House of the Dragon - Episode 1.01 - The Heirs of the Dragon - Review

 

In 2013, I bought a large glass stein etched with House Targaryen's sigil, the three-headed dragon. Season 3 of Game of Thrones had just aired, my fandom was at its peak, and I wanted to augment my collection of nerdy mugs and glassware at the annual anime convention. There were a lot of GoT-specific options that year, including Direwolves and Krakens, but I settled on the Targaryen sigil since Daenerys was one of my favourite characters and also dragons are real cool. 

Flashforward to 2019: Like many Game of Thrones fans, I thought S8 was a narrative disaster. The story beats and character arcs felt more like a bulleted list than an actual story. But what surprised me most about my disappointment was how much it soured me on the show overall. I continue to love and rewatch other shows with bad endings (Battlestar Galactica), and have spent years arguing that a bad ending should not ruin a good journey (this is mostly about how some audiences responded to LOST; I adore the LOST finale). It felt weird to now be in that same position, recognizing the quality of early seasons but unable to return to the world or the many blurays hidden away in my closet. Maybe the writers' seeming indifference is what made the difference for me here. The final seasons of LOST and BSG were still trying to say something or do something creative and innovative, even if they didn't work for everyone. Game of Thrones ended poorly because of a lack of thoughtful storytelling.

Ultimately, I didn't think I would ever want to go back to Westeros. I felt burnt out. I didn't want to look at my stein, which symbolized both this thing I loved so much that really let me down and also one of the worst served character arcs. (Hydration is important, so my Cactuar-etched stein began to pull double duty). Sure, I loved the original novels and had followed the show's production for years before it aired. And I will probably pick up a copy of Winds of Winter when it's published. But the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, especially onscreen, was dead to me. 

And yet... like the Drowned God of the Iron Islands, "What is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger." As trailers began to drop and people I knew began to casually chat about 'more Game of Thrones,' I started to feel that 2011-style spark of excitement.  I even picked up a copy of Fire & Blood and found myself completely absorbed by the text. (Don't get me started on how much I loved diving into a fictional history written by a biased in-universe author relying on biased fictional sources: #ReleaseTheMushroomCut). Clearly, I'm not alone - there has been an absolute deluge of House of the Dragon coverage; my podcast feed is laser-focused on HotD reacts to an extent I haven't seen since, well, Game of Thrones.

And so, here I am, writing something on my just-for-me TV blog for the first time in a decade - since Game of Thrones S2 aired. Since before I started grad school and my writing stopped being 'just for me.' And friends, I am optimistic about what this first season can deliver based on a pretty good premiere!

Spoilers for Heirs of the Dragon & light comparisons to Fire & Blood below!

What worked for me

Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen are friends, actually

In Fire & Blood, no mention is made of a childhood friendship between Alicent and Rhaenyra, which makes sense for a history written by an old man relying only on the perspectives of men. It's easy to read this connection (including the compelling intentional queer subtext) into an adaptation; one is a brash and headstrong rulerbreaker (with the power to back it up), the other, with less power, is stuck in the role of prim and proper follower. HotD did not have many moments of levity, but their connection was bright and fun and delightful.

Daemon Targaryen is a chaotic jerk with depth

I know a problematic fan fav when I see one. More compelling than Daemon's ego at the tourney was his dynamic with his brother, the King (his only real ally) and his favourite niece. Daemon is chaotic, powerful, brash, insecure, and - crucially - a dragonrider. Never trust a man like this with your WMDs (or your Police Reform City Watch). HotD seems like it might be taking time to comment on political challenges in our world (more on that below), so I'm curious to see if they take more time to explore police brutality. It has some real 'clearing out homeless people before the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics' vibes.

Intimate conversations among a small set of characters

Game of Thrones was often praised for how it took largescale, world-ending drama and distilled it through a series of small, intimate character moments (think: Littlefinger and Varys). While the stakes of HotD appear to be dynastic rather than apocalyptic, those moments come across extremely well here and I have nothing but positive notes on the strength of the casting and acting.

I'm excited for more of this

The Queen Who Never Was and the Sea Snake

An older Almost Queen who remains politically relevant and near the seat of power? Yes please! Rhaenys Targaryen is probably the most interesting character who said and did very little in the premiere. Nothing else to add other than she is giving me Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark vibes and I am all in on that. Similarly, Rhaenys' husband, Corlys Valeryon, did not have much to do in the pilot, but I am incredibly excited about his role (he's so interesting that HBO is thinking about a show centred on him in his younger days). Not to mention finally featuring people of colour in series regular roles in Westeros. Let the fanboy haters weep their sad racist tears! 

DRAGONS, in full colour too!

GRRM insists each dragon be immediately recognizable to viewers. So far, we've seen Daemon's red Caraxes and Rhaenyra's Yellow Syrax. MOAR DRAGONS PLS!

What worked less well for me

The patriarchy and childbirth. 

As much as maybe the show said something interesting about police violence, and the show is very explicit about the in-world controversy of a female heir / potential Queen on the Iron Throne, I was left a bit confused by what it was trying to say about Patriarchy through the cross-cutting Tourney / Extremely Graphic Childbirth (and death) sequence (which probably needed more of a content warning - that was possibly the most disturbing thing I have ever witnessed on TV). It also certainly resonates in light of recent awful American Supreme Court court rulings, but I don't know how intentional that might be.

Was it about the fragile egos of men and the danger they pose to women? Was it about making explicit the metaphor of childbirth as a battlefield? Was it about men making stupid decisions causing harm to others? I just don't know why Daemon fighting Ser Criston Cole was the moment worth contrasting with Aemma's death, rather than the brutal, senseless fighting (and deaths) moments earlier at the Tourney. If ultimately the point is that 'powerful men make terrible decisions and everyone, especially women, reap the consequences' then... sure? I think I need to see more of what this show wants us to understand because the editing left me confused. Which is too bad because these are the Big Themes!

Why so serious?

This is a challenge I've heard several podcasters discuss and one that was on my mind as I watched the premiere. With so much serious subject matter, but without characters like Tyrion, Arya, Bronn, etc., will we find opportunities for levity? Will it be dour brooding and politcking at all times, or will there be joy, joking, and love? Jesting about cake aside, I think the show has a little more work to do to help build this kind of trust.

Conclusion

I took a look at my review of the Game of Thrones premiere and reminded myself that I only gave it a 7.75/10. I argued it was interesting and solid, if understandably and annoyingly exposition-heavy; that it served mostly as setup and introduction, rather than something I could judge by itself. And that remains true of The Heirs of the Dragon, a gorgeously produced hour of television that, in many ways, is better than Winter is Coming - though it certainly lacks the hook of a Twincest Attempted Child Murder cliffhanger. I'm not going to give this episode a rating, but I sure am excited about the rest of this season. 

So, here I sit, with my suddenly-relevant dragon-etched glass, cautiously optimistic about what the future may hold for me, my stein, and Westeros.

*A note to readers: Many TV critics have access to screeners and can post their reviews immediately after an episode airs. I'll be taking a bit of extra time to get these out without screener access (as I desperately try to avoid coverage), so thank you for your patience. These should be out Tuesdays!