The first season of Game of Thrones:House of Dragon has ended. What is your opinion about it?

Submitted by mrnicegy26 t3_ycc988 in television

As the first spinoff to the worldwide phenomenon that was Game of Thrones, there were both sky high expections as well as a healthy amount of scepticism (due to GOT's ending) towards the show. Do you feel the show has been able to live up to those expectations? Has it shaken off any stigma attached to the Game of Thrones brand?

How do you feel it compares to the original show ? Does it live up to the quality of the peaks of original series? Do you feel it is likely that House of Dragon would be compared to Game of Thrones in similar terms as Better Call Saul is compared to Breaking Bad now?

What are your hopes for the future of the show? Which areas do you feel the show can improve upon in the future?

Do you feel it is likely that the show will become an awards magnet similar to how the original series was? Would it be able to beat out shows like Succession, White Lotus and Last of Us to become the most prestigious and flagship TV show of HBO?

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flouronmypjs t1_itlfj4o wrote

I loved it. Impeccable acting across the board. I like the more contained story with the heavier focus on the castle dynamics/politics. I like the focus on the patriarchal society and how it affects the central women in the show. I think it has a really fascinating cast of characters. Visually impressive, most of the time. And it's really neat to see what Westeros is like when dragons are alive and well, and an accepted part of the world.

I think the main knock against it is just the number of years/amount of story they had to cram into season 1 to set the stage for the war. I'm glad we have all that backstory, but it feels as though it should have had more episodes to flush it out. The recasting of characters would be less jarring if it wasn't so frequent. And there are moments that feel like they should resonate more than they do, because we haven't had much time to get to know the characters affected.

I'm really excited to see what season 2 has in store. I haven't read Fire & Blood, so I'm sure I'm in for a lot of surprises.

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JayPtl t1_itlnxbf wrote

You're in for a ride in season 2. Try not to pick a side if you can, you'll enjoy it much more.

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flouronmypjs t1_itloola wrote

I have a hard time imagining myself cheering for the greens at this point, but things change!

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Boognish-_- t1_itlvtsk wrote

Less cheering for and more “damn, everyone sucks”

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flouronmypjs t1_itlwm35 wrote

It wouldn't be Game of Thrones if everyone didn't suck at least a little bit. Haha.

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Mir_man t1_itm6a78 wrote

I cheer whatever side is less about Targaryen incest and imo that's the greens in this period. Greens were going to de facto lead to Targaryen's getting integrated into Westeros better than Blacks.

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flouronmypjs t1_itm7kc4 wrote

Interesting. What gives you the impression that the greens are less about Targaryen incest?

Personally for me I'll hate the greens so long as they are propping up that rapist creep King. I find Rhaenyra a lot easier to support than Aegon.

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Mir_man t1_itm8lsu wrote

Yeah on a Personal level Aegon is worse, but as a faction I prefer Greens because it will lead to Targaryens being less endogamous.

Edit. Aegon is married to his sister, so nevermind, screw both sides. I m personally happy the civil war weakened Targaryens as a whole.

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flouronmypjs t1_itm92r8 wrote

I'd be curious for you to explain that further. It's not a topic I've given much thought to. But off the top of my head, both the greens and blacks are headed by a Targaryen sovereign claimant who is married to another Targaryen. At least Rhaenyra and Daemon wanted to marry each other, whereas Aegon and Helaena were forced into it for political reasons.

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Mir_man t1_itm9ipg wrote

Yeah they are both incest fams. But I guess with greens you get the influence of House Hightower, Baratheons, etc which would make the royal affairs less exclusively controlled by Targs.

​

I personally prefer House Baratheon as Royal Family (The real ones).

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flouronmypjs t1_itmdxug wrote

So maybe it's lesa about incest and more about a general distaste for the Targaryens/desire to see other families gain control?

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Mir_man t1_itmeusx wrote

Its both. I really dislike Targs except Aegon (Egg) and his brother Aemon, and that's because they were very non Targ like and didn't partake in incest.

​

But I also dislike how Targs see themselves politically above all other houses in a racist way.

−1

flouronmypjs t1_itmir0e wrote

Yeah any family that thinks they have a birthright to monarchy sucks. But I don't think there are many folks advocating for democracy in Westeros - the major houses who aren't currently the ruling family all seem to wish they were the ruling family.

There's a real ickiness to "keeping the bloodlines strong" and all that aspect that the Targaryens and Velaryons talk about.

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VitaminTea t1_itn7zte wrote

Lol the leader of the Green faction is married to his sister

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Mir_man t1_itndtqd wrote

Yea just remembered. Let both sides wear each other out as far as I m concerned.

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Mir_man t1_itneii2 wrote

Yea just remembered. Let both sides wear each other out as far as I m concerned.

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GingerAle_s t1_itn8y4a wrote

>and imo that's the greens in this period.

Their "King" is literally married to his sister and they have multiple children.

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Radulno t1_itotm8j wrote

To be fair, in this case, it wasn't voluntary. Aegon didn't want to marry her.

Whereas Rhaenyera and Daemon wanted to since she was a teen

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favorscore t1_itn303u wrote

Too late. FOR THE BLACKS.

I would die for Queen Rhaenyra.

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MrDabollBlueSteppers t1_itp112v wrote

One of my gripes with Season 1 is that it’s clearly written with the idea of taking a side.

Rhaenyra is the hero of the story and the Greens are straight up villainous

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jogoso2014 t1_itlfgb0 wrote

I enjoyed it but not nearly as much as Game of Thrones.

I don’t care that much about anyone and my reasons for supporting Rhaenyra are entirely pragmatic. I will say her kids are infinitely better than Alicent’s but that doesn’t mean much.

