House of the Dragon (GoT Prequel)

[Regulator75]

Bump, it aired tonight.

[dino7c]

I enjoyed the first episode...tons of potential

[Erick Estrada]

Did anyone with Crave have issues logging in last night? I get it free via Shaw but I got kicked out and couldn't get back in.

[mac_82]

Crave wouldn't load until after 8pm for me. I'm assuming it was overloaded.

[Azure]

Well one episode in, its already better than season 8 of GoT.

[PsYcNeT]

Definitely lots of potential, solid vibes, lots of good scheming.

My wife was pretty shook by the

Spoiler!

c-section scene. Hella graphic.

[Regulator75]

Good story building and acting, looking forward to the next episode.

[CliffFletcher]

A welcome return to the smartly-written intrigue of the first few seasons of GoT. Lots of conflicts established without overwhelming with dozens of characters and houses. Coulda given the more gratuitous gore and porn a miss, but I guess part of the success of the franchise is offering something for the 20-something dude-brah demographic.

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Did anyone with Crave have issues logging in last night? I get it free via Shaw but I got kicked out and couldn't get back in.

I thought it was just us. We watched the show but couldn’t log in afterwards. Looks like something weird happening with Crave accounts.

[blankall]

Definitely dryer at parts, but clearly better written, than the last few seasons of GoT.

I also had a lot of trouble with Crave. Was getting video errors on my laptop. Then on Telus, I couldn't find it in the directory.

Eventually found it around 7:30 PM in the Telus directory and watched it that way without any issues.

[calumniate]

I'm a pretty big fan of incest and mariticide (edit.. i guess it's Uxoricide). This show is right on point!

[#-3]

Originally Posted by Azure

Well one episode in, its already better than season 8 of GoT.

Already better than season 3-8, so that's good. GoT coasted a long time on 2 good seasons, it just took until 7 for people to realize they weren't gonna get a handle on it again (kinda like Lost).

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Definitely lots of potential, solid vibes, lots of good scheming.

My wife was pretty shook by the

Spoiler!

c-section scene. Hella graphic.

You should watch The Boys, that's nothing

[FireGilbert]

I was a bit skeptical when this started with like 5 minutes of narration but was invested by the end. Definitely felt like old GoT with the music, high production value, a cast of complicated morally ambiguous characters, and over the top sex and violence.

I hope the writers don’t fall into the prequel trap of an over reliance on references and copying plot points from the original.

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

Originally Posted by #-3

Already better than season 3-8, so that's good. GoT coasted a long time on 2 good seasons, it just took until 7 for people to realize they weren't gonna get a handle on it again (kinda like Lost).

Seasons three four and six are excellent too.

Anywho, great start. The last minutes minutes were fantastic and set the stage. The brilliance of the first series was the rich depth of characters, where you'd go back to watch episode one and see all this people who were just in the background to start become huge pieces.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Anyone who thinks season 3-8 sucked, just doesn’t like game of thrones. I’m not even sure why you’d bother watching HotD.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Anyone who thinks season 3-8 sucked, just doesn’t like game of thrones. I’m not even sure why you’d bother watching HotD.

1-2 were excellent
3-4 were good
5-7 were cringey
8 was terrible

Watch a random episode from seasons 1 or 2. Then immediately watch a random episode from seasons 5-8. You’d have to be blind drunk not to notice a dramatic decline in the quality of the writing - especially the dialogue.

I’m watching HotD because I’m hoping it will be like GoT seasons 1-4, and not 5-8. So far, so good.

[JohnnyB]

I think this series was actually originally initiated be GRR, as in he selected and hired the writers and director and was working on it with them under his own initiative before he took it to HBO, which bodes well for the writing and characters.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

1-2 were excellent
3-4 were good
5-7 were cringey
8 was terrible

Watch a random episode from seasons 1 or 2. Then immediately watch a random episode from seasons 5-8. You’d have to be blind drunk not to notice a dramatic decline in the quality of the writing - especially the dialogue.

I’m watching HotD because I’m hoping it will be like GoT seasons 1-4, and not 5-8. So far, so good.

No way.

I'd argue it was at its pinnacle with season 6, thanks to the excellent climax that actually carried some weight and paid off the plotline around kings landing. Then the writing quality tanked.

Really, 1-6 was anywhere between "like" and "love".

[FireGilbert]

The Sand Snakes in S5 were the start of GoT's decline. It somewhat recovered in S6 with the Sparrows but then went off the rails and fell flat in S7 and S8. Feels like the writers were great at adapting GRRM's first 3 books, but struggled with the next 2, and completely flopped the unwritten conclusion.

I'm optimistic for HotD since GRRM finished the story and is involved in the production.

[djsFlames]

Yup. Pretty solid first episode. That should whet peoples' appetites to return to this universe.

Spoiler!

I like that there weren't massive winks tying it to ASOIAF throughout, but just to book end it.

Really liking a number of characters. Rhaenyra is certainly less annoying than Dany (I love Emilia Clarke, but let's face it.. her character had an air of entitlement to her from the first minute), but her character/acting also seems a little flat. Hopefully she picks that up over the show since you want the protagonist to be able to carry the show when needed.

Hightower seems like a good hand of the king on the surface. But the stuff with his daughter was a little shady/greasy. Looks like there will be plenty of deceit and betrayal. Exactly what you want for series like these.

Interesting that Daemon is supposed to be the reckless/mad-seeming one but also doesn't seem all bad either. Shades of Jamie Lannister and I could see a similar arc happening with him, where he will do noble things for his blood.

Looking forward to seeing where it goes!

[Erick Estrada]

Looks like they have a solid budget for this show as the effects were top notch for the most part.