Written by Ryan Condal
Directed by Miguel Sapochnik
Viserys: "I've decided to name a new heir."
Daemon: "I'm your heir."
Viserys: "Not anymore."
It's been a little over three years since the divisive ending for Game Of Thrones and with one spin-off idea not making it past a pilot episode which never aired, can this prequel series (based on the book Fire & Blood) fare much better? Going by this opening episode alone, it's chances are somewhat decent.
Set nearly two hundred years before the death of the Mad King, the Monarch in question here, King Jaehaerys Targaryen (Michael Carter) has chosen his heir - grandson, Viserys (Paddy Considine), much to the disappointment of his granddaughter, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), the cousin of Viserys. To be fair, Viserys turns out to be a decent ruler but this episode also quickly established that he himself would need an heir as time moved rather fast in this opening episode.
Quickly there were two candidates assumed for this coveted role. The first being Viserys younger and more volatile brother,Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) and the other, a potential son from Viserys's wife, Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke), only for tragedy and a brutal medieval C-section that resulted in the deaths of both mother and son.
With Daemon vastly overplaying his hand and saying the wrong words in front of the wrong people, Viserys turned his attention towards neglected daughter, Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) to assume the Iron Throne and given the way things are, it probably won't be too long before she might succeed her own father for the least envied position in the seven kingdoms.
This opening episode does a strong job of getting to the nitty gritty of everything important. Viserys allowed his pride to consume in certain ways (his wife's fate, his brother's machinations and his counsel perhaps not having his best interests at heart) but he was smart enough to realise his daughter was likely his best heir and even informed her of certain future events that their mere mention was enough to remind where this show. Not to mention a certain cut on Viserys's back cant be good for his long term health.
While this episode was certainly front and centre with it's Targaryen clan and at least two dragons, other characters did stand out. We had Viserys's scheming hand, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) and his daughter, Alicent (Emily Carey) along with low born Dornish hunk/knight Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), Daemon's lover, Mysaria (Sonya Mizuno) and Rhaenys's husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Touissaint), all of whom made a strong enough impression and helped fleshed out the goings on in King's Landing with the Targaryens.
- No flashy opening sequence so far for the series but the closing credits did use some very familiar music to again remind viewers the world they were re-entering. Emma D'Arcy who will play Rhaenyra later in the season did the opening narration.
- We had Starks and Baratheons in this episode with mentions of Westeros and Winterfell along with hints of the arrival of a certain season and the doom it will bring about.
- This show will apparently have a lot of dragons but here we just met the dragons owned by Rhaenyra and Daemon. Their scenes together certainly had a degree of tension to them.
- Daemon really does seem to despise his wife, who I assume we'll be meeting sooner than later. There's also a rivalry set up here with him and Criston.
- The most brutal moments of the episode outside of Aemma's death were Daemon's punishment for criminals with the Gold Cloaks as well as most of the tourney tbh.
- Chronology: 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. Nine years passed within the episode itself.
The Heirs Of The Dragon kicked things off to a modest enough start but make no mistake, this show very much is picking up from where Game Of Thrones left off. The characters might not grab you as instantly as the previous series did but they definitely leave a strong impression and certain characters remind me of certain characters from that show too. With nine episodes left to go, I'm expecting bigger and badder stuff to happen as our characters get deeper into their own ambitions and play the game.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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