I think the story pacing was clunky and the time jumps were handled poorly.

The performances were stellar and the effects decent for what they showed.

I am glad I read this beforehand as it’s not even setup similarly to Game of Thrones. There’s a lot of red wedding or Blackwater equivalencies that unfortunately don’t have the character development but still should look awesome.

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itlizid wrote

> I don’t care that much about anyone

So much of the show is super hurried and you rarely get time to just be with characters and see their relationships develop. The last episode was scrambling to develop Rhaenrya’s relationship with her son, and it made it extra obvious that he was gonna die because the show is so plot focused. They should’ve either ironed out a better prologue and just jumped into the dance of the dragons, or had a longer season/bigger buildup.

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Chataboutgames t1_itlq89m wrote

It leaves you wondering why we ever even got to know the Strong family. It's not like we needed a big murder to show how evil Larys is, dude gets up in the morning wondering how he can cosplay scheming sociopath.

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itltxev wrote

Ya the season finale really had me wondering about a lot of the choices. It is so clearly a pro-Rhaenyra show, which is fine, but that really makes me wonder why didn’t spend more time seeing a lot of these events from her perspective and getting more down time with her, her father, the Strong who she had an affair with, and her sons. If it’s ultimately a show about motherhood, which I think it is, they really should’ve trimmed things down and worried about building out other characters later, or cutting down ones who weren’t ultimately that relevant.

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Chataboutgames t1_itluu3z wrote

Yeah I really don't think I liked how they did the last two episodes as one all green and the other all black.

I just want to have some emotional resonance with these characters. Rhaenyra is a stranger to me. She seems to have nothing in common with her younger self, she makes horrendous decisions that we never really see her reflect on or grapple with and when she is on screen she just seems kinda blandly concerned about things. Aside form "less war hungry than Daemon" I can't really think of any personality characteristics I'd ascribe to her in the finale. Like I would shed some context for some reason to care about any of these people.

Like the finale chase/dragon seen was phenomenally done, and it got a reaction out of me. But that reaction was because they did such a good job suddenly switching in to horror film mode, not because I have a shit about this glorified extra or how Rhaenyra would feel about it.

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itm0njq wrote

I’m so glad to hear this because it speaks to a lot of the frustrations I’ve had with the show that I always get downvoted for expressing.

I think the finale actually works on an emotional level more than most other moments in the show because we’ve seen the rivalry between the cousins occur many times now. The tension has been built, so when he walks into the court we feel it immediately not just because of “oh they’re both here trying to convince this king” but “oh they have literally been at each others throats since they were kids, and there is a personal rivalry between them”

> Aside form “less war hungry than Daemon” I can’t really think of any personality characteristics I’d ascribe to her in the finale. Like I would shed some context for some reason to care about any of these people.

1000x this! So many of the characters are only understood through their actions as they relate to the plot. But we need to see them in moments that have nothing to do with it.

When you watch a show like Andor, you get so many details of characters that add emotional context to their actions. There’s a villain who appears in only one episode, but we get a scene of him preparing for a ceremony with his wife and kid. His clothes don’t quite fit him anymore because he’s gotten fat, he’s dismissive of his wife, and hard on his son. It’s nothing to do with the overall story, but his presence throughout the rest of the episode is changed dramatically because we see underneath the surface just a bit. There is SO little of that in HOD.

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Deadlocked02 t1_itlxb7a wrote

> It is so clearly a pro-Rhaenyra show, which is fine

I mean, is it (fine, not pro-Rhaenyra, which it obviously is)? It really feels like they rob her of a lot of what makes her compelling in the book to me in the process. She comes off as very soft spoken, wise and well-meaning in the show. Some interpretations of the book are not as flattering, but I genuinely believe they’re more interesting and have the potential to be more entertaining.

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Chataboutgames t1_itlz7gq wrote

It's like the show doesn't have the balls to engage with her character. Like she clearly fucks up on an epic scale producing all these bastards, but the only one ever vocalizing that is Alicent, who's presented as a tightly wound, overly pious, sex negative shrew. Rhaenyra's fuckups are obviously present in the show, but it only engages with them as plot devices, not one a real character level.

Also, the whole tie in of the prophecy is stupid and I don't understand why it's even there.

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itlzuxc wrote

Ya I think this is very true. When I said it was Pro-Rhaenrya, I meant that they started the show with her, and ended it with us hanging on to her emotional perspective. But that doesn’t mean they do a good job of making it her show, like you said the engagement of character stuff is only plot level. And since she’s the main character, it means everyone else is even more surface level.

I never knew Alicent was in love with Criston until reading an episode with the actress. The show never talks about it, but it’s a huge part of why the actress says Alicent feels so upset about Criston sleeping with Rhaenrya. Similarly, the actress said that Alicent is insecure because she knows Rhaenyra is the better mother, but that’s also never really showcased since we rarely see them as mothers unless it’s important for the plot.

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Deadlocked02 t1_itm2qcf wrote

> Like she clearly fucks up on an epic scale producing all these bastards

The show tries to sweep that under the rug by saying she and Laenor tried to have kids, but it just didn’t work, which is a pretty poor excuse, to be honest. Especially for someone who knows her claim is likely to be challenged. In the books, my impression is that she did it because she thinks she can get away with it.

> Also, the whole tie in of the prophecy is stupid and I don't understand why it's even there.

One of its purposes, the way I understood it, was to remove Alicent’s agency. Like she supports the usurping of the throne, but just because she thinks it’s her husband’s wish. Pretty lame, if you ask me.

