House of the Dragon: Game of Thrones prequel premiere is nostalgic guide

The episode one of the much-awaited Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon got released on Sunday. It has become OTT platform HBO Max’s biggest premiere. The live adaptation of Fire and Blood, part of the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, showed how the notorious and dangerous House Targaryen function in Westeros.

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The first episode of the House of the Dragon reminded Game of Thrones fans of the beautiful and gripping initial four seasons.

Game of Thrones became critically acclaimed because of staying true to the book at first. The situation turned downhill when the showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss moved away from the source material and came up with new content and character arc.

The eighth season received such poor reviews that a petition to remake it was on social media. House of the Dragon aims to make it up to the fans in other ways.

The first episode is a guide to understand how the notorious House Targaryen, that has a fetish of Fire and Blood, functions. The story is easy to understand. Viserys III Targaryen becomes king and has to deal with affairs.

However, he can not make a stand for himself and has to deal with enemies from all fronts. His family disagree with his policies and have ambitions of their own too.

It is pertinent to mention that houses go to lengths to ensure their child is a male so that he becomes the future ruler. It is the reason of families in Game of Thrones franchise are that large.

Sexism is the thing which stands out from the rest. Yes, there was a norm of male becoming heir. The females are not holding back in House of the Dragon just like in Game of Thrones where Daenerys Targayen, Cersei Lannister, Margaery Tyrell, Catelyn Stark and others broke the chain and became rulers.

And yes, there are dragons and two of them in the debut episode. There are reports of 17 dragons being in the first season. It is not yet determined because social media has contains false news.

However, the dangerous creatures symbolizes their dominance of the Targaryens over other houses till Robert’s Rebellion against “Mad King” Aerys II Targaryen happened. The producers used wide shots to show the castles and dragons flying.

There is not much violence in the first episode. But the trailer showed much more. So, the brutal fight scenes and dragon moments will be there in upcoming episodes.

The mindset and thinking of House Targaryen is violent with dark history. It is the reason why the lighting of the episode is not that bright.

Ramin Djawadi is a master on composing Game of Thrones music. He captivates the moments with his scoring . The opening theme is not only popular with the fans but with those who have not seen the live adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire. The audience feels nostalgia all over the show with its score.

In short, the opening episode of House of the Dragon is enjoyable for all and something big is coming up. There will be more gritty action sequences, family moments and music as show continues.