‘House of the Dragon’ Premiere: Another Game of Thrones
Sunday’s long-awaited premiere aimed to create investment in a new royal power struggle while assuring viewers that this was still “Game of Thrones.”
Oh, right: Sitting on our sofas trying to make the phrase “King Bran” make sense in our heads.
It still doesn’t, but that’s ancient history now. Or to be more precise, in a narrative sense: ancient future.
That’s because it was a much earlier clash for the Iron Throne that we saw being set up in Sunday’s long-awaited premiere of “House of the Dragon” —
an Iron Throne that, based on its sprawling, jagged footprint, will apparently lose quite a few swords before King Robert Baratheon lands on it in a couple of centuries.
But it is fundamentally still the same ugly chair inspiring the same ugly feelings — anxiety, envy, power-lust, a willingness to betray friends and relatives.
That last part is important because unlike in the original contest, it seems that most of the betraying will be happening not between the various houses of Westeros, but within the same messed-up family.