Warning: this article contains spoilers for House Of The Dragon episode one.

Game Of Thrones fans, the time we’ve been waiting for is finally here.

For those of us that simply couldn’t wait for House Of The Dragon, a 2am binge-watch (when the series premiered in the US) was most definitely on the cards, but for the rest of us, our Monday evening was spent finally getting a taste of the highly anticipated prequel series.

The new series tells the story of Rhaenyra (a role played by both Milly Alcock and Emma D’Arcy), Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and the war of the Seven Kingdoms. The events in this series take place 200 years before Game Of Thrones and it’s based on The Dying Of The Dragons, a novella found in George RR Martin’s 2018 work Fire & Blood.

Like its famed predecessor, House Of The Dragon comes with expectations: will there be unwarranted scenes of sexual violence? Will there be a lot of nudity and sex, like Game Of Thrones? Will there be the same amount of blood and gore? Well, we can’t currently say too much about the rest of the series but what we will tell you is that the first episode – entitled The Heirs Of The Dragon – certainly packs a punch. 

While many have consistently compared the two fantasy series, it’s now been announced that House Of The Dragon has eclipsed Game Of Thrones in the viewership charts. The premiere drew in a whopping 9.99 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max, according to Warner Bros. Discovery.

That makes it the biggest series premiere in HBO’s history. House Of The Dragon also brought in the largest single-night audience for HBO since the series finale of Game Of Thrones drew 19.3 million viewers in May 2019. The best single-night tally since then was the season two finale of Euphoria in February, which had 6.6 million cross-platform viewers.

With all of those exciting details in mind, these are the scenes and points in that first episode of House Of The Dragon that have lingered with us long after watching. 

Would it be a Game Of Thrones prequel series if there wasn’t blood and violence in every other scene? 

Like the series it’s based on, House Of The Dragon weaves in violence so seamlessly it almost takes you by surprise. One minute you’re watching on as King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) is comforting his pregnant wife, Queen Aemma (Sian Brooke), in the bath. The next, you’re looking on as Daemon is commanding the King’s Landing City Watch to make people “fear the colour gold”. With new gold cloth draping over their armour, the fleet of men set out stabbing, beating and killing the people of King’s Landing. But it’s the scene of a certain bloody dismemberment that will stick with viewers.

Add to that a jousting scene – that quickly escalates to a knife-wielding battle – and you start to understand that this series is likely to be just as violent as Game Of Thrones. But, of course, the scene with the most blood and the one that viewers will be talking about throughout the series is Aemma’s birth. We won’t go into too much detail but an unplanned caesarean means that if you’re squeamish, you may want to cover your eyes for this harrowing scene. 

After his mighty massacre with the City Watch, Daemon is scolded by his brother Viserys and takes solace in one of the city’s pleasure houses with an unnamed mistress. Later on in the series, we come to know she is Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), but in this episode, she remains unnamed. We’re instead introduced to her in a typical Game Of Thrones-esque sex scene that may just make you squirm.

But it’s the way that the scene unfolds that is most interesting. Excited spectators watch on through grates in a wall, eyes peering through the gaps and chatter filling a room already loud with moans. It’s through this obscured vision that we ourselves see Daemon and Mysaria and it forces the viewer, like the people in the pleasure house, to be a spectator.  

There’s no bypassing the fact that House Of The Dragon is still a majority white series, even after initial criticism of the fantasy series franchise. Steve Toussaint has spoken out about the racist abuse he received after being cast in the new series but in his role as Lord Corlys, he is part of the revered Small Council that advises and aids the King. He commands the King’s fleet, is a nobleman who is married to the King’s cousin and is seen as “lord of the ships”.

Even so, when we see him at the table of the Small Council, he is spoken over, ignored or sidelined. In the episode’s first scenes, he brings out a map talking about disturbances in the Free Cities, the prospect of three cities joining to become the Triarchy and the threat of a well-known torturer called “the Crabfeeder”. He’s in the middle of talking when Princess Rhaenyra walks in and the King changes the conversation topic to dragons and his heir, rather than the very real threat that Corlys is outlining.

“The crown has heard your report, Lord Corlys, and takes it under advisement. Shall we discuss the heir’s tournament, your grace?” Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) says. While House Of The Dragon initially appears not to be a series concerned with conversations about race, could this be the series’ attempt at including historical representation of microaggressions? 

Can you begin to imagine how annoyed you would be constantly being referred to as “The Queen Who Never Was”? Even watching men say it condescendingly to Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best) was enough to make our blood boil. But the scene that really made our eyes roll was in the jousting tournament that saw Lord Boremund Baratheon ask for her favour to place on his joust.

She bids him good fortune, but he says smugly: “I would gladly take it if I thought I needed it,” something that even Otto tells the King to “have his tongue” for. 

Being a dragonrider, Rhaenyra is part of the small group within her family that can effectively communicate with the dragons. Because of this – although rightfully angry at her father following the deaths of her mother and brother – she is waited upon to give the fateful call to action. Echoing Game Of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen, Rhaenyra commanded the dragon: “Dracarys”.

That’s right, even in mourning and even though she is consistently patronised because of her gender, she is expected to command the dragon to set their bodies alight. 

Perhaps it’s because we were led to believe that Daemon would be nothing more than a “rogue prince” that his characterisation in this first episode took us by surprise. He is blatant in his misogyny and incredibly entitled – aka the worst combination for any man in power.

As well as belittling his wife – who he refers to as a “bronze bitch” and says that sheep are prettier than she is – he also sets out to personally offend Otto by talking about his late wife. Even when talking about the heir’s tournament that is set to take place, he laughs and tells Rhaenyra that it is for him. Add to that the disgusting toast he makes in the pleasure house at the end of the episode and we think we may just have uncovered the series’ villain.  

You’ll finish the first episode of House Of The Dragon filled with a lot of emotion, but mainly anger at King Viserys. From the beginning, his constant reference to happiness in his male heir is enough to make Rhaenyra uncomfortable, but even after the death of Queen Aemma and her newborn son, the King refuses to see what is right in front of him. With a brother intent on wreaking havoc and destruction, it seems that the final straw for the King comes when he learns of Daemon’s disgusting toast to “the heir for a day”.

Because of this, the King decides to name a new heir. He tells Rhaenyra: “I’m sorry. I have wasted the years since you were born wanting for a son. You are the very best of your mother and I believe, as I know she did, that you could be a great ruling queen.” 

Episodes of House Of The Dragon will be released weekly every Monday at 2am and 9pm on Sky Atlantic, and they will also be available to stream on Now with an entertainment membership. 

Images: HBO/Sky