House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 1 "The Heirs of the Dragon"

[P Supreme]

I'm very happy with that first episode. I'm glad they didn't go for shock value in the first episode and just focused on quality and establishing this new part of the lore.

that's how I fell in love with the GOT the political intrigue and shady behind the scenes plots
so they gave me that in this episode and i don't have to wait 5 yrs for a full grown dragon like the original series

 

[Iceman]

that's how I fell in love with the GOT the political intrigue and shady behind the scenes plots
so they gave me that in the and i don't have to wait for 5 yrs for a full grown dragon like the original series

It's cool getting dragons from the off here. I think these characters will be capable of some good twists later when everything is established.

I don't need this to be as good as or too similar to GOT. As long as they create something well-executed, taking advantage of existing lore and building on it, I will be very much up for it.

 

[Weather Witch]

This isn't a pilot that was created to subvert, shock, or completely knock our socks off. I respect that. Instead, it carefully set the stage and reintroduced us to the world. The only thing I'm hoping for is spreading out the characters over a bit more varied locations as the season progresses. The interconnected stories and locations were such a huge part of GOT's charm.

 

[Kane52630]

‎The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon: House Of The Dragon: Ep. 1 “The Heirs Of The Dragon” on Apple Podcasts

 

[Iceman]

This isn't a pilot that was created to subvert, shock, or completely knock our socks off. I respect that. Instead, it carefully set the stage and reintroduced us to the world. The only thing I'm hoping for is spreading out the characters over a bit more varied locations as the season progresses. The interconnected stories and locations were such a huge part of GOT's charm.

Yeah, I actively didn't want them to be trying to shock or subvert early on here. This slow but high quality reintroduction is exactly what I wanted. It feels very authentic to me with good actors everywhere. As you say, hopefully we do get different locations to spice things up as the show progresses.

 

[Weather Witch]

Yeah, I actively didn't want them to be trying to shock or subvert early on here. This slow but high quality reintroduction is exactly what I wanted. It feels very authentic to me with good actors everywhere. As you say, hopefully we do get different locations to spice things up as the show progresses.

Absolutely! This pilot had me diving into wikis, figuring out houses / roles, memorizing names, and theorizing about things to come. That's what the successor to GOT needed. We'll get plenty of big fights, dragons, and betrayals later.

 

[Another_Fool]

Paddy Considine is really good in the role acting wise, but man Rhys Ifans is just so cold, calculating and manipulating in this so far that I definitely think he would been much more effective/believable as the King.

I don't disagree with this but in a franchise where for most of the run, the kings kind of looked or came off like buffoons such as Mark Addy as a short overweight Robert Baratheon, then Joffrey, Tommen etc, it made it so the Hands were the badasses/interesting characters like Ned Stark and Tywin. So in that sense, I think Rhys Ifans as the Hand kind of fits what the franchise has done in relation to the King and the Hand dynamic.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I enjoyed the episode, was it GREAT? No. But I didnt think GoT pilot was that great either tbh. Reintroducing us into the world was done at a good pace and Im interested in enough of the characters that of course ill be watching the series.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Lip]

Yeah, I liked it and I'm definitely on board.

The first episode was bigger than GoT's pilot in terms of visual scale, but very contained, focused mostly on the Targaryens, just like GoT focused on the Starks.

I agree with what others have said, I hope to see different characters and locations. Westeros is pretty big.

But that was a good start.

 

[green]

Anyone know who was doing the narration at the beginning? Voice sounded familiar but I couldn’t place it.

Pretty sure it was Emma D'Arcy as the older Princess Rhaenyra.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Paddy Considine is really good in the role acting wise, but man Rhys Ifans is just so cold, calculating and manipulating in this so far that I definitely think he would been much more effective/believable as the King. Outside of Matt Smith's Daemon Targaryen he's probably the second most interesting character in the show for me and I guess I can't complain too much since I do think he's pretty much perfect casting for that role.

IMO they're perfectly cast. Otto is the calculating and manipulative one. Viserys isn't anything like that. He's described as a jovial dude who just wanted everybody to be happy, but could turn violent/irrational when pushed too far. We saw bits of 'scary' Viserys come out this episode, and if anyone's seen "Dead Man's Shoes," they know Paddy can get way more intense.

Anyone know who was doing the narration at the beginning? Voice sounded familiar but I couldn’t place it.

Not 100% but I'd assume its Emma D'Arcy, who will be playing Adult Rhaenyra.

 

[CaptainWagner]

This isn't a pilot that was created to subvert, shock, or completely knock our socks off. I respect that. Instead, it carefully set the stage and reintroduced us to the world. The only thing I'm hoping for is spreading out the characters over a bit more varied locations as the season progresses. The interconnected stories and locations were such a huge part of GOT's charm.

Yeah, I actively didn't want them to be trying to shock or subvert early on here. This slow but high quality reintroduction is exactly what I wanted. It feels very authentic to me with good actors everywhere. As you say, hopefully we do get different locations to spice things up as the show progresses.

Not to give too much away but things will definitely be spreading out quickly as the stories progress. This season will largely stick to King's Landing and Dragonstone, but we should get some major new locations - Driftmark and the Stepstones.

