Arthur Greene
And so it begins. After eight seasons of Game of Thrones, a show whose brutality, politics and sheer sexiness captured the world unlike any other that came before it, we start again.
House of the Dragon centres on the reign of the Targaryen family, but 200 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen, the queen whose campaign to take the Iron Throne we followed in the original series.
So viewers will have to become familiar with an entirely new cast of characters – and a hell of a lot more dragons.
There is King Viserys (Paddy Considine), a gentle ruler who is weakened by his obsession with producing a male heir. For more than a decade he has kept the peace in Westeros, but peace is boring and he has a festering sore on his back that could kickstart the struggle for power.
He must choose between his eldest daughter, Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), and his younger brother, Prince Daemon (Matt Smith).
Daemon is repulsive but compelling, the bloodthirsty captain of the Kingsguard who promises to be the main source of sex and violence in this series. And for those wondering whether House will serve up as many bodies – slashed and nude – as its predecessor, it wastes no time giving you an answer.
Soon after we’re introduced to Daemon, we watch him command his army of loyal law enforcers to round up the local criminals and serve up some medieval justice. They chop the hands off criminals, the heads off murderers, and for the rapists – we’ll leave that to the imagination.
Then as if to balance the gore, Daemon heads off to his local “pleasure house” and provides viewers with an altogether less impressive display (but one that’s equally stomach-churning).
In the space of an hour, we’re served up with enough gore and nudity for an entire season – but this isn’t necessarily a recipe for success.
For many fans, Game of Thrones lost its way; by the later series it lost the essence of what made it great. The showmakers of House seem desperate to remind viewers why they first fell in love with it by shocking us with scenes of mass mutilations and orgies.
But Thrones was at its best when it gave us complex characters whose motivations and actions collided with each other. The best scenes were not battles or sex scenes, but ones in which two characters sat in a room and argued about power.
It remains to be seen whether House of the Dragon will have the same merits, but the pieces are in place for an engrossing first series. Let the Games begin.
Image source: @mariadempseyy
