House of the Dragon - Season 1

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House of the Dragon
Season 1
No. of episodes 10
Country of origin United States
Network HBO
Release
Original run August 21 – October 23, 2022
DVD release December 20, 2022
Season chronology
Next →
Season 2
List of episodes

Season 1 of House of the Dragon is the first season of the series.

Plot

House of the Dragon takes place two centuries before the War of the Five Kings, focusing on the Dance of the Dragons. The show is based on George R. R. Martin's Fire & Blood, along with the novella The Princess and the Queen and the novelette The Rogue Prince.[1]

Crew

Showrunners

Writers

  • Charmaine De Grate
  • Eileen Shim
  • Gabe Fonseca
  • Ira Parker
  • Kevin Lau
  • Ryan Condal
  • Sara Hess

Directors

Executive producers

  • Charmaine De Grate
  • David Hancock
  • George R. R. Martin
  • Greg Yaitanes
  • Ira Parker
  • Miguel Sapochnik
  • Ron Schmidt
  • Ryan Condal
  • Sara Hess
  • Vince Gerardis

Producers

  • Alexis Raben
  • Angus More Gordon
  • Benjamin Stower (post producer)
  • Dan Storey (creative field producer)
  • Eileen Shim
  • Gabe Fonseca (supervising producer)
  • Hannah Godwin
  • Íde O'Rourke (associate producer)
  • Karen Wacker
  • Kevin Lau
  • Louise Stewart (post producer)
  • Megan Ott (associate producer)
  • Pam Fitzgerald
  • Peter Welter Soler (line producer)
  • Rebatikant Chand
  • Richard Sharkey (consulting producer)
  • Sean Hill
  • Shiba Akhtar
  • Sofia Noronha (line producer)
  • Tim Porter
  • Toby Ford

Composer

Cast

Main article: List of actors of House of the Dragon
See also: List of characters created for House of the Dragon

Starring

Recurring cast

Additional cast

Dragons

The dragons have different personalities and physical appearances.[2] The following table lists the appearances (A) and mentions (M) of the dragons episode by episode throughout the first season.

  • 1 Not mentioned by name but alluded to.
  • 2 Appears as a skull only.
  • 3 By process of elimination, the dragon that Aemond encounters in the Dragonpit is Dreamfyre, as "The Black Queen" establishes that the greens have three adult dragons out of four total. While the dragon is similar in appearance to Seasmoke who would also be in the Dragonpit at this time, its horns are different and it does not have Seasmoke's beard. There are no other adult dragons in the Dragonpit at this time.
Dragons Riders Ep 1 Ep 2 Ep 3 Ep 4 Ep 5 Ep 6 Ep 7 Ep 8 Ep 9 Ep 10
Arrax Lucerys Velaryon M1 M1 A†
Balerion
the Black Dread		 None; deceased2 A† A† A† A†
The Cannibal None M1
Caraxes
the Blood Wyrm		 Daemon Targaryen A A A A A A A
Dreamfyre Helaena Targaryen M A3 A M1
Grey Ghost None M1
Meleys
the Red Queen		 Rhaenys Targaryen A A A A
Moondancer Baela Targaryen M1 M
Seasmoke Laenor Velaryon A A M
Sheepstealer None M1
Silverwing None M
Sunfyre
the Golden		 Aegon II Targaryen M A M1
Syrax Rhaenyra Targaryen A A M1 A
Tessarion
the Blue Queen		 Daeron Targaryen M1
Tyraxes Joffrey Velaryon M
Vermax Jacaerys Velaryon A A
Vermithor
the Bronze Fury		 None A
Vhagar
the Queen of All Dragons		 Laena Velaryon;
Aemond Targaryen		 M A A A