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yoaver t1_itmug3f wrote

Laenor claimed the Strong kids in the books, which I doybt he would've if Rhaenyra just had them for the fun of it.

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Deadlocked02 t1_itlv6qo wrote

I really think the show is good in terms of acting and direction, but in my opinion it tried too hard to make certain characters likeable (even so, it didn’t work for everyone, like you). Mainly by removing their agency or making them very different from their book selves, the biggest offenders being Rhaenyra and Alicent.

Like, they saw these two extremely dangerous women who have no shortage of agency and influence in their respective factions and decided to turn Alicent into someone who’s oblivious to the schemes of the men around her and feels more like she’s only joining the bandwagon to mitigate damages and because she misunderstood her husband’s last words (which is not a thing in the book), when in fact she’s the biggest Green supporter in the books. And Rhaenyra into someone who isn’t dangerous at all (she’s just married to a dangerous guy), who’s extremely wise and reticent about starting a war, when the impression in the books is that she’d go to extreme lengths to secure her claim, no matter the cost. Personally, I think the story would be much more entertaining if they were true to their personalities from the book, even they didn’t have as many redeeming qualities.

I think it’s a story that functions much better if you’re not actively rooting for anyone, but actually seeing it as fascinating historical events unfolding, even though I admit I’m biased, because that’s how I consumed the books. I’m aware that this kind of storytelling wouldn’t be popular with everyone, but I genuinely believe it’s the best way to absorb it.

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Mir_man t1_itm71fm wrote

Agree 100%. They did the same thing in GOT. They demonized Stannis, made Tyrion a saint. Made the show much less interesting when the showrunners clearly have their favs.

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yoaver t1_itmu1ut wrote

How is Rhaenyra dangerous at this point in the books?

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Chataboutgames t1_itlzhpe wrote

> I think it’s a story that functions much better if you’re not actively rooting for anyone, but actually seeing it as fascinating historical events unfolding, even though I admit I’m biased, because that’s how I consumed the books.

I wonder if that's even something you can replicate on TV. Like, woudl the dry documentary style of the books work as an HBO show?

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Chataboutgames t1_itlq36g wrote

> > I don’t care that much about anyone and my reasons for supporting Rhaenyra are entirely pragmatic. I will say her kids are infinitely better than Alicent’s but that doesn’t mean much.

This is the main issue with it I think. I feel like in an attempt to be gritty/"grey" they just landed on "there's no reason to advocate for any of these people over the others and very little reason to care who wins."

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fanboi_central t1_itlvvjc wrote

What's funny though is that the book is 100x worse about this, they are borderline cartoonish. The show does its best to humanize the main players.

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sgthombre t1_itlcuge wrote

I'll say this much for it, it's nice to not actively dread new episodes of Game of Thrones again.

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Poetspas t1_itlgcz2 wrote

From Season 7 episode 4 on, every week was just incredulously staring at the screen and not being able to believe they would do what they were doing.

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mylord420 t1_itmt4zt wrote

Season 7? Try season 5. Or "bad poosay" and the whole dorne arc was acceptable to you?

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Poetspas t1_itn2eob wrote

"Acceptable to me"? Bro it's a show. I love the books and devoured them multiple times but at the end of the day I'm consuming a piece of media and a product. If I'm watching it, I guess I'm accepting its existence? Sure.

Dorne was pretty uninspired yeah. Shallow compared to the books. It was also like 6 scenes total in an entire season. And season 5 and 6 were, in general, still engaging television. For every 'Jaime in Dorne arc', there was still a 'Jaime in the Riverlands arc'. For every 'Arya in Braavos arc', there was still a 'Stannis burns Shireen arc'. One bad part does not erase a good part. And season 2 and, if I'm honest, season 3 also had some uninspired and simplistic parts. Long stretches of AFFC are also pretty boring and unengaging if you're reading it for the first time and are not in the right mindset for long meandering world-building. I "accept" that as well. Not everything can be Tyrion's trial level of engagement. Nor do I expect it to be.

Season 7 and 8 were, except for maybe the Field of Fire v.2 and Winterfell episodes, completely terrible. There really wasn't anything saving it on a whole. That just wasn't the case for season 5 and 6. So yeah, bad poosey and the Dorne subplot were "acceptable to me".

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MrDabollBlueSteppers t1_itnfngy wrote

Season 5 and 6 had some jarring moments and the quality fell off compared to Seasons 1-4 but as a whole it was still enjoyable TV

Seasons 7 and 8 are borderline unwatchable

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OutOfBootyExperience t1_itmu3x9 wrote

it seems odd to me that someone would hate S7/S8, but enjoy HotD.

I feel like HotD has hits every item on the "i hate S7/8 checklist". And this is coming from someone who enjoyed watching S7/S8 and enjoyed HotD.

It feels like the both play up the big spectacle events and both have plenty of 'suspension of disbelief" moments.

I think S7/S8 hate is really based on the investment of time people put in over years, and not the actual content of any given episode. I get that there are plenty of stupid/goofy moments in 7/8 and that the writing generally felt a bit more like fan service, but it feels like HotD is the same way.

I think "cleaning their palette" with a new set of characters/some time away from the original is letting people appreciate HotD

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Ryanchri t1_itn4gsg wrote

> someone who enjoyed watching S7/S8

I thought I was the only one

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Phyr8642 t1_itlek5v wrote

9/10, absolutely superb. This is what bespoke TV looks like. Acting, writing, cinematography.

Hollywood award voters are weird and often make highly unusual choices. But if Paddy doesn't get Best Actor, the emmy's are fucking blind.

