One does not simply walk into an internet fight between fans of The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones — but I’m going to do it anyway.
I grew up with the Lord of the Rings books and movies and loved everything about the franchise until those awful Hobbit movies came out a while back.
I was also ride-or-die for the original Game Of Thrones books and show, right up until they hit fast-forward on the story and ended it so poorly with those final few seasons on HBO. But until then, it just felt more grown-up and surprising than any other fantasy series.
So with two new prequel series now on TV — Amazon's Rings Of Power and HBO's House Of The Dragon — I went into each show with an eyebrow raised, to say the least.
I actually got to preview the first two LOTR episodes for a series of interviews I did here at Narcity, and I'm also caught up on the first two episodes of House Of The Dragon. And after watching both, I can say that these two shows are miles apart.
I’ll tell you right now: the GoT prequel is OK, but this version of LOTR absolutely slaps. Or at least, that's how it looks in the early stages of the season.
One serves up a lot of people in wigs talking around tables, some cool CGI dragons and a familiar helping of sex and violence; the other is a sprawling adventure with action, drama, surprise and a cool sea monster.
Oh, and wigs. There are bad wigs in both.
This is not to say that you can't like both shows, but after loving and hating parts of each of these franchises over the years, I can say that the Lord of the Rings prequel simply has more surprises than GoT. And since these two shows are running at the same time, it's hard not to compare them.
House of the Dragon feels like mediocre pizza; if you’re showing up for pizza you won’t be disappointed, but it’s not going to surprise you. It’s certainly not as groundbreaking as that first GoT show, which felt like a more realistic response to the LOTR movies that came before it.
Rings Of Power, meanwhile, is like discovering that Cherry Coke is a thing; it’s delicious, surprising and challenging, all at the same time.
Rings of Power Trailer.Amazon Prime Video UK | Youtube
Rings Of Power has several characters you can root for, from the hard-driving elf leader Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) to the charming Harfoot Nori (Markella Kavenagh), or the brooding elf warrior Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova) and his human lover, Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi).
Sure, we can easily predict that an evil ring will be made at some point, but there are also plenty of mysteries in the show, like “where the hell is Sauron?” and “is that old guy Gandalf?” (Yes, he probably is Gandalf — but play along, OK?)
House of the Dragon has several white-haired Targaryens you can root for, and they range from Danaerys Targaryen lite (Milly Alcock's Princess Rhaenyra) to classic Game of Thrones *sshole (Matt Smith's Prince Daemon).
The veteran stars like Rhys Ifans (Otto Hightower) and Paddy Considine (King Viserys) are also acting their hearts out, but it's hard to root for a couple of dudes who spend their time chatting about incest and child brides.
House of the Dragon Official Trailer. HBO Max | Youtube
Sure, you want to see Rhaenyra bust up the patriarchy and seize the throne despite being a woman, but she’s not nearly as compelling as Danaerys Targaryen, who starts with nothing and builds her way up to claiming everything. (Before she goes insane, of course.)
But the fatal flaw of House Of The Dragon isn’t the wigs. After two episodes, it seems to be that there aren’t any genuinely good people to root for amid all the blood, backstabbing and sex.
The original GoT had Ned Stark (Sean Bean) as the noble head of the noblest family, and fans were truly shocked when he lost his head at the end of Season 1. It was a moment when the audience realized something critical: anything can happen and being the good guy doesn't mean you'll survive. They did it again with that Red Wedding episode, and even the series finale was a surprise because there were no books around to spoil it.
House Of The Dragon is a prequel, and if you Google how it ends it's not all that rewarding — unless you're cheering for incest.
But what if you didn't know who lives and who dies?
Believe it or not, Rings Of Power has a lot of that. Sure, Elrond and Galadriel can't die and Sauron will eventually trick everyone into putting a ring on it, but there are a bunch of new characters in this show who aren't guaranteed to make it through. Many others are doomed to die and it's only a question of when.
And that's what makes a show fun, isn't it? The surprise?
House Of The Dragon doesn't have a whole lot of surprises so far, but with Rings Of Power, you just might get a taste of that Cherry Coke that you didn't see coming.
Or you can take another bite of that mediocre pizza in the fridge.
Me? I'll be having both — but I'm enjoying one more than the other.
