House of the dragon is quite interesting, and watch worthy. The performance of Matt Smith as the newly popular fan favourite Daemon Targaryen has been one of the show’s highlights. The actor recently discussed the parallels and discrepancies between the two shows.
The Game of Thrones prequel’s fourth episode, which debuted on Monday (IST), focused on the sexy chemistry between Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock). Even though there was energy between them from episode 1, the relationship wasn’t addressed until the Iron Throne game entered the scene. As if that weren’t scandalous enough, House of the Dragon also included a plot surprise we were eager to see: what would become of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King (Rhys Ifans).
The latest House of the Dragon episode begins with Rhaenyra addressing multiple wedding proposals. She is on the road looking for the ideal partner that her father, King Viserys I Targaryen, has set up for her (Paddy Considine). She decides against continuing since she doesn’t believe she will meet a compatible partner outside of King’s Landing. She finds out on the way home that her adored uncle Daemon has returned after taking down the Crabfeeder. He declines the title of King of the Narrow Sea despite being crowned as such. Later, we will return to that.
Daemon seemed to have changed after giving in to Viserys. Rhaenyra observes that he bows to the King and that he lives with more maturity. When Daemon tries to persuade the Princess that marriage is about more than just political ties after a celebration in the Prince’s honour concludes, Rhaenyra and he catch up on the four years they had missed. Her former best friend and stepmother Alicent is one illustration (Emily Carey).
The discussion doesn’t change Rheanyra’s mind. So, Daemon decides to give her a taste of the real world. Transforming her into a bell boy that would go unnoticed in the crowd, Daemon shows Rheanyra all that happens in the hour of the owl and beyond the great walls of the castle. Under the garb, Rheanyra learns that the world craves food and sex. She also finds out that the people in the kingdom disapprove of her as the Iron Throne’s heir. Brushing off their opinions, Rheanyra takes off in the dark alleys only to be found by Daemon again.
House of the Dragon has been able to undo a lot of the “damage” that the last season of Game of Thrones inflicted in just a few episodes. The fantasy spin-off series, which is popular, is set two centuries before the original.
Matt reveales, “I watched all eight seasons of Thrones. I had a lot of friends in it, and I’d been a fan along with everyone else who watched it, so I felt I had a sense and an idea of the world that we would see in House of the Dragon. But I think it’s important to state that we are not making that show. We are trying to make something that whilst it is based in the same world and invariably has the same tone; it is something original with a new set of actors and a new feeling and a new direction.”
Matt Smith added the show has elements of a family drama as it involves the power struggles between the powerful members of House Targaryen. “Targaryens are a family at war. And that’s a story that happens again and again throughout history. In some ways, they are a normal family, but in others, they are a very strange family – with dragons,” he adds.
House of the Dragon is based on Martin’s Fire & Blood. It was a spin-off companion book to his series A Song of Ice and Fire, which had inspired Game of Thrones. Directed by Miguel Sapochnik, Clare Kilner, Geeta Vasant Patel and Greg Yaitanes, the series has been executive produced by George R. R. Martin, Ryan Condal, and Miguel Sapochnik, along with Sara Hess, Jocelyn Diaz, Vince Gerardis and Ron Schmidt.
House of the Dragon, which also stars Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, and Rhys Ifans, streams Disney+ Hotstar in India, with a new episode releasing every Monday at 6.30 am.