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itlimeh wrote

Sorry, I just don’t get how you can praise the cinematography as “bespoke” when it was so dark and inconsistent that there was a huge backlash after one episode that people literally couldn’t see what was happening. They have a lot of room to improve on that front

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klaygotsnubbed t1_itljgyr wrote

that was literally one scene from one episode, thats it

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skyturnedred t1_itp0rkj wrote

It was most of the episode. Not unwatchable, but definitely a weird choice considering similar issues with GoT.

−1

Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itlmhjx wrote

Nah, the season as a whole had a lot of intangible sludge and that episode was the worst of it but certainly not the full extent. Many scenes were low contrast, smudgy, and dark. Definitely some good looking moments, but my point is that it’s not the high level of prestige the other viewer was saying it was. Other shows look much, much better.

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jebotres t1_itm6ujq wrote

I switched from HDR to SDR around ep4, big improvement, the HDR is basically unwatchable for me on a Sony x900. There are so few comments on this online I thought I was going blind at some point but other HDR shows/movies look great and the SDR is alright. Your description of the HDR is pretty accurate to my experience, basically a gray piss filter throughout.

I also dont see how their advice to "bump up our brightness" for the worst offender matters given that HDR generally locks brightness settings to max?

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itm87nq wrote

I hadn’t considered that! HDR is really misunderstood, and so many people abuse it in an attempt to capture that low contrast Fincher look. It gets especially brutalized in streaming. I actually have the exact same tv, too! Haha. 85”, pitch black room, fine tuned settings and it looked so bad.

Especially if I watched something good before hand, there were a few times where I went from a Lost rewatch to this and it was like I had downgraded my TV.

I am surprised you didn’t see many comments. Especially after episode 7 there was a big discussion. I actually think they tweaked later episodes, as they had more color and contrast than previous ones.

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jebotres t1_itm94cu wrote

If you ever do a rewatch I highly encourage you to source some non-HDR 4k rips online, I pay for HBO max but couldnt find a setting to turn off HDR via the app; piracy once again providing the superior product. Just turning HDR off on the tv doesent help, the SDR is mastered differently.

To be honest I was looking for those comments pre-7, around the time I switched, found some people praising the SDR and didnt think of it much afterward.

Maybe the HDR looks better on the newer OLED sets, better contrast and more nits? I'll be a few years out on that one since I'm pretty happy with the x900 still.

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itmgc6s wrote

Idk what streamer you use, but for me I’d just set Apple TV to SDR and turn off match content so it should source the SDR file. I do think, like all things, it probably looks best on an OLED. But the 900h is a damn good tv, and things look great on it. Very much an issue on the shows end. My hope is OLED technology will be cheaper in a few years, I don’t think I’ll be upgrading until it does or if my tv outright breaks. .

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Phyr8642 t1_itljhpw wrote

I didn't have that problem at all. I'm not even sure which episode you mean. I do remember a very dark scene involving Vhagar, but it was the middle of the night, it should have been dark, and it added to the tension.

I always watch with all the lights out in my apt, and my tv is pretty bright, so maybe this didn't impact me like others?

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itlmb26 wrote

It was episode 7

It definitely depends on setup to the extent of how bad it is, I have a very high end setup and could see everything. But it still looked bad and was poorly done in comparison to other nighttime sequences in other shows and movies.

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nightfishin t1_itlangw wrote

Its in that season 5-6 range. A great show with some problems like most stories. Don´t think anything will top the first 4 seasons of GoT.

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mrnicegy26 OP t1_itlaw37 wrote

I agree. While it has been enjoyable prestige blockbuster entertainment of those seasons, it hasn't had a Ned Stark gets executed moment that you know will be considered an all time great scene.

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nightfishin t1_itlczgh wrote

I would gladly be proven wrong if it surpasses it. Its a great overall show, might be the best season of the year for me.

But it doesn´t have Tyrion and Tywin which I think are some of the best characters ever written TV or Book. It doesn´t have the brotherhood/friendship of the Knights Watch. Larys is a lesser version of Little Finger and Varys dynamic. And really just a poor mans Glokta.

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vinng86 t1_itlyjkz wrote

I mean, we're also only a single season (11 episodes) in as well. GoT didn't have a lot of what you said until it was developed a couple seasons later.

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nightfishin t1_itn25w2 wrote

All those elements are in the first season. Tyrion being Tyrion, having chemistry with every character and actor, delivering classic dialogue. Tywin is introduced in the second half of the season. Jon Snow travels to the Wall in the second episode etc.

Sure its hypothetically possible HotD could surpass it but I never want to set expectation for any content that high and then be disappointed.

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Historical-Author-49 t1_itm3yau wrote

>it hasn't had a Ned Stark gets executed moment that you know will be considered an all time great scene.

I couldn't disagree more. Episode 8, both Viserys's throne room scene and the dinner party scene, rank up there with the best GOT scenes for me, and in terms of emotional impact on me, above most of them. Maybe above all of them

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poopfartdiola t1_itnr8oi wrote

Is that moment with Ned so great because of how it happens or because it was the first time for literally everyone that the main character as good as Ned dies in such a terrible way in the first season?

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nikischerbak t1_itny5dj wrote

Idk I like the first season of house of dragon a lot more. But politics is my passion so that might be why.

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mickeyflinn t1_itlloti wrote

I will keep watching.

I keep waiting for the show to get started. I am not really invested in any of the characters or any of the storylines.

The show is firmly..ok.

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Redo-Master t1_itlhe0f wrote

8/10.

