The show that keeps dragon-on and on

*spoilers ahead!

After eight successful seasons of “Game of Thrones” (GOT), HBO released the long awaited “House of Dragons” (HOD). This prequel takes place almost 200 years back when King Viserys I ruled and his Targaryen children fought for the next seat at the Iron Throne.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of this show, but I knew that George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal wouldn’t disappoint. One thing GOT is known for was its gore and violence and let me tell you, HOD helped me remember very quickly how to cover up my eyes when someone is being brutally mutilated. Another aspect they couldn’t help but include was the incest, I mean sweet home Alabama, it's intense. After all, Princess Rhaenyra marries her Uncle, Daemon Targaryen. I was even more disturbed to see all the TikToks shipping their relationship.

The plot was pretty slow at points, but there was a lot of background information that needed to be laid out to create a show that could have multiple seasons. I loved seeing young Rhaenyra Targaryen, Milly Alcock and young Alicent Hightower. I was disappointed to see their characters be replaced so quickly, but I was pleased with the new cast.

Olivia Cooke does an excellent job of making you question whether you love or hate Alicent. I have to say Emma Alcock was my favorite Rhaenyra, but D’Arcy plays her well after quite the childhood she had. My favorite character this season had to be Princess Rhaenys played by Eve Best. She never failed to put anyone in their place and be a complete badass, especially after Aegon Targaryen’s public crowning. She came storming out of the ground with her dragon, clearly making a statement that she will not be supporting Alicent’s decision to break King Visery’s promise to crown Princess Rhaenyras's first born king.

The other character who brought excitement to this show was Prince Aemond, played by Ewan Mitchell. His best scene was at the end when his dragon, Vhagar, the largest dragon in Westeros, tears apart Lucerys and his dragon. Not only was there going to be a war, but now there is going to be endless bloodshed over this.

There are many HOD predictions up in the air, some that make total sense and are backed up by GOT and others that are too bizarre to be true. Daemon is said to become the Night King, which I would love to see play out after watching him put Rhaenyra in a chokehold. I also think that Ser Strong could still be alive and will come back to Rhaenyra. There is also even talk that Helaena has been predicting the future and I hope to see more of her in season two which has been confirmed to air either in 2023, or at the latest 2024.

The show was a hit even if it was slow at times and I hope I can count on later seasons to make up for the last season of GOT. I’m excited to see what season two will bring to the table because as we’ve seen in GOT, the director will literally kill and remove anyone from the show, even the character with the most screen time.