Review: House of the Dragon 1X01 — The Heirs of the Dragon
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 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 alway 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-favorites.
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 otherwordly cast. House of the Dragon returns to dazzle next week.
— If you’d like to continue the discussion or know what I have to say about the million other things I did not touch upon here today, come find me on Twitter or check out my many articles related to House of the Dragon written for various publications.