I did enjoyed it but wasn't a fan of certain choices, imo the show isn't close to peak GoT as of now. The casting is perfect, the shows looks great especially the final episode with its cinematography. Viserys by the end of the season became my favourite and Paddy delivered his character with perfection. The show was better than GoT when it came to Dragons and their characterisation, I really enjoyed them.

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justafatgoat t1_itlapa9 wrote

I think it has done really well building up an audience, getting people involved/ hooked etc considering season 1 is literally all just set up to the actual dance.

In theory, as the show progresses and more "interesting"/"exciting" events are set to happen, I can't see why it wouldn't continue to excel.

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GDJT t1_itleor1 wrote

>...considering season 1 is literally all just set up to the actual dance.

You make it sound like a 10 hour act 1 where "all the good stuff will happen later, we promise."

>In theory, as the show progresses and more "interesting"/"exciting" events are set to happen, I can't see why it wouldn't continue to excel.

Again, Game of Thrones does not have a great track record for "just keep watching, the good stuff is coming in the later seasons."

−26

AtheismoAlmighty t1_itlh1l4 wrote

>You make it sound like a 10 hour act 1 where "all the good stuff will happen later, we promise."

Because that's the reality. Like, you know it's based on a book, right? Meaning anyone who's read it can easily see how few chapters were used to make season 1. It is very much act 1.

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Chataboutgames t1_itlqcwy wrote

I just feel like an entire season being Act 1/a setup is a bit of a stretch. Have any other shows gotten that degree of leeway?

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GDJT t1_itlhd4g wrote

I get that. I'm saying if the best thing you can say is that "it will get better later" why are you wasting your time?

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AtheismoAlmighty t1_itlhw1n wrote

If something is already a 7/10 with a promise to get better over time, I hardly see how it's a waste of time. The person you responded to never made the claim that the best thing you could say about it was that it got better.

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GDJT t1_itlippz wrote

I certainly disagree with your rating and opinion of the show but you are right, I did misread the person I originally replied to so I apologize.

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itlj90w wrote

You shouldn’t have to be familiar with the source material to appreciate the show, and the show shouldn’t adhere to the structure of the book. Different mediums require different plotting. I think it’s fair to say that they could’ve made this season a stronger story in its own right, rather than as one big prologue.

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AtheismoAlmighty t1_itljpm1 wrote

>You shouldn’t have to be familiar with the source material to appreciate the show

Literally no one has made that claim.

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itllyiq wrote

> Like, you know it’s based on a book, right? Meaning anyone who’s read it can easily see how few chapters were used to make season 1. It is very much act 1.

The implication of this is that if you’re familiar with the source material and know the story then it works because it’s only adapted a small part. That’s irrelevant to the other users complaint that it was all setup without a satisfying enough narrative in its own right.

−5

AtheismoAlmighty t1_itlm89j wrote

You inferred (incorrectly), I didn't imply any such thing.

There are plenty of people who haven't read the book and still enjoy the show despite having no idea what percentage of the story has been told.

In other words, you need to have read the books to know we're in act 1. You don't need to know that we're in act 1 to appreciate the story that's been told so far.

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Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itlnbp9 wrote

> You inferred (incorrectly), I didn’t imply any such thing.

You can say this, it doesn’t make it true. Your response to someone saying it’s a 10 hour act 1 with the promise of the good stuff coming later was to point to the source material rather than defending the season on its own terms. The implication there is that adherence to the source material structure precludes the show from criticism about it being all set up.

> There are plenty of people who haven’t read the book and still enjoy the show despite having no idea what percentage of the story has been told.

Well, clearly the other commenter doesn’t. Anecdata is useless. It’s a popular show, I’m not denying that. But that doesn’t make the criticism invalid.

> You don’t need to know that we’re in act 1 to appreciate the story.

Of course that’s the ideal. But that’s not necessarily the experience of everyone. I’m not going to bat for the other commenter anymore, but your defense that the show is following the source material has nothing to do with their complaint that it was all buildup. Whether other people who are unfamiliar with it enjoyed it is also irrelevant.

−3

AtheismoAlmighty t1_itlq95e wrote

You can keep putting words in my mouth all you want. All I've ever done was point out that the show has only presented a small fraction of the story so far.

You seen to labor under the idea that I feel the need to defend the quality of the show - I don't. People can hate it or love it, I don't care. All I've done is point out an objective truth which is that there's a lot more story to be told.

1

psuedonymously t1_itpxj0t wrote

> You make it sound like a 10 hour act 1 where "all the good stuff will happen later, we promise."

I don't stick with series I don't enjoy as I'm watching them. I dropped the Amazon LOTR series after 2 episodes. I stuck with House of the Dragon

1

lee-js t1_itlj55x wrote

I'm watching it out of a sense of duty, to be honest. I don't like any of the characters and I'm not invested in any of the storylines. I wasn't bothered by the recastings as I didn't like any of the previous characters either so I suppose there's that.

Bunch of dicks doing a bunch of dickish things and being dicks. With added dragons. Not sure what the appeal is.

11

SpaghettiLove2 t1_itllep0 wrote

Why do you have a "sense of duty" to watch a tv show? r/cringe

−6

lee-js t1_itlomc9 wrote

I don't know. Why do you have to be a dick? r/whatadick

−1

Chataboutgames t1_itlpw53 wrote

It was quite good, but I don't think it would be a phenomenon without the GoT name attached to it. Ultimately it feels like so many spinoffs, just lacking the charm or chemistry or charisma of the original. Any scene without Viserys just felt like minor characters dicking around.

That said, that's grading on a very specific scale, aka comparing it to other HBO tier quality flagship shows. By the normal standards of television the production values alone make it worth watching.

