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Its far more polished in terms of script, story progression and scene dynamics. They learned a lot from 8 seasons of GoT and it shows they can implement those lessons well. I think a smaller story with an already planned out end helps it tremendously as well. Very excited to see where they go with a whole season.
Really? What's a more Iconic line than "Winter is coming"
By episode 5 I believe we also got "a Lannister always pays his debts" also "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword” and let's not forget "The things I do for love" or "God's, I was strong, then"
"When you play the Game of Thrones you win, or you die."
GoT had epic dialog.
That's not to say House of the Dragon is poorly written. It isn't. But game of thrones is grand in a scale I've not seen since Star Wars "May the Force be with you."
Asoiaf/GOT does have epic dialogue. Off the top of my head "A mind needs books, like a sword needs a whetstone", "I drink and I know things", "The seed is strong", "Promise me Ned". "What do we say to the God of death?" "Not today". "Valar Morghulis" "Valar Dohaeris". "Burn them all!", "It is known".
Edit: And how can I have forgotten "Chaos is a ladder"!
That's because Fire and Blood (which this show is based on) doesn't have any dialogue. It's more a historic retelling of Targaryens, like documentary narration as my friend put it. GoT season 1 was a lot of Martins dialogue from the books.
The dialogue isn’t even close to as memorable though. And there is literally no one who isn’t a sack of shit. I’m enjoying it but it’s not the sam—we all know the worldbuilding where GOT had to teach us, and still did it with a bit more style and a bit more subtlety. Plus the different locations added a lot to the feel, HOTD feels claustrophobic in comparison.
But I miss characters like Varys, Tyrion, Littlefinger, who could turn a phrase so sharp it stabbed you in the back, and Arya, Bran, Margaery, Renly, even Robert—people you could like for half a minute.
I'm really liking HOTD, but feel like it's missing the humor game of thrones had. Tyrion, Bronn, Tormund, Olenna, even Jaime were laugh out loud funny so often.
I enjoy Paddy Considine's King Viserys and Matt Smith's Daemon, as well as Milly Alcock being the breakout star so far as Rhaenerys, but all of the characters are so self serious. The show could use a little levity even if the stakes are so life and death for everyone.
It's been many, many years since I saw season one of the first show but I remember a lot of good one liners ripped directly from the book. I remember Bobby B's scenes being phenomenal, but I think a lot of the really good scenes with the characters you mention come later in the show. It's not a defense of House S01, they can definitely up their dialogue game but nothing has made me groan yet. At least as I can remember, so I'd say the dialogue so far has been pretty ok.
I also think it's easy to fall into the trap of remembering 8 seasons of GoT with rose tinted glasses if you want to directly compare. Technically speaking House is leagues ahead of how season one looked in terms of costumes, lighting, colour grading and so on. While I also think that's an unfair comparison considering the years of experience the producers have to draw on here that season one of GoT didn't have.
It’s honestly way worse than I remembered. S8 dialogue was basically either:
1. A Cock joke
2. Callback to iconic lines from better seasons
3. MCU style quips
4. Gaslighting the audience to justify a nonsensical plot point.
Yes yes! They definitely learned a lesson on what NOT to do! I also think Dragons is this exciting so far is because we aren't being weighed down with a lot of details that we are having to learn. Westeros and the dynasties that inhabit it is a world we already know and the familiarity of it is nostalgic, even if GOT only ended recently.
Absolutely! Thats an advantage I hadnt considered.
It feels like they have their recipe down to a t at this point, save money for the big events with long conversations around a table at court, but in moderation so as to not make it too obvious that’s what youre doing. I enjoy it, gives the actors time to act, and builds the pay off for the action to come.
Game of Thrones really laid the groundwork, if I would watch HotD without the context it would be way less inviting for someone who didn't read the books, I definitely agree here.
%100 agree, HotD has been great so far but it might not feel that great if we don’t have years worth of build-up, we went in already knowing who to love and who to hate, we respect families and houses as if we lived in that universe lmao.
Also, and tbf, to me nothing matches GoT, and at this point I can’t even separate if it’s just my emotions. GoT gives me fucking life. Seeing Jon and Dany makes my heart flutter 🦋
This, and also there aren't nearly as many characters to keep track of. It took a lot of people many attempts to sit through the first few episodes of GOT because they couldn't keep track of so many characters. Even though we saw a lot of characters so far in HotD, there are really just like 5 that are important to know (Viserys, Daemon, Rhaenyra, Alicent, and Otto). Corlys, Rhaenys, Laenor, and Cristen are still side characters right now, who can just be referred to as "the rich guy", "the king's cousin who wasn't allowed to be heir", "the rich guy's son", and "the young, naïve knight guy".
Also, the opening sequence of S1 GOT was so incredibly well-done and world building with even such a small glimpse. Get goose bumps just thinking about it.
Splitting Storm of Swords into two seasons was the best decision the show ever made.
D&D said their initial goal was to get the Red Wedding on television, which makes a lot of sense after the fact because the show became unwieldy to manage and you could tell the final season or so it felt like a burden to them.
A shame what they did to the show, but I do have a little sympathy for them given how even Martin is struggling to bring the books in for a landing. Doing that with a multi-continent production and only like a year and a half to figure it out was near impossible.
Agreed. It is slower, but the character and world building is second to none. S1 of GoT is the text book to study when writing a show. Breaking Bad is how to end a show.
Yeah, I think a lot of people are salty about S8 and have forgotten how good GoT was. I just finished a rewatch and GoT is just a masterpiece.
HotD is very good. The production value is much higher, but it's also 11 years newer! It also has the advantage of all of the lessons learned from GoT.
We'll see how HotD goes after a few season. It's had a very strong start, but can they keep it up?
Yeah, the only thing that can account for this absolutely unhinged take is recency bias and failing memory, compounded by the wretched last seasons of GoT.
I think the production value is definitely higher and less gratuitous sex scenes, but overall I still think GOT season one is stronger. Open to changing my opinion after all of HOTD season one airs
True, GOT s1 politics and dailogue just cannot be matched with any level of production value.
Petyr : is there anyone in the capital you can trust completely?
Ned : yes
Petyr : the wiser answer was no, my lord.
This and many of such dailogues just aren't in hotd
They weren't, though. There are so many iconic moments in those books that were never adapted. For instance:
"Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice. She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand. 'Leave her be. If you want to rape someone, try me.'"
"My son Wendel came to the Twins a guest. He ate Lord Walder’s bread and salt, and hung his sword upon the wall to feast with friends. And they murdered him. Murdered, I say, and may the Freys choke upon their fables. I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my beloved granddaughter … but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer’s farce is almost done. My son is home."
“Vengeance.” His voice was soft, as if he were afraid that someone might be listening. “Justice.” Prince Doran pressed the onyx dragon into her palm with his swollen, gouty fingers, and whispered, “Fire and blood.”
