A prequel loosely based on the George RR Martin book Fire and Blood, the series returns centuries before the events of Game of Thrones to chronicle the rise and fall of House Targaryen.
Where is the novelty?
From the credits, an almost exact copy of Game of Thrones, the tone is set and resounds like a slogan: "We're going to do something new with something old". The characters are all near-perfect stunt doubles of those from the original series, to the point of having fun guessing who the new Tyrion Lannister, Queen of the Dragons, Jon Snow, and more are. Some actors even look exactly like their Game of Thrones counterparts.
The whole context is also reminiscent of a well-known landscape: the dramatic family stakes, the epic battles, the endless jousts of egos around a table, the carnal and/or cruel scenes, the gore breakthroughs, the reduced faces to mush and, of course, the flying, fire-breathing dragons.
It is difficult in these conditions to experience a feeling of novelty and a breath of fresh air. Note, however, that one thing changes and for the better: the quality of the special effects and the rendering of the sets. There is no debate, it's bluffing. The production is also efficient and the actors are all excellent, with Matt Smith in the lead (The Crown).
A spectacular tournament scene from the first episode
A successful return, then? Difficult to decide on only four episodes. For the moment, House of Dragon does not offer us much more than what we have already seen for 8 seasons of Game of Thrones, minus the surprise effect. We are no longer at all in the “happiness” of growing up with the “little ones” of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) in GOT.
In House of Dragon, rarity is no longer the rule. The dragons are almost treated like vulgar horses, and beyond the trivialization of the fantastic, what most lacks in House of the Dragon and which was the base line of Game of Thrones, is a powerful dramatic stake, a abominable threat that makes us tremble for all the protagonists, in short, a White Walker and his Winter is coming.
If things improve (there are still 6 episodes left), we might be entitled to "a Succession with dragons", which would be quite good, by the way. Otherwise, for the moment, we retain a spectacular tournament scene in the first episode, a very well-constructed dragon attack in the second and characters who talk, talk, talk nonstop, always lurking in the shadows with this deep boredom , ready to spring up at any time. Attention, if things remain as they are: sleep is coming!
