Review: House of the Dragon 1X01

— The Heirs of the Dragon

Image description: Promotional photo of young Princess

Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by Milly Alcock) standing in front
of her dragon Syrax amidst flames and the swords that make
up the Iron Throne of Westeros. Image belongs to HBO Max

Note: a couple of months before I got to see the first episode

of House of the Dragon early at the European premiere, I
debated what publication I wanted to write weekly reviews of
the series for. The decision to self-publish was a tough one,
but I realized that, as a fan of the books, I needed the
freedom to write about this story the way I wanted, with no
editor telling me to cut down the feminism or to let go of
minuscule aspects that “only matter to you.” I need to be able
to go in deep into any elements that stand out to me and free
to write about characters over story if necessary, or into book
vs adaptation differences. It’s in my nature, and for this show
especially, I need to do metatextual analysis, no matter how
much it costs me. Hence, while I will continue to cover the
show for various publications on a weekly basis, my episode
by episode reviews for House of the Dragon will be published
on Medium for the foreseeable future.

House of the Dragon episode 1, season 1:

“The Heirs of the Dragon” REVIEW
House of the Dragon starts unbelievingly strong. The episode
opens on a black screen, with Emma D’Arcy’s voice (as
Rhaenyra Targaryen) preluding the story. We hear about the
past, but we are actually getting a preview of where the story
will go. You don’t need to know the source material to
understand that the voiceover focuses on her aunt Rhaenys
being stripped of her right to the throne because it’s
preluding the tragedy that will be Rhaenyra’s.
It takes a couple of carefully crafted phrases to establish the
might of the Targaryen dynasty. When the pre-episode
narration ends, it’s on the most powerful line of a television
opener I’ve ever heard, another self-fulfilling prophecy that
will echo and haunt us for the rest of the series. “The only
thing that could tear down the house of the dragon… was
itself.”

The first few moments of the episode proper start in grand

Targaryen fashion, with Rhaenyra soaring the sky on her she-
dragon Syrax. Production rightfully shows off the resources
they have, aka incredible CGI and accuracy, both for the
dragons and for the prosperity of King’s Landing itself.
Showrunner and lead writer Ryan J. Condal clearly decided to
pour all the love and knowledge he has for the books into this
first scene to make a point, providing us with the most
accurate depiction of the capital, every corner of the city
taken straight from the books.

Co-showrunner and director Miguel Sapochnik did a job just

as spectacular on the episode’s photography. The screen is in
almost perennial symmetry, from the set design itself to the
composition of the scenes, especially in ensemble shots. In
the few scenes where the screen is not geometrically
composed, it’s to bring the audience’s attention to something
amiss that is purposely designed as uneven, to point out to a
specific detail within the story. House of the Dragon almost
feels like cinema, rather than television. Not to be a film
purist, but if you can, you should absolutely watch it on a
screen bigger than your laptop.
The perfect tandem of quality writing and stunning
cinematography continues throughout the episode. During
her first dialogue, Queen Aemma draws a clever parallel
between the birthing bed representing for women what the
battlefield is for men (a similar line is spoken by Viserys’s
mother Princess Alyssa in Fire and Blood, and I appreciate the
nod). This visually resonates later when the birth scene is
intermixed with the fight of Prince Daemon and Ser Criston
Cole; their blows and pars mimic and echo what happens in
the birthing chamber.

If we clearly see who the winner of the tilt is, however, we

only find out about the extent of the loss of the other battle
in the next scene; when the funeral pyre confirms that
Aemma is dead, the camera cruelly pans down to reveal a
second, smaller body lying there. What a wicked way to show
that Viserys’s hubris has been met in kind, and the gods took
away the son he damned his wife to hold.

Now, a word about Aemma. In the book, Queen Aemma

Arryn is relegated to a couple of passing lines about her many
pregnancies, and her death is dismissed in a single phrase
(“Queen Aemma was brought to bed in Maegor’s Holdfast
and died whilst giving birth to the son that Viserys Targaryen
had desired for so long.”). House of the Dragon succeeded in
making her a character to root for, through her words of
resigned wisdom (“this discomfort is how we serve the
realm”), of sorrow (that hearbreaking “I’ve mourned all the
dead children I can”), and her clearly loving dynamics with
her daughter and husband. It is an understatement to say
that Aemma’s birthing scene was excruciating to witness. The
writers made it a point to establish — through tender
gestures — that Viserys truly dotes on his wife. Therefore, the
new spin on her death where it’s Viserys himself who makes
that terrible choice hits even harder. It shows how desperate
beyond reason he is for his promised son (but more on this
later), so much so that he commits the unforgivable, and
forfeits Aemma’s life for the hope of an unborn son. This will
damn Viserys in the eyes of many viewers, as his action is
beyond horrible. House of the Dragon may be set in a
medieval fantasy world, but it’s clear from this episode that it
will not shy away from initiating conversations that will
resonate deeply with today’s audience. When Viserys makes
a choice about his wife’s body without her consent, it’s
impossible not to think about the conversations the US have
been having about women’s rights and abortion.

From a directorial point of view, I appreciated how graphic

the scene of the birth was. Not because I enjoyed it — I had
to fight the urge to cover my eyes both times I watched the
episode. What I appreciated was the boldness of the scene
itself, how it committed to showing the horror if it all. If
anyone complains about the scene, they better also complain
about the mass maiming that the City Watch performed, or
the completely unnecessary bloodshed during the tourney.
The birth scene is uncomfortable to watch, exactly because it
should be. We can’t wave it away with “medieval woman dies
in childbirth,” because that would be dismissing the core of
the matter, which is that Viserys heard his wife’s screams and
cries, and let the maester proceed with a medieval version of
a C-section that she had not consented to, knowing that she
would not survive it.

