Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon

Soldato
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Already thinking when I'll watch again. My interest and expectations were low to start so I think I'll get a lot from the first 3 or 4 episodes that I missed first time round, and the last 4 were so good I'll gladly watch them again.
Same here. I felt bad for Otto when he was fired as I thought he was entirely justified in doing what he did and now I'm thinking of going back to see if I spot any more hints of him being self serving like he clearly is in the later episodes.
 
Soldato
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I thought the last episode was a bit anti-climactic. Thought it would all boot off in episodes 9 and 10 but nah.

I did enjoy the series as a whole though.
I expected a lot more for a season finale cliffhanger if I’m honest. I’ll watch the next season, but they didn’t exactly leave us thinking “zomg must watch season 2 nowz!!1”. Slightly disappointing.

Generally I think it needs more sex and violence too :p (let’s face it, it’s kinda what made GoT what it was)
 
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Associate
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I expected a lot more for a season finale cliffhanger if I’m honest. I’ll watch the next season, but they didn’t exactly leave us thinking “zomg must watch season 2 nowz!!1”. Slightly disappointing.

Generally I think it needs more sex and violence too :p (let’s face it, it’s kinda what made GoT what it was)

Going to be a long wait, 2024 sometime for the next season.
 
Soldato
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no one will ever rewatch this shirley

As a huge GoT fan I've rewatched S1-5 probably 6-7 times as I liked it so much, so I'm sure people who liked HoD will do the same, but for the vast majority of folks these series are just passing fads, something to chat about around the water cooler at work (or on Social Media) and no more, so I doubt many of those will rewatch this even if they enjoyed it in the moment.
 
Soldato
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I expected a lot more for a season finale cliffhanger if I’m honest. I’ll watch the next season, but they didn’t exactly leave us thinking “zomg must watch season 2 nowz!!1”. Slightly disappointing.
What is essentially a declaration of all out war between two families with dragons isn't enough of a cliff hanger for you?
 

fez

fez

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That was everything ROP wishes it was. Interesting and multifaceted characters, proper character development, interesting storylines and you actually feel something for the characters.

Great series. Only thing it was missing was humour.

Oh and if people want to see how to write strong women, this is a great example. Watching this after RoP brings how just how awful the writing was.
 
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Caporegime
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That was everything ROP wishes it was. Interesting and multifaceted characters, proper character development, interesting storylines and you actually feel something for the characters.

Great series. Only thing it was missing was humour.

Oh and if people want to see how to write strong women, this is a great example. Watching this after RoP brings how just how awful the writing was.

Have to disagree. I think this is just as poorly written. I don't feel anything for the characters really, because they are all so unlikeable.

The whole show is bereft of any humour or wit. It is just an hour of misery every episode. That is poor writing in and of itself.
 
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Caporegime
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I quite enjoyed the last episode. Mainly i think because the world is starting to expand and it isnt just some insular/incestuous family soap opera with a load of boring characters bereft of any wit/interesting things to say.

I'm hoping season 2 might be better if it is all about the war covering all of westeros. This season really dragged.

It really does pale in comparison to early Game of Thrones though. There were so many brilliant and different characters created in that show, all adding their own different colour to the experience.
 
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Caporegime
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Same here. I felt bad for Otto when he was fired as I thought he was entirely justified in doing what he did and now I'm thinking of going back to see if I spot any more hints of him being self serving like he clearly is in the later episodes.

I think he's pretty self-serving throughout. From pushing his daughter on the King ("put on one of your mother's dresses") to working hard to secure the line of succession for his own blood. He gets more and more obvious about it as the King grows weaker and he grows more secure though.

That said, self-serving or not, I don't think Otto's advice tends to be that bad until the King actually dies and he goes full coup. Viserys naming his daughter as heir was a substantial mistake when he had a son that could take that role, albeit an understandable one.
 
Soldato
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I quite enjoyed the last episode. Mainly i think because the world is starting to expand and it isnt just some insular/incestuous family soap opera with a load of boring characters bereft of any wit/interesting things to say.

I'm hoping season 2 might be better if it is all about the war covering all of westeros. This season really dragged.

It really does pale in comparison to early Game of Thrones though. There were so many brilliant and different characters created in that show, all adding their own different colour to the experience.
Daemon, Viserys, Rhaenys, Rhaenyra Corlys, Alicent, Otto, and later Aemond are all fantastic characters IMO. HotD S1 > GoT S1 I think. If S2 can be better as well then they will have really done well.

