Yes it’s good, House of the Dragon. It’s quality entertainment, stuffed with special effects, topped with bloody battles and lined with loathsome characters who speak invented languages while drinking grating red wine. Jorane didn’t invent anything, friends.
Posted at 7:30 p.m.
On the other hand, this new series derived from Game Of Thrones, which takes off Sunday at 9 p.m. on Crave, in French and English, is likely to disappoint die-hard fans of author George R. R. Martin with its simplicity. Because House of the Dragon turns out to be a stripped down and reduced version of Game Of Thronesa series which was however carried by its devouring ambition and its screenplay density.
The first episode of House of the Dragon even starts with a narrator (argh!) who explains to us, in a super solemn tone, that the events depicted in the series take place 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen, mother of dragons and unburned woman. It’s a bit childish as a process.
Especially for all of us who have been through eight bountiful seasons of Game Of Thrones spending countless hours on Wikipedia unraveling the Seven Kingdoms, understanding the multiple alliances between the Houses, and identifying the bearded characters dressed in brown who all end up looking the same after a boozy but poorly lit banquet. Cursed candles.
The complexity of the stories was both the strength and the weakness of Game Of Thrones. Impossible to follow, quipped the less courageous couch potatoes. The others, braver, were sucked into a vortex that forced them to listen very proactively to the cult HBO series.
The epic episodes Game Of Thrones catapulted us beyond the ice of the Wall, into the burning sands of Yunkai or into the heart of lush Highgarden. The stunning opening credits, which unfolded in the form of an interactive world map, always told us which places in Westeros we were going to visit. We met an evil red witch, a talking old tree and a three-eyed crow, lord!
In this sense, House of the Dragon is wiser. It is more refined, more circumscribed and less dense. The plot focuses on the power struggles and internal bickering that will lead to the downfall of the Targaryen family, all of whom sport long, platinum white hair. Think of Succession, but in a simili-medieval castle where the protagonists give each other “your grace” every two minutes. With a British accent.
The action takes place mainly in the Red Keep, in King’s Landing. King Viserys Ier Targaryen, who already has a daughter, Princess Rhaenyra, has been waiting for ten years for the birth of an heir so that his family (with bad wigs) can continue their reign over the Seven Kingdoms. Because at this rigid time, always in Westeros, women never accede to the Iron Throne.
But with her fiery temper and sharp intelligence, 15-year-old Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen could pulverize this patriarchal feudal regime. Certainly, it is not his libertine uncle Daemon Targaryen, very Twilight in its aesthetics, which possesses the qualities of a good ruler. Violent Daemon lives in a brothel – classic Game Of Thrones – and loves when the blood squirts. In short, he is a perfect character for this universe of fantasy gore.
In the council of King Viserys Targaryen, there is obviously a gossip and a rogue man who specializes in political shenanigans. We do not change a formula that is as winning as it is effective.
I saw six of the ten episodes of House of the Dragon, which you will have to, alas! consume on a weekly basis. It’s prestigious TV, very well put together. The story progresses rapidly and incorporates most of the favorite ingredients of Game Of Thrones : gargantuan wedding scenes, beheadings, a scent of incest, sword and dagger fights, a mountain of naked bodies, as well as striking dragon attacks. Ah yes, a portion of the excellent music of the original credits was also recovered in House of the Dragon.
What is missing in the shows? First, endearing secondary characters like Samwell, Brienne, Podrick or Hodor. In House of the Dragon, no one is really funny or likeable or even pleasant at first contact. Compared to the Lannisters or the Starks, the Targaryens are, how to say, flat?
Then, we miss the flamboyance and generosity of the first seasons of Game Of Thrones. Give us more meat and more clues, we can take it.
And House of the Dragon does not contain, for the moment, shocking moments which trigger howls in the cottages. Like The Purple Wedding or the murder of Ned Stark.
In short, yes, it is correct, House of the Dragon. But it’s nowhere near as strong as the Valyrian steel in which Game Of Thrones was soaked.