House of the Dragon premiere: Game of Thrones prequel is here and episode 1 fits the bill

No spoilers ahead! Bring dragons, gore, dysfunctional families and enduring rivalries together and you get a pop culture behemoth - Game of Thrones. The hugely anticipated spinoff of this juggernaut is finally here and takes you back into King's Landing where it all began. There's a lot of catching up to do if you haven't experienced this colossal series yet.

The first episode of House of the Dragon gives you a perfect taste of what to expect throughout the journey. Without beating around the bush, the opening episode comands your attention from the very start with extravagant scenes filled with torture, pain, violence and nudity. If Game of Thrones served a heavy dose of voyeuristic scenes with ease, the first episode of House of the Dragon took it to the next level. It's up to the audience to adjudicate whether it blurs the line between scintillating fantasy and downright gore.

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What about the story?
The spinoff takes you 200 years before what happened in Game of Thrones. At the outset, the scale of the story appears quite small as compared to GOT, with just one house being shown instead of the entire landscape of Westeros. So, it’s about the Targaryens family who lives in Kings Landing, which is ruled by King Viserys Targaryen and then we have the heroine of the series as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who has a relatively less troubled childhood than her great-granddaughter Daenerys Targaryen.

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What you need to know about House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon is based on George R. R. Martin's book Fire & Blood. The story revolves around the lives of all characters of House Targaryen and the events related to Targaryen civil war, which is described as the Dance of the Dragons. The first season will consist of 10 episodes.

Where to watch
This time Indians audiences will not have to wait a bit longer and resist the urge to check out the online spoilers, as Disney+ Hotstar is showing the prequel to GOT at the same time as in the US. All new episodes will stream every Monday at 6:30am IST.

House of The Dragon: Cast
Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen
Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen
Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen (Younger brother of King Viserys)
Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower (Hand of King Viserys)
Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower
Eve Best as Rhaenys Targaryen
Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon