A little more than three years after the infamous end of “Game of Thrones”, another content from the universe conceived in the head of George RR Martin has finally arrived on HBO. And while “Game of Thrones” followed the struggle for the throne of the various dynasties of Westeros, “House of the Dragon” focused on the dynastic struggle within the Targaryen ruling family. The action takes place there before the events that we followed in “Game of Thrones”, and the story starts some 170 years before one of the heroines of the previous series, Danerys Targaryen, was even born. After both of his sons died, the old King Jaehaerys Targrayen called a Great Council to choose his successor.
Although the honor was expected to go to his eldest granddaughter, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), the old king opted for his grandson and her cousin, Viserys (Paddy Considine). Then we travel to the future and to the ninth year of Viserys’ reign, and apart from his daughter Rhaenyra (in the first five episodes the young princess was played by Milly Alcock, and later by Emma D’Arcy), he has no male heir. After Viserys’ wife dies in childbirth, followed immediately by their infant son, the king will take Rhaenyra’s friend and peer Alicent (Emily Carey as a teenager, later Olivia Cooke), the daughter of his advisor Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), as his new wife. Although he will have male offspring with her, he will choose Rhaenyra as the heir to the throne.
However, as time passes, there will be more and more claimants to the throne, especially since the plot of the first season stretches for at least thirty years, when the heirs will multiply and many of them will ascend to the Iron Throne. An important character here is Viserys’ younger brother Daemon (Matt Smith), a cruel and unscrupulous guy who also hoped for the throne. In fact, it would be unfair to exclusively declare Daemon cruel and unscrupulous, because we will realize by the end of the first season of the series, which stylistically and narratively completely follows its successful predecessor, that there is absolutely no one we can call positive. Everyone here is ready for various intrigues, schemes, if necessary, even murders of family members to secure the throne for themselves or their descendants.
And while in “Game of Thrones” you could still find moral and just characters for whom one would put his hand in the fire if they were honest, there are simply none of them here, if we somewhat exclude King Viserys, a peaceful guy who wants to rule with wisdom, not cruelty. Unlike “Game of Thrones” where the action took place all over Westeros and the surrounding area where Daenerys ended up in exile, here the action takes place almost exclusively in the capital King’s Landing. And although members of one family are fighting for the throne there, it’s all even more cruel, treacherous and cruel than before, and everyone is playing some games to elevate themselves and their family, and lower their competitors. It seems “House of Dragon” compared to “Game of Thrones”, at least for now, much more chamber, almost like some Shakespearean drama, a tragedy about people blinded by ambition and sick desire to be rulers.
We will realize by the end of the first episode of the series, which is still at a very high level and in which, just like in its predecessor, the action and the story develop slowly, and the characters are cleverly and patiently built and developed, that practically all of them are deviant patients, disgusting, repulsive , vile people worthy of contempt. From the very beginning, it is clear that everything must lead to a big showdown and that the transition of power after the inevitable death of Viserys will by no means be peaceful and peaceful. And the story is, as expected, very complicated, complex, there are no obvious good versus bad, as, for example, is obvious in “The Lord of the Rings”. Quality actors have been hired again, and it seems that we could enjoy the Targaryen dynastic struggles for years to come.