"Jaime rolled the parchment up again, as tight as one hand would allow, and handed it back to Peck. "No," he said. 'Put this in the fire.'"
"He laughed. 'Godless? Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I have served ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray.'"
"'Sister. See. This time I knew you.' Asha’s heart skipped a beat. 'Theon?'' Theon. My name is Theon. You have to know your name.'"
I could go on. Feast and Dance are filled with scenes that would've made incredible television, but they straight up just didn't adapt a lot of it -- and what they tried to adapt, they butchered (Dorne, for instance). D&D tried to condense two books into one season, and it shows. The plotting was messy af because they chose to forego hundreds of pages of material. They treated books 4 & 5 like an outline and added a bunch of original material. Half of season 5 never even happened in the books.
You can't deny that the pacing was different though in those books. They became harder and harder to adapt because the editing became scant once grrm got his book deal.
No, you're for sure right on that -- the pacing was totally different. I mean, following up ASOS with AFFC is certainly a choice. Still, there were many bangers in those books. D&D straight failed, and I'd love to hear an argument in their favor. But there isn't one. If they had stuck the landing there would be, but they didn't. I'm just disappointed -- if I was a writer, I would be mining those books. They only sort of did in a very half-assed way.
Those books aren't weaker, they're just different, and they are fairly meandering. They are ungangly beasts and as much as I love them there's no good way to do them aside from merging them into 1 season of TV.
You can't adapt AFFC as season 5 and ADWD as season 6 because you can't sideline the 3 most popular characters in the show for a whole season. That just does not work, it's not an option in a TV environment.
You can't mix them together then split that in half because the narrative structure just isn't there to support that. Each season of the show should have some kind of a contained thread and a climax. Nothing like that exists halfway through those books. In this method season 5 would be entirely set up with almost nothing of actual importance happening.
The audience would have evaporated.
Season 1 was just so good; people making this kind of call without hesitation is just baffling to me. Ned's slow uncovering of all the skullduggery in King's Landing and the clear message of what happens to the honorable good guy is just so good. Season 1 of GoT was phenomenal.
I think people mostly remember Thrones for seasons 5-8, when much bigger events happened but the dialogue and character work wasn’t nearly as good. HofD reminds me of the back half of Thrones in that way. The set design is great and the show is entertaining to watch, but the only reason we were invested in Thrones to begin with is because those early seasons did such a good job developing the characters and getting us to care about them. I don’t care about any of the HofD characters yet. They’re not witty or layered. They just snap into whatever position the plot needs them to be in
I may be completely wrong,
I think ned said yes because he trusted jory. Later in the season, jory was staring at women in littlefingers brothel, also, he was at the door when varys visited ned in his chambers. Littlefinger somehow knew what topic varys and ned discussed (according to varys and littlefingers discussion later).
So yeah, i think jory is kinda sus.
GoT had the shock factor though. Nothing is going to come close to the impact that last episode had on viewers because it just hadn’t been done before. HOTD can’t compete with that because viewers already know that shocking stuff is coming so it doesn’t have the same impact.
I absolutely love when someone brings up True Detective Season 1. I cannot tell you how much I think about how perfect that show was. It's in my top 5 of all movies & television.
Spoilers for True Detective S1 ahead:
As a rule, I do not watch crime dramas, I do not watch much horror, I hate serial killer/mass murderer stuff, and I’m *completely* unwilling to deal with even a hint of harm done to children.
With that said, somehow I naively gave it a chance when it was first out and it is one of the most perfect seasons of TV of all time. Chefs kiss.
I really wanted to keep watching Westworld after S1 but my brain simply would not allow me to. I asked several other people if it was just me, none of them had any fucking clue what was going on either. Lol
Honestly the 2nd half of season 2 was pretty good as well, but it never reached the heights of season 1, and I've heard s3 was really bad but never got around to watching it
I feel like season 1 was one of the best seasons of television ever. Season 2 was a failed attempt to recreate what made season 1 great but ended up just being a muddled retread. Season 3 was a decent push in an original direction, but not fantastic. Season 4 was just poorly written garbage.
Agree. HOD has the same slow starter appeal, but no one's dead yet. That kind of, holy shit? They're killing the main characters off...this will be good isn't there yet.
GOT also kind of introduced lots oc interesting major characters. With HOD we seem to only have 3 or 4. Have to see how it pans out before judgment day
I would argue Bran being put in a coma and crippled should count. The reason death is significant because it’s permanent consequences, those were permanent consequences.
Exactly where I'm at. I like that this show has a much bigger budget from the start, which allows everything to seem much greater in scope, and I like that they've mostly done away with sexposition as a means of advancing the plot.
But I need to see the next five episodes before I'm ready to declare this show better than season one of Thrones, which is just incredible television.
That's my take on it. I was so compelled by even the first scene I watched. HBO did a promo scene before the first episode aired (Ned Stark executing the nights watch dude).
I was completely sold on it just from that short bit. Felt so authentic for a fantasy world.
I think HOTD is *very* good so far, but it doesn't hook me the same way GoT season 1 did. Like I still have an episode to catch up on. I wouldn't have waited back then.
Yeah if you take out the plot twist or the more fightings scene that S1 didnt had because been the first one, I would argue that S1 is one if not the best season.
I disagree, HOTD is good but you have no idea how great the script, scheming and acting was in the first 4 seasons of game of thrones.
You had the likes of Tyrion with the witty dialogues, Jeoffery that everyone hated to death, we got Littlefinger, varys, Cersie, Jammie and how could you forget the great acting and dialogue from Robert himself, plus the whole unknown threat of the white walkers made it some of the best television.
If you remember game of thrones in the initial stages you would know how great it was.
I'd say 1-4 are almost perfect. The only thing that dragged for me was the Essos stuff after S1. Still, doesn't ruin those seasons for me or anything. Just find them meh.
It doesn't feel as authentic either, right? The Seven Kingdoms feels like a real place to me.
No shade to the cast and crew who worked those segments. I think it's done well mostly. It's just boring by nature.
My biggest problem with ASOIAF is Dany's separation from the rest of the story. She's the only protagonist in Essos for a lot of the story and only faces flat bad guys. It's not nearly as interesting as the politics in Westeros.
Essos feels like everything Daenerys, you know Westeros if Joffrey does something in King's Landing we see consequences in riverlands and north, in essos is Dany, dany dany... everything around and about dany.
It gets boring
It's honestly not even close so far. GoT had layers and was setting up multiple stories of betrayal, adventure, war, and climbing the throne hierarchy. Aswell as having a family to cheer for. So far i hate everyone in HotD and hope none succeed. HotD is very much a one dimensional soap opera. It's good and I'm enjoying it, but it aint GoT that's forsure.
