The Bad: The Crabfeeder Fight
This is more of a nitpick than an actual criticism. The Crabfeeder Fight is an incredibly polarizing conversational topic amongst House of the Dragon fans. Some find it okay; not as great as some of the previous Game of Thrones fights but maybe mediocre at best. Others aggressively dislike it as it was a letdown. The action wasn’t how they expected it to be despite all the build-up to it, and in my opinion, I fall into the former. It was just okay. It showed all the possible downfalls this new show can have but immediately carried through.
The Good: It Respects the Source Material
After the horrendous finale of Game of Thrones, everyone’s first thoughts surrounding the House of the Dragon was whether or not it would stick to George R. R. Martin’s vision. Martin’s vision has been a constant fascination amongst Game of Thrones fans as he has an excellent in-depth knowledge of human history which adds to his immaculate world-building. Martin’s world building and characters are brimmed with complexities and nuance, which are large shoes for House of the Dragons writers to fill, but they do it wonderfully.
The Bad: The Time Jumps
When I spoke to my friends who watch House of the Dragon, their first complaint was the excessive time jumps. It takes people out of the experience and oftentimes sticks out like a sore thumb; they provide great exposition but almost an overwhelming amount. George R. R. Martin himself did mention these time jumps—he explains that these short 10 episode seasons can only cover so much story and character arcs. Fortunately, the head writer of the show did state that after season 1, the time jumps are done. Thank God!
The Good: The Morally Grey Characters
If it’s one thing George R. R. Martin and the head writers do flawlessly, it is to write a great morally grey character. Many of this show’s characters are so flawed, traumatized, and corrupt that you have no choice but to root for them. Whether it’s Daemon Targaryen or Queen Alicent, anyone can find a character they empathize with in some way, shape, or form. Rooting for these characters to do morally questionable things is all a part of the fun in this universe. Like clockwork, these characters will always spark online debates after each episode release that pull you into its fandom.
The Bad: The Night Scenes
This is more of a technical gripe everyone has on the show. It’s become a trend in many modern movies and television shows to have atrocious lighting during night scenes. Unfortunately, House of the Dragon is a victim of this. Whenever I watch a night scene with lights on or the daylight seeping through my window, I lose the ability to see anything happening on-screen. The only thing that stands out is the bright white subtitles. Movies like the Lord of the Rings figured this out years ago. Anyone who watches media equates darkness and the night with blue lights. Bring blue lights onto the scenes! No one should have the squint for several minutes at a time to see what is happening; it makes it a bad experience for the audience and ruins the actors’ performance.
The Good: The Cast
The cast of the House of the Dragon is so. damn. good. Matt Smith takes back the Internet’s hearts after his monumental run as the eleventh doctor with his performance as Daemon. He settles right in and has a fantastic performance. The undeniable chemistry between Emma D’arcy and Olivia Cooke shines on and off the screen. Who can forget Emma’s iconic “a negroni sbagliato with prosecco in it” line in that interview with Olivia Cooke? No one feels like a miscast. Even all the younger cast members carry their weight with the show’s veterans, and whoever is the casting director of the show deserves the world.