Title sequence

The title sequence for this first season was revealed at the beginning of the second episode of the series, The Rogue Prince. It is similar in style as the one created for the series' predecessor, Game of Thrones, and it uses the same music. The sequence depicts a three-dimensional model of Old Valyria similar to the one King Viserys I Targaryen has in his royal appartement in the series. As the camera swoops across the Valyrian city, it focuses on different gears that are connected by blood running down the model. The blood retraces the history and bloodline of House Targaryen, starting with the Doom of Valyria, then linking the different members of the family from Aegon the Conqueror to Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Meanwhile, the names of the principal cast and creative staff are displayed. The sequence concludes after about one-and-a-half minutes with the opening credits indicating the episode's writers and directors.[3] The title sequence changes slighty when new characters are born or married into the Targaryen bloodline.[4] The following characters have been represented in the title sequence:

Aegon the Conqueror's bloodline

Rhaenyra's bloodline

Alicent's bloodline

Daemon's bloodline

Corlys's bloodline

Episodes

No. in season Title Directed by Written by Original air date Duration U.S. viewers
(million)
1 "The Heirs of the Dragon" Miguel Sapochnik Ryan Condal August 21, 2022 66 min 9.986[5]
2 "The Rogue Prince" Greg Yaitanes Ryan Condal August 28, 2022 54 min 10.2[6]
3 "Second of His Name" Greg Yaitanes Gabe Fonseca & Ryan Condal September 4, 2022 58 min ~9.2[N 1][7]
4 "King of the Narrow Sea" Clare Kilner Ira Parker September 11, 2022 63 min ~9.66[7]
5 "We Light the Way" Clare Kilner Charmaine DeGraté September 18, 2022 60 min ~9.95[7]
6 "The Princess and the Queen" Miguel Sapochnik Sara Hess September 25, 2022 67 min ~10.25[8]
7 "Driftmark" Miguel Sapochnik Kevin Lau October 2, 2022 59 min Unknown[N 2]
8 "The Lord of the Tides" Geeta Patel Eileen Shim October 9, 2022 68 min Unknown[N 2]
9 "The Green Council" Clare Kilner Sara Hess October 16, 2022 58 min Unknown[N 2]
10 "The Black Queen" Greg Yaitanes Ryan Condal October 23, 2022 59 min 9.3[9]

Reception

See also: List of awards and nominations received by House of the Dragon

The first season was well received with the acting, the VFX, and writting being praised. Critics and the general audience have pointed out the pacing and the different time jumps throughout the season as the most jarring aspect of the show. These sentiments were reflected somewhat by George R. R. Martin who is very happy with the final product. He singled out Paddy Considine's portrayal of King Viserys I Targaryen as a being "much more powerful and tragic and fully-fleshed than my own version in Fire & Blood". He wished this first season was 13-episode-long to slow down the narrative a bit and take more time to flesh out some of the characters. That being said, he also said that to make the story of the Dance of the Dragons justice, House of the Dragon should run for four seasons of 10 episodes each.[10]

Notes

  1. ↑ The ratings of episode 3 have not been officially released. The viewership was down about 1 million for the premiere on Sunday night due in part to airing in the U.S. during Labor Day weekend. The number of people watching the episode on HBO's platforms the following days was greater than for the first two episodes, however.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Warner Bros. Discovery did not disclose the viewership numbers for these episodes.

References

  1. ↑ Not a Blog: The Dragons Take Wing (October 30, 2019)
  2. ↑ IGN: House of the Dragon Will Unleash 9 Dragons in Its First Season (August 3, 2022)
  3. ↑ House of the Dragon, Season 1, Episode 2: "The Rogue Prince".
  4. ↑ House of the Dragon, Season 1, Episode 6: "The Princess and the Queen".
  5. ↑ Deadline: House of the Dragon premiere draws nearly 10 Million viewers (August 22, 2022)
  6. ↑ Variety: Ratings HOTD episode 2 (August 29, 2022)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Variety: HOTD Ratings episode 5 (September 20, 2022)
  8. ↑ Variety: HOTD Ratings episode 6 (September 27, 2022)
  9. ↑ Variety: Biggest HBO Season Finale Since "Game of Thrones" (October 24, 2022)
  10. ↑ Not a Blog: Random Musings (October 11, 2022)
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