It’s clear the choice will haunt Viserys, but it will be his own
burden to bear for as long as he lives, along with another. The
reason why he was so desperate for a son ties into the
embedded misogyny of Westeros: he believed only a son
could succeed him, forgetting that as king he can name his
own successor and that there is no written law to say that his
daughter Rhaenyra, the Realm’s Delight, could not inherit the
Iron Throne after him. The secret he bears that is heavier
than the crown, more dangerous than the Iron Throne itself,
is what ties House of the Dragon to parent show Game of
Thrones: a prophecy that’s been passed from king to heir
since the days of Aegon the Conqueror about the Long Night
and the coming of the Others that threaten to annihilate
humanity unless a Targaryen monarch keeps the Seven
Kingdoms strong. This knowledge alone can perhaps justify
Viserys’s mislike for conflict and his future attempts to keep
the peace among his own family.
On the other end of the spectrum, his polar opposite in all
but looks, is Prince Daemon, the king’s rogue brother, feared
by many lords but beloved by the people. Matt Smith proves
within his very first scene that he has infinite range and that
he thrives on ambiguously gray characters. Daemon is
everything Viserys is not — strong, ambitious, determind,
daring — but the two brothers love each other fiercely from
their younger, more carefree, days together. It’s clear to
anyone watching with intention that Daemon would never
dream of harming his brother, despite what his detractors
would say. This may sound ludicrous to some, but I stand by
it: it’s not going further down in the line of succession that
worries Daemon, but not being first in his brother’s eyes, as
proven by the words spoken by Mysaria of Lys, who knows
and cares for Daemon well.

The rapid exchange he and Viserys have in the throne room

felt like the second climax of the episode, particularly with
lines so strong as “the blood of the dragon runs think” “then
why do you cut me so deep?” and the permanent “because
you are weak” statement that cannot be taken back. Daemon
is right, though, and only he would truly protect Viserys from
himself, because they would truly be complementary, and it
takes both sides to rule.

It’s meaningful that Viserys accuses Daemon of not being by

his side or Rhaenyra’s in that dark hour, when he himself has
been avoiding his daughter, probably too ashamed to face
her and tell her he killed her mother for a son that died
within a day of being born. Throughout the episode we can
see that Viserys loves Rhaenyra well, that he’s proud of her
and affectionate, but it kills Rhaenyra that she’s not enough
for him, that for all the love he bears for her, he still longs for
a son. Perhaps the most heartbreaking line of the episode
was Rhaenyra telling Daemon that she hoped that for the day
that her brother was alive, her father found the happiness he
had been searching for all her life. The concept is echoed by
Viserys himself when he later tells her he has wasted a
decade wishing for a son when she was right there. Implicitly,
he always knew he could trust his daughter, or he would not
have made her his cupbearer, demanded to attend all Small
Councils and witness how the realm is run.

I know many will take issue with the king’s words about
dragons, “a power men should never have trifled with,” and
his talk of “control” over them, for they are utterly wrong.
They reflect the warped opinion of a weak man whose hubris
has just costed him a love and a son, of course he would
despise any thought of overreaching. He is not speaking for
House Targaryen, and it baffles me that people can’t
distinguish a character’s voice from an objecting statement
coming from a narrator. Rhaenyra herself does not share her
father’s view, as she equals dragons to Targaryens.

She is much closer in temperament to Daemon, who

understands her above everyone else. It’s telling that the two
of them choose to communicate with each other in High
Valyrian, as if they feel closer to their ancestry… mark my
words, this will play out in the rest of the season (*cough*
Valyrian ceremony). Their dynamic is layer upon layer and we
will spend the entirety of House of the Dragon unpacking it.
The tension there is palpable, and we need to give it to Milly
Alcock for loading her words and expressions so carefully.
I’ve spoken about Rhaenyra in all her aspects - as well as Lady
Alicent and Ser Otto Hightower - extensively in other places,
and I will talk more about them again in the next reviews.
Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and Lord Corlys Velaryon had
little space this episode, but they aced it. They made every
look matter, and I’m sure they will soon become fan-
favourite’s.

A couple of extra things that will undoubtedly make book

fans smile: seeing young Laena and Laenor Velaryon at the
tourney, Laena holding her brother when the day grows ugly.
Viserys saying the city has not been this safe since his
grandmother’s time, giving Good Queen Alysanne the
mention she deserves.

The mention of Daenerys Targaryen at the very beginning of

the episode is a tribute to Game of Thrones’s most iconic
character, despite what was done to her in the last two
episodes of the show. I appreciated House of the
Dragon using her birth to establish the timeline in a way to
pay homage to her, the last descendant of House Targaryen
and she who made it possible to defeat the great threat we
learn about in this first episode. I would be lying if I said that I
did not shed a tear when her name appeared on screen as we
were sitting in the theater at the European premiere. The
story begins and ends with Daenerys, as it should.

That’s quite enough for one episode. The first of House of the
Dragon achieves the unachievable and exceeds all
expectations. It introduces history, a large cast of characters,
and a lot of present, and it unbelievably suceeds in
presenting each properly, empowering the audience with the
tools to understand where everyone is coming from and what
they wish to achieve. If you think this episode moved a little
too fast, rest assured; the pacing of the rest of the season
should slow down considerably. The first episode needed to
end on the high point of Rhaenyra being proclaimed the
official heir to the Iron Throne (most likely to draw a parallel
with the season finale’s coronation) and therefore it needed
to show everything that preceeds that moment.

I believe we are witnessing the history of television being

made and changed one more, for the better this time. Ryan
Condal and Miguel Sapochnik did not come to play, and they
assembled a stellar team behind the scenes as well as an
otherworldly cast. House of the Dragon returns to dazzle next
week.