You do have a bit of a point that it is very focused on one small part of the world, but I don't necessarily see that as a big negative.
 
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What is essentially a declaration of all out war between two families with dragons isn't enough of a cliff hanger for you?

Not really. It was the entirely inevitable event set up in the first episode. The entire season was basically a prelude; we didn't get into any of the actual action. I think it would have been considerably better paced as a season if we'd had the last episode as a mid-season climax - about episode 6 or 7 - and had the first act of the war as the climax.
 
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Not really. It was the entirely inevitable event set up in the first episode. The entire season was basically a prelude; we didn't get into any of the actual action. I think it would have been considerably better paced as a season if we'd had the last episode as a mid-season climax - about episode 6 or 7 - and had the first act of the war as the climax.

Agreed. i thought the whole season was far too long and boring just focusing on the inter family squabble. Especially so, considering the characters were all so dull and uninteresting - "heres so so and so, 10th of his name, high lord of some sea and some place, vanquisher of pigeons etc...".

There were no shocks, no big reveals, no sudden deaths of main characters.

I am tentatively looking forward to next season as the last few episodes were already more interesting with more houses and lords coming into play.
 
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Caporegime
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Daemon, Viserys, Rhaenys, Rhaenyra Corlys, Alicent, Otto, and later Aemond are all fantastic characters IMO. HotD S1 > GoT S1 I think. If S2 can be better as well then they will have really done well.

You do have a bit of a point that it is very focused on one small part of the world, but I don't necessarily see that as a big negative.

I admit that i do quite like Aemond. He is well cast and really looks the part. Most of the others I find fairly boring. The show desperately needs some more banter/clever witty lines/cunning schemes etc. It's was just all a bit miserable and flat. Nothing to keep you guessing or wondering what would happen next.
 
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fez

fez

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I admit that i do quite like Aemond. He is well cast and really looks the part. Most of the others I find fairly boring. The show desperately needs some more banter/clever witty lines/cunning schemes etc. It's was just all a bit miserable and flat. Nothing to keep you guessing or wondering what would happen next.

If you guessed all the twists and turns of that season you are a genius. Yes they telegraphed the ultimate destination off the bat but that wasn’t trying to surprise you with that. It was the journey.

It wasn’t the badly done mystery box that RoP was.
 
Caporegime
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If you guessed all the twists and turns of that season you are a genius. Yes they telegraphed the ultimate destination off the bat but that wasn’t trying to surprise you with that. It was the journey.

It wasn’t the badly done mystery box that RoP was.

What twists and turns?
 
Soldato
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What twists and turns?
Rhaenyra ending up with Daemon
Rhaenyra having ******* children
Alicent turning from princess's best friend and innocent daughter of the HotK to scheming queen
Criston Cole being raised from nothing to KG and Rhaenyra's protector and one off lover to then now mortal enemy
Otto Hightower appearing to be a good and honest HotK but evidently not
Alicent and Otto's relationship continually contorting right to the end
The role of house Velaryon as potential kingmakers, I never knew which way they were going to turn next - including Princess Rhaenys and her unique position
Aemond going from being the picked on unlucky child to most badass of that generation
 
Caporegime
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What twists and turns?

There were twists and turns. Creepy Strong going fully fratricidal, Christon Cole joining Team Green and then straight up murdering a dude at a party, Damon arranging for gay husband to toddle off, Aemond claiming the big dragon and losing an eye, hell I didn't see his dragon straight up nomming the younger son of Team Black coming either. The trouble is that they all felt pretty inconsequential to the story, it was fairly obvious Otto was coming back the question was just how, and so on. The main characters were just being slowly shuffled into the places it was obvious they were heading for.

It wasn’t the badly done mystery box that RoP was.

RoP and HotD are so different that comparisons are mostly a matter of preferences. For me, I enjoyed both and am looking forward to the next seasons, and am hoping they can address some of the flaws of both as they grow. I think HotD had better writing, and stronger characters, but I actually enjoyed RoP more. HotD was just so consistently grimy in tone, lacking wit and cheer out loud moments, and the season pacing was poor; whilst RoP relied far too much on mystery and not enough on character story (although the character story bits were the best parts). At this point I think either of them could turn out to be a classic series with a slightly ropey first season, or their flaws could grow and consume them. Time will tell.
 
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