Initial reactions promise everything we love about Game of Thrones

In a little less than a month, House of the Dragon, the new series from the Game of Thrones universe, starts. There are no reviews of the series yet, but after yesterday’s world premiere in Los Angeles, the first reactions are trickling into the internet. Episode 1 of the fantasy series was shown, albeit without an intro. So there are no impressions yet on what the follow-up to GOT’s iconic title sequence will look like.

As always, premiere reactions should be treated with caution as this is not an in-depth exploration of multiple episodes of a series. However, the descriptions of the first episode of House of the Dragon – the preferred nickname in the Moviepilot editorial team is Hot-D – suggest one thing: A return to the strengths that made Game of Thrones so popular.

What is House of the Dragon about?

The new Game of Thrones series plays around 200 years before the original and is devoted to the rise and fall of House Targaryen. The focus is on Rhaenyra Targaryen (young: Milly Alcock, older: Emma D’Arcy), daughter of King Viserys (Paddy Considine), who sees herself as the rightful successor to the throne of Westeros. The traditional line of succession, however, is hostile to a woman’s claim to power. In the long term, the series will therefore be about the so-called Dance of the Dragons go, a devastating civil war among the Targaryens.

House of the Dragon promises sex, tears, violence and realism

Collider’s Stephen Weintraub is one of those GOT viewers who wasn’t thrilled with Season 8 at all. He writes:

But I admit that the series premiere of House of the Dragon is really well done and I’ll definitely keep watching. […] Expected plenty of sex, blood, violence and dragons.

YouTuber David Lightbringer summarized his impressions in a video:

[Die Serie] resembles the early seasons of Game of Thrones, but is even more serious. It feels very realistic, hard and heavy. […] The characters are very nuanced.

Mexican YouTuber Jag Durán was also there and describes the first episode as “spectacular”:

Expect lots of action, great performances, profound dialoguesGOT References, Sex, Tears, Ultra Violence and Dragons.

Will Graham , producer of Mozart in the Jungle and A League of Their Own, on the other hand, simply writes:

Woah, House of the Dragon is really good.

Whether the critics will share the enthusiasm is another matter. But those are interesting Comparison to the early GOT seasons and the emphasis on dialogue (the quality of which was lost in the later GOT squadrons). At least the start of House of the Dragon doesn’t seem to throw itself into the turmoil of battle that made up the last episodes of Game of Thrones, but to reflect on the old strengths of the series.

When and where is House of the Dragon streaming?

We will find out next month whether this is really the case. House of the Dragon is in Germany at night August 22, 2022 on WOW (formerly Sky Ticket) * and available for retrieval via Sky Q. In the evening at 8.15 p.m. the prelude runs on Sky Atlantic. The first season will consist of 10 episodes.

Podcast: Is the new Game of Thrones series House of the Dragon doomed?

Game of Thrones is one of the most successful series ever, but the finale was controversial. What does the new GOT series House of the Dragon have to learn from the original and can this series succeed at all?

In the new episode of the Moviepilot podcast, we discuss this question. We explain when the new GOT offshoot is playing, what to think of the cast around Emma D’Arcy and Matt Smith and ask ourselves what House of the Dragon absolutely needs to learn from Game of Thrones (and what not).

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