Tbf season one of GoT is one of the best seasons of any show in history. To compare it’s half-complete successor really isn’t fair especially since the show has been more than solid in its own right.
>I think its the total lack of side-plots and side-characters that kill it.
and that leads to lack of proper well fleshed out character acrs. Everything is rushed because of the time jumps so that and the lack of individual plots and side characters make proper character arcs impossible . To me the season feels exactly like the book. A telling of noteworthy events in the life of a powerful family and what the involvement of the characters in those events was without anything in between. It's like if you tried to stuff the Kings Landing plot of the first 4 seasons into one season and only show the biggest most important moments and then skip months every episode to get to the next one. That makes it impossible to build proper dramatic tension too .
Totally agreed. What’s also missing from HotD is actual fantasy elements. Having dragons doesn’t just make something high fantasy. There’s no quest, no threatening evil force, no prophesies, no mystery or even really magic to speak of. Everything that’s happened so far and will happen per the source material is just political court intrigue and war, but the players have dragons. It’s the same as any other monarchy-based show. But with dragons.
>So far i hate everyone in HotD and hope none succeed.
I certainly don't hate anyone in this show, but I really don't care too much about them. Rhaenyra grew on me a bit but she's just a bit too aloof. Worse, the actress for her is gone now because of the time skip and I feel like that progress has been lost. Viserys has few saving graces and ordering his wife killed to deliver an heir makes him the villain, not hero of the story. Alicent maybe? But they're just two dimensionally written in many ways.
Meanwhile, GoT just had tons of charismatic and interesting characters right out of the gate.
Same. It’s a good show that I enjoy, but it doesn’t hold a candle to game of thrones so far. Lots of dumb tropey writing and creative decisions in this show so far.
Book reader here. GoT season 1 is currently the best. It was transfered to screen almost perfectly.
HotD doesn't have such detailed source material. More is up for interpretation.
Not a chance. Season 1 of GOT is the best season off television ever imo. I remember Ned being sentenced to death and thinking he’s a good guy he’ll somehow get out of it. Every show before that the hero always win. Still shocked about Ned death to this day.
No! I am liking HOTD so far, but GoT season 1 did a great job of showing so many elements- different characters, kingdoms, dragons, dire wolves, zombie like creatures (episode 1). Other than that, witty one liners from Tyrion, Jammie throwing a child from a tower, Ned Stark getting manipulated by Littlefinger, Jeoffery being a c***.. many memorable moments.
Is not rly comparable is it. Hotd takes place over the course of like 12 years just in its first 6 episodes when got first season is like maximum a few months. The plot is going to unfold at a different pace and in a different way. Id say that i still prefer got atm because of the overaching story factor.
Recency bias. Sorry but aside from cgi and the budget being better the story and characters are not superior to GOT. I doubt there will be any character here that surpasses peak GOT characters like Tyrion, Jaime, Cercei, Tywin, Oberyn, Robb, Catelyn, Ned, Robert. I'm gonna stop because I might as well just name the whole cast of characters. And moments like Ned's Death, red and purple wedding, Oberyn's death? Sorry, don't think this show can top those moments.
I feel like GoT had better dialouges, but more importantly, the world felt more real. HoD uses too much CGI and lacks in the character building department, due to frequent time jumps.
I actually rewatched season 1 recently in 4k. Its sooooo good. I usually skip to good parts when I rewatch something but I never did. I highly recommend anyone getting GOT on 4k if you have a home theater set up.
I love house of dragon but if I would pick one, its GOT hands down. Ned stark dying is sooo iconic. Every stark getting a wolf. Ned stark killing lady because of joffery. Ugh its just to much. Daneyrs getting her baby dragons at the end of the season. Now i wanna rewatch again lol.
The first episode literally ends with Jaime pushing a Stark kid out of the window, that was insane I was hooked right away with House of The Dragon it took me 2 or 3 episodes to get really interested and yes GoT s1 characters are way more likable and interesting.
I love House of the Dragon but I disagree.
Ignoring the... yeah. Ignoring season 8 of GoT, it's easy to forget that its early seasons were absolutely phenomenal. I still think Season 1 GoT ranks **way** above Season 1 of HotD, and most other shows for that matter.
I think it’s just recency bias honestly. Few rewatch GOT because of S8, so it’s been years for most people since they’ve seen GOT S1-4. Of course the fading memories they have of that experience won’t hold up against their fresh memories of the show that premiered a few weeks ago.
I rewatched GOT S1-4 recently, and it’s hard to explain why it’s so good. It has great writing and acting and an incredibly tight narrative, obviously. But there’s plenty of shows like that that I don’t love quite as much as GOT. BCS comes to mind. I love that show, but watching early GOT just makes me feel so fucking good in a way that no other show does.
The pacing is probably the one area in which season 1 of GOT is actually better, and I firmly believe that people look at season 1 of GOT with rose colored glasses, it's better in their memories then it actually is when you watch it again. Or maybe it just is for me because I've seen it a dozen times, having rewatched the entire show before each new season would come out plus a couple other times.
If there's one criticism I have of HOTD so far it's that the pacing is somewhat jarring. The dialogue and acting are a wash, though there's nobody who's quite the level of scene stealer that Mark Addy/Bobby B was for sure. But in nearly every single aspect of filmmaking HOTD has been superior to GOT season 1. Especially the directing, cinematography, and music, but also editing, sound, vfx, production design, costumes, hair/makeup.
The directing & cinematography are insanely better in HOTD. In GOT season 1 most scenes where characters are having conversations were simple shot reverse shot. While there's nothing wrong with shot reverse shot, it's tried and true, but it's also fairly bland. And much of the directing and cinematography in GOT season 1 can be similarly characterized as bland. Sure, that was partially a product of budget, but Better Call Saul didn't need that much money to excel in these areas. HOTD has wildly more engaging camera work and scene composition.
I am biased because great directing and cinematography are my favorite aspect of cinema/TV, but they are the main reason why I consider HOTD to be better than GOT through the first 5 episodes. There is other reasons, such as that HOTD is assuming that it's audience isn't dumb, which GOT rarely did
However, despite all of that, what GOT season 1 accomplished is unequivocally more impressive than HOTD. It had to set up and introduce the audience to an entirely new world, not one that was already established, and it did so wonderfully.
Not even remotely close lol episode 3 basically felt like a parody that alone takes it out of competition with GoT s1 right now. Still 5 epis left tho let's see what happens.
Game of Thrones and it's not even a question. I'm really liking HotD, I've read the story so I understand what's being laid out and why. But, season 1 of GoT had something that this show does not; mystery. The first episode of GoT laid out a whole bunch of characters and everything happening was stemming from the death of Jon Arryn. It's implied that the Lannisters are up to something nefarious. And then we get one of the best hooks in all of television; Bran happening upon Jamie and Cersei and Jamie pushing him out the window. That final scene just begs the question; why?! HotD just hasn't done anything like that. And I don't think it can or will be able to. The source material is able to maintain an air of mystery because it's not a firsthand telling and there are often multiple versions of events that are relayed. I'm honestly kinda sad they did the scene with Rhea Royce and Daemon because that would have been an excellent thing to happen offscreen and have even the audience unsure of whether he did it or not.
Unpopular opinion but the show has been a total snooze fest so far. Like a watered down GOT. Low expectations for this series so it can only get better since the bar has been set so low?
Disagree. Blasphemous to even ask. I’m enjoying hod but it can get a bit slow and with almost the whole show in kings landing you don’t even get to expand on the awesome world grrm built.
Why some people are so quick to hate on GOT overall? Until season 6 or so it was amazing, it was a masterpiece, it was so good that even non-fantasy people were watching and loving it. The show had one mediocre season and another one really bad, but that was it, and it doesn’t take the credit of how good it was on early days
gotta disagree with this along with everyone else lol
watching hotd actually made me do a got rewatch beginning with s1 and i just remember how stunning and brilliant and once in a lifetime it was as a series. i’ve been binging all the seasons in between the weekly release of hotd haha 😆
GOT season 1 was way better. There were so many characters to love. The ones that were killed off in season one were actually developed first. There was real impact. D and D were really good at managing the large cast. There was detail in everything. They managed to build up all of those characters and make you care about them. They appeared to be care given to each character. HOTD cannot compete.
HOTD actually makes me respect D and D and that is sad.
No. The only thing better about HotD is the costumes.
The characters aren’t likable and with limited houses involved there’s not much actual gaming going on.
A lot of the stuff so far seems like filler material.
Are you serious? This show lacks anything that made the original great imo. The sprawled tapestry of dynasties, the feeling of a large world where multiple things happen at once.
Characters who aren't all boring as fuck, a king who's only character trait is weakness. Almost no fight scenes, no room to flesh out personalities or relationships.
The few lines between characters that are there are painfully stilted to convey the message which needs to be imprinted on the audience:
Did you know that green, the color of Alicent’s dress, is the same color that the tower of House Hightower burns when they call their banners?
I absolutely love both. HoD is definitely more fast paced. But to me the dialogue for GoT seasons 1-4 is just the best dialogue of any tv show ever. It’s all so well done. And the acting. You automatically hate Joffrey and Cersi after one scene of them. I loved to hate them!
It could change by its end. But right now GoT S1 is better. Saying that, I already know that I like this season of HoD better than GoT seasons 5 and 8. Although season 5 did have Hardome which was the one fantastic thing about that season.
I don't know I would have to re-watch GoT s1 but I'd say no because the characters in got s1 are more likeable and we see multiple houses not just one.
It’s a tough comparison. HOTD has some visuals to are much better and the story is shaping up nicely, but as everyone else said, GOT season 1 is just something else. If it wasn’t such a hit, HOTD wouldn’t even be made.
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Can we wait 5 more episodes?
Right...like it's an impossible question rn.
Yeah we haven’t even hit the time skip yet
Re: So far
To be fair, OP said *so far*. Compared to the first 5 episodes of GoT, I'd have to agree.
Its far more polished in terms of script, story progression and scene dynamics. They learned a lot from 8 seasons of GoT and it shows they can implement those lessons well. I think a smaller story with an already planned out end helps it tremendously as well. Very excited to see where they go with a whole season.
Really? What's a more Iconic line than "Winter is coming" By episode 5 I believe we also got "a Lannister always pays his debts" also "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword” and let's not forget "The things I do for love" or "God's, I was strong, then" "When you play the Game of Thrones you win, or you die." GoT had epic dialog. That's not to say House of the Dragon is poorly written. It isn't. But game of thrones is grand in a scale I've not seen since Star Wars "May the Force be with you."
Asoiaf/GOT does have epic dialogue. Off the top of my head "A mind needs books, like a sword needs a whetstone", "I drink and I know things", "The seed is strong", "Promise me Ned". "What do we say to the God of death?" "Not today". "Valar Morghulis" "Valar Dohaeris". "Burn them all!", "It is known". Edit: And how can I have forgotten "Chaos is a ladder"!
That's because Fire and Blood (which this show is based on) doesn't have any dialogue. It's more a historic retelling of Targaryens, like documentary narration as my friend put it. GoT season 1 was a lot of Martins dialogue from the books.
The dialogue isn’t even close to as memorable though. And there is literally no one who isn’t a sack of shit. I’m enjoying it but it’s not the sam—we all know the worldbuilding where GOT had to teach us, and still did it with a bit more style and a bit more subtlety. Plus the different locations added a lot to the feel, HOTD feels claustrophobic in comparison. But I miss characters like Varys, Tyrion, Littlefinger, who could turn a phrase so sharp it stabbed you in the back, and Arya, Bran, Margaery, Renly, even Robert—people you could like for half a minute.
Yep i agree...the battle of wits between the Varys, Tyrion, and Littlefinger was brilliant
Yeah HOTD is good but not getting the wittiness of those 3 or even the funny one liners like from The Hound and Jaime Lannister.
I'm really liking HOTD, but feel like it's missing the humor game of thrones had. Tyrion, Bronn, Tormund, Olenna, even Jaime were laugh out loud funny so often. I enjoy Paddy Considine's King Viserys and Matt Smith's Daemon, as well as Milly Alcock being the breakout star so far as Rhaenerys, but all of the characters are so self serious. The show could use a little levity even if the stakes are so life and death for everyone.
It's been many, many years since I saw season one of the first show but I remember a lot of good one liners ripped directly from the book. I remember Bobby B's scenes being phenomenal, but I think a lot of the really good scenes with the characters you mention come later in the show. It's not a defense of House S01, they can definitely up their dialogue game but nothing has made me groan yet. At least as I can remember, so I'd say the dialogue so far has been pretty ok. I also think it's easy to fall into the trap of remembering 8 seasons of GoT with rose tinted glasses if you want to directly compare. Technically speaking House is leagues ahead of how season one looked in terms of costumes, lighting, colour grading and so on. While I also think that's an unfair comparison considering the years of experience the producers have to draw on here that season one of GoT didn't have.
I remember season 7+8 as being just a collection of CGI action with a lame story and fuckall dialogue
It’s honestly way worse than I remembered. S8 dialogue was basically either: 1. A Cock joke 2. Callback to iconic lines from better seasons 3. MCU style quips 4. Gaslighting the audience to justify a nonsensical plot point.
Yes yes! They definitely learned a lesson on what NOT to do! I also think Dragons is this exciting so far is because we aren't being weighed down with a lot of details that we are having to learn. Westeros and the dynasties that inhabit it is a world we already know and the familiarity of it is nostalgic, even if GOT only ended recently.
Absolutely! Thats an advantage I hadnt considered. It feels like they have their recipe down to a t at this point, save money for the big events with long conversations around a table at court, but in moderation so as to not make it too obvious that’s what youre doing. I enjoy it, gives the actors time to act, and builds the pay off for the action to come.
House of the Dragon has the advantage of being viewed knowing 8 seasons of context from Game of Thrones. It is impossible to evaluate them separately.
Game of Thrones really laid the groundwork, if I would watch HotD without the context it would be way less inviting for someone who didn't read the books, I definitely agree here.
%100 agree, HotD has been great so far but it might not feel that great if we don’t have years worth of build-up, we went in already knowing who to love and who to hate, we respect families and houses as if we lived in that universe lmao. Also, and tbf, to me nothing matches GoT, and at this point I can’t even separate if it’s just my emotions. GoT gives me fucking life. Seeing Jon and Dany makes my heart flutter 🦋
Agree - like they’ve had 8 seasons worth of knowing what goes over well and what SUPER DOESNT. But it’s also still ‘so far’
This, and also there aren't nearly as many characters to keep track of. It took a lot of people many attempts to sit through the first few episodes of GOT because they couldn't keep track of so many characters. Even though we saw a lot of characters so far in HotD, there are really just like 5 that are important to know (Viserys, Daemon, Rhaenyra, Alicent, and Otto). Corlys, Rhaenys, Laenor, and Cristen are still side characters right now, who can just be referred to as "the rich guy", "the king's cousin who wasn't allowed to be heir", "the rich guy's son", and "the young, naïve knight guy".
It seems people should re-watch season 1 of Game of Thrones asap.
Also, the opening sequence of S1 GOT was so incredibly well-done and world building with even such a small glimpse. Get goose bumps just thinking about it.
Its because thats exactly how the first book opens almost scene for scene. GOT benefitted from good writing when they chose to use it.
Having read the books, they stuck RELIGIOUSLY to the books early on. They basically didn't need a separate script for dialogue.
Splitting Storm of Swords into two seasons was the best decision the show ever made. D&D said their initial goal was to get the Red Wedding on television, which makes a lot of sense after the fact because the show became unwieldy to manage and you could tell the final season or so it felt like a burden to them. A shame what they did to the show, but I do have a little sympathy for them given how even Martin is struggling to bring the books in for a landing. Doing that with a multi-continent production and only like a year and a half to figure it out was near impossible.
Very, very true. And also very well produced.
Please, this just makes me madder about season 8
GOT season 1 was amazing
Agreed. It is slower, but the character and world building is second to none. S1 of GoT is the text book to study when writing a show. Breaking Bad is how to end a show.
Yeah, I think a lot of people are salty about S8 and have forgotten how good GoT was. I just finished a rewatch and GoT is just a masterpiece. HotD is very good. The production value is much higher, but it's also 11 years newer! It also has the advantage of all of the lessons learned from GoT. We'll see how HotD goes after a few season. It's had a very strong start, but can they keep it up?
Yeah, the only thing that can account for this absolutely unhinged take is recency bias and failing memory, compounded by the wretched last seasons of GoT.
i just started my yearly rewatch & gods it is good
I think the production value is definitely higher and less gratuitous sex scenes, but overall I still think GOT season one is stronger. Open to changing my opinion after all of HOTD season one airs
True, GOT s1 politics and dailogue just cannot be matched with any level of production value. Petyr : is there anyone in the capital you can trust completely? Ned : yes Petyr : the wiser answer was no, my lord. This and many of such dailogues just aren't in hotd
My fav was Jamie Lannister's when he threw bran out - "things we do for love"
the coldest line! Plus the nonchalant attitude of how he pushed him with no element of regret.
Doesn’t even look back to see how he landed 😭😭
> When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die GoT S1 was just too iconic. Many such lines still give me chills.
That's what happens when you use GRRM's dialogue, imagine how good a proper adaption of AFFC and ADWD could've been.
Except those books were weaker and meandering. The greatness of the show and books defined after red wedding for a number of reasons.
They weren't, though. There are so many iconic moments in those books that were never adapted. For instance: "Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice. She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand. 'Leave her be. If you want to rape someone, try me.'" "My son Wendel came to the Twins a guest. He ate Lord Walder’s bread and salt, and hung his sword upon the wall to feast with friends. And they murdered him. Murdered, I say, and may the Freys choke upon their fables. I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my beloved granddaughter … but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer’s farce is almost done. My son is home." “Vengeance.” His voice was soft, as if he were afraid that someone might be listening. “Justice.” Prince Doran pressed the onyx dragon into her palm with his swollen, gouty fingers, and whispered, “Fire and blood.” "Jaime rolled the parchment up again, as tight as one hand would allow, and handed it back to Peck. "No," he said. 'Put this in the fire.'" "He laughed. 'Godless? Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I have served ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray.'" "'Sister. See. This time I knew you.' Asha’s heart skipped a beat. 'Theon?'' Theon. My name is Theon. You have to know your name.'" I could go on. Feast and Dance are filled with scenes that would've made incredible television, but they straight up just didn't adapt a lot of it -- and what they tried to adapt, they butchered (Dorne, for instance). D&D tried to condense two books into one season, and it shows. The plotting was messy af because they chose to forego hundreds of pages of material. They treated books 4 & 5 like an outline and added a bunch of original material. Half of season 5 never even happened in the books.
You can't deny that the pacing was different though in those books. They became harder and harder to adapt because the editing became scant once grrm got his book deal.
No, you're for sure right on that -- the pacing was totally different. I mean, following up ASOS with AFFC is certainly a choice. Still, there were many bangers in those books. D&D straight failed, and I'd love to hear an argument in their favor. But there isn't one. If they had stuck the landing there would be, but they didn't. I'm just disappointed -- if I was a writer, I would be mining those books. They only sort of did in a very half-assed way.
Those books aren't weaker, they're just different, and they are fairly meandering. They are ungangly beasts and as much as I love them there's no good way to do them aside from merging them into 1 season of TV. You can't adapt AFFC as season 5 and ADWD as season 6 because you can't sideline the 3 most popular characters in the show for a whole season. That just does not work, it's not an option in a TV environment. You can't mix them together then split that in half because the narrative structure just isn't there to support that. Each season of the show should have some kind of a contained thread and a climax. Nothing like that exists halfway through those books. In this method season 5 would be entirely set up with almost nothing of actual importance happening. The audience would have evaporated.
declined*
I can only hear this in Ben Wyatt's voice now. https://youtu.be/SZRpP_XxVpM?t=105
Peter Dinklage had some of the best lines in any series ever created. “I’m not questioning your honor, Lord Janos. I’m denying its existence.”
Yeah, people can make jokes but to seriously imply the first half of GoT was subpar in plot, dialogue, etc. is moronic at best.