As the show goes on, we'll hopefully get to see a lot more of the Vale and Oldtown than we did in GOT. And much of the action will be taking place in the Reach and the Riverlands.

 

[Albright]

Episode was nicely produced and shot. Actors were great…

But
it doesn’t have to bee that bloody. This was more gore, than every other GoT episode.
They didn’t need to show us someones cut dick or cutting open the queens womb.
The namedropping was cringey and I felt betrayed when they mentioned the Song of Ice and Fire, when we already know what a lackluster it was in the end for the story.
Also the music repeating the GoT all the time (the Targaryen theme was a nice hint imho) - this should’ve been something new and not GoT 1.5.

The political intrigues will be, what keep me in the the loop

 

[Marvolo]

Episode was nicely produced and shot. Actors were great…

But
it doesn’t have to bee that bloody. This was more gore, than every other GoT episode.
They didn’t need to show us someones cut dick or cutting open the queens womb.
The namedropping was cringey and I felt betrayed when they mentioned the Song of Ice and Fire, when we already know what a lackluster it was in the end for the story.
Also the music repeating the GoT all the time (the Targaryen theme was a nice hint imho) - this should’ve been something new and not GoT 1.5.

The political intrigues will be, what keep me in the the loop

The Targaryen dynasty was a central plot in GOT. And this show is entirely about the Targaryen dynasty. It can't really be anything new. It was never meant to be.

The Long Night Age of Heroes show could have been something different and by all reports the pilot was different from GOT...which is why HBO killed it after watching the pilot. They wanted the first spinoff to be familiar to viewers and a known quantity that stuck to the brand set by GOT. Never say never tho. Someday we might get a show about the Long Night, First Men, and Heroes.

 

[chamber-music]

Hopefully the show gets Paddy Considine some international love. Considine has been a well regarded actor in the UK for over twenty years but never really got many Hollywood roles like many of his contemporaries.


Matt Smith's Armor looked like Kurgan's from Highlander

 

[P Supreme]

Yeah, I actively didn't want them to be trying to shock or subvert early on here. This slow but high quality reintroduction is exactly what I wanted. It feels very authentic to me with good actors everywhere. As you say, hopefully we do get different locations to spice things up as the show progresses.

agreed the Jousting scene alone has so much tension when Daemon came in that glorious armor
and who he chose first to who beat him all interesting AF

 

[Albright]

The Targaryen dynasty was a central plot in GOT. And this show is entirely about the Targaryen dynasty. It can't really be anything new. It was never meant to be.

The Long Night Age of Heroes show could have been something different and by all reports the pilot was different from GOT...which is why HBO killed it after watching the pilot. They wanted the first spinoff to be familiar to viewers and a known quantity that stuck to the brand set by GOT. Never say never tho. Someday we might get a show about the Long Night, First Men, and Heroes.

You just picked a quote, that fitted in your argument…I said the score should’ve been something different and not constantly reusing the GoT theme. This was like 10 times the GoT theme and it wasn’t very subtle

 

[Iceman]

agreed the Jousting scene alone has so much tension when Daemon came in that glorious armor
and who he chose first to who beat him all interesting AF

Oh so it wasn't just me then, that armour was seriously awesome. The characters have been interesting and authentic across the board, and Daemon has a real edge to him.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Oh so it wasn't just me then, that armour was seriously awesome. The characters have been interesting and authentic across the board, and Daemon has a real edge to him.

I'm so happy to see book-accurate armor this time around instead of the generic stuff we got in GOT. Not just Daemon's, but Gwayne Hightower, for example, had a helm here with his sigil incorporated.

 

[Iceman]

I'm so happy to see book-accurate armor this time around instead of the generic stuff we got in GOT. Not just Daemon's, but Gwayne Hightower, for example, had a helm here with his sigil incorporated.

Yes, hopefully this attention to detail continues across this series.

 

[Albright]

So I did Highthower really prostitute his daughter to the king to save his job as the Hand?
Or was Alicent just afraid meeting him because the loss of the queen made her remember the loss of her own mother recently

 

[#root]

Damn, they really pulled me back in again. It wasn’t great, some flaws from Thrones have been carried into here but I liked it a lot. Didn’t enjoy the “action” so to speak. The City Watch “attack” and the tourney were the least interesting bits. Scenes with character interactions and political intrigue were the most interesting. I liked most of the characters especially Daemon and Rhaenyra. I liked Alicent too but I’m waiting for Olivia Cooke on that one .

Spoiler

That childbirth was harrowing. I’m just glad they didn’t focus too much on the gore in that scene and more on Aemma’s shock and sense of betrayal. I thought the actress did a great job making you feel for her in such a brief screen time.

Overall I thought it was a really good introduction. I definitely want to keep watching. Oh and the dragons . Love the look of Caraxes especially.

 

[kvz5]

I thought it was a really good premiere. The chills I got when Rhaenrya said Dracarys. I wasn't following the production and I think I only saw one trailer so I didn't even know that they cast two different actresses for Rhaenrya and Alicent. I was so confused when I saw Alicent because while there was a resemblance, I was sure that she's not Olivia Cooke. I wish they just stuck with the older actresses. I don't think it would be that hard to make them look younger although I gotta say, Alcock is really good and Emma has big shoes to fill.

 

[Kane52630]

Yeah Olivia Cooke should have played both parts.