Hey everyone, and welcome to my review of HBO’s House of the Dragon Episode 1 – The
Heirs of the Dragon.
Well, looks like we’re back at it again with the first of multiple Game of Thrones
spin off in the works, and I gotta say, right off the bat, the first episode was pretty
damn good.
Although I was initially excited for the House of the Dragons I was also pretty worried that
it wasn’t going to be on the same level as the early season of Game of Thrones, and
after only one episode I can’t say for certain this show will be that good, but this first
one at least definitely gave me hope and confidence for the rest of the series.
It seems to me like they purposely packed episode one with a little bit of all the stuff
many of us loved about the old show, from political intrigue to compelling characters
played by great actors, unrepentant violence and more, while also laying the foundation
for a deeper exploration of the lore behind this world.
So overall I was very pleased and am looking forward to watching, reviewing and making
videos about this season.
If you’ve ever seen my old Game of Thrones reviews you know I prefer to skip the story
recap and go straight into my top five moments, followed by any criticisms I might have as
well as the best kill and line of the night.
Before we begin with my top 5 moments, I’d like to list some honorable mentions, like
the Goldcloaks brutal display of power in the capital.
Daemon’s relationship with the prostitute Mysaria and seeing Otto Hightower making his
moves for political power, even sending his daughter to comfort the king and set the foundations
for a relationship.
Now moving on I’ll start with what I felt was the fifth best moment of the episode and
that was the very first scene with old Jaehaerys the Conciliator at the Great Council of 101
AC.
I loved everything about this but most notable for me was the fact that we got to see the
best king in Targaryen history.
After reading GRRM Fire and Blood Part 1, I was so thoroughly impressed with Jaehaerys
and his wife Alysanne, as it went into detail about their many struggles and accomplishments,
so just actually getting to seeing Jaehaerys was awesome to me.
I also loved that amazing glimpse into Harrenhall, the massive fortress constructed by King Harren
the Black before the Targaryen conquest, serving as both his greatest accomplishment and failure,
as it could protect him from soldiers but not from dragons.
Then of course there was the great significance of the moment itself, not only for characters
like Viserys, Corlys and Rhaenys who were in attendance, but also for the realm, setting
a precedent that a male must inherit over a female in the succession, thereby laying
the foundation for the arguments Rhaenyra’s enemies would weaponize.
Moving on to my number 4 spot for the night, there was the introduction to Daemon Targaryen
and his interaction with Rhaenyra in the throne room.
What an excellent scene, that in my opinion perfectly accomplished what it had to do,
both establishing Daemon as this mysterious trouble maker and introducing us to the close,
special relationship he had with Rhaenyra.
Them speaking in high valyrian to each other, the gift of valyrian steel, and the tension
they managed to build made this a very impressive scene.
For the third best moment of the episode, I went with Daemon getting punished by Viserys
for his remarkably unwise words about his brother’s dead son.
Although I thought the whole episode was good, to me the second half really stood out and
made me eager to continue the series, and one of the scenes that really stood out to
me was Viserys putting Daemon in his place.
Although Daemon Targaryen is one of my favorite characters in all of westerosi history, there
is no doubt from his description and actions he’d be infuriating to work with or be around
in any context outside battle.
And that’s why I think Matt Smith did such a good job in this role.
He was almost exactly what I pictured Daemon to be, arrogant, spiteful, scheming, but also,
in his own way, loyal, efficient and brutally honest.
Although much of what he said was unwise and hurtful there was certainly some truth to
it, as Viserys was in many ways a weak king.
He was also a good king in a lot of ways as well, but possessed a deep weakness of will
and aversion to accepting hard truths.
But whatever personal weaknesses Viserys might have, he was still king to a might realm,
and was under no obligation to suffer the insolence of his brother.
And so I loved it when Daemon tried to approach only to be stopped, by the kingsguard, made
to back down and sent away in disgrace.
