After the disastrous final season of Game of Thrones, the show that had dominated the 2010s vanished from everyone's minds, when HBO announced a prequel series focused on the Targaryen civil war, there was a healthy dose of skepticism. When House of the Dragon aired, it quickly silenced detractors and revived everyone's love of the world created by George R. R. Martin.
Related: 'Game of Thrones': Why, Two Years Later, We've Stopped Talking About the Emmy-Winning JuggernautInevitably, some began to compare the two shows, with many fans saying House of the Dragon is even better than its predecessor's first season. While there are certain aspects of the show that surpass the original thanks to eleven years of advancement, there are others that can detract from the experience.
Better: The Story is Finished
Martin's first book in A Song of Ice and Fire was published in 1996, and the most recent main series book, A Dance With Dragons, was released in 2011, the same year as Game of Thrones. He did give the creative team an outline of where the character's would end up, but it wasn't concrete. As a result, many storylines were cut, condensed, or made up, which contributed to the lackluster finale.
Fortunately, Fire & Blood was released in 2018, and was based on two short-stories released several years earlier. This means that the team knows how it will end and which characters will be important from beginning to end. This way, they can properly pace the show so that it can end with all its storylines intact.
Worse: The Time Skips
While the show is based around the Dance of the Dragons, the first season is spent building up to the war. It begins with the great council of 101, where the lords of Westeros chose Viserys to be his grandfather's successor over his older cousin, Rhaenys. To get to the Dance for season two, the show implements time jumps between episodes, ranging from a few months to ten years.
Related: There Are Too Many Damn Time Jumps on 'House of the Dragon'This causes problems for the narration and the characters, as every episode has to catch the audience up on events that happened years ago in-universe. This is best shown in the relationship between Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin Strong. Initially, these characters barely shared two words with each other, but after ten years Harwin is the father of Rhaenyra's eldest sons, meaning the audience missed out on all their meaningful interactions and growth.
Better: Condensed Story
Game of Thrones told a large story about politics and family allegiances with the threat of far away foes coming from the north and the east. Its story was broken up among dozens of smaller ones scattered across the world, which often had very little to do with one another. This resulted in many forced and contrived decision to get the characters to meet up so the multiple plot lines could conclude.
House of the Dragon, meanwhile, tells a local story of family succession which leads to civil war. With the biggest outside threat being the conflict in the Stepstones, it's able to focus all of its attention on its characters. Since most of them are related, it also gives a stronger reason for them to side with one another.
Worse: Lack of Location Variety
While House of the Dragon's condensed story has its benefits, it also comes with a few downsides. The biggest of these is that the world of Westeros feels smaller than ever. Nearly every episode takes place either in the crownlands surrounding Kings Landing, with the occasional trip to Pentos with Daemon.
This lack of location variety means that audiences miss out on getting to see how the rest of Westeros was during the reign of the dragon-kings. Most of the great-houses are treated as afterthoughts or only brought up when it comes to political matches. The lack of travel also means that audiences miss out on what cultures like the North or the Iron Islands think about the black and green factions.
Better: More Dragons
Set during the reign of the fifth Targaryen king, Viserys, House of the Dragons sees Westeros at the height of the royal family's power. Along with their family influence, the Targaryens possessed more dragons than ever before. There are dozens of dragons in the dragonpits, ranging from young ones only able to carry a teenager to Vhagar, the last of the three dragons used by Aegon the Conqueror.
Related: Who Is the Dragon That Daemon Sings to in the 'House of the Dragon' Finale?This high number of dragons creates a different experience than Daenerys'. It makes the stakes of the war more deadly, as both sides can unleash untold destruction, and everyone needs to take into account which side has which dragon, especially the older ones. The show also takes greater steps to make the dragons visually distinct, rather than pallet swaps like Daenerys' three, which helps each dragon stand out and showcase their personalities.
Worse: Actions Have No Consequences
One way that Game of Thrones captivated audiences and critics was that the character's actions had realistic consequences. If a character broke their word or took an action that others cautioned against, they often ended up dead. This included Ned Stark, who the show had set up as the main character of season one, which set a massive president that anyone can die.
House of the Dragon sadly does not do the same. Characters like Ser Criston Cole are able to commit murder at a wedding yet suffers no consequences. This lack of punishment also causes supposedly strong to appear toothless, such as when Ser Harrold Westerling was able to walk out of the Green Council in episode nine, right after Otto Hightower said that nobody was to leave.
Better: The Targaryen Brothers
The two biggest stand-out characters of House of the Dragon are King Viserys and his brother, Prince Daemon. Played by Paddy Considine and Matt Smith, the brothers are polar opposites, which is always a great source of drama. While Viserys is kind and wants peace, Daemonis reckless and seeks out conflict wherever he can.
Related: 'House of the Dragon': Paddy Considine Deserves An Emmy For These 10 ScenesDespite how much they infuriate each other, the brothers love one another deeply and want nothing more than to be together. This dynamic forms a major emotional core in a season dominated by politics and backstabbing. From it comes the show's most powerful moment in episode eight, where a dying Viserys goes to sit the Iron Throne one last time, and Daemon is there to support him when he falters.
Worse: Fewer Characters To Root For
One of the reasons Game of Thrones became so popular was its characters. Alongside the usual cut through opportunists, there were a number of compassionate souls who tried to help others, such as Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, and Brienne of Tarth. While their roads were not easy, their morals shed a glimmer of light on a nihilistic world.
It's a bit harder to find such light in House of the Dragons. While the characters are wonderfully written, most of them are willing to kill, blackmail, or extort others if it means getting what they want. The one exception is Lord Lyonel Strong, the show's parallel to Ned Stark, who is subjected to one of the show's most gruesome deaths.
Better: Climax In The Final Episode
Game of Thrones had a habit of making the 9th episode of most seasons their climax. This left the final episode as more of a wrap-up with a cliffhanger ending to hook audiences for the next season. The tradeoff to this is that, if the final episode doesn't have a good hook, it can kind of get overshadowed by the previous one.
While House of the Dragon had climactic moments before the finale, none of them equal Luke's flight from Storm's End. Along with providing one of the most nerveracking moments in television, it ends on a point of no return for the upcoming war. Meanwhile, Thrones' season one finale is mainly the aftermath of Ned's execution.
Worse: Shocking For The Sake Of It
Westeros has always been a world of atrocities. Some of the most shocking moments in television came from Game of Thrones, such as the infamous Red Wedding from season three. While some were criticized as gratuitous, most were accepted due to the logical progression of events that lead to them.
Related: 'House of the Dragon' Could Benefit From Taking Itself Less SeriouslyThe same can't be said for the majority of shocking scenes in House of the Dragon, which often come across like the show wants to throw blood and sex at the screen for the sake of it. One of the worst examples is in episode one, where a dozen knights randomly start killing one another and nobody intervenes. It comes out as random, gets hand waved as young men being angry and horny, then never gets referenced again.
Next: Unanswered Questions We Have After 'House of the Dragon' Season 1
