House of the Dragon: Worth wasting a weekend binge watching?

Sphere is a cultural research tool that studies online data and applies machine learning models for deeper, more empathetic insights.

#houseofthedragon

If you didn’t already know, House of the Dragon (HOTD), the highly anticipated prequel to Game of Thrones (GOT), has finally landed and the internet has a lot to say.

Set more than a century before the original show, HOTD traces the ancestry of one of the great ruling dynasties — the dragon-rearing Targaryens and their lineage of unhinged family dysfunction.

In a nutshell…

Given the abysmal way HBO wrapped up the final season of GOT, fans were looking to HOTD for some royal redemption: Nothing less than the most brutal of backstabbing coupled with stomach-churning violence, and topped off with jaw-dropping cliffhangers.

By using Sphere to look at YouTube comments on the official trailers, we got their verdict: HOUSE OF THE DRAGON SLAYS.

Sphere analytics in action: Text Emotion

Sphere’s semiotics AI model analyzed the comments and found 4 main camps:

1. Team ‘Mind blown by production and plot’

My god! They are spending heavy money on every shot. Everything looks like movie budget.

Totally EPIC!! Once again, they have drawn me!! Can’t wait for more… excellent work! LOVED hearing the song at the end

Amazing beginning! Let’s hope this time they can make it a better ending.

2. Team ‘Still hung up on fav GOT characters’

There’s still no one like Tyrion

I’m sorry, wasn’t Daenerys the first woman to sit on the Iron Throne?!

I’m sorry but Littlefinger was a sneaky manipulative genius, no one really knew what he was up to. Otto is nothing like Littlefinger, his motives are obvious for everyone to see

4. Team ‘Crazy in love’

You honestly can’t hate the Targaryens 🔥🔥 I’ve honestly missed this 😭❤️❤️

Love it!!!

It’s fireeee

5. Team ‘I’m just here for the dragons’

Can’t wait until season 2 when we will properly get to see the wild dragons, gonna see sum really big dragons like 3x the size of drogon if it’s accurate

Dragons are like nuclear weapons of today, who holds it determine their existence and legitimacy and that of others.

Dragons are too good

Sphere analytics in action: Everyday Experiences

Sphere’s Everyday Experiences AI model also got the sense that HOTD was a social experience — watching episodes with friends and family, then raving and ranting about said episodes with the online community:

Sphere analytics in action: Text Emotion

While Sphere’s Text Emotion AI model detected that the majority of comments were joyously waxing lyrical about HOTD, 30% were still sore about the disappointing GOT finale. They weren’t hopeful that a spinoff would be any better:

Residual angst aside, the fans have spoken and it looks like House of the Dragon did serve up some deliverance from GOT’s unsatisfying finish. Fingers crossed that it only goes on to get better till the very end!

Write to anurag.banerjee@quilt.ai for more information on how Sphere can radically transform the way your company understands online data.