Season 1, Episode 1: “Heir to the Dragon”
So where were we?
Oh yeah, I’m sitting on the couch trying to figure out the phrase “King Bran” in my head. It’s not yet, but it’s ancient history now.Or, more precisely, in a narrative sense: Ancient future.
That’s because it was the much earlier clash of the Iron Throne that was set for Sunday’s highly anticipated premiere of “House of the Dragon.” Several swords before King Robert Baratheon landed on it in centuries.
But it’s basically the same ugly chair that evokes the same ugly feelings of insecurity, envy, lust for power, and betraying friends and relatives. That last part is important because, unlike the original contest, most of the betrayal seems to take place within the same messed-up family rather than between the various houses of Westeros.
It is Daenerys’ ancestor, House Targaryen, who embodies the key pillars of the “thrones” universe: vengefulness, dragons, and incest. (According to lore, King Viserys’ deceased wife was his cousin, and on Sunday the dynamic between Damon and Laenira was, um, complicated.)
Their apparent tendency is part of a series premiere that had to stick the needle of creating investment in new stories while reminding viewers that it’s still “Game of Thrones.” was. This last part was followed up faithfully, as the episode, written by Ryan Condal and directed by two showrunners, Miguel Sapochnik, played all the hits. Gore? check. The brothel scene? check. A tense quarrel at a big table? check.
Most people with internet access over the past few years know at least some degree about HBO’s efforts to keep the ‘Thrones’ booty train alive after the polarizing of the biggest hits of all time ends. There have been multiple spin-off concepts, failed pilots. All of which ultimately led to a story that “Thrones” godhead George R.R. Martin has always wanted to go with. (Martin often complain The ones in the original series were too modest. )
So it was hard to ignore all the branding control—even Ramin Djawadi’s score seemed designed to be reassuring with a minor-key riff on the thunderous “Thrones” theme . (I admit that the “duh-nuh-NUH-nuh” motif is quite satisfying, even for a more pensive register.)
All the sameness is particularly noticeable within a franchise that has often captivated viewers by showing them something they’ve never seen before on television. There’s also a strange thematic inconsistency, given that we’re building a solution designed to show stupidity and ultimately leave them all behind.
If you’ll excuse my self-quoting obnoxiousness, here’s what I wrote about the “Thrones” finale: Three years later, HBO is essentially saying, both commercially and narratively:
That’s all there is. But to be fair: it was one episode, and it was the pilot episode. The troubling parts become more obvious.
The cast looks great. Matt Smith cooks a meal for Prince Demon, a self-doubting one-man sex and violence machine that only shows to his whore girlfriend. Rhys Ifans is all slippery soulless beings as his Otto Hightower in his King’s Hand who alienates his rival Daemon while using his young daughter Alicent as bait for the grieving ruler . Steve Toussaint has a presence and authority as Sir Corliss Bellaryon, a wealthy former sailor known as Sea Snake. (His one of the other spin-offs in development will chronicle the characters’ exploits as youngsters.) As Aricent and Laenira, Emily Carey and Milly Alcock share a friendship that seems destined to split. brings charm and complexity as his two halves.
Paddy Considine plays Viserys, and his hangdog face exudes the king’s weakness and grit at the same time. But based on his unhealing wounds and the evidence that the throne doesn’t like him, as well as the fact that this is a succession story and monarchs need to die in order for Game of Thrones to continue, he’s not going to be able to do it. seems unlikely to occupy it… for a long time.
The episode began with a prologue scene that set two important precedents. Viserys was named her grandfather’s heir over her older cousin, Rhaenys (Eve Best). The first: The convoluted Targaryens (also incestuous) have a tradition of fighting over succession claims. Second, the realm’s patriarchal leaders will resist attempts to place women on the Iron Throne.
The place of women in this world was summed up in advice from Queen Aema (Sian Brooke) to Laenira. “The birthbed is our battlefield,” she said, and we saw what it would turn out to be. It was terrifying.
I’ve praised several actors before, but perhaps the episode’s most sympathetic character was a squire who vomited in a tournament. “Hard Home” He has a visceral talent for filmmaking, a talent that can be used not only to disgust, but to dazzle.
As my colleague Mike Hale wrote in his review of the series, “Clash has the real power to put you back in your seat,” in a breathtaking sequence. Also truly powerful: the bloody bashing of the motley knight’s face.
“And the day gets uglier…” Reinis deadpans as he sees the crowd delight in the brutality. The point, as we have repeatedly recalled, was to establish the naive bloodthirsty hearts of those who had never known real war. He promised that he would eventually get a daughter.
“House of the Dragon” is based on Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” a novel written in the form of a fake history book. The book reflects Martin’s longstanding interest in the gap between what actually happens and how it is recorded for posterity.
This gap also seems to apply to prophecies, as seen at the end of the episode. It’s the last clear tie-in to “Game of Thrones,” which was a rough retelling of “Game of Thrones.”
In the crypt of the Dragon’s Skull, where Cersei and Jaime ultimately end up, Viserys tells Raenira that Aegon, the first Targaryen conqueror, was driven in part by a vision of “the end of the human world.” But in his version, either because the Oracle was off that day or because Aegon tweaked it out of self-interest, it’s the Targaryens who “unite the realms against cold and darkness.”
To be fair, I think Daenerys helped save the realm from the White Walker menace.
Either way, it was actually another Dragon Queen reference that brought back a bit of the old thrill. It happened during the funeral of her Queen and her son. The Baby Bunch, especially devastating in its diminutiveness, had a tremendous impact on the kingdom. built a tranquility.
And when Alcock scored an ace on her first “Dracarys!” Well… I mean, I’m not made of stone.