We Rewatched House Of The Dragon Season 1 And Here's What We Noticed
Despite the fact that the final season of "Game of Thrones" left many fans disappointed, the first season of HBO's "House of the Dragon" still proved to be a huge success. The "Thrones" prequel series, which is based on George R. R. Martin's historical novel "Fire and Blood," is set some 170 years before the events of the original television show and follows the Targaryens as they descend into civil war following the death of King Viserys I.
Since the first season premiered on August 21, 2022, a lot of information and behind-the-scenes secrets have been released to the public. Many of these details add a new perspective to the series. Some provide an extra layer of depth to the performances of the actors, while others help viewers understand what the creators intended to achieve with a particular scene.
Whatever the case, rewatching Season 1 of "House of the Dragon" now leads to a lot of new things that you definitely wouldn't have been able to catch the first time around. Here's everything we noticed after watching the show again.
The show really is too dark
It perhaps shouldn't be all that surprising that "House of the Dragon" got some criticism about scenes being too dark. After all, "Game of Thrones" faced the same complaints from viewers, with "The Long Night" — the Battle of Winterfell episode from Season 8 — angering viewers who often couldn't see what was happening. During the first season of "House of the Dragon," many fans took to social media to complain that the show's nighttime scenes in particular looked terrible, with claims that scenes were murky and hard to make out.
Following the release of the first season of the HBO show, showrunner Ryan Condal explained to Deadline that the team was expecting some complaints. "So yes, I heard the note and we're aware," said Condal. "But I will tell you that it looked phenomenal when we posted it and released it."
However, he confirmed that this was not an intentional decision — as it was for "The Long Night" — but rather a result of the sheer number of variables that come into play with television. Every manufacturer sets default options for television screens, and users can also customize their settings, making it impossible to get a consistent viewing experience. Looking back at Season 1 of "House" now, it's clear that they didn't quite strike the balance right and this is something that will hopefully be addressed in Season 2.
Matt Smith really puts everything into his performance
One of the standout performers from "House of the Dragon" who impressed audiences the most was undoubtedly Matt Smith. Portraying the violent and cynical Daemon Targaryen, Smith stole the show and stood out even among other highly talented actors like Paddy Considine, Milly Alcock, Steve Toussaint, and Emma D'Arcy. The character had a bit of everything, demonstrating expert combat skills, sly cunning, and a ruthless streak where he showed little mercy.
No stranger to playing big parts, Matt Smith has done some pretty awful things for his roles during his career, and it has emerged over the last two years just what kind of toll "House of the Dragon" had on him. During the process of filming the show, Smith suffered a series of injuries. This included him being hit in the face with a sword during rehearsals and slipping a disc in his neck. The second injury was more severe, forcing the actor to take a two-week break from filming while continuing to suffer pain throughout the rest of the shoot.
Smith's father also died while he was filming "House of the Dragon," adding a different element of pain to his performance. Watching the show now, you can see how these events affected the actor. He can be both charismatic and stoic at the same time, with an occasional quiet dignity that none of the other characters on the show possess.
The show rightly focuses on the main characters
The book "Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon: Inside the Creation of a Targaryen Dynasty" has shed some light on the making of "House of the Dragon." Published in 2023, shortly after the first season finale, Gina McIntyre's tome includes plenty of behind-the-scenes stories that had not previously been public knowledge. This includes the fact that author George R.R. Martin originally wanted the show to start a lot earlier in history than it does. Given that "Fire and Blood," the novel the show is based on, charts the entire history of the Targaryens from their arrival in Westeros, there is plenty of prior source material that could have made it into the show.
Ultimately, showrunner and co-create Ryan Condal was able to convince Martin that the show should focus on Rhaenyra and Alicent — along with the rest of the main characters we see in the series — rather than chronicle a complete history. "House of the Dragon" instead opens with a brief scene depicting the Great Council at which Viserys is chosen to be king. Rewatching the show with this knowledge solidifies that this was the right decision. It allows the audience to get invested in the individuals who will be a constant presence in the series, and who the action is ultimately focused on, rather than having to shift between entirely different groups.
