House of the Dragon Season Premiere Reactions
That Lord of the Rings prequel is SHAKING right now!
*Scroll to the end for a SPOILER-laden roundup of “Funniest #HotD Tweets”* The post is too long for your Inbox, so open in your browser to see the Tweets!
In Pride & Prejudice, there’s a line where Lizzy accuses Mr. Darcy of saying that he likes her against his will, against his reason, and even against his character. Sometimes I feel that way about Game of Thrones. The sexual violence, the regular violence — it’s problematic. But damn, if it’s not doing next-level storytelling, including deeply redemptive themes on the power of “cripples, bastards, and broken things.” Reader, I admit: I am entertained, I am moved!!
And today, I am here to tell you that, to my utmost surprise and perhaps against my better judgment…I liked House of the Dragon.
Truly, Jeff Bezos is sweating in a conference room somewhere, counting out the $465 million he spent on Rings of Power—which is now merely the “other” fantasy prequel coming in 12 days. Early bird gets the worm, Jeff, and this early bird is getting quite good reviews! I’ll be interested to see if the two shows cannibalize each other’s viewership or turn 2022 into the Year of High Fantasy.
Anyhoo, I think Sequels/Prequels tend to fall into four categories:
Better than the original [Thor: Ragnarok, The Dark Knight, several Fast & Furiouses, Paddington 2, etc.]
Equal to the original [Star Wars Ep V & VI, Minions: Rise of Gru apparently]
Worse than the original [Speed 2, Jaws: The Revenge, the Hobbit movies]
Well-executed nostalgia [Top Gun: Maverick, Creed, Incredibles 2]
The jury is still out on House of the Dragon since we only have one episode, but for me it’s giving #4: well-executed nostalgia.
I’d love to hear, before we move on: What are your favorite and least favorite sequels of all time? Define “favorite” however you want! For example, Homeward Bound 2 is garbage, but I watched it at least a hundred times growing up!
5 Takeaways from House of the Dragon - “Welcome [back] to Westeros, b*tch!”
*Minor spoilers for House of the Dragon and major spoilers for Game of Thrones*
A reviewer at The Ringer said: “If Game of Thrones broke the wheel, House of the Dragon keeps the car running.” Yes, Game of Thrones broke the wheel, but then in season 8, it broke itself — so I’m happy with just keeping the car running!
Here are five of my takeaways after watching the first episode. I would love to hear yours!
1. Nostalgia, but make it ✨plot✨
Honestly, I thought I was over the GoT world, so imagine my surprise when it just felt FUN to be back in that beautiful sh*thole called King’s Landing??
I loved the references to the original series, even if they might be “fan service.” Fan service is FINE as long as it also services the story!
We got allusions to GoT fams like the Baratheons and Starks, a cinematic opening shot mirroring Daeny’s last flight over King’s Landing, the classic *bum-bum-ba-da-bum-bum* music underneath a new theme, a delightful plot twist at the end of the episode, and even—*SPOILER!*—Arya’s dagger she used to kill the Night King!
2. Matt Smith in a Legolas wig…it’s working, hunny!
Matt Smith plays Westeros’s “law and order candidate”—but where “law” means excessive dismemberment and “order” means in the dead of night.
Granted, I’m a Matt Smith fan. He was the first Doctor Who I watched, I loved him in The Crown, etc. But honestly, I was convinced he would be a complete embarrassment in HotD. That wig! The theatrics! It couldn’t be good!
Friends, I can admit when I’m wrong!!! So excited to see his character absolutely balls-to-the-wall unravel, which I must assume will happen because this is, after all, George R. R. Martin’s world.
3. The rest of the cast is exciting, and I can’t wait to see how they stab each other in the back.
They cast pretty much every great British actor except the ones who were in the original Game of Thrones or are currently in The Crown. These people can do Hamlet in their sleep, and it shows!!
What GoT did so well—and what we want from this—was to create a world that felt true, with characters and storylines that felt complex and human and earned, even against the backdrop of magic and dragons and White Walkers.
I bet we’ll all have different answers to our favorite GoT character: Tyrion, Jon, Arya, Sansa, Brienne, Jaime, Oberyn, the Hound, Eddard, Jorah, Samwell, Ygritte, Missandei, on and on. When the show started, my least favorite character was Sansa, and when it ended, Sansa was my favorite! Character 👏🏼 development 👏🏼
[I’m pretty sure Ben’s two favorites were “Worst Dad in Westeros” Tywin Lannister and “Sexiest Murderer” Daario Naharis.]
It’s too soon to tell if HotD will succeed at this. Especially since it seems like maybe you can’t root for any of the characters because they’re all toxic, inbred monsters? So there’s that! but so far, I’m invested.
4. The Internet has a new boyfriend!
He’s no Pedro Pascal, but Ben and I agreed with the Internet that he knows how to swing that morning star, if you know what I mean!
5. In the words of one reviewer: “Game of Thrones is gnarly as f*ck.”
We got thirty minutes in, and I was already traumatized. That’s the Game of Thrones way, and if that ain’t your thing, ain’t nobody blaming you.
Soooo, there is a birth scene in this episode that is one of the more upsetting things I’ve ever watched. 😳
[And that’s saying something because I watched The Ghost and the Darkness way too young!]
It was a powerful scene…but I’m not really convinced by the “rah-rah feminism” post-#MeToo talk track we’re getting from the filmmakers. They’ve said that this show will intentionally have less sexual violence than Game of Thrones and that [somehow thinking this sounds “pro-woman”] they’ll replace it with *checks notes* gruesome scenes of childbirth!?!?
HOLD UP! It’s gross to put those two things in the same breath?? I mean, bring on rich storytelling of the complex female experience. But the way they’ve framed it begs the question of why we have to make a spectacle out of female suffering at all. Screw that!
Rant over. I’m still going to watch because I have zero real principles, clearly!!
Any mothers out there have a wider perspective to share? One friend shared that the scene felt so powerful in showing what a battle childbirth can be.
THIS was everything I needed to help me process every dang feeling after episode 1!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭😭🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🐉