House Of The Dragon “The Heirs Of The Dragon” Review
House Of The Dragon “The Heirs Of The Dragon” is the first episode from the first season of the HBO show based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the series, set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen and it’s eventual fate. This episode attempts to set up the characters we’ll be following for a massive portion of the story, laying the groundwork for what will eventually happen. The main characters for this particular episode are the current king Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) who is currently planning a tourney celebration for his baby who is about to be born and he’s sure is a son. His long suffering wife Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke) who goes into labour near the end of the episode, his brother Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) who is causing chaos amongst the common folk in Kings Landing upon his return by rounding up the criminals and punishing them accordingly, causing a political divide between the two brothers. And Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock,) his daughter and only heir whom he breaks tradition for and names heir to the Iron Throne. Also Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) hand of the king and father to Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) who clearly has his own ideals and plans for the realm that he is clearly willing to sell anything, even his own daughter for.
Review
This episode was a massively promising start, especially for Thrones fans who still feel burned after the embarrassment that was Season 8 of Game Of Thrones. Whilst I went into this show not trying to compare the two, it’s almost impossible to do that. Those that loved the political intrigue, backstabbing and morally complex characters aspect of Thrones will love this show especially if it keeps up the same way as this episode did. Even the seemingly nothing character of Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) seems to be one to watch as he may play a bigger part in things to come.
Everyone gives a stellar performance, the show is tight knit and well edited and the characters are constantly shifting on my own personal favourites list. I loved Viserys at first but his actions and his words seem to contradict each other which makes me question his true motives. Daemon however is amazing, Matt Smith has already captured the pure chaos of the character. If you want to tune in for anything, tune in for him, he knocks it out of the park every scene he’s in.
