House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 1 Review: Nails a Near-Perfect Debut!

Game of Thrones had one of the most disappointing final seasons in the history of television, breaking the hearts of millions of fans across the globe, including me. Regarded as the Greatest Dramas ever made, the last two seasons of this most popular show were not up to the standards it had created for itself with its predecessor seasons. Irrespective of its downfall, Game of Thrones still maintains a huge fan following who don’t hesitate to diss the makers for such a bland finale. Listening to all their criticisms, HBO announced a spin-off, House of the Dragon based on George R. R. Martin’s novel Fire and Blood.

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House of the Dragon, dropped its pilot episode on August 21st and fans can’t keep calm. The thousands of memories of watching Game of Thrones rushed back and fans brought out their banners and showed their loyalty to Queen Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons. Created by George R. R. Martin, Ryan Condal, and Miguel Sapochnik, House of the Dragon became HBO’s biggest series premiere with a whopping ten million views. So, how this prequel makes amends for the glorious downfall of GOT, let’s see.

Episode 1: The Heirs of the Dragon

House of the Dragon’s first episode begins with the prologue “172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen,” and it is reason enough for every Game of Thrones fan to celebrate. The episode introduces us to the central characters of the series. King Viserys 1 Targaryen is expecting a male heir from his pregnant wife Queen Aemma, Daemon Targaryen, his younger brother and commander of the City Watch, Princess Rhaenyra, Viserys’s firstborn child. Also, we are given a glimpse of several other characters who form part of Viserys’s council members in House of the Dragon.

Within its one-hour runtime, the makers set a clear atmosphere and take us directly into the plot, explaining what to expect in the upcoming episodes of House of the Dragon. The pilot episode is intriguing enough for every fan to wait another week for the next one. The writing is crisp and enough screen time is given to every essential character so that we don’t have a hard time remembering the names or faces. With a magnificent cameo of two mighty dragons and a lot to come, House of the Dragon nails a near-perfect debut.