# House of the Dragon, an HBO prequel series to Game of Thrones **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, hbomax-wb-dc\ **Created:** [May 6, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521 "2021-05-06T13:17:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/21 "2022-08-15T16:40:49Z")
GRRM can go fuck himself. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/22 "2022-08-15T17:21:20Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Check it out. Among other things, GRRM throws the _GOT_ showrunners under the bus, insists he means to finish the _GOT_ novel(s), and says his ending of the books will be different. He is, I think, not going to live long enough to finish them. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/23 "2022-08-15T17:30:31Z")
If he didn’t like the ending to Game of Thrones, he could have done something about that. Like given them finished novels to work from or even just tell them how they should end it. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/24 "2022-08-15T17:44:26Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > says his ending of the books will be different. Well we all knew that. The showrunners got rid of a number of book characters who will undoubtedly play a part in the ending (Aegon for one, which will probably make Dany’s turn more believable). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/25 "2022-08-18T18:14:43Z")
But did Aegon like pizza? > **[Papa Johns debuts new 'Game of Thrones'–inspired pizza as sales slow](https://www.aol.com/finance/papa-johns-debuts-game-thrones-150011706.html)** > > Papa Johns is getting extra spicy with its new menu offering. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/26 "2022-08-21T17:47:10Z")
A NYT review was less than enthusiastic about this show. “The signs are there, but the spirit is weak. “House of the Dragon,” HBO’s heavily hyped spinoff series, is saddled with respectability. It wants to be taken seriously, or at least not to give undue offense. Through six of the 10 episodes in its first season, which premieres on Sunday, it is “Game of Thrones” as Masterpiece Theater.” And: “Sex and graphic violence are not as abundant in “House of the Dragon,” and they happen less as a matter of course; the nudity, especially, tends to be more stage managed and self-consciously tasteful, popping up like a diorama in a natural-history museum.” The high note is, in that writer’s opinion, Paddy Considine as Viserys the king. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/27 "2022-08-22T02:08:28Z")
I liked the first episode quite a bit, to be honest. I’ll watch it week to week for now. If it slows down, I’ll end up just catching multiple episodes later. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/28 "2022-08-22T02:23:40Z")
The first episode was quite good (and matched the source stories perfectly). A lot of exposition done well and set up the politics pretty nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/29 "2022-08-22T02:34:38Z")
“Turmoil has engulfed the Seven Kingdoms. The taxation of trade routes is in dispute.” Just kidding. I liked this first episode. I really enjoyed Blood and Fire, the book it’s based on. I do kind of wish they ended on something more shocking in the pilot. I am convinced the end of GoT’s pilot is one of the reasons the show became a mega hit. It made people sit up and take notice and talk about the show to anyone who might listen. This ending but more subdued. Still, I look forward to next week. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/30 "2022-08-22T04:09:29Z")
Hey, my wife and I somehow both missed a key detail in the first episode. I’ll spoiler it. They chose to c-section the baby from the wife’s womb. Terrible, she died. We understood that. It was, indeed, a boy. We saw the funeral pyre for the wife. Next scene, they were talking about a new heir. When did the show tell us the baby boy died, too? We obviously realized it as it was reiterated over and over, but how did the baby boy die and when did the show explain this? I have no idea how we missed it. We thought only the wife died. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/31 "2022-08-22T04:24:36Z")
It had a very slow beginning and I found myself easily distracted. Jousting is boring. And I’m not big on the gore so viscerally displayed in the tourney and that horribly sad birth scene. I didn’t watch GOT until a marathon before the second season began and then just out of curiosity. But that first episode sucked me in. This didn’t have that pull. The second half did keep my attention, though. The dragons look pretty cool and the main characters are interesting so I’m in. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/32 "2022-08-22T10:12:07Z")
This is what you missed: They showed a small wrapped body on the pyre along with the adult sized one. Don’t feel bad I had to rewind to catch it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/33 "2022-08-22T11:55:40Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > They showed a small wrapped body on the pyre along with the adult sized one. Don’t feel bad I had to rewind to catch it. Thanks. This was very poorly edited. I presume it was laid out more clearly, but a line or two got cut. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/34 "2022-08-22T12:00:31Z")
They showed a nervous looking man (I presume a healer) holding the baby and with a look on his face of “Oh no, we suggested sacrificing the Queen for the baby and the baby isn’t going to make it.” So they said it with acting, not words. * * * * * * The first episode was good enough where I will watch the next. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/35 "2022-08-22T13:00:23Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > They showed a nervous looking man (I presume a healer) holding the baby and with a look on his face of “Oh no, we suggested sacrificing the Queen for the baby and the baby isn’t going to make it.” Huh, I’ll have to go back and look. I just missed the moment. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/36 "2022-08-22T13:40:33Z")
Yeah, he had a look on his face like “oh shit, this is going to be on my performance review.” ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/37 "2022-08-22T13:42:15Z")
They also talked about it. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/38 "2022-08-22T13:54:49Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I do kind of wish they ended on something more shocking in the pilot. There isn’t really anything shocking in the story right now, though. Ending on Daemon getting kicked out of KL and Viserys naming Rhaenyra his heir seems to be a good ending. I wonder if next episode will be (book spoiler) a time jump or if they’ll spend some time on Otto maneuvering to get Alicent married to the King ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/39 "2022-08-22T14:39:44Z")
My son and I liked it but weren’t blown away by it. The cast seems up to the challenge and it certainly looks good. Nice to be back in Westeros. We were puzzled by the jousting. Is it really fair play to go for your opponent’s horse’s legs? What determines why some bouts, but not others, are to the death? Prince Daemon’s “law enforcement” that night was pretty over the top. Yikes. I’d expect a rampage like that to create as many problems as it solves in King’s Landing. Do you think his brother the King was aware that he was eavesdropping during the Small Council meeting, when the Hand was criticizing him so harshly? And why not require him to take the same oath of allegiance to the crown princess as everyone else? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521/40 "2022-08-22T15:15:27Z")
I’m having a hard time seeing Matt Smith as threatening in any way. Also he is probably right about Otto Hightower. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-dragon-an-hbo-prequel-series-to-game-of-thrones/941521.md?page=3)