"House of the Dragon" - The new god of carnage

No matter how you do it, you do it wrong. King Viserys I decides – after all sorts of strokes of fate – to regulate the successor to the Iron Throne while he is still alive in order to prevent as much dispute as possible after his death. Unleashing a dynastic slaughter that even in the bloody world of wacky writer George R.R. Martin has no equal: the "Dance of the Dragons".

Which strokes of fate, which carnage, which king - one may ask. And rightly so. But it's 2022 and anyone who writes about a series that is about to start (next Monday) is not allowed to reveal details about the content. That is the end of the criticism that has been practiced for centuries. But you can't imagine how aggressively fans (funnily enough, those who already know what's happening) react to so-called spoilers. How you do it, you do it wrong.

House of the Dragon is the show HBO (and German broadcaster Sky) are pinning their hopes on this year. It should build on the gigantic global success of "Game of Thrones" ("GoT"). For nearly a decade, millions watched the ruthless Deanerys Targaryen attempt to reclaim the Iron Throne, triumphing militarily but failing morally. It ends in a world conflagration.

But it will not be continued (for the time being). The series does not follow "GoT", but tells the history of the house Targaryen. No, one prequel of many, precisely that of the “Dance of the Dragons”, which – of course – is also about the right to the throne and power. A prequel. Can this work?

Most of the time, when Hollywood or its TV offshoots tried to look backwards, the audience (at first) didn't go along with it. It was like that in Ridley Scott's Alien saga, it was like that in George Lucas' Star Wars, but also in Ratched, which tells the story of the sadistic nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. And wrongly so in all cases. At least the first three Star Wars episodes received a belated appreciation.

You are obviously too close to the well-known characters, you have thought too much about your own vision of the past, you seem to expect too little excitement when you know what everything will lead to in the end. Incidentally, a counter-example is “Rogue One” (2016), which, as a grandiose epilogue, seamlessly ties in with the story of the first Star Wars film “Star Wars” (1977). Meticulous attention was paid to flair and equipment, quotes and hints were used - the actors were asked to leave behind "70s hairstyles and beards" for the shooting.

In the house of the dragon you also feel immediately at home after eight seasons of "Game of Thrones". The tracking shots through King's Landing (which is still under construction), the play of light around the gloomy iron throne, the medieval brutalism of the buildings and of course the slender, snake-like dragons, that's all as it was later. There are forward-looking leitmotifs in the soundtrack, which makes for a nice goose bumps moment in the finale. The violent moments that recur in every episode of the original series (once sex, once splatter, once shock) are also processed stringently. Same knitting pattern? Same result?

Not quite. The first episode that was approved for reporting (more should be sent, but Sky couldn't get that right) is primarily an intimate play. There is a lot of talking, a lot of negotiation, a lot of discussion. The dragons are more like sports equipment, the only longer action scene is a classically staged knight's tournament with lances. In general: The House of Dragons stands on clearly medieval grounds, somewhere between "Ivanhoe" and "Excalibur".

Compared to the cluttered finale of Game of Thrones, it's all slow, almost sluggish. And it still works really well if you get involved. It's a pity that the episodes are published on a weekly basis, as more and more streamers are doing.

Especially here you would like to get through four or five hours like in the old seasons. But HBO also has to be economical with its jewels. With “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” (Amazon) and “Andor” (Disney) strong competitors are moving into the arena in the coming weeks. Bringing all episodes together is the ultimate in fan service and keeps things moving. Pulling them for months keeps subscribers engaged. How you do it, you do it wrong.