EDIT: Also seems a bit more transparent in its moments of cheap shock and over the topness, but I could be applying some rose colored glasses to GoT on that one. Watching Cripson be an untouchable serial murderer just got boring, as did the 26 or so minutes we spent this season watching violent births. Also people seem to love it, but Daemon's behavior never comes across as rogueish or "badass" to me, it comes across as spoiled, petulant child. "Look at me not stand when decorum demands it I'm such a rebel!"

10

IjuststartedOnePiece t1_itmoobu wrote

I don't think I've watched a show that bombarded me with such fantastic performances in a while. A lot of scene stealing performances in this show with each actor bringing their own gravitas on screen. Rhaenyra, Daemon, Viserys and Aemond in particular are a treat to watch.

Story and character wise however, it leaves a lot to be desired. None of the characters have that depth I've come to expect from GoT, lots of kids and affairs and the show expects me to care for those a lot more than I do. It rushes past way too many story beats making character relationships feel quite shallow.

I have high hopes for the show simply because the story has a lot of cool moments to come but I much prefer the Starks and Lannister politicking in GoT over the Targaryen mess in HoTD. The Lannisters were a one of a kind, Cersei, Tywin, Tyrion and Jaime are just so much better as characters compared to anyone in HoTD.

8

Cool-Proof-3678 t1_itlizcm wrote

It was ok. I wasn't as invested in these characters as I was Arya Stark or Tyrion Lannister but there were some good performances.

Also, I get that pregnancy complications and incest are a part of the story, but I could do without as many of the visuals.

6

KnotSoSalty t1_itllgug wrote

Enjoyed it. It does suffer from a lack of scale. Most scenes are just two or three people talking. There are very few scenes of crowds of even small groups. Think of the tourney scene in episode 1, it feels small and remote compared to the same scene in GOT’s first season.

Part of this is that the book is written as a history of one family’s rule, so it naturally focuses on them. Part of it was covid restrictions I’m sure. It’s probably impossible to get 100 extras in costume crowded together, so they do it with editing and CGI.

All in all that’s a small complaint though, excited for season 2.

6

spaldingmatters t1_itlvmzf wrote

Had a lot of fun, great season. One of the best shows I have seen this year. Not close to as good as Seasons 1-6 of GOT, but better than the second half of 7 and 8.

A few criticisms I had for it:

  • Some moments felt like simply trying to be 'on-brand' to GOT, but GOT had much more restraint with how it depicted wanton violence. Random lords and knights killing each other, and two going at it in front of the princess at court are just not believable for me.

  • Many of the moments that were going for spectacle fell flat for me, such as the ends of Episode 3 and Episode 9.

  • At times, I found the characterization a bit inconsistent, but that may well be a byproduct of the time skips.

  • The world was nice but to me at last it didn't feel as lived in and organic as it does in Thrones whenever we ventured out of the Red Keep.

6

SongOfBlueIceAndWire t1_itlp434 wrote

It was decent. A few great episodes. A few meh ones. One total shit one. But it wasn't anywhere close to the quality of GoT season 1.

5

[deleted] t1_itms9ur wrote

[deleted]

5

Chataboutgames t1_itnfugq wrote

Honestly this is even worse than GoT on that front. Any article criticizing the show had tons of comments with hundreds of upvotes saying it's an Amazon paid article. People are losing their fucking minds.

5

JohnnyFootballHero t1_itng7zh wrote

I enjoyed it, but nowhere as much as GOT S1.

And like ROP S1 it has its flaws.

5

Rotishery t1_itldbx0 wrote

It’s good. Not great.

4

inthearticleuidiot t1_itnc1iq wrote

It was decent to good at times. Pacing issues were the big problem. Spent a lot of time with child characters in the first half of the season doing things that didn't really inform the adult storylines or characters in meaningful ways beyond things that could have been set up with much less time investment.

At the same time the back half of the season with our fully developed cast was rushed through leaving emotional impacts like the protagonist queen-to-be losing her lover and father of her children as well as one of her children as throwaway moments. And the fucked-up consummation/courtship of her relationship to her uncle-husband was just tossed in alongside some CGI spectacle as well.

4

Jimmni t1_itlf1kp wrote

I’m up to about episode 5, having watched episode 1 the day it aired. I’ll finish it eventually but it didn’t wow me in any regard. It’s good enough TV but not something I find myself rushing to watch.

3

Obstreperus t1_itmz49o wrote

I thought it was great! I went into it not expecting it to live up to GoT at it's best, but honestly, for me it really did the job. Matt Smith's Damon and Paddy Considine's Viserys really stood out, but honestly the whole cast really delivered, and the only dark cloud for me is how long we have to wait for season 2. Total fan.

3

simonjames777 t1_itomwko wrote

I loved it, it genuinely got me excited for this world again. It felt like the old days where everyone looked forward to Sunday to see Gane of Thrones and then just talk about it the rest of the week. They did such a great job setting up this world and these characters. Yes I would have loved more time with some of the younger characters but I understood this to be the prologue to the main story. In that respect I think they did a good job with the pacing and story beats. I think it was critical that we got to spend time with young Rhaenyra and Alicent, made me care for their relationship so much more. And seeing Viserys' journey carried by Paddy Considine's excellent performance was truly one of the highlights. And Matt Smith as Daemon!!! Such a flawed complex character and Matt just looks like he is having so much fun playing him. The performances by all the actors has truly elevated this show. And the Dragons! I love the designs and how each one looks and acts different. Like I was hesitant going into this show but have come away completely enamored with this world and these characters.

3

AKAkorm t1_itlh0ei wrote

It was entertaining throughout but had some flaws. It was often jarring how much time passed between episodes and some of the bigger moments didn't land as well because characters or character motivations were barely established.