Daemon's character could have seen more development
Most of the characters in "House of the Dragon" experience significant development as the first season progresses. Considering the vast amount of time that passes and the important events that take place, this isn't hugely surprising. These developments shape the characters, subtly altering their personalities and changing their worldviews.
That's especially true of Daemon Targaryen, who first appears like a spoiled brat unwilling to live in the shadow of his brother. Over the course of Season 1, we see him kill his wife, seduce his niece, and fight a bloody war far away from home. By the end, Daemon is not quite as rash and more capable of playing the long game. However, after the show had premiered, HBO unveiled a selection of deleted scenes illustrating events that were originally intended to appear.
Many of them feature Daemon and give an indication of just how much he develops. These include a scene where he flirts with and even kisses a male servant, a shot that demonstrates that he has a caring side and can be an attentive father, and a deleted sequence showing a moment of peace and understanding between King Viserys and his brother. Returning to "House of the Dragon" now, it's disappointing to see that these small moments could have provided a better sense of how complex Daemon really is, rather than simply being a villain who wants to break out from being the younger brother.
The absence of House Stark is even more keenly felt
Anyone who has seen "Game of Thrones" knows that the land of Westeros is filled with a diverse array of Houses. These families range from the important and influential to those that play almost no role in the action. However, Season 1 of "House of the Dragon" doesn't really explore the entire continent of Westeros. In fact, much of the action is focused on just a few locations, such as King's Landing, Dragonstone, and the Stepstones. This means that viewers only get a chance to see a few of the Houses, such as the Targaryens, Hightowers, Lannisters, and Velaryons.
Arguably the biggest absence from Season 1 is House Stark, the Wardens of the North and leaders of a vast army. The fact that they don't show up at all during the first season was disappointing to many viewers, but even more so now that we have been able to get a glimpse of them in trailers for Season 2. Judging by these teasers and casting information, the Starks are going to play a big part in the story going forward — especially the young leader Cregan Stark.
With the family having such a pivotal role in "Game of Thrones" and also knowing they will be influential going forward, it seems like a missed opportunity not to include them in the first season at all, and their absence is all the more keenly felt during a second watch.
The mid-season time jump was necessary
A notable difference between "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon" is that the prequel contains a significant time jump midway through its first season. During the earlier episodes, the plot deals with the young lives of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, as well as key figures such as King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine), Prince Daemon Targaryen, Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), and Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). However, inspired by the Netflix series "The Crown," the show suddenly jumps forward a decade.
This sees a change in actors for the two young women, with Emma D'Arcy replacing Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra and Olivia Cooke taking over the role of Alicent from Emily Carey. When it happened, many people felt that this time jump was jarring; it reduced the time spent with the younger versions of these important characters and didn't allow the world to be fleshed out.
Ryan Condal has since spoken about how this time jump was needed, as Viserys' reign was largely a peaceful one without incident. Paddy Considine also felt that this was a good decision, as it didn't drag out the King's story and made it a more effective narrative. Now that we know "House of the Dragon" is done with time jumps, it is clear just how necessary that one was, allowing the series to progress to some major events and not get bogged down.
The Dragonpit coronation scene is so impressive to watch
The Dragonpit is a location that doesn't play a huge role in "Game of Thrones." Destroyed and no longer necessary following the seeming extinction of dragons in the world, it is a shadow of its former self and lies in ruins. That isn't the case in "House of the Dragon," though, with the Dragonpit an integral part of King's Landing that houses the Targaryen dragons. Viewers finally got to see this arena in all its splendor during the series, particularly during a dramatic scene when Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best) bursts through the Dragonpit and ruins the coronation.
The complexity of shooting this scene meant that it was almost impossible to use practical effects. The size of the building and the dragon, as well as the large number of people involved in the scene, meant that almost all of it had to be shot using CGI. Director Clare Kilner told Collider how the scene was achieved, saying, "For starters, everything we had to shoot, we had to do a lot of CGI ... the dragon being CGI and people falling into pits that didn't exist and all of that."
Understanding that this scene was almost all computer imagery and special effects, with very little in the way of practical effects, makes it even more impressive how it turned out. This was one of the most dramatic scenes in the first season and rewatching it knowing how little of it was "real" only enhances one's opinion of it.
