather slowly in the series, but that’s actually a good thing. Even though most of the series’ viewers will probably already be acquainted with the Game of Thrones universe, House of the Dragon does an amazing job at worldbuilding, which sets the right atmosphere. The characters evolve logically with everything that is going on, even though, as expected, they also make dumb choices that eventually unfold into dramatic events. Viewers that are expecting a lot of action might be a tad disappointed as this first season of HotD is a more political affair of who will eventually rule the Seven Kingdoms. While some blood, gore, and nudity are thrown your way, this one is milder compared to George R.R. Martin’s red wedding and other major events in the same world.
House of the Dragon boasts a very impressive cast. The actors all do an amazing job bringing their characters to life, and even characters with only a few lines feel as if they are of importance. It’s clear that the casting process was handled with care, and there wasn’t a single bad performance in sight. The series oozed that Game of Thrones gritty atmosphere and we saw each of the main characters evolve throughout the ten episodes of the first season. We do have to say that the actor swap for both Rhaenyra and Alicent felt a bit off, as their characters were already adults in the series before the swap. To have such drastic changes to their appearances does not make any sense. Luckily, their acting made up for this, and this small gripe immediately faded to the back of our minds.
The Blu-ray edition of the first season of House of the Dragon comes with quite a few bonus features. These features consist of commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, general information about the series, and of course, opinions from the current cast members. We loved exploring the additional content, but we would have preferred it if all bonus content would have been on the last disc, as some extras already mildly spoiled some of the things to come.
Conclusion
After the extremely bad taste that the final Game of Thrones season left in our mouths, we can only applaud the amazing new series in the same universe. House of the Dragon might contain a bit less cleavage and blood so far, but it does nail its storytelling and overall atmosphere on the head. We loved seeing the characters evolve throughout the course of the first season, and we feel as if we only saw the tip of the iceberg. Even if you’re not a die-hard GoT fan, but you love fantasy, drama, and politics, then you can’t go wrong with this one.
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