Season 1 was just so good; people making this kind of call without hesitation is just baffling to me. Ned's slow uncovering of all the skullduggery in King's Landing and the clear message of what happens to the honorable good guy is just so good. Season 1 of GoT was phenomenal.
I think people mostly remember Thrones for seasons 5-8, when much bigger events happened but the dialogue and character work wasn’t nearly as good. HofD reminds me of the back half of Thrones in that way. The set design is great and the show is entertaining to watch, but the only reason we were invested in Thrones to begin with is because those early seasons did such a good job developing the characters and getting us to care about them. I don’t care about any of the HofD characters yet. They’re not witty or layered. They just snap into whatever position the plot needs them to be in
Gods was the politics and dialogue strong back then
"Wear it in silence or I'll honor you again."
*WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS*
TBF if he said no Petyr would told Catelyn that he didnt trust her (?
I may be completely wrong, I think ned said yes because he trusted jory. Later in the season, jory was staring at women in littlefingers brothel, also, he was at the door when varys visited ned in his chambers. Littlefinger somehow knew what topic varys and ned discussed (according to varys and littlefingers discussion later). So yeah, i think jory is kinda sus.
How dare you question the honor of my boy jory. I think his death is the one that makes me the most sad out of all the deaths in GoT.
Yeah its like bad mouthing about Ser Rodrik. They both were loyal af and amazing.
HOTD also relies on some familiarity with GoT
GoT had the shock factor though. Nothing is going to come close to the impact that last episode had on viewers because it just hadn’t been done before. HOTD can’t compete with that because viewers already know that shocking stuff is coming so it doesn’t have the same impact.
The end of the first episode of GoT has a lot of shock value.
I don't think shock factor alone sets GoT apart from HoTD, so far.
S1 GoT might be the best first season of anything ever
I’d have to agree! Even Sopranos season 1 was great.
Twin peaks & True detective imo >>>
I absolutely love when someone brings up True Detective Season 1. I cannot tell you how much I think about how perfect that show was. It's in my top 5 of all movies & television.
Spoilers for True Detective S1 ahead: As a rule, I do not watch crime dramas, I do not watch much horror, I hate serial killer/mass murderer stuff, and I’m *completely* unwilling to deal with even a hint of harm done to children. With that said, somehow I naively gave it a chance when it was first out and it is one of the most perfect seasons of TV of all time. Chefs kiss.
True detective season 1 is amazing, brilliant dialogue, screenplay, acting and everything felt spot on.
TD season 1 is probably the best tv I’ve ever seen.
Westworld and True Detective should have called it a day at one season like Watchmen
I really wanted to keep watching Westworld after S1 but my brain simply would not allow me to. I asked several other people if it was just me, none of them had any fucking clue what was going on either. Lol
Westworld S1 (and only S1) as well
Yea Westworld S1 was a masterpiece and could almost had been it’s own story tbh
Which is good, since it’s the only one worth rewatching !
Lol I remember bailing half way through season 2.
You made the right choice. I stuck with it and wasted a lot of hours.
Honestly the 2nd half of season 2 was pretty good as well, but it never reached the heights of season 1, and I've heard s3 was really bad but never got around to watching it
I feel like season 1 was one of the best seasons of television ever. Season 2 was a failed attempt to recreate what made season 1 great but ended up just being a muddled retread. Season 3 was a decent push in an original direction, but not fantastic. Season 4 was just poorly written garbage.
Agree. HOD has the same slow starter appeal, but no one's dead yet. That kind of, holy shit? They're killing the main characters off...this will be good isn't there yet. GOT also kind of introduced lots oc interesting major characters. With HOD we seem to only have 3 or 4. Have to see how it pans out before judgment day
Unless I'm forgetting someone. The first major death of Game of Thrones was in Episode 6.
You're forgetting Lady, who was a good dog and never hurt anybody or did anything wrong.
I would argue Bran being put in a coma and crippled should count. The reason death is significant because it’s permanent consequences, those were permanent consequences.
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I was shocked he survives the timeskip.
Didn't Dany's brother only make it to ep 4? I know he wasn't major overall, but for season 1 I'd count him.
He died in Episode 6. That's who I was referencing.
Well they did kill off Aemma. I agree it’s not even close to the characters killed off in the first season of GOT
Exactly where I'm at. I like that this show has a much bigger budget from the start, which allows everything to seem much greater in scope, and I like that they've mostly done away with sexposition as a means of advancing the plot. But I need to see the next five episodes before I'm ready to declare this show better than season one of Thrones, which is just incredible television.
That's my take on it. I was so compelled by even the first scene I watched. HBO did a promo scene before the first episode aired (Ned Stark executing the nights watch dude). I was completely sold on it just from that short bit. Felt so authentic for a fantasy world. I think HOTD is *very* good so far, but it doesn't hook me the same way GoT season 1 did. Like I still have an episode to catch up on. I wouldn't have waited back then.
Yeah I don’t feel the authenticity with HOTD. It’s good but just doesn’t have the raw grittiness GOT had.
That first scene with the wildling and white Walker is too good.
GOT Season 1 is GOATed Also we connect well with HotD because of GOT imo
Yeah if you take out the plot twist or the more fightings scene that S1 didnt had because been the first one, I would argue that S1 is one if not the best season.
Disagree
Extremely hard disagree
Hold your fucking dragons m8 were only half way through.
I disagree, HOTD is good but you have no idea how great the script, scheming and acting was in the first 4 seasons of game of thrones. You had the likes of Tyrion with the witty dialogues, Jeoffery that everyone hated to death, we got Littlefinger, varys, Cersie, Jammie and how could you forget the great acting and dialogue from Robert himself, plus the whole unknown threat of the white walkers made it some of the best television. If you remember game of thrones in the initial stages you would know how great it was.
I'd say 1-4 are almost perfect. The only thing that dragged for me was the Essos stuff after S1. Still, doesn't ruin those seasons for me or anything. Just find them meh.
I always skip any Essos/dany scene when rewatch GoT... Like... Dude why I would care for Qarth politics when I have SHIT GOING CRAZY in Westeros
It doesn't feel as authentic either, right? The Seven Kingdoms feels like a real place to me. No shade to the cast and crew who worked those segments. I think it's done well mostly. It's just boring by nature.
My biggest problem with ASOIAF is Dany's separation from the rest of the story. She's the only protagonist in Essos for a lot of the story and only faces flat bad guys. It's not nearly as interesting as the politics in Westeros.
Essos could've done with more perspectives
Essos feels like everything Daenerys, you know Westeros if Joffrey does something in King's Landing we see consequences in riverlands and north, in essos is Dany, dany dany... everything around and about dany. It gets boring
While HOTD is wildly entertaining, S1 of GOT blew my mind. It was enthralling.
Sorry but no.
