I do love a good backstory! House of the Dragon is the backstory of Game of Thrones. It tells the tales of Westeros and how the elite families of this make-believe world were formed.
I was a huge fan of Game of Thrones. I wasn't a huge fan of the ending though. For that reason, I almost skipped House of the Dragon. A little bored the other night, I decided I'd finally try it. For the most part, it's alright... Maybe my expectations were a little too high. Game of Thrones was just so exciting and entertaining. I didn't find House of the Dragon as exciting.
Honestly, had I not been such a massive fan of Game of Thrones, I probably would have stopped after the first two episodes. IMHO, the entire first season just fell flat. It lacked the sexiness, excitement, and violence of the first series.
House of the Dragon teaches us all about the early Targaryen bloodline. I believe it is set 500 years before the rise of the Mad King. It starts slowly, really slowly. There are no white walkers, no familiar characters, just the basic back story of the Targaryens and some of the Lanisters and a little of the other 7 significant families of Westeros.
The special effects were OK. The dragons were awesome. I do love a good dragon tale. Still, with all the ingredients for a kickass series, it just didn't move me. It seemed like it took the entire first series to finally build to a climactic ending, only to be forced into waiting for the next season. The only thing it really had in common with the first series was the bad behavior of the royals and even that fell a little flat. Some very questionable and sensitive themes there too with child brides and all that nonsense.
The cast is more racially diverse. I'm OK with that, but with a backstory, they should have had a more diverse cast in the first series. It also touches heavily on the patriarchy/matriarchy dichotomy of Westeros.
The basic plot is pretty much about the King's consideration of leaving the kingdom to his daughter and not his firstborn son. For the most part, it's an interesting plot. It also sets the stage for some interesting rivalries and highlights the double standards of Westeros and also our current times.
I know a lot of people didn't like the series because of all the "woke" undertones. I could see how some people might see it that way. IDK, I didn't find it that bothersome. There's definitely propaganda hidden in there though. Just saying..
What I didn't like, is that it seemed to take 10 episodes to build up the plot into something interesting. By the 10th episode you can pretty much tell where we are heading in Season 2. It ends on a real cliffhanger. As far as excitement, it's just too little too late.
Being such a big fan of Game of Thrones, I'll probably give this one more season. Had I not been a big fan of the first series, I probably wouldn't have even made it to the third or fourth episode of season 1. I just found it all, really boring and lacking imagination.
I think that's what separates the two series. Game of Thrones did a great job of showing us the world of Westeros. I don't think that's the case with House of the Dragon. Although it's about the Targeryans and the rise of their bloodline, it just lacked the magic and excitement of GoT IMHO.
As far a rating is concerned, I'll give this a big giant MEH! Here's hoping season II can give us the excitement we've all come to expect from the franchise because in my humble opinion, it's missing from season 1 of the reboot.
Screenshot taken from HBO website: https://www.hbo.com/house-of-the-dragon/season-1