There is a lot of story yet to tell
In many ways, there isn't a whole lot of action in the first season of "House of the Dragon." The bloody civil war only just begins as the season comes to a close, without any actual warfare. Most of the time is spent dealing with the major players having differing opinions and confronting each other during a time of relative peace and prosperity.
Before the first season aired, viewers didn't have any idea of the kind of pace the series would have and how many episodes we were likely to see over the course of the entire show. Showrunner Ryan Condal has since explained to IndieWire that "House of the Dragon" has "more than two seasons" to go. Author George R. R. Martin has also discussed how he has worked with the show's writers on story details for a third and fourth season.
This suggests that we have a lot of "House of the Dragon" still to come and that the story is really only just getting started. With that in mind, going back to the show's first season really does give the sense that it's simply setting the stage for what's to come. It acts as a sort of prologue to the war, so that the audience can understand the motivations behind the characters and get a sense of why everyone is fighting.
Some visual effects errors and mistakes have been fixed
Visual effects play a huge part in fantasy shows such as "House of the Dragon," which are filled with vast battles and massive creatures like dragons. But occasionally errors can slip through the cracks. That's something HBO has had to deal with before: the infamous coffee cup blunder in "Game of Thrones" had viewers poking fun at the series for having a modern-day coffee container on display during a scene.
Something very similar occurred in the "Second of His Name" episode of "House of the Dragon." During the episode, King Viserys hands a guard a scroll and two of his fingers can clearly be seen wrapped in green material. This was clearly done so that the digits, which King Viserys is missing, could be digitally removed later. However, the gaffe meant that the CGI effects had not been applied when the episode aired.
When the error was pointed out by fans, HBO promised to fix the problem and ensure that the mistake didn't appear in the series when it hit streaming platforms and arrived on home media. So anyone returning to the show now will not be able to see this particular flub, as it no longer exists in current versions of the series.
The dragons look realistic and have their own personalities
As the name suggests, "House of the Dragon" features many of the title creatures. Unlike its predecessor, "Game of Thrones," dragons were commonplace during this period of Targaryen's reign, with most of the major family members having their own personal winged monsters. With a bigger emphasis on these creatures than ever before, it was important that they felt individual and like proper characters themselves.
The book "Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon: Inside the Creation of a Targaryen Dynasty" reveals that the dragons were each given their own unique personalities and inspired by different real-world objects. Some, like Vhagar, were based on real-life reptiles that have an aged appearance. At the same time, the design of Rhaenyra's speedy dragon Syrax was influenced by the supersonic passenger jet the Concorde. Rewatching the show with this knowledge helps you notice just how unique each dragon is and how they all differ from each other — something that wasn't always obvious with the three dragons in "Game of Thrones."
Meanwhile, video footage showing how dragon riding scenes were shot gives a sense of the amount of effort needed to make these scenes appear so realistic. Combined with the expert use of CGI, actors sat on sophisticated mounts that could pivot and swing in position, while wind machines were used to create a sensation of flying through the air. It provides insight into how physical the process was and why these scenes look so good when watching Season 1 again.
The brothel scene was shot in a surprising way
Among the many memorable scenes from the first season of "House of the Dragon" is a shocking moment when Daemon Targaryen takes his niece Rhaenyra Targaryen to a brothel and the two become intimate. What viewers got to see on screen wasn't necessarily what was originally planned, though, with showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik giving director Clare Kilner the opportunity to depart from the script so she could inject her own personal experiences.
Taking inspiration from a time when she visited a sex club in Berlin, the director wanted the moment to be filled with sexual energy along with an intense feeling of abandon and mystery. Kilner also revealed that Matt Smith and Milly Alcock were purposely left unaware of what was happening during the setup, so they would be shocked by what they saw as they entered the set.
This certainly comes through in their performances when rewatching the episode, with Rhaenyra sharing a sense of wonderment and confusion that the actor was also experiencing at the same time. Knowing that Alcock was surprised by what she was seeing adds an extra layer of honesty to the performance that wasn't obvious the first time around.