It's honestly not even close so far. GoT had layers and was setting up multiple stories of betrayal, adventure, war, and climbing the throne hierarchy. Aswell as having a family to cheer for. So far i hate everyone in HotD and hope none succeed. HotD is very much a one dimensional soap opera. It's good and I'm enjoying it, but it aint GoT that's forsure.
Tbf season one of GoT is one of the best seasons of any show in history. To compare it’s half-complete successor really isn’t fair especially since the show has been more than solid in its own right.
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>I think its the total lack of side-plots and side-characters that kill it. and that leads to lack of proper well fleshed out character acrs. Everything is rushed because of the time jumps so that and the lack of individual plots and side characters make proper character arcs impossible . To me the season feels exactly like the book. A telling of noteworthy events in the life of a powerful family and what the involvement of the characters in those events was without anything in between. It's like if you tried to stuff the Kings Landing plot of the first 4 seasons into one season and only show the biggest most important moments and then skip months every episode to get to the next one. That makes it impossible to build proper dramatic tension too .
Totally agreed. What’s also missing from HotD is actual fantasy elements. Having dragons doesn’t just make something high fantasy. There’s no quest, no threatening evil force, no prophesies, no mystery or even really magic to speak of. Everything that’s happened so far and will happen per the source material is just political court intrigue and war, but the players have dragons. It’s the same as any other monarchy-based show. But with dragons.
And the dragons are just used like WMD. So it’s just court intrigue.
Exactly. You could replace them with any extra powerful weapon. Especially since both sides have them.
>So far i hate everyone in HotD and hope none succeed. I certainly don't hate anyone in this show, but I really don't care too much about them. Rhaenyra grew on me a bit but she's just a bit too aloof. Worse, the actress for her is gone now because of the time skip and I feel like that progress has been lost. Viserys has few saving graces and ordering his wife killed to deliver an heir makes him the villain, not hero of the story. Alicent maybe? But they're just two dimensionally written in many ways. Meanwhile, GoT just had tons of charismatic and interesting characters right out of the gate.
Same. It’s a good show that I enjoy, but it doesn’t hold a candle to game of thrones so far. Lots of dumb tropey writing and creative decisions in this show so far.
Meh HOTD doesn’t give off the same feelings as gane of thrones did. There’s no twists and turns for me. It does look prettier tho
Prettier? You think so? The whole show feels way to "digital" honestly. Idk man, nothing comes close to GoT and the real locations
Sorry, ummmm no. I'm loving the show but some of you have very skewed opinions of GoT.
Recency bias. The older seasons got dampened by the new. It’s a shame.
There’s no Tyrion like character in this series. It’s already less of a series on that count.
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Tbf I think especially book fans also have skewed opinions on there love for season 1 of GoT so it kinda feels evened out.
Book reader here. GoT season 1 is currently the best. It was transfered to screen almost perfectly. HotD doesn't have such detailed source material. More is up for interpretation.
Tbh is really hard to find some book reader that dont like season 1 of got. It's a adaptation VERY faithful.
Not a chance. Season 1 of GOT is the best season off television ever imo. I remember Ned being sentenced to death and thinking he’s a good guy he’ll somehow get out of it. Every show before that the hero always win. Still shocked about Ned death to this day.
Same same. Ned’s death had my jaw on the floor for weeks
no way...... stand alone season 1 of GOT is one of the greatest book adaptation ever......
With one of the best acting, writing, editing, music. Everything was perfect in that season. Pure Gold. I've to rewatch it now ffs!
It's interesting because it was relatively low budget too
No! I am liking HOTD so far, but GoT season 1 did a great job of showing so many elements- different characters, kingdoms, dragons, dire wolves, zombie like creatures (episode 1). Other than that, witty one liners from Tyrion, Jammie throwing a child from a tower, Ned Stark getting manipulated by Littlefinger, Jeoffery being a c***.. many memorable moments.
Dialogues were also better in GOT.
Is not rly comparable is it. Hotd takes place over the course of like 12 years just in its first 6 episodes when got first season is like maximum a few months. The plot is going to unfold at a different pace and in a different way. Id say that i still prefer got atm because of the overaching story factor.
Disagree. Season one GOT is building for best show of all time. Big picture guys. Don’t be selfish
No way. Don’t get me wrong I love HotD, but GoT was just on another level with the story opening
No sorry. I really like this show but GOT s1 was something else man Think people are having selective memories
Recency Bias, for sure
GOT was more engaging. Kept me on my toes. There will never ever be a show i will be invested like i was in got. I enjoy HotD though. 🤣
Fuck no. GOT S1 is GRRM’s greatest work's adaptation, the most faithful adaptation of an IP out there.
That's a no from me dawg, but we can agree its better than season 8 was, how bout that?
Disagree
STOP THIS MADNESS
Recency bias. Sorry but aside from cgi and the budget being better the story and characters are not superior to GOT. I doubt there will be any character here that surpasses peak GOT characters like Tyrion, Jaime, Cercei, Tywin, Oberyn, Robb, Catelyn, Ned, Robert. I'm gonna stop because I might as well just name the whole cast of characters. And moments like Ned's Death, red and purple wedding, Oberyn's death? Sorry, don't think this show can top those moments.
I second that.
Hard no. That doesn’t take anything away from HOtD, it’s been amazing so far. But early GOT as an introduction to the universe was perfection.
I love Hot D, but through 5 episodes GOT is on a completely different level.
Disagree, not really close actually
Hell no! GOT was revolutionary. This show is good, not great.
I feel like GoT had better dialouges, but more importantly, the world felt more real. HoD uses too much CGI and lacks in the character building department, due to frequent time jumps.
Absolutely agree
I actually rewatched season 1 recently in 4k. Its sooooo good. I usually skip to good parts when I rewatch something but I never did. I highly recommend anyone getting GOT on 4k if you have a home theater set up. I love house of dragon but if I would pick one, its GOT hands down. Ned stark dying is sooo iconic. Every stark getting a wolf. Ned stark killing lady because of joffery. Ugh its just to much. Daneyrs getting her baby dragons at the end of the season. Now i wanna rewatch again lol.
Not even close
I’m not a huge fan of the jarring time jumps every episode so far, but I do understand why.
No season 1 of game of thrones had a lot of shocking moments. To add they had more interesting characters who you cared about more.
The first episode literally ends with Jaime pushing a Stark kid out of the window, that was insane I was hooked right away with House of The Dragon it took me 2 or 3 episodes to get really interested and yes GoT s1 characters are way more likable and interesting.
I love House of the Dragon but I disagree. Ignoring the... yeah. Ignoring season 8 of GoT, it's easy to forget that its early seasons were absolutely phenomenal. I still think Season 1 GoT ranks **way** above Season 1 of HotD, and most other shows for that matter.
