HBO has always been a place for prestige television, and few shows have had the wild popularity of Game of Thrones. The fantasy series (which is streaming for those with a Max subscription), might have a controversial ending, but that hasn't stopped fans from tuning back in for the prequel series House of the Dragon. GOT's Hodor actor compares the original series to HOTD, and he has the perfect analogy. Let's break it all down.
Actor Kristian Nairn is a notable member of the Game of Thrones cast, appearing in 23 episodes throughout the series before Hodor's death. He spoke with ScreenRant about his relationship to House of the Dragon, and got honest by saying:
Of course I do [compare them]. It's like a different semester or term in college or school, we're like the older generation. I was at a convention recently with Tom [Glynn-Carney, who plays Aegon on House of the Dragon] and I was just interested to watch him go do all the PR stuff and, yeah, I'm proud of them. They don't need me to be proud of them obviously, but season 1 I think was off the charts. I think it was almost as good as Game of Thrones. I think it felt almost like a continuation, although it's in the past, I felt like it was just the next episode or something.
Honestly, I love this analogy. They are two very different shows, but there's a clear connection in their iconography and tones. And in that way it's like HOTD and GOT are just two semesters in the same school.
House of the Dragon's Season 2 finale inspired discussion with fans about the show's quality, as well as its pacing. Some folks were disappointed that it the finale ended in a cliffhanger, but that was usually how GOT went down too; the penultimate episode was explosive while the finale showed fallout and set up for the next season.
Later in that same interview, Nairn expressed his own feelings about House of the Dragon Season 2, and its connection the original series that he appeared on. In his words:
I don't think the same about Season 2, but I can say that without being negative. I don't think it's bad. I do really like it, but to me it's something different. I don't know if I'm wrong about this, but I've spoken to a few people about it and I don't think I'm too far off the mark. It just feels different. There's a vibe, there's a heavy Game of Thrones vibe throughout the show. And to me it's just different. But I'm still going to keep watching. I think it just feels a bit different to me. That's all. I'm sure that could be twisted into the fact that I fucking hate it, but I don't. I really like it. I love fantasy in all forms and I'm loving the dragons in this one. That's incredible.
You can't deny that the dragons featured in House of the Dragon make an impact. While Game of Thrones only featured Dany's three "children", we're shown a variety of different shapes and sizes of dragons, but there are plenty to get attached to in the prequel. Unfortunately, most of them are seemingly going to perish thanks to the war occurring between the Blacks and Greens.
It certainly seems like Season 3 of HOTD will be a wild one, as all the places have been assembled for all-out war between the Targaryens. And it should be thrilling to see what goes down, especially for those who haven't heard George R.R. Martin's book.
House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones are both streaming now on Max. Check the TV premiere list to plan your next binge watch, including more stories set in Westeros.
