‘House of the Dragon’: Fans Give Verdict, Plus Premiere Crashes HBO Max

Martin Holmes
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Many fans of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy epic A Song of Ice and Fire were let down by the season finale of Game of Thrones in 2019, and so the feeling was one of apprehension going into HBO Max‘s new spin-off, House of the Dragon.

However, the verdict from fans following the season premiere on Sunday, August 21, was mostly positive. Viewers took to social media on Sunday night to share their thoughts on the new series, which is set nearly 200 years before the events in Game of Thrones and chronicles the beginning of the end of House Targaryen and the civil war that ripped apart Westeros.

“House of the dragon episode 1 was absolutely fantastic,” tweeted one viewer. “GOT seasons 1-6 is one of my favorite things ever and HOD absolutely captured the same feeling/quality that does seasons did. Those last minutes had me tearing up, I can not wait for this series. It’s going to be special.”

Another long-time fan of the fantasy franchise added, “The House of the Dragon exceeded my expectations. Packing all the great elements that Game of Thrones once had. It does great fan service for a viewer like me who has followed the franchise vigorously for several years.”

“House of the Dragon sucked me back into got so fast im honestly embarassed (sic) for myself,” wrote another commenter.

It wasn’t all positive, though, particularly when it came to the show’s wig department. “Someone looked at Matt Smith and said, yeah, I think that long blonde targaryen wig is gonna look fine on him and that level of detachment from reality is almost inspiring,” wrote Vulture critic Kathryn VanArendonk.

“Disappointed to see House of the Dragon continue the GOT habit of using really bad wigs,” added another. “I don’t get it. All this production money and they’re still slapping Spirit Halloween fairy princess wigs on the Targaryens.”

Despite some wig fatigue, however, the overall vibe was one of excitement for the rest of the series. “Came into House of the Dragon with heavy skepticism after the last season of Thrones, but…so far the wigs are awful but I’m cautiously intrigued by the rest?” wrote one viewer.

Proof of that excitement came during the season premiere when the HBO Max app crashed for several viewers. Whether this was due to viewer overload or another technical issue isn’t quite clear. A spokesperson for HBO told The Hollywood Reporter that the problem only seemed to affect those connecting via Amazon’s devices.

“House of the Dragon is being successfully viewed by millions of HBO Max subscribers this evening,” HBO said. “We’re aware of a small portion of users attempting to connect via Fire TV devices that are having issues and are in the process of resolving for those impacted users.”

'House of the Dragon': Milly Alcock & Emily Carey on the Intense Rhaenyra-Alicent Friendship (VIDEO)
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'House of the Dragon': Milly Alcock & Emily Carey on the Intense Rhaenyra-Alicent Friendship (VIDEO)

Check out more reaction to the House of the Dragon premiere below.

House of the Dragon, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO

House of the Dragon - HBO

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House of the Dragon

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