First episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel is “absolutely spectacular”

A couple weeks back, House of the Dragon had its world premiere in Los Angeles. The lucky few who got it see had almost uniformly wonderful things to say. Hype will reign.

Now, just over a week out from the official broadcast premiere, HBO showed off its fancy new Game of Thrones prequel show in Europe, and we have a fresh round of impressions to sort through. Hype will have a dynasty.

House of the Dragon is set some 200 years before Game of Thrones, when Westeros is at peace and the Targaryens are at the height of their power. Of course the peace won’t last — what kind of show would that be? — but in the premiere episode, things are pretty calm.

House of the Dragon premiere is “absolutely spectacular”

Javier Marcos, who runs the fansite Los Siete Reinos, called the House of the Dragon premiere “absolutely spectacular, on a par with the best episodes of Game of Thrones.”

"It has absolutely everything. There is a lot of drama, action and tension….The performances shine, especially Matt Smith as Daemon, Paddy Considine as Viserys…and a sensational Sian Brooke as Aemma Arryn. The technical aspects are formidable, as we already suspected: costumes, music, photography and special effects: Syrax and Caraxes look scary."

A lot of people have already named Matt Smith’s performance as the mercurial Daemon Targaryen as a highlight. I’m pleased to hear talk of Aemma Arryn, the first wife of King Viserys I Targaryen and the mother of lead character Rhaenyra Targaryen. She’s a minor presence in George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, but the show is going to need to expand her role if it wants to turn this story into a whole series. I’m glad to hear it’s working out!

Expect good things from Aemma Arryn in the House of the Dragon premiere

The Redditor ckmkck also wrote up some pretty thorough impressions of the premiere over on the House of the Dragon subreddit. “The first episode is arguably one of the best tv series premiere of a show,” they write. “Much more happened in the first episode than I anticipated but it was written so well that it all flowed beautifully. It does have a dark undertone but it doesn’t overshadow the total mood of the show. The cinematography is stunning, it felt like I was watching a movie instead of a tv show. In Game of Thrones there were episodes in season 8 that also felt very cinematic but HoTD does it in a much more professional and intricate way, a lot of focus shots. The reviews are definitely right about Matt Smith, he is phenomenal. I had my doubts about him at first but he plays the role of the rogue prince so well that it definitely makes the story much better.”

"Aemma Arryn was also beautifully portrayed and the show definitely adds a lot more to the character than the books do. Otto was another highlight for me, especially small council scenes. They were written and acted incredibly well. Mostly I just noticed that nothing is rushed, everything that is in the book was also on screen, but with added depth to the narratives. The dragons also looked beautiful."

It’s interesting to hear that Aemma Arryn is getting so much praise! I wasn’t particularly looking forward to that aspect of the premiere but now I’m intrigued.

“Something I didn’t expect was to get emotional, the episode is much more emotional and graphic than I thought,” ckmkck continued. “The scenes have a very heavy feel to them and a lot of raw emotion. At the end of the credits they made us wait because they showed a sneak peek of the whole season, and the only thing I have to say about that is: Vhagar is perfect.”

House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max on August 21.

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