House of the Dragon - Ep. 1-2 Game Infinite Review (No Spoilers)

Praise the Seven did they ever land that pilot. GoT is BACK.

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I have said before that I think season 8, and more importantly the last two episodes of Game of Thrones, is one of the biggest narrative failures in cinematic history, and done at a scale that was the phenomenon that was Game of Thrones. GoT was an EVENT. It was something people gathered around and had parties for. It was a Sunday night event. People would actually look forward to the next day and discuss the latest episode with their coworkers in the break room. GoT was a platform seller, the very reason many people subscribed to HBO.

Most fandoms have division and debate. As an avid Star Wars fan, I have seen people very passionate on both ends about Star Wars. I have seen the sequel trilogy divide fans. I have seen MCU films divide fans as we discuss some of the bigger failures.

Game of Thrones managed to pull of something I have never seen before in any fandom, and that is to get pretty much everyone to collectively agree that that ending SUCKED. It is to this day one of the worst endings I have seen in any show, film, or game. I literally tell friends who haven't watched GoT, "You need to watch GoT, as long as you promise me you won't finish the last two episodes."

GoT manages to unite everyone in a collective agreement. I don't think I have EVER come across a single defender of the GoT ending. This massive sour note it ended on, really turned GoT from something that was a massive cultural phenomenon to this silent thing we have talked about in years. I knew a lot of people who were understandably nervous when the new show was approaching.

So when I say that they needed to really NAIL this new shows first few episodes in order to convince the fandom to give them a second chance, I mean it. Clearly we all WANTED to give them a second chance as the opening episode crashed the platform and set record viewership. Clearly the fandom wants more GoT, but there's this collective hesitant worry by many.

Did they ever land that pilot. GoT is BACK. I was worried that House of the Dragon was going to miss the magic that made GoT great in the first place. One of the things that just made GoT fantastic was it's amazing characters. Right from the very start several characters in the original solidified themselves as just timeless classic characters who we love. Trying to recapture that would be very difficult, as these characters could come across as cheap knock offs or just inferior to their original show counter parts. Rhaenyra Targaryen, the main female lead of the show EASILY could have been a Great Value brand Daenerys, but in just two episodes Milly Alcock manages to bring her to life, make her a likable character, and distinguish herself against her most obvious character counterpart. She is the Data to Spock for this show in that she manages to live up to the shoes but stand on her own.

House of the Dragon also excels in a new and unique area for GoT. GoT always had a common thread in that the villains were always just HATEFUL. GoT has some of the most hateful villains. They are true, evil, villains. You don't feel sorry for them. They make you hate them. It worked for GoT, but House of the Dragon has tread new ground with setting up a very charismatic and likable villain. Daemon is the antagonist of these first two shows, and unlike all the GoT villains before him, you instantly just kind of like him. He is the GoT Loki where you kind of just want to see what he's up to.

(WB Press Kit Images) These first two episodes really sold me that GoT is back and already delivering quality in these first two episodes. We are getting the dense lore, set up, and character building we expect from quality GoT. Conflict and division is being set up.

I have little to complain, but if I were to offer some criticism, is that I do want the show to open up more. I know this show is about a specific family where GoT was about all of Westeros, but I want to see multiple locations and varied environments. I would like to see it start to include multiple story arcs and character groups. It may not have to be as wide spread as GoT was, but a little more would be nice.

All in all, if you haven't tried out House of the Dragon, yet, it is a much watch for GoT and Fantasy fans.

Thanks!

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