An Epic Branded Tale: The House of the Dragon Review [Preview]

An Epic Branded Tale

Our review of House of the Dragon aims to highlight the strengths and possible weaknesses of this highly anticipated HBO series which consists of a single season consisting of a total of 10 episodes of varying duration from 54 68 minutes each.

House of the Dragon is based on George R. R. Martin's 2018 novel Fire and Blood, which you can purchase here on Amazon. The title of the work is none other than the Targaryen House motto. It is a story that predates The Throne of Swords by at least 170 years, the chronology of which is based on Aegon I Targaryen's conquest of Westeros, which is then referred to as Year 0, so the events take place before the conquest of Aegon (PC) or after it (CA). The story of Game of Thrones begins in 298 AC and ends in 305 AC. The Dance of the Dragons on which House of the Dragon is based, however, lasted from 129 to 131 AC.

Great protagonist of these events is House Targaryen which, in this particular period of time, experienced a terrible war fratricide linked to the succession of the kingdom.

Before proceeding with the review of House of the Dragon, of which we offer you our report of the first 6 episodes that we were able to preview, we would like to clarify that the following article it will be updated on a weekly basis, at the release of each new episode of the series, starting from episode 7 of the series, so you can continue to consult it to stay up to date. For more information, images and trailers of the series, we invite you to consult our comprehensive article.

Our review of House of the Dragon: preparations for the Dance of the Dragons

However, the Targaryens were not always well regarded: while some of them were magnanimous and just kings , others were particularly cruel and insane, probably also due to consanguineous marriages; the madness of the Targaryens brought death and destruction to their passage, magnifying the consequences of their actions once they were crowned king. For this reason, the saying "when a Targaryen is born the gods throw a coin" began to spread in the Seven Kingdoms. | ] adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_culturapop_d_mh3_1 slot id: th_culturapop_d_mh3 "); } Even without mental health problems, succession is often a cause for infighting, and not just in this cruel and merciless fantasy world. As for this House of the Dragon review, we will focus on the events immediately preceding the Dance of the Dragons, which took place between 129 and 131 AR. Being the fulcrum of the series, these clashes will be shown in the final episodes of the series, so we will not reveal any details about it, except that, as can be seen from the name with which this conflict has gone down in history, saw the clash between two Targaryens and their dragons. Not only that: in the entire history of Westeros, the Dance of the Dragons was the only major war in which both factions controlled dragons.

In the 6 episodes that we were able to watch for this review of House of the Dragon , therefore, the clashes related to another conflict are shown: the War for the Stepstones.

The War for the Stepstones

It is a series of battles that took place in the southern part of the Strait Sea for the control of the Stepstones. Without going into detail to avoid spoilers, the conflict is shown in every aspect, not just on the battlefield, just as one would expect from a series based on the works of Martin: the clashes are always preceded by careful planning that includes the collection. of information, betrayals and the programming of every tactical aspect of the clashes thanks to models, to be used to better illustrate the battle strategies.

The care with which all the phases preceding the conflicts are represented makes the events much more credible, not to mention that they reflect what also happened in the battles of the past in the real world. George R. R. Martin has always taken great care in the construction of a world characterized by well-defined characters and events, and you will find all this also in House of the Dragon.


Targaryen in House of the Dragon As far as the purely visual aspect is concerned, even from this point of view the many fighting scenes you will see will be epic: the armed clashes by land and by sea are violent , bloodthirsty, ruthless and see many perfectly choreographed warriors clash to create dynamic, frenetic and exciting scenes that will keep you glued to the screen. And to top it all, something that in Game of Thrones had little space for narrative reasons: dragons.

Air clashes between dragons, the rulers of the air

As of of course you know, in the period in which Game of Thrones is set the only dragons present are those in the possession of Daenerys Targaryen; this is because the creatures were considered extinct for 150 years. House of the Dragon shows us, however, an earlier period, in which dragons were much more widespread. Almost every member of House Targaryen, the last surviving dragonlord of ancient Valyria, has their own dragon. In the course of the series, you will also see how the young Targaryens practice the control of dragons, and of the latter you will see more specimens, all different from each other.



In addition to the indisputable charm to be able to admire the dragons as the great protagonists of the series, the clashes that see them as protagonists are spectacular and exciting. Behold the overwhelming power of fire of these gigantic and noble fantastic creatures in all its annihilating force!

Human affairs in our House of the Dragon review

To create a realistic picture not battles on the battlefield are enough: it is also necessary to identify the main characters and analyze them carefully, in order to understand the deeper reasons. Plots, intrigues, deceptions and lies are the order of the day at the Targaryen court for several reasons: for example, arranged marriages, designed to fortify the two contracting families both politically and militarily, were often only facade because they took place between people who they did not love each other and continued to have their lovers; for this, there were many bastard children.

Relationships of love and friendship reveal all their fragility in House of the Dragon, showing us how easily they can mutate due to the manipulations of cold and ruthless individuals like the prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), opposite to his brother, King Viserys (Paddy Considine), generous and well-liked, but also temperamentally weak and easily maneuverable. Another character with a strong and indomitable character is Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock / Emma D'Arcy), who aspires to become the first queen of Westeros: in fact, the succession included the ascent to the throne exclusively of the eldest of the sons. of the king, or in any case of a man, as Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) knows all too well, also known as "the queen who never was" because she was preferred to her cousin Viserys, when the Council had to choose the new king.



House of The Dragon Furthermore, you will notice that some events recall others already seen in the Throne of Swords, so it will be easy to create parallels between the stories. If this detail, on the one hand, suggests a sort of recycling of the same issues, on the other it reflects a decidedly realistic aspect: history repeating itself. Even in the real world we see the same spectacle: different people making the same mistakes. Well, Martin has also managed to make sense of the repetitiveness of the story.

Preliminary conclusions

The personal dramas of the protagonists are added to the dramas of the war, in a thrilling crescendo that succeeds in the enterprise to create an exciting series from the point of view of the plot and very pleasant to watch for the staging. Thanks to excellent direction and noteworthy acting performances (we were able to appreciate the acting skills of the actors of the series by watching the episodes in English) this review of House of the Dragon can only be positive.

From the point in view of the general staging, we are faced with a very accurate series that manages to convince also thanks to the attention to detail, including hairstyles and stage costumes, perfectly consistent with the social rank of the different characters and rich in details and elaborate embroidery, when worn by the people of the royal court. The outdoor settings offer breathtaking views dominated by lush nature and large and rich cities, interspersed with gloomy and bloody war scenarios. Even the furnishings of the interior settings are opulent and finely worked.

The direction helps to show the spectators impressive panoramas when it is necessary to highlight large portions of the territory thanks to beautiful shots from above, while the battles are characterized by dynamism cameras, which focus on details, even the crudest, with closer shots. During the dialogues, however, the camera is more static, dwelling on the faces of the interlocutors to capture their facial expressions and, consequently, their feelings.

As for photography, the images are always clearly distinguishable, even in conditions which would naturally be dimly lit, like night scenes, thanks to diffused and soft artificial lighting. The favorite color palette in the series focuses on warmer shades, in perfect harmony with the main element of House of the Dragon: fire.

Fights to the death and court intrigues give life to a convincing series and of excellent workmanship, which will not disappoint fans of the Throne of Swords.

The first episode of House of the Dragon will be available in Italy from 22 August in V.O. subtitled exclusively on Sky and streaming on demand only on NOW TV at the same time as the United States, while the new episodes will be broadcast every Monday for 10 weeks, and from 29 August the episodes dubbed in Italian will also be available. To take advantage of these and many other contents, you can buy the Fire Stick TV directly here on Amazon.