This reminded me of a scene between littlefinger and cersei in game of thrones, when littlefinger,
who in most ways was more intelligent and capable that Cersei tried to argue that knowledge
was power, only for Cersai to order his immediate execution, to demonstrate that power is power.
It was fascinating watching Daemon, a far superior warrior, have no choice but to back
down from his physically weaker brother, because ultimately power is power.
For the second best moment of the episode, I went with a scene that could easily be number
one and that’s the birthing scene intercut with the tourney battle between Criston Cole
and Daemon Targaryen.
My god what a horrifying thing to witness.
Cutting into a woman being held down while screaming in pain and terror was so shocking
I actually completely stopped caring or thinking about the tourney match, even when they cut
to it, as I was so focused on what was happening to Aemma Arryn.
Also since she died in the first episode I want to mention the actress Sian Brooke who
I thought did an excellent job portraying the character, and was one of the standouts
of the episode for me.
Moving on we finally get to the number one spot, and here I’ve chosen the targaryen
prophecy scene, where Viserys passes down the secret mission of their family to his
daughter and newly chosen heir Rhaenrya Targaryen, revealing that Aegon the Conqueror had a vision
in which the world of men would fall to an army of winter invading from the north, and
that a Targaryen must be in power for that final war to save humanity.
Naming this prophecy The Song of Ice and Fire, Viserys charged his daughter with the responsibility
of carrying on this knowledge while keeping the realm prepared, and united under the power
of their dragons.
To me this was an absolutely fascinating thing to hear, especially since according to one
of the shows creators Ryan Condol, it came directly from GRRM.
This has so many possible implications for the book series and creates so many new questions,
that it really makes me want to continue watching to hopefully learn more of the hidden lore
of this world.
So those were my top 5 moments for the episode and to be honest at least for now I don’t
have many criticisms, especially since I want to see how things develop.
I will say I was hoping for more of a look into house Velaryon but that will probably
come in future episodes.
Corlys Velaryon is another of the standout characters from Fire and Blood part 1, so
I’m really looking forward to getting to know him in this show, though he didn’t
have much to do in this first episode.
Now as far as his look goes I really like it, I think he looks like a badass pirate
mixed with a noble lord which is pretty much spot on for my view of the character from
the books.
And while I know some people don’t like that the Velaryons in the show don’t have
the pale skin associated with traditional Valyrian features, for me since adaptations
always make lots of changes big and small, I really dont care as long as it makes sense
and there’s an inworld explanation, which is why I feel they’re doing it the right
way, because if your going to make a change like this Corlys is pretty much the perfect
character for it, since the velaryons were great sailors who travelled the world and
could easily have taken a spouse from lands of darker skinned people like the Summer Isles
or perhaps Saath, the last Sarnori city in northern Essos.
For the best kill of the episode, I chose an axe to the face during the tourney in the
capital while the best line of the night, for me was the prophecy of Aegon, “Tis to
begin with a terrible winter.
Gusting out of the distant north.
Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those winds, and whatever dwells within will destroy
the world of the living.
When this great winter comes, Rhaenyra, all of Westeros must stand against it.
And if the world of men is to survive, a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne.
A king or queen strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and the dark.
Aegon called his dream 'The Song of Ice and Fire.”
Like I said at the beginning I really liked this episode as an opener and its given me
hope for the series as a whole.
Overall I will rate it a 9 out 10, and really hope it will maintain or exceed this level
of quality moving forward.
So that’s it for my review of Episode one, the Heirs of the Dragon, what did you guys
think?
Be sure to share your thoughts in the comment section.
And if you havent already, you may want to check out the links below to my spoiler free
Prelude to the House of the Dragon video, which covers the history of Westeros and lineage
of Targaryen kings up to the Episode 1 of the series, as well as my Dance of the Dragons
video which covers this entire time period in detail, including spoilers for what may
happen in future episodes.
So for now thank you all for watching and I’ll see you in the next one.