‘House Of The Dragon’: Everything That Happened In The Premiere On HBO

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details from the premiere of HBO’s House of the Dragon.

It’s a prequel to Game of Thrones, but it could also double as a medieval spinoff of Succession.

The phrase much-anticipated is a well-worn phrase in Hollywood, but there really isn’t any other way to describe the latest dispatch from Westeros, based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. The 700-page saga chronicles the history of House Targaryen — or as the TV series goes on to explain, 172 years before the death of the Mad King and the birth of Daenerys Targaryen (played in GOT by Emilia Clarke). The episode begins with the question of succession, who is most deserving of the title, and how no woman will ever sit on the Iron Throne.

We’ll see about that! 

For a second, it seemed as if we were treated to Dany’s ghost in the premiere. After a brief history lesson about the House Targaryen, a diminutive blonde is seen having a joy ride on her dragon while the dispassionate residents of King’s Landing go about their day (it seems fire-breathing creatures are a dime a dozen in those days). When the young woman dismounts the creature with her back to the camera, it appears as if the producers dropped a Dany scene from the later seasons of GOT. Instead, it’s Rhaenyra (a marvelous Milly Alcock), the spunky (what else?) daughter of Paddy Considine’s King Viserys. Waiting for her on solid ground is Ser Harrold Westerling (Outlander‘s Graham McTavish) — who seems like HOTD’s version of GOT’s Jorah Mormont — and the beguiling Alicent (Emily Carey), a Rhaenyra confidante who walks arm-in-arm with her bestie while helping her study history under a weirwood tree.

Viserys has plenty of love for his only daughter, but his attention is largely focused on his wife (Sian Brooke), who carries the son that he hopes will someday inherit his title. It’s a difficult pregnancy, which the queen rationalizes by saying “the discomfort is how we serve the realm.” Talk about a major sacrifice; since her baby is breech, she undergoes a primitive (and very bloody) C-section that ultimately takes her life. And in some sort of cosmic punishment, her infant son ends up dying, too. So much for a male heir.

We also meet the other main character in the saga — Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), Viserys’ brother-cum-city watch commander who seems to enjoy watching his soldiers castrate and behead criminals on the streets of King’s Landing. He’s also a helluva jouster, and participates in one of the more breathtaking moments from the premiere. It’s also the goriest; the sight of a kid vomiting after watching a jouster’s face get crushed is probably the most relatable moment of the episode.

Daemon is the obvious choice to succeed his brother on the throne, but he has his detractors, namely Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the King’s hand who has zero tolerance for Daemon’s reckless behavior. He manufactures a scandal by alleging how Daemon referred to the king’s son as “heir for a day” in a so-called celebration at a local pleasure house. No such words were spoken — at least, we don’t hear them — but it’s enough to convince Viserys to give up any hope of his brother taking over the realm. He finally anoints his worthy daughter, Rhaenyra, who accepts her fate at the end of the episode.

Lots more palace intrigue is introduced in the premiere, including how Princess Rhaenys Velaryon (Eve Best) should have been considered for the throne over her cousin Viserys, and how Hightower sends his daughter Alicent — Rhaenyra’s pal — to comfort the grieving king while wearing one of her mom’s sexy dresses. Oh dear, we’re not sure we like where this is going.

There is also lots to get sentimental over if you were a fan of GOT, including the return of the Iron Throne (but with many more swords melting down the steps), along with the courtyard of the Red Keep (kind of makes you miss Cersei, doesn’t it?) and those magnificent dragons.

What did you think? Was House of the Dragon worth the wait? Did it make you miss Game of Thrones even more?