When I first saw ads for House of the Dragon, I was profoundly confused. Who wants this?!? My reaction shouldn't be surprising, the ending of Game of Thrones was so hated, seemingly universally, it was somewhat stunning HBO made a spinoff so soon. It turned out, however, the answer was me. I wanted it.
Let's start from the top, for anyone who knows nothing about this world.
Game of Thrones is an adaptation of a fantasy series called 'A Song of Ice and Fire,' written but not completed (yet?) by George RR Martin. The first book is called A Game of Thrones and this title was borrowed for the TV show. It takes place in a fictional world with two important continents, Westeros, in the west, like a medieval Europe, and Essos, in the east, like a nomadic Asia. We're concerned with Westeros, aka the 'Seven Kingdoms,' shaped somewhat like a giant Great Britain, where just about all of the action takes place. It's the Seven Kingdoms because in its distant past the continent was ruled by seven kings, each with their own realm. There's the huge frigid North, the rich Westerlands, the central Riverlands, the mountainous Vale, the rugged Stormlands, the fertile Reach and the arid land of Dorne. These places structurally were feudalistic, where power flowed from the top and kings had various lesser 'big men' beneath them that controlled their own fiefs and raised their own armies but were also (usually) loyal to the king. The histories and cultures of these places were formed long before the events I'll describe next.
About 300 years prior to the events of Game of Thrones was Aegon's Conquest. This involved a lord of an ancient house (the Targaryens), originally from a great but destroyed city in the east (Valyria) who conquered Westeros and began to rule it as his own. He accomplished this, along with his two sister-wives (they're weird like that), utilizing a terrible power that no one in Westeros could challenge, giant fire-breathing dragons. One by one Aegon brought the kingdoms to heel and eventually was crowned king of the entire land. The old kingdoms maintained some autonomy and some of the old king's lines remained, others were replaced, but the systems of power had a new ultimate head. The Targaryens founded a new capital city, Kings Landing, and ruled through fire and blood, or fear of it.
About halfway between Aegon's Conquest and the story told in Game of Thrones was a great civil war within House Targaryen. This is a big part why the house of dragon-riders is weakened and everything in A Song of Ice and Fire takes place afterward, but the story of the Dance of the Dragons (the nickname for the civil war) is interesting on its own. That's what's being shown in House of the Dragon, the prequel show currently on HBO (Max). George RR Martin also wrote a book to tell this story (that I've avoided reading to this point), but unlike the ASOIAF books this one is less a novel and more a telling of history. I'm coming around to the idea that's a good thing, it gives the showrunners an outline but allows a bit more freedom as well. And boy, have they used it to create an engaging show.
Season 1 was all about the sickly King Viserys I (played amazingly by Paddy Considine), and the mess made in his later years. It was a surprise Viserys ascended at all, and did so after his grandfather, a well respected king, outlived his primary heirs and created a situation due to his own longevity. Viserys never wanted to be king and was chosen over his brother Daemon, who wholly did, and his aunt Rhaenys, another deserving candidate. The only problem with Rhaenys ('The Queen Who Never Was') was simply her womanhood, a woman had never ruled the Seven Kingdoms. Viserys continued the long peace of his grandfather, doing everything he could to be a good king, but his own succession became a problem. His daughter, Rhaenyra, with whom he had a special connection as the only surviving child from his (first) wife and love of his life, was officially named his heir in her youth. Viserys never wavered in his commitment but he did remarry, to Rhaenyra's childhood friend at court no less, with whom he produced several more children including three boys. After that a contest between eldest and the eldest son was always likely. A sickness like leprosy afflicted Viserys and he declined rapidly in middle-age, dying at only 52. This is when Considine's performance was especially remarkable, in particular in making a last ditch effort to ward off impending war. In the end, delirium on death's door resulted in his second wife, Alicent, believing he'd changed his mind on who should replace him (the Targaryens need some more names). Long preparing for this, she quickly moved to have her eldest son crowned in lieu of Rhaenyra, away and unaware of her father's death. So thus two parties vie for the Iron Throne, the 'Blacks' (Rhaenyra, full-blood Targaryens) and the 'Greens' (Aegon II, half Hightower, the children of Alicent).
The show is pure Game of Thrones, and in this case I say that only as a good thing. It certainly benefits from its viewers having watched the original show, you know the players at the upper crust of Westeros and what they will do to put themselves, or their children, on the Iron Throne, as well as all the other scheming that goes on. You also already have an inkling of Aegon's Dream, foretelling the coming of winter and the White Walkers, and hence the importance of having the fire of a Targaryen as king (or queen). This provides an almost overpowering sense of dread as you watch the Targaryen's bloody feud escalate. It's also complex, violent, weird and downright gross at times, all the childbirth in S1 for example. A difference from GoT is there's frequently, at least early, no clear side to root for. There are no Starks at the center, with their admirable but naive qualities. I kind of wanted to be team Rhaenyra from the start, but as a young woman she makes bad decision after bad decision and has little respect for her place. Luckily she grows up. Daemon, her uncle and frequent ally, is a fascinating but chaotic character who does some profound evil. As for the Greens, well, I don't much like the overly calculating usurpers. One of the aspects that takes this show to the next level is simple, both sides have dragons and they're extremely cool.
Something you might hear about this show is that nothing ever happens. In a certain sense that's true. We're two seasons in (the S2 finale was Sunday) and the vast majority of the story is still maneuvering and angst. Season 1 ends shortly after the death of Viserys, with the crowning of Aegon II and both sides beginning to enlist support from the Great Houses. There's only one really shocking moment, though it's a big one. War gets underway in season 2 but there's only one big battle (Rook's Rest), where again the show picks its moments tremendously, and the rest is building desperation by the two sides to gain advantage. Everything is shifting and yet little, in terms of events, is happening. My favorite scenes from S2 weren't that big battle set, as good as it was, but more low-key intrigue in classic GoT fashion: when the new young Lord Tully asserts himself over the Riverlords, when the gamble with the riderless dragons appears to pay off, and when Rhaenyra confronts Daemon at the fortress of Harrenhal. Scenes like those are why I keep coming back.
The full-scale war is locked and loaded and can't be pushed off anymore, though we'll have to wait another year and a half or whatever for season 3. I can hardly wait, even if the eventual endgame will be a reminder of something I want to forget. Whatever, I love this show.
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