This knotty, character-based Game of Thrones prequel took a while to get there, but it’s set up an explosive second season. Hopefully it stops featuring gratuitously insensitive childbirth
The laziest way to tag House of the Dragon (Sky Atlantic) has always been to call it the Better Call Saul for Game of Thrones. Like that show, this is a prequel; like that show, we already know how things are going to end. But now, with a full season in the rear-view, the comparison feels warranted.
Both House of the Dragon and Better Call Saul benefited from a baked-in fanbase, and as such didn’t need to spring out of the gates quite as quickly as their mother shows. Like Saul, House of the Dragon turned out to be a slower, knottier watch, more interested in character than spectacle. It required a much closer viewing. With Saul, this paid off in spades during its extraordinary final season. For now, with House of the Dragon, what lies ahead is nothing but a giant question mark.
