House of the Dragon's first season is coming to an end, and most agreed that it is an excellent piece of television. The show has taken what people love about the original Game of Thrones and refined it to the next level.
In this article, Gurugamer is going to list the 5 biggest improvements that House of the Dragon made to the Game of Thrones formula.
1. Centering on one main family keeps the story more focused
The first season of Game of Thrones, while one of the best, is pretty hard to follow. It went all over the place, from Winterfell to Kings' Landing and even Essos. Characters from a single place only get limited screen time until the next one is swapped in. This makes it rather hard to follow the story of the show if you don't pay enough attention.
House of the Dragon, on the other hand, focuses on the House Targaryen family tree, primarily the succession of King Viserys Targaryen. This makes every episode more condensed, enabling extra screen time for character development.
2. More Dragons
In the original Game of Thrones, the Dragons were some of the best parts of the show, the sole "mystical" element amongst the gritty political intrigue. Only one side has Dragons (until the last season), and they seem to be nearly unbeatable.
House of the Dragon, on the other hand, is set in the golden age of the Targaryen, where everybody has dragons. From Caraxes' creepy long neck and devilish visage to the gigantic Black Dread Balerion, the show is definitely a spectacle for all fantasy fans.
3. It is a fresh reboot of Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is a monstrously long show, and the last two seasons are definitely not as good as the first 4. This is where the show's writers start running out of source material and have to wing it based on Martin's outline for Book 6 and Book 7. There also didn't seem to be an ending, forcing the show writers to make things up.
House of the Dragons, on the other hand, gives screenwriters much more freedom. The outline of events is already completed, from beginning to end.
4. Homages to the original show
Set almost 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon delves into the history of the various houses, locations, and conflicts. It has done a great job of reminding fans how Game of Thrones used to be like. Viewers enjoy the chance to see the past of houses, like the Lannisters and Targaryens.
The writers also come back to the iconic political intrigue and suspense of the first 3 GoT seasons instead of following the action-packed style of the last 2 seasons.
5. Great character development for the whole cast
Game of Thrones had quite a few thrilling character arcs back in the day, but due to the sheer size of its cast, some characters get less development than others. House of the Dragon is the opposite - by focusing on a smaller cast, it has the characters transform throughout the episodes in the most organic ways.
From a rebellious princess, Rhaenyra has become a capable queen-in-waiting. Alicent has gone from being Rhaenyra's trusted confidant to a scheming arch-enemy. King Viserys turns into a man of action after ditching his passive roots. Every main character in House of the Dragon is getting the sort of development reserved for only Daenerys or Jon Snow in the original show.
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