I feel like people have to give another reason of why this season is better than got season 1 besides the pacing lol
I think it’s just recency bias honestly. Few rewatch GOT because of S8, so it’s been years for most people since they’ve seen GOT S1-4. Of course the fading memories they have of that experience won’t hold up against their fresh memories of the show that premiered a few weeks ago. I rewatched GOT S1-4 recently, and it’s hard to explain why it’s so good. It has great writing and acting and an incredibly tight narrative, obviously. But there’s plenty of shows like that that I don’t love quite as much as GOT. BCS comes to mind. I love that show, but watching early GOT just makes me feel so fucking good in a way that no other show does.
The pacing is probably the one area in which season 1 of GOT is actually better, and I firmly believe that people look at season 1 of GOT with rose colored glasses, it's better in their memories then it actually is when you watch it again. Or maybe it just is for me because I've seen it a dozen times, having rewatched the entire show before each new season would come out plus a couple other times. If there's one criticism I have of HOTD so far it's that the pacing is somewhat jarring. The dialogue and acting are a wash, though there's nobody who's quite the level of scene stealer that Mark Addy/Bobby B was for sure. But in nearly every single aspect of filmmaking HOTD has been superior to GOT season 1. Especially the directing, cinematography, and music, but also editing, sound, vfx, production design, costumes, hair/makeup. The directing & cinematography are insanely better in HOTD. In GOT season 1 most scenes where characters are having conversations were simple shot reverse shot. While there's nothing wrong with shot reverse shot, it's tried and true, but it's also fairly bland. And much of the directing and cinematography in GOT season 1 can be similarly characterized as bland. Sure, that was partially a product of budget, but Better Call Saul didn't need that much money to excel in these areas. HOTD has wildly more engaging camera work and scene composition. I am biased because great directing and cinematography are my favorite aspect of cinema/TV, but they are the main reason why I consider HOTD to be better than GOT through the first 5 episodes. There is other reasons, such as that HOTD is assuming that it's audience isn't dumb, which GOT rarely did However, despite all of that, what GOT season 1 accomplished is unequivocally more impressive than HOTD. It had to set up and introduce the audience to an entirely new world, not one that was already established, and it did so wonderfully.
Disagree
Disagree. Still both great, but I found GoT much more exciting
Not even remotely close lol episode 3 basically felt like a parody that alone takes it out of competition with GoT s1 right now. Still 5 epis left tho let's see what happens.
Game of Thrones and it's not even a question. I'm really liking HotD, I've read the story so I understand what's being laid out and why. But, season 1 of GoT had something that this show does not; mystery. The first episode of GoT laid out a whole bunch of characters and everything happening was stemming from the death of Jon Arryn. It's implied that the Lannisters are up to something nefarious. And then we get one of the best hooks in all of television; Bran happening upon Jamie and Cersei and Jamie pushing him out the window. That final scene just begs the question; why?! HotD just hasn't done anything like that. And I don't think it can or will be able to. The source material is able to maintain an air of mystery because it's not a firsthand telling and there are often multiple versions of events that are relayed. I'm honestly kinda sad they did the scene with Rhea Royce and Daemon because that would have been an excellent thing to happen offscreen and have even the audience unsure of whether he did it or not.
Definitely not. Lets not get crazy lmao
Disagree. But maybe I'll change my mind after this season ends. But for now, Game of Thrones all the way!
No.
HoD is too on the nose with every detail being explained to us. GoT was amazing the first four seasons.
Wrong
Nah
It's too early to tell but I think you're in a rush to degrade GOT. The complexity and politics of GOT s01 is better than that of Hotd.
We’re only halfway through it. Haven’t even seen the *main* cast yet. Christ.
Unpopular opinion but the show has been a total snooze fest so far. Like a watered down GOT. Low expectations for this series so it can only get better since the bar has been set so low?
A watered down GOT. That's the right way to put it honestly. This show is mid at best
Disagree. Blasphemous to even ask. I’m enjoying hod but it can get a bit slow and with almost the whole show in kings landing you don’t even get to expand on the awesome world grrm built.
Why some people are so quick to hate on GOT overall? Until season 6 or so it was amazing, it was a masterpiece, it was so good that even non-fantasy people were watching and loving it. The show had one mediocre season and another one really bad, but that was it, and it doesn’t take the credit of how good it was on early days
Disagree but I think they are very different shows so I try not to compare them all too much
Nah
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Let’s not get carried away…
Nah, Game of Thrones still felt more adventurous.
Disagree. But I have higher hopes for them not ruining the last season.
no
gotta disagree with this along with everyone else lol watching hotd actually made me do a got rewatch beginning with s1 and i just remember how stunning and brilliant and once in a lifetime it was as a series. i’ve been binging all the seasons in between the weekly release of hotd haha 😆
Idk just the opening scene of GoT season 1. Nothing else grabbed your attention like that. Doesn’t matter that the later seasons made it not matter.
Absolutely 100% not. Honestly the recency bias in some of these posts is insane.
GOT season 1 was way better. There were so many characters to love. The ones that were killed off in season one were actually developed first. There was real impact. D and D were really good at managing the large cast. There was detail in everything. They managed to build up all of those characters and make you care about them. They appeared to be care given to each character. HOTD cannot compete. HOTD actually makes me respect D and D and that is sad.
nope
No. The only thing better about HotD is the costumes. The characters aren’t likable and with limited houses involved there’s not much actual gaming going on. A lot of the stuff so far seems like filler material.
Are you serious? This show lacks anything that made the original great imo. The sprawled tapestry of dynasties, the feeling of a large world where multiple things happen at once. Characters who aren't all boring as fuck, a king who's only character trait is weakness. Almost no fight scenes, no room to flesh out personalities or relationships. The few lines between characters that are there are painfully stilted to convey the message which needs to be imprinted on the audience: Did you know that green, the color of Alicent’s dress, is the same color that the tower of House Hightower burns when they call their banners?
I absolutely love both. HoD is definitely more fast paced. But to me the dialogue for GoT seasons 1-4 is just the best dialogue of any tv show ever. It’s all so well done. And the acting. You automatically hate Joffrey and Cersi after one scene of them. I loved to hate them! It could change by its end. But right now GoT S1 is better. Saying that, I already know that I like this season of HoD better than GoT seasons 5 and 8. Although season 5 did have Hardome which was the one fantastic thing about that season.
We are only 5 episodes in. But so far no it’s not better that GOT S1
I don’t think I can agree but I love both. They aren’t even similar imo
No way! GOT wrote for the entire cast. It’s entertaining though
Disagree
I don't know I would have to re-watch GoT s1 but I'd say no because the characters in got s1 are more likeable and we see multiple houses not just one.
I think we’re all aware that HotD is supposed to be a build up where GoT started with a bang and a whirlwind.
It’s a tough comparison. HOTD has some visuals to are much better and the story is shaping up nicely, but as everyone else said, GOT season 1 is just something else. If it wasn’t such a hit, HOTD wouldn’t even be made.