House Of The Dragon
released 2022
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“The House Of The Dragon” is an American, Scifi, fantasy TV/streaming series which is the prequel series to the incredibly popular and so well done “Game Of Thrones” series based on “The Song Of Ice And Fire” novel series written by George R. R. Martin. The series is based on the novel called “Fire And Blood” written by George R. R. Martin who also produced the series along with Ryan J. Condal, Jocelyn Diaz, Miguel Sapochnik, Ron Schmidt, Vince Gerardis, Sara Hess, Charmaine De Grate and many others. It was written by George R. R. Martin, Ryan J. Condal, Sara Hess, Gabe Fonseca, Ira Parker, Charmaine De Grate, Kevin Lau and Eileen Shim. It stars Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussiant, Fabien Frankel, Graham McTavish, David Horovitch, Gavin Spokes, Bill Paterson, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Matthew Needham, Jefferson Hall, Ryan Corr, Emma D”Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Alexis Raben, Anthony Flanagan, Katheryn Delaney, Steffan Rhodri, Daniel Scott-Smith, Andrew Bicknell, Nova Foueillis-Mose, Theo Nate, Julian Lewis Jones, Nina Barker-Francis, Haqi Ali and many others. The cast of talented actors is ginormous.

House Of The Dragon IMDb webpage

“House Of The Dragon” is the prequel story to the “Game Of Thrones” universe. The story takes place 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen, a.k.a ‘The Mother of Dragons’. This is a time when the Targaryens and their dragons ruled the seven kindgoms with nobody powerful enough to oppose them. They were immensely wealthy, influential and militarily powerful. So powerful in fact that various of the most powerful families coveted the Iron Throne and schemed to rule upon King Viserys’ passing. This is the classic case of a King and his group of nobles having it too good. In such cases the spoiled and corrupted group fight among each other and tear things down. In this case it’s the most famous and successful ruling family recorded. What a fall it is.

Serious problems come to light when King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, names his daughter the Princess Rhaenyra, played by Milly Alcock, as his successor. Now this society is a very patriarchal one that only acknowledges the succession of power to male heirs only. So when Rhaenyra is named successor to the King many of the nobles are outraged and a few feel passed over like the King’s brother Daemon, played by Matt Smith. There also is a precedent of a woman being passed over from the seat of power in the character of Rhaenys Targaryen or ‘The Queen That Never Was’ played by Eve Best. Rhaenys also feels passed over but the things she does to get as close as possible to the Iron Throne are just sad. And so with Rhaenyra’s unstable political position as successor to her father when he passes a civil war begins that will bring down arguably the greatest ruling dynasty in this world’s history.

The story precedes the events of Game Of Thrones with a family that is far more dysfunctional than the Lannisters, Boltons, Starks, Tarleys, Greyjoys, Baratheons or even the Tullys ever were. The Targaryans power rest solely on the fact that they have dragons which are the eqivalent to having airplane and explosive technology in the modern age when everyone else has swords and spears. This gives them victory in battle, respect on the battlefield and puts fear in the hearts of their enemies. It also provides a convenient way to slide into the vices of unearned and wealth and power without much of a real purpose. They don’t seem to worry about the wellbeing of their people or their environment. How polluted or clean their water is or how much food their people need for the long winters do not seem to be topics of much discussion or concern. The King only worries about accumulating more wealth through marriages and dealing with any claimants that might think about taking their place. He basically worries about himself like everybody around him and that makes for a very difficult place to live for the common folk.

So, the story takes place in the area around the King among those that see themselves as legitimate heirs to the Throne once the King sheds his mortal coil. You have Rhaenyras, Daemon, Rhaenys and her children and Alicent HIghtower, played by Olivia Cooke, who are at the top of that list of people pushing themselves toward the Iron Throne. According to the law of the land, no women can sit on the Iron Throne but since the King’s wishes supersedes all others it seems, from a legal point of view, that Princess Rhaenyra is the rightful heir. There are however many people who would not accept that a woman rule and that is why Daemon believes that he has a chance to be King. Add the complication the King adds to the mix with the marriage of Alicent who gives him a male heir and the situation explodes into a civil war that renders the House Targaryan asunder. You can almost call it the story of someone who has it good and ruin it through their own greed and nasty beliefs.

Another very powerful theme is that of the second son, the unwanted claimants or offspring and how they are treated. We see this over and over again and there is strong precedent for it in history. It’s a little mentioned issue that nearly all monarchies in history have had, even those today, say, for example in Europe. Many might not agree with me but I see something tragic in the characters of Daemon and Rhaenyra. The slights they had to suffer on a daily basis form the time they are born. These are characters that are stuck in ranks imposed on them by society and that is a tragedy. If only their King had been less aloof and more engaged things would have gone so much better for everyone. Narcissism is a huge problem for all these characters who seem to lack the ability to take an honest look at themselves.

This is looking like another hit show. So, enjoy it because it is worth the watch.

John Ink2Quill

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