House of the Dragon debuts with fire, blood, and memories of Westeros

Much like the rest of the fandom of Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, I've been on the edge of my seat, almost falling over in excitement since the trailer for House of the Dragon first came out. Now that I've seen the first episode, I feel myself breathing a sigh of relief. The new show hasn't started off bad, it's not good either. It's amazing.

There are many things that were great about this first episode, but let's start off with the dragons. The first episode features two fire breathing flying monsters, and I loved the fact that they were very different from each other. Those who have read Fire & Blood will appreciate the authenticity with which the showrunners have conjured up these magnificent CGI creatures, each of the dragons with their own distinct features. The colour of their scales, the shape of their body, their sizes, and most importantly, their temperament were all on display in these first one hour and two minutes. 

House of the Dragon had to get their dragons right, give them the personality and the presence that was often lacking from the later seasons of Game of Thrones, and the new show delivered well, at least in the first episode. I am intrigued by the dragons that are yet to appear in subsequent episodes and seasons, the ones that are blue and the ones that are white, and excited to see the colours of the fire they breathe.

Moving on from dragons, the first episode delivered in yet another aspect that is super important yet understandably difficult to execute for fantasy fiction – scale. The show is set in the glory days of the Targaryen dynasty, when dragons roam the sky and dragonlords rule, and it felt that way. The city of King's Landing looked superb, in the glory of the Red Keep and the squalor of Flea Bottom. Those familiar with the lore would instantly recognise many of the landmarks in the city, like the Dragonpit. In one scene, Princess Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower are seen sitting in the Godswood of the Red Keep, under a magnificent red and white Weirwood tree. The first episode spends a notable amount of time in King's Landing's infamous Street of Silk, another familiar name for those stuck in the maze that is George RR Martin's fantasy world.

If all this sounds like this new show is only for the old fans, and fans of the books, then let us spend some sentences to dispel those fears. House of the Dragon is a story made for television, even Fire & Blood, the book that it was based on, is closer to a synopsis than a novel, most likely written after the decision was made to turn this story into a TV show. The exposition to the main plot of House of the Dragon is compressed masterfully into a voiceover that lasts a little over two minutes. It catches the viewers up to what they need to know, making sure to mention that this story takes place 172 years before Daenerys Targaryen, a character whose name would've been hard to avoid if one found themselves alive within the last 10 years.

Once that was over, the story became a fast moving journey into what is setting up to be a tense political battle within the walls of the Red Keep, for the succession of the Iron Throne, which is ultimately what everything is about. Milly Alcock's young Rhaenyra Targaryen is playful, strong, and beautiful at the same time, a spitting image of everything one could imagine a Targaryen princess to be. 

Matt Smith's portrayal of Prince Daemon deserves special mention after an initial watch of this first episode. He looks enormous, scary, and magnificent in his gold and red and black armour. He delivers dialogue in a drawl that oozes the arrogance of one who believes dragon's blood flows through his veins, and I couldn't be happier that this is going to be the character that will feature most prominently throughout the upcoming episodes of this show. 

Without giving out a major spoiler, I would like to mention the reveal that happens at the end of the episode, something that has until now only been a theory for fans of the book series. It's refreshing to see new things in a TV show that has so far not been part of the canon, and it's exciting because it opens up new avenues in the sprawling world that George RR Martin has weaved, adding new dimensions to every stage of the history of Westeros.

It's almost stupid that so much can be said after watching just one episode of a new TV show, but the world of ice and fire deserves such diligent following, and for now, House of the Dragon has delivered on what it promised. The intrigue, the violence, the epic scale and the beautiful characters that made Game of Thrones a worldwide phenomena was all present in this episode. It was a journey back to Westeros, on dragonback this time, and it's shaping up to be a hell of a ride. 

Azmin Azran is a sub-editor at SHOUT.