REVIEW: ‘House of the Dragon’ Episode 1 — “The Heirs of the Dragon”

House of the Dragon Episode 1, “The Heirs of the Dragon,” is the start of something familiar. I am probably one of the few people who didn’t let one bad season ruin my love of Game of Thrones—mind you, it is still one of the worst endings in television history. That said, I was excited to be pulled into the world of George R.R. Martin again, one where a new ending can be formed, and hopefully right the ship.

House of the Dragon is the prequel to Game of Thrones, based on Martin’s Fire & Blood. The series, set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen and is created by showrunners Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik.

In House of the Dragon Episode 1, Viserys hosts a tournament to celebrate the birth of his second child. Rhaenyra welcomes her uncle Daemon back to the Red Keep, only to be thrust into the center of power, poised with the world against her. While I could talk about the dragons (which are gorgeous), the knights’ tournament with jousting and armor that showcases the series costuming budget, or even all of the threads that immediately connect to Game of Thrones, I don’t want to. I want to talk about birth.

To patriarchal systems, women are only as good as their ability to bear children. While I’m not unwaveringly sure that Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik are the people to tell the very clear story of women toppling a system meant to break them, the way birthing is shown in House of the Dragon Episode 1 hit me to my core. You see, birthing is a reality that I see as the scariest thing I could put my body through.

Birth and the toll it takes on women in this world take center stage in House of the Dragon Episode 1.

Because of my own health problems, my family history, and the maternal mortality rates of brown women in my state, I am terrified of my body changing to create a child and then being ripped open to deliver it, either naturally or through a cesarean section. And this fear comes from me in 2022, let alone the even higher chance of mortality for women before modern medicine.

The brutal and traumatic C-section is meant to alarm and to also show how women, even the most powerful, are reduced to what they can produce for the men around them. Taken a step further when the male child in her womb is valued more than her life. Queen Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke) tells Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) the “birthing bed is our battlefield,” and as someone who has lived with the looming fear of giving birth over her head, it hit me in my chest in a way that I didn’t expect it to, which the showrunners talk about at length in the featurette following House of the Dragon Episode 1.

While the stage is set for the obstacles that Rhaenyra will have to overcome as the only female heir, I’m hoping that the series manages to get out from the specter that the series it is based on casts. Game of Thrones has some of the strongest women, but often loses them in the storytelling. That said, this is a trepidation I hold that didn’t materialize in this House of the Dragon Episode 1, which has me excited for Episode 2.

The exposition is a little heavy-handed, but the series offers promise to start.

What gives me hope? No matter what storyline is being shown, no matter who is on screen, Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) or Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), all roads lead back to Rhaenyra Targaryen. The “birthing bed is our battlefield” line sets up the series, and in one line, the subsequent trauma shows how attentive the showrunners are to the world Rhaenyra Targaryen is in and how it sees her.

But the one thing that House of the Dragon Episode 1 does hold over from Game of Thrones, is too much exposition. In fact, it’s so heavy-handed that you would assume that viewers had never heard of this world before. And while this may be some viewers’ entry point to the franchise, the heavy-handedness still makes the series intro extremely dull. Thankfully, the episode finds its footing.

For better or worse, House of the Dragon Episode 1 is more Game of Thrones. But for me, I can see a glimpse of what gripped me with the first series and that comes in the episode’s final moment. This is Rhaenyra Targaryen‘s story, and the power the girl shows in one sequence has pulled me in. The stage is set, and now Condal and Sapochnik have to keep their focus.

House of the Dragon Episode 1 is streaming now on HBO Max.

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