“House of the Dragon” gathers positive reviews

• “House of the Dragon” premiered on HBO Max on Sunday.
• It focuses on a civil war inside House Targaryen and transports viewers back to George R. R. Martin’s fantasy universe.
• Critic: The series’ opening sequence is “the blandest possible orientation, Epic Fantasy for Dummies”.

Many television critics praised the highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” on Friday, but it still has plenty to prove to others.

Three years ago, the acclaimed HBO series “Game of Thrones” concluded in a contentious manner that left some fans unsatisfied. The new franchise spin-off focuses on the horrific civil war inside House Targaryen and transports viewers back to George R. R. Martin’s fantasy universe.

Sunday’s premiere of “House of the Dragon” on HBO Max earned a 76% good rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 124 of 164 reviews praising the new series.

In the show, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and her brother Aegon II Targaryen engage in a civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons over who would succeed their late father, Viserys l.

The Los Angeles Times’ Lorraine Ali stated that the sequel “recaptures the intensity and majesty of the original.”

“This fresh chapter in the saga of the Seven Kingdoms is reverse-engineered to feed into narratives and family trees that are familiar to ‘GoT’ devotees,” Ali said.

“It’s best to brace now for the genealogy chatter around Houses Targaryen, Lannister, Velaryon and Hightower, for theories connecting the future with the past and for ghoulish discussions of which series featured more graphic displays of blood, gore and guts.”

In contrast, Entertainment Weekly’s Darren Franich referred to the opening sequence as “the blandest possible orientation, Epic Fantasy for Dummies” and said the good news is that “the beginning is the worst part.”

Similar concerns were expressed by other reviews regarding the series’ inability to match the original “Game of Thrones” in terms of characters, plot, and general quality.

CNN’s Brian Lowry described the prequel as a “less-addictive game for an earlier throne” that was “not terrible.”

“There are dragons aplenty, but it doesn’t produce the sort of character that defined and elevated its predecessor to prestige-TV royalty,” Lowry wrote.

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