S2 shouldn't have any of these issues though as the showrunner has said the time jumps are done and the show will focus on the Dance fully now. So definitely looking forward to the next season.

2

ronearc t1_itn8wxr wrote

Eh. It's alright.

It mostly feels like a bunch of people I despise fighting with a bunch of other people, some of whom I despise even more. Ultimately, I don't feel invested in what the final outcome will be. But when it's not simply depressing and dehumanizing, it's entertaining enough.

2

agentOO0 t1_itnxlcd wrote

It was the show of the year for me. Of all the shows I can remember this year, it was the one I was most excited to watch each week, and now that season 1 is over, I miss it the most. And after how D&D screwed over GoT, I didn't even want to like this show.

2

onex7805 t1_itp943k wrote

Doesn't reach the first four seasons of Game of Thrones, but still great. Even at its worst, like the Daemon plot armor and the coronation set pieces, are on par with the bad moments in GOT 5 and 6 rather than 7 and 8.

It falters with a lot of the side characters. The writers seem unable to figure out who these characters are or what roles they should take. What's the point of Crispin? What's the point of that Littlefinger knockoff, whose motive more aligns with Euron (and isn't even all that cunning). Why is Laenor alive? What was the relationship between Laena and Daemon? Why didn't Luke get more weight to the series considering the finale?

The magic of GOT is the snowballing effect of small details and motives of characters to a catastrophe, and it hasn't happened often with this show. A lot of what could be small moments that could acclimate get brushed off as one-time events.

The time jump episodes are rough with the show rebooting itself like two times, which is an unfortunate side effect they couldn't avoid.

Still, it is good to see a court politics show that revolves around actual intrigues, dialogue, and planning without mindless action scenes that doesn't bore the shit out of me. The Last Kingdom bored me so bad it ruined my interest in it, and this show put me right back. The pace is good, the stakes are constantly raising, and the main characters are layered. Viserys is such a strong engine of the story that I felt bad about his death more than I felt with Ned.

2

udgnim2 t1_itlo13b wrote

I had some issues with how certain things were handled, but overall great first season imo

largely a return to earlier GoT seasons being centered around dialogue & drama as opposed to action & spectacle focused

1

platinum_toilet t1_itls6z3 wrote

Everyone working on the show, promoting the show, HBO, etc ... they all need to write thank you letters and send gifts to Amazon and Disney.

1

donkeylipsh t1_itlu40x wrote

Great production and rule of cool distract from the shortcomings. The show is amazing if you just get caught up in the spectacle and enjoy the cool shit for the hell of it.

Dragons, violence, tits, and TV's first butthole shot were the stars of this show. They might as well be selling crack to the teenage and YA fanbois and gurls.

It owns social media and that's all that really matters. Show will be a hit and one of the most viewed and talked about shows for years to come.

1

darsvedder t1_itlukz4 wrote

It was very fine. Good. Did the thing. Didn’t give me any of the tingles (and Dinkles) GOT gave

1

urgasmic t1_itly2fq wrote

i thought the first 3 episodes were OK. hearing about a time skip basically made me put it down though. I'll check back in for season 2.

1

Redlemonginger t1_itmoki3 wrote

It was good. It didn't have that oh shit moment that solidified the story for me. I think it's the best fantasy show we've received since game of thrones, and I look forward to more.

Might be able to squeeze into the top 10 by the end of the year.

1

Nightmannn t1_itmyv5z wrote

It's good, not yet great, but orders of magnitude better than other fantasies like ROP and The Witcher.

Unfortunately, I don't really have emotional attachments to the current cast of characters, so if(when) one of them bites the dust, I'm more interested in the spectacle but don't feel the emotional toll. The only characters I did feel this was was for Viserys and Rhaenyra before the time jump. The old actress had this swagger that made her compelling while the new actress simply doesn't.

First season was still an 8/10 for me just because it revitalized a franchise that I considered dead, and it's very well produced.

1

bigfatmatt01 t1_itn1ckl wrote

I refuse to engage with any ASOIAF media until JRR Martin finishes the books. I WILL NOT HAVE ANOTHER ROBERT JORDAN SITUATION! I refuse to put my mental energy into stories people have no intention of finishing any longer.

1

fortyfivesouth t1_itph5o1 wrote

Sanderson's probably finished the final ASOIAF books already.

1

cj8k t1_itn7odi wrote

I don't like it, but i didn't like GOT as well..

1

ruxi23 t1_itnt46t wrote

Amazing outstanding acting but rushed season and as a result most if not all characters are underdeveloped and I feel like the audience can barely get invested in most of them. The best episodes 7 and 8 where episodes when it showed down and just spend time with the characters with things happening slower to get the adueince to know them and their relationships.

1

skyturnedred t1_itp0hhw wrote

I like the focus and speed. GoT could often feel like it wasn't moving forward at all because there were so many storylines going on at once. I love the focus on a singular conflict.

Awards don't matter at all.

1

Rydahx t1_itsr50g wrote

I liked it but there is still something missing.

Was the best show on tv for me these past few weeks.

1

Liesthroughisteeth t1_iuh8szf wrote

No... the Game of thrones/ House of the Dragon or the guy that wrote the books is not our religion....So we enjoyed the show immensely, which is hard for me to say about fantasy. :D

1

throwtheclownaway20 t1_itlexyt wrote

It's pretty good, better than I thought it'd be. The multiple timeskips made it feel really rushed, though. Would have been nice if they'd stretched this much of the story across 1.5 to 2 seasons so it had room to breathe. But, yeah, it's been good. Getting over the franchise-killing stigma that GoT S8 left has been it's biggest challenge and it feels like they've just about conquered that.

