Power, lust, violence, unbridled sex, distrust, betrayal, infidelity, lack of mercy. Spectacular: all this and more was in the genes of game of Thronesand all this and more House of the Dragon (the house of the dragon), the prequel in which HBO didn’t save a dollar, a euro, a pound in the budget.
Fear was not something that turned the stomach or lifted the skin of members of different families, houses, clans or kingdoms of game of Thrones. Fear is something more earthly and that you hear from this side of the screen, if a story born or born from a series that has attracted and seduced us, and made us wait for the next episode between discussions and intrigues, is about to begin.
Will they ruin everything?
This is (was) the question for fans and the various insiders who have to do it game of Thrones on the podium of the best television series in history. House of the Dragon follows the same style as its predecessor. It’s more or less the same, yes, but that’s exactly why it’s so good.
The musical curtain that accompanied the titles gives us goosebumps, although now it has variations.
Is it that nothing withstands two centuries?
This is the time between game of Thrones and, if not the beginning, what happens within minutes of the first episode of House of the Dragonwhich is a prequel and happens in the past.
172 years have passed since the death of the mad king, Aerys, and the birth of his daughter, Princess Daenerys Targaryen -yes, the Mother of Dragons embodied by Emilia Clarke-. Who reigns and we will see to what extent reigns is Viserys I (Paddy Considine), who seeks an heir to the throne and trusts that it will be his in the womb of his wife.
He needs it and believes he is a boy (“I’ve never been so sure of anything,” he tells his loving wife, long before labor begins).
The things a Targaryen is capable of saying and then doing.
Earlier, his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra, who “smells like dragons”, had gone to the Game of Thrones hall and met Daemon Targeryan (matte blacksmithPhilip inside The crown), his uncle and brother of the king.
And even before anyone thinks about it Fraction -or for millennials, The Lion King– We know that the dispute over that Throne will be there, between members of the same family, of the same blood.
And the boy will run the blood House of the Dragon.
no spoilers
The new series consists of ten episodes and we will not reveal anything here. Just know that there will be time jumps, and the princess won’t always be that young, and from her being played by Milly Alcock she will be played by Emma D’Arcy. Maybe it’s a nod in casting that they picked D’Arcy, who is a non-binary person, but we’ll see how he plays on the fact that Rhaenyra, if she had been a man, would have had a calmer path in her dispute for the throne.
The actress has already said her thing, but we’re not going to reveal it here.
There are dragons (don’t they look any more “real” than the ones Daenerys rode?), Drones in the clouds. Everything is majestic again, of enormous proportions.
And the performances run in parallel. A cast of prominent artists mostly British, English, Welsh or Scottish, are here to say what needs to be said, or rather be silent, to find out what the daredevil Daemon is doing or saying. To assemble the wire.
They are, in addition to those already mentioned, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Rhys Ifans, Olivia Cook, Eve Best, Bill Patterson and follow the signatures.
The intrigues, the whispered conversations, the advice and betrayals that the first adaptation of George RR Martin’s work has accustomed us to continue, not that they will change. The style remains.
What has changed is, at least initially, the tone. And in 2022, with the streaming battle at full throttle, it’s weird: House of the Dragon he does not start with his foot on the accelerator, with pure violence, rhythm and battle. It’s more about the presentation of the characters. As if it were understood that his audience, the fan of this side of LCD, tablet or mobile phone, is not in the hurry of Generation Z, to want everything fast and immediately.
And it’s not that there are no atrocities, dismemberment, sex and violence. The first episode raises and develops situations for which you have to have a hard stomach.
Sensitive, refrain.
“House of the Dragon”
Very good
Action / Drama / Fantasy. USA, 2022. SAM 16 R. Creators: George RR Martin and Ryan County. With: Matt Smith, Paddy Considine, Milly Alcock, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Eve Best. Available in: will premiere Sunday August 21 at 10pm on HBO MAX and HBO. Every Sunday, a new episode.
Paul O. Scholz
Source: Clarin
