House of the Dragon - Surprisingly watchable

[Joelist]

I'll be the first to admit I had little hope held out for House of the Dragon after the train wreck of Game of Thrones Season 8. And yet....

This is actually not bad!

It has a story that both moves at a good clip AND is explained, it knows both how to mix show and tell effectively and the dialogue is pretty well written. The highlight so far has to be Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen who is both evil and courageous (he is no coward to put it lightly). Paddy Considine also chews the scenery very well as King Viserys and also fun to watch has been Steve Touissant as Corlys Valeryan.

It's not perfect in that it is bloodier than it needs to be and probably would be helped with fewer characters but it definitely watchable as is.

 

[Joelist]

And this continues to be watchable.

 

[SciphonicStranger]

I am enjoying this show too. Every episode that Matt Smith's character survives feels like a victory somehow.

 

[Joelist]

After the train wreck of GoT Season 8 I had no hopes, but this has been a pleasant surprise.

 

[Shadow Mann]

I like this show too. It was a surprise that it was so good!

 

[Lord Ba'al]

Is this a Game of Thrones spin-off?

 

[YJ02]

Is this a Game of Thrones spin-off?

prequel

the one that lived that is. i have more interest in the Jon Snow sequel that is in production

 

[YJ02]

 

[Joelist]

The one who has been stealing the show is Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen.

 

[Shadow Mann]

I like this show. In contrast to the awful (IMO) Rings of Power, this show is actually very good. Much better than the also awful S7 and S8 of Game of Thrones which destroyed so much. This show is well balanced, well paced and the character development is excellent.

 

[YJ02]

I like this show. In contrast to the awful (IMO) Rings of Power, this show is actually very good. Much better than the also awful S7 and S8 of Game of Thrones which destroyed so much. This show is well balanced, well paced and the character development is excellent.

you do not even know enough about Tolkien's works to either know or not know what belongs, what has been ad libbed or what has been meshed half way with source materials!

I say with high confidence there are not many people who have read ALL the works of Middle Earth-- its narratives, stories, background, creation of characters and plots. If you had then you would see that while there are a couple of items that do not fit, most of what has been shown so far could very easily fit into Tolkien's Second Age

so when you have read the nearly 20 books, let me know

 

[YJ02]

I like this show. In contrast to the awful (IMO) Rings of Power, this show is actually very good. Much better than the also awful S7 and S8 of Game of Thrones which destroyed so much. This show is well balanced, well paced and the character development is excellent.

there is nothing anywhere near as WTF as this guy in this pic with the blonde dreds in Rings of Power.. so is this Cultural Appropriation Cross back? nordic stealing from african stealing from nordic?

ASKING as I do not claim to know-- what is this character in the source material?

 

[Joelist]

His parentage is half Velaryon (the white hair is a dominant genetic marker of Velaryons and Targaryens) and someone from Mereen (?) I think. It works in the story AND the character is well written and acted. He is one of the three performances I singled out (Paddy Considine, Matt Smith and Steve Touissant) as really being compelling. Lots of people also name the two young princesses and yes they have been pretty watchable but to me not as standout.

If I had to name the difference between this and the disaster of GoT Season 8 it is probably back to the show runner who also has a big hand in directing (Ryan Condal). He originally was going to be the show runner of a Conan the Barbarian series at Amazon but was cut loose when Amazon dropped the Conan series, and brought many of his ideas to this show. It's better written and the actors much better directed than GoT Season 8 was.

 

[Joelist]

Well they are definitely setting the stage for the apocalyptic Dance of the Dragons which put House Targaryen on the Iron Throne, all but annihilated the Dragons and also all but annihilated several Houses especially House Velaryon. So far the acting is up to snuff, pacing is good and writing seems okay. There have been a couple of cinematography lapses (like amputated digits reappearing then disappearing and several scenes with just too little light) but overall this is by far the most watchable fantasy on the air right now.

 

[YJ02]

SO.. I recently binged HOTD, its a great show, esp knowing what happens in GoTs, helps make things make sense- like why Daeny's dragons take a liking to Jon Snow-- they can sense his Valerian dna

i KNOW the real world reason there are so many non white actors playing Westerosi is ONLY because of DEI law in the nations where filmed

however, any side notes, official from the show runners, on how it fits to canon? as in what happened to all the non white population of Westeros between HOTDs and GOTs timeframe?

i am not talking about nobles, etc,, but just people overall. in HOTDs we see the streets of kings landing totally multi ethnic; in GOTs they are nearly all white, 'Mediterranean' at most


they tell a great story, so it doesn't matter if the people are yellow with purple hair,, just curious if anyone here has read/ seen if this in canon questions has been asked- where did all the in world diversity go between the two time periods?

 

[Joelist]

Not really sure where. It does detract from the story somewhat although they can try to explain it a little (such as saying Velaryons intermarried with people from Mereen). Not sure about making King's Landing a melting pot. Overall this is a decent show - not as good as early season GoT but FAR superior to GoT seasons 7 and 8.

 

[YJ02]

Not really sure where. It does detract from the story somewhat although they can try to explain it a little (such as saying Velaryons intermarried with people from Mereen). Not sure about making King's Landing a melting pot. Overall this is a decent show - not as good as early season GoT but FAR superior to GoT seasons 7 and 8.

of course, as i said, the 'real' answer, lies with real world concerns. all nations where filming occurred require diversity in productions- why we get Asian people in historical shows about bronze age britain, etc

same thing affected all productions- like Rings of Power and anything else made in England, Ireland, Australia or NZ

just wondering if anyone tried to explain it in story , something i missed in HOD..