0

Signoro_Reccher t1_itloynn wrote

Basically the definition of a flawed masterpiece. The middle episodes have way too many rushed storylines and awkward time jumps. I think a title card would have been nice instead of suddenly noticing that the two year old became eight off screen. That being said, when it's at its best, it really does reach peak television. I think the last episodes were some of the best writing and acting I've seen in years. Every actor brought their A game, especially Paddy.

0

clg_wrath2 t1_itlzof0 wrote

It had good acting, beautiful scenery/setting but the character building/world building fell flat to me. Whether it was the huge amount of time jumps, trying to kill off characters that we really havent gotten to know or just the basic writing of each episode I dont have any connection to most of the major characters. When I watched S1 of game of thrones last month I saw the amount of characters that had been written well enough we all knew who they were and if what we should feel about them. Its like 20+ meaningful characters in the first season of GOTs while in HOTD its about 6? The only kid who was really given any chance to grow/connect with is Aemond in my opinion.

Was this show better than anything on TV this fall? Yeah it was, but thats because everything else was pretty bad. Was this show anywhere as good as Game of Thrones S1? No its more like the final seasons of game of thrones than the beginning in my opinion.

Final grade: 7.25/10

0

Aromatic_Cod_3627 t1_itxgeeq wrote

The gratuitous childbirth/death scenes are beyond obnoxious. Just pure lazy nonsense. Find another way to create emotion and drama. Thrice in one season is infuriating. Stop making the audience endure that three times in ten episodes because you’re too fucking lazy to not use the same plot device over and over.

Otherwise decent.

0

Dnashotgun t1_itlu2m4 wrote

Enjoyable but not great. Even though the time jumps were jarring I feel like the first half of the season was actually stronger than the back half almost to where I wish we'd gotten the whole first season in the past and then just starting the 2nd at where ep 6 started.

Unfortunately it felt like that first half ended up being for nothing because the 2nd half couldn't decide on whether it wanted Rhaenyra and Alicent to be aggressors or victims. Rhaenyra's birth and walking scene were the perfect start to show off who they'd become, but then the show kept trying to make Alicent a victim and at the mercy of men and Rhaenyra demure and at the mercy of men. It's just weird considering how in GoT two of its best (pre season 7/8) were women defined by being ambitious and willing to go to extremes to get power and in HOTD the show keeps finding ways to make the leads not be ambitious.

Lastly I wish we spent more time with the kids. Presumably they'll be major players but that last episode didn't really have any impact both because "it's an accident!" and it feels like we've seen these characters for 5 minutes so why do I care?

−1

SwagginsYolo420 t1_itol48v wrote

> because the 2nd half couldn't decide on whether it wanted Rhaenyra and Alicent to be aggressors or victims

That's kind of the point. They are nuanced characters, not one-note TV tropes.

3

Dnashotgun t1_itov0c3 wrote

I would argue that it was more the result of bad writing than nuance on Alicent and Rhaenyra

−1

NephewChaps t1_itn8zft wrote

Not quite on that GoT S1-4 level but much, much better than GoT S5-8

−1

grinr t1_itoz35c wrote

When I realized it was essentially Downton Abbey with dragons, it went from must-watch to yeah-ok-I'll-watch. My biggest complaint is that IMO almost nothing happened. Episode one is a great set up showing obvious tension over who will inherit the throne, and then it's nine episodes of people talking about who will inherit the iron throne, and then it's not raynera or whatever her name is because of course it isn't.

I'm glad lots of people like this show because i love the genre and its success means I'm more likely to get shows like it that i enjoy more.

Oh and because i love me some downvotes, i thought Rings of Power was far more enjoyable to watch from beginning to end. Far better action, better storyline, better characters, and better pacing. (But definitely not better acting...)

−1

DoingMyJobNOT t1_itli9tg wrote

nothing close to those first few seasons of GoT.

feels like a copy taking the base desires of the fanbase and playing them up.

metacritic reviews were right. this is in that 6ish/10 range. just more useless nostalgia

−2

3thirtysix6 t1_itnrqnu wrote

Boring, and a massive waste of time. What the fuck was the Crabfucker nonsense?

−2

Autisthrowaway304 t1_itlgus1 wrote

I never watched original GoT but i've seen a couple episodes of this and i'm actually intrigued to watch more, I watched the first four eps of RoP and it bored me and the gf to the point we just gave up.

−4

BeHappy123456789 t1_itlfjyu wrote

The cinematography is breathtaking and the cg is stunning. Some of the acting is next level.

But the writing is terrible. The plot, the beats, the characterization all feels like they were written by someone on their first fanfic.

−6

panlakes t1_itlfbwy wrote

I lost any interest in it with the recast. I am sure the new actors do a great job but in the moment it completely killed my immersion as I had grown attached to the original actors. For example, I remember each ep mentioning to my GF how much I loved the queens actress and thought she was such a sweet character. When the recast happened in ep 3? 4? We were so confused that I had to pause and walk around and Google if it was temporary or permanent. The new queen has a totally different disposition and face and just... idk. We just straight up changed to something else and said we could come back to it later. I still haven’t gone back to it.

−8

CrassDemon t1_itljv27 wrote

To play devil's advocate.

I felt the same way. But after watching the rest, they wanted that from the characters. They are supposed to be different people. They wanted to show you that the characters had changed. With that in mind, I think they did a great job, and it's a point in entertainment history that will be remembered better than it was received on release. The actors did a great job and the story brought me right back in.

Give it a shot.

9