HBO’s ‘House Of The Dragon’ Is Succeeding By Creating Instant Fan-Favorite, And Fan-Hated Characters

Games HBO’s ‘House Of The Dragon’ Is Succeeding By Creating Instant Fan-Favorite, And Fan-Hated Characters Paul Tassi Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories.

Got it! Sep 5, 2022, 08:57am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Daemon HBO House of the Dragon continues to be a welcome addition to HBO’s roster and a worthy expansion of the Game of Thrones universe, despite fears that this could end up being some cheap cash-in to try to expand the lifespan of the original series that ended on a sour note. One reason House of the Dragon is working so well is because it’s doing what it took Game of Thrones perhaps even longer to accomplish, it’s creating fan-favorite characters out of its cast almost instantly, and some clear villains you love to loathe. Rhaenyra Targaryen – I’ve seen her assemble a devoted fanbase miles quicker than Daenerys herself, and if the show wanted a compelling lead, it absolutely found one in Milly Alcock’s understated portrayal of Rhaenyra, who destroys her rivals with a quick quip and a look and can also hack wild boars to death if she needs to.

The only real question here is if the love for Alcock’s Rhaenyra will transfer to Emma D’Arcy’s Rhaenyra when she ages up in just two more episodes. Daemon Targaryen – Even if Daemon is supposed to be a wildly unstable, violent villain like say, Ramsay Bolton, what I’m finding is that it’s…kind of hard not to root for him? He’s been like this since the start, but that was best exemplified this week when Daemon, rather than accept help from his brother to win a war, offers himself as bait to lure out the Crabfeeder, which speaks to both his insanity and his desire to be free from his brother and owe him nothing. Matt Smith is killing it here.

MORE FOR YOU ‘Demon Slayer’ Season 2 Finally Has An Actual 2021 Release Date Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 Not A Sure Thing, Says Director ‘Genshin Impact’ Still Refuses To Increase Anniversary Rewards, Despite Fan Outcry Viserys Targaryen – On the opposite end of the spectrum here we have Viserys, whom is purposefully designed to be a weak, albeit somewhat kind king. He’s a great character with a lot of depth to him, which has been thanks to Paddy Considine’s fantastic portrayal. Without knowing any spoilers, even if he seems not long for this world in the storyline (death by Iron Throne infection, perhaps?), he’s a great character who is playing his role as not-great King very well.

Otto Hightower HBO The Hightowers – I mean, you hate them, right? Whether it’s the transparently ambitious Otto suggesting that Viserys marry Rhaenyra to her two year-old brother, his grandson, or Allicent trying to smooth things over with Rhaenyra after marrying her father and having two kids with him , including one that will no doubt attempt to supplant her as heir. You hate them. They may not be ruthless killers (yet), but they are snakes, and in this case, I’m really looking forward to seeing actress Olivia Cooke join the show and take Allicent more into Cersei territory as she ages.

And this is just three episodes. I’d argue it took Game of Thrones even longer to get its characters established and really create ones you could root for, or against. Thrones did some interesting things like taking initially hated characters like Jaime and redeeming them over the course of the series, but others, I’d argue, never quite worked.

For instance it feels like Rhaenyra already has a more devoted fanbase than “series lead” Jon Snow ever did in Thrones. Can’t wait to see how this all plays out in season 1, and now season 2, and things are going so well I even have faith in other, future Thrones spin-offs now. Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , Facebook and Instagram .

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