House of the Dragon, HBO’s follow-up to Game of Thrones, is just around the corner. Last night, HBO held the world premiere at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, which was transformed for the occasion:
The Academy Museum has been taken over by dragons for the premiere of #HouseoftheDragon premiere pic.twitter.com/aLvYJ5VXA1
— Natalie Jarvey (@natjarv) July 28, 2022
And that means that impressions are coming in! What do people think of this Game of Thrones prequel show? HBO has a lot riding on it, so it’s surely hoping the response is good. And they will not be disappointed.
Let’s start with Brandon Katz, the senior TV reporter at The Wrap. He thinks the show is “absolutely a worthy successor” to Game of Thrones, at least based on the premiere:
The #HouseOfTheDragonHBO pilot very efficiently explains its context in relation to GoT, introduces its core characters, and lays out the central conflict of the series. It's an easy to follow premiere with vibrant colors and detailed texture. Absolutely a worthy successor so far pic.twitter.com/3lARILHfuv
— Brandon Katz (@Great_Katzby) July 28, 2022
Steven Weintraub, the editor-in-chief at Collider, was also impressed, and he’s not someone who liked the final season of Game of Thrones very much:
I did not like the last season of #GameofThrones. At all. But I’ll admit the series premiere of #HouseOfTheDragonHBO is really well done and I’ll definitely continue watching. After the episode ended they showed an extended preview of the season and looks cool. pic.twitter.com/wzuIMkZWe0
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) July 28, 2022
Writer-director Will Graham put things more succinctly:
Woah. @HBO house of the dragon is VERY good. #HouseoftheDragon
— Will Graham (@WillWGraham) July 28, 2022
House of the Dragon will “treat us like adults”
So those are some opinions from people in the entertainment industry. What about the voices of the fan community? David Lightbringer, who’s long made content about A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV adaptations, posted his (spoiler-free) take to YouTube:
“First big takeaway: it’s not like Game of Thrones. It feels closer to A Song of Ice and Fire…It has a very realistic, gritty, heavyweight feel. All the characters …a lot of nuance. Matt Smith’s Daemon is gonna steal the show for sure. Young Rhaenrya had an edge to her that I did not see coming. Very interesting character, she’s not white-washed at all. Aemma Arryn, wow.”
"Is the show gonna be good? Yes, the show’s gonna be good. It’s gonna be awesome. It’s gonna be different from Game of Thrones…The feel is just a little different…I think they really are gonna treat us like adults."
He also confirms that Mushroom, a…memorable character from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, isn’t in the premiere…or probably the show at all, but we were expecting that. #RememberMushroom.
House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max on August 21.
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