People worldwide went gaga when the prequel to Game of Thrones was announced. You can only imagine their excitement when the first episode finally came out. No wonder House of the Dragon broke the internet, buzzed continuously on social media, and created history by becoming the most-viewed TV series with over 9 million viewers (gasps)!
There truly is no better way for the fans to show their immense love to the director, cast, and crew. However, amidst all the celebration, there are people questioning if this sister series is worth all the worth – did it honor the Game of Thrones legacy?
Let’s find out, shall we? In this exclusive guide, we will bring you everything that you wanted to know about the record-smashing series – from very basic details of direction and cast to the most asked question, i.e., did it succeed as a prequel series?
Ready for some spoilers?
House of the Dragon 1st episode release date
The first episode was released on 21 August 2022 on the official site of HBO Max.
House of the Dragon synopsis/plot
King Viserys Targaryen hosts a celebratory tournament to announce the birth of his second child – a boy, an heir – but the little solace that must come along is highly short-lived, as the baby dies the very next day. The lords of Westeros then gather in a Great Council meeting to decide and elect an heir to succeed Targaryen I, whose wife died giving birth and has no living children. Later on, we see Princess Rhaenyra welcoming her uncle Daemon Targaryen back to the Red Keep.
That’s all folks. We do not want to give out the entire plot in case any of you have yet to watch the series.
House of the Dragon trailer
House of the Dragon budget
The estimated budget for each episode of this 10-episode series is approximately 20 Million dollars.
House of the Dragon box office
Up till now, this HBO series has made a roaring collection of 2.6 Million dollars at the box office!
House of the Dragon direction
While Miguel Sapochnik directed the movie, Ryan J. Condal and George R.R. Martin wrote the characters and the overall storyline of the first episode. 1:26 Pictures and Home Box Office (HBO) were the involved production companies.
House of the Dragon cast
The primarily starring actors and actresses in the first episode of this series are –
- Matt Smith features as Prince Daemon Targaryen
- Paddy Considine features as King Viserys Targaryen
- Emma D’Arcy voices Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen
- Milly Alcock features as Young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen
- Eve Best features as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon
- Rhys Ifans features as Otto Hightower
- Sonoya Mizuno features as Mysaria
- Steve Toussaint features as Lord Corlys Velaryon
- Emily Carey features as Young Alicent Hightower
- Fabien Frankel features as Ser Criston Cole
- Graham McTavish features as Ser Harrold Westerling
- David Horovitch features as Grand Maester Mellos
- Sian Brooke features as Aemma Arryn
- Bill Paterson features as Lord Lyman Beesbury
- Steffan Rhodri features as Hobert Hightower
- Michael Carter features as Jaehaerys Targaryen
- Elliott Tittensor features as Erryk Cargyll
- Gavin Spokes features as Lord Lyonel Strong
House of the Dragon IMDb rating
With a whooping of 44k votes, the series scored an IMDb rating of 9.0/10.
House of the Dragon Rotten Tomatoes rating
The series scored 83% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer with an average audience rating of 86%.
House of the Dragon behind-the-scenes
House of the Dragon: Did it succeed as a prequel to Game of Thrones?
The story of this episode is set 200 years before any or all of the events that are portrayed in the series, Game of Thrones. Now, the people who have watched the episode claim that there certainly are a few things that work in favor of honoring the above-mentioned series, like the dragons, production quality, top-notch performances, well-put characters, and dramatic sex and death scenes.
However, there are some other things that could have been given another thought or perhaps worked a much better angle, like:
- the confinement of the story only to the Red Keep,
- too-centric around the Targaryens,
- the episode seems a bit rushed off in terms of storytelling,
- there is too much mayhem in between flashbacks and voice-overs,
- the crossover of events is not smooth (as compared to the original series), and
- imbalance of lighting and CGI effects, especially when it comes to showcasing dragons.
So, the answer to the question, if this series succeeded as a prequel to Game of Thrones, honestly is 50-50 – yes and no. Also, it is too soon to comment.
Now, we know it’s hard to compete with such a strong storyline, performances, and everything else, but it’s just the first episode. We hope the coming episodes will take us on a wild, beautiful, and engaging journey!
