Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 15, 2022

If you're a westerner, particularly in you grew up in the United States, chances are your closest brush with royalty has been reading about England, and in that regard, if you're like many, it can seem positively strange to suddenly be hearing King of England, due to the fact that for many of us, it's literally been a lifetime of hearing Queen of England. If Queen Elizabeth II had her own trials and tribulations with which to contend, they probably paled in comparison to her "namesake", Queen Elizabeth I, and in that regard, there's a certain "Tudor" spirit underlying some of the premise of House of the Dragon, the hugely anticipated prequel to HBO's now iconic Game of Thrones. In that regard it's kind of fun to see erstwhile Doctor Who Matt Smith turn up in this enterprise as the brother of a king without a male heir who is passed over in the line of succession in favor of the king's daughter, since Smith was a somewhat similar "accessory" in the first seasons of The Crown as Prince Philip, a guy with (ostensibly) royal blood of his own who found himself shunted to the sidelines more often than not. Philip of course didn't have any dragons (that we know of, anyway), whereas the focal family of this series, the Targaryens, has maintained their hold on power at least due in part to the fact that they do have dragons, which in this world, amount to "weapons of mass destruction" that keep pesky would be combatants on the fearful side.

It can probably seem positively goofy to modern day sensibilities to study the machinations (not to mention decapitations) that kings like Henry VIII foisted on their country in order to produce a male heir, but that is the foundational conceit that starts House of the Dragon on its own novelistic narrative. King Viserys I (Paddy Considine) may not have had six wives to his credit (?), but he, like Henry, finds himself without a male heir as he is getting on in years, though his wife Queen Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke), is pregnant with a child Viserys is absolutely positive is a male. Meanwhile, his adult (if still on the young side) daughter Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock as the young character, and then Emma D'Arcy as the older version) is nursing some emotional wounds at having been more or less ignored by her father in his relentless pursuit for a male heir. Viserys randy younger brother Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) has come to assume he will inherit the throne if Aemma doesn't give birth to a son, since longstanding tradition has stated only males can assume power. Well, guess what happens?

Suffice it to say that due to Daemon's own misguided behaviors and an intervening tragedy, Rhaenyra is in fact appointed heir apparent, the first time in Westeros history that a female would be the leader, and that aspect then continues to inform a story that, while ostensibly more pinpointed than the sprawling Game of Thrones, still has a glut of characters and interwoven subplots to keep George R.R. Martin fans properly engaged. Already fans of the prior (if vis a vis Martin's timeline, subsequent) series may be feeling there's a certain sense of déjà vu prevalent which even some of the show's creative staff at least alludes to in some of the supplements included on the discs. Aging patriarch with roiling "next generation" issues? Check. Prophecies of death and destruction and shall we say wintry weather? Check. Gorgeous blonde princess with a penchant for riding dragons? Check. And yet almost immediately House of the Dragon starts going off into any number of its own nooks and crannies which can't be easily analogized to anything in Game of Thrones, aside from the fantasy laden quasi-feudal setting.

If it initially appears that Rhaenyra is going to this series' version of Elizabeth, even that supposition gets at least sidelined if not outright dismissed, and not just because of the continued scheming on the part of Daemon (there's some rather interesting subtext with regard to this uncle and niece which adds to the drama). What seems to have thrown a number of even ardent fans of the series for something of a loop is that the first five episodes of this season set up all of these interlocking stories and relationships (and I've only given the very broadest of outlines here), but then perhaps surprisingly jumps ahead a decade or so for the season's final quintet of episodes. In a way it seems like a "one season" gambit that incorporates elements of HBO's recently cancelled Westworld: Season Four, which itself picked up several years after a cliffhanging finale in its third season. It also may frankly bring to mind The Crown itself, in that viewers have to prepare to see at least one major character portrayed by two rather different looking actresses.

Having this "time jump" occur during the season may initially seem disjunctive, but it actually to my mind ends up benefitting the story, not just in terms of seeing where things have cartwheeled to years down the line, but also (and I'm assuming this may be where the series is going to go in its own subsequent seasons) "the rest of the story" in terms of the as yet undisclosed intervening timeline. That said, even if the series chooses not to "fill in the gaps", as Martin himself and several other creatives involved state in interviews, the fact that this begins some two centuries before Game of Thrones certainly gives enough expansive room for another elaborate intergenerational tale.

As with Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is a gorgeously epic production from start to finish, with the same general finesse in production design (no errant coffee cups that I noticed) and costuming, if occasionally less than completely convincing CGI. Also as with Game of Thrones, performances are wonderfully engaging throughout. It's almost comical (and in fact the series at least occasionally goes for a bit of whimsical humor with regard to this) how tiny Milly Alcock is, which kind of makes her more steely demeanor as Rhaenyra all the more amazing, something that D'Arcy may be the beneficiary of once D'Arcy assumes the role. This series may not (yet?) have the "shock value" of one unexpected death after another to stun viewers, but it has a horrifying Caesarian in the first episode which probably shouldn't be viewed by any expectant mothers.

House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 discs.

House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of HBO and Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with a 2160p transfer in 2.00:1. Captured with the Arri Alexa 65 and finished at 4K, this is quite simply a frequently jaw dropping presentation throughout each episode. While as mentioned above some passing moments of CGI don't always register as completely believable, in one of the most important uses of the technology, the dragons, it's often stupendously "realistic" looking. The palette is rather sumptuous in the 1080 version to begin with, even though it can tend to be a bit on the slightly autumnal looking side at times, but some of the buttery yellows attain some gorgeous highlights courtesy of HDR and/or Dolby Vision, and some of the shrouded sequences in interior scenes in particular have at least marginally improved shadow definition. Fine detail on the resplendent props and costumes is typically flawless, with some really precise renderings of both Byzantine patterns but also just basically near palpable fabrics.

House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season has a dynamite Dolby Atmos track that starts delivering overhead effects from the get go with some nice aerial maneuvers featuring one of the ten dragons the Targaryens have at their beck and call. Several episodes exploit the dragons (especially once Daemon decides to take matters into his own hands, so to speak), and those sequences, along with the expected battles, often offer swirling arrays of not just side and rear channel engagement, but fun and immersive Atmos effects. Another top flight score by Ramin Djawadi also offers beautifully burnished orchestral cues which fill the surround channels beautifully. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, and the sound design, which can be almost overwhelmingly layered in its most frenetic moments, maintains an admirably apt prioritization, meaning it's always easy to catch the "important" bits. Optional subtitles in various languages are available (and there are some brief forced subtitles for some "foreign language" moments).

House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both the 1080 and 2160 discs in this package sport the same supplements on the appropriate discs. There are no supplements on either Disc Three or Disc Four in 1080 or 2160.

Disc One

• Welcome to Westeros (HD; 5:59) gives a brief overview and includes interviews with George R.R. Martin.


• A New Reign (HD; 3:09) is another brief piece featuring interviews with showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan J. Condal.


• Returning to Westeros (HD; 4:42) addresses some of the challenges of coming back to the Game of Thrones world, broadly speaking.


• Before the Dance: An Illustrated History with George R.R. Martin (HD; 5:27) fills in even more of the convoluted history courtesy of both clips from the production as well as some interstitial animations.


• Height of an Empire (HD; 4:01) focuses on this series' era of ostensible "peace and prosperity".


• Noble Houses (HD; 3:49) imparts information about some of the royal families.


• Familiar Places (HD; 3:32) kind of echoes some of the content of Height of an Empire, focusing on production design.

Disc Two

• Return to the Seven Kingdoms (HD; 25:08) is a longer form EPK piece that gets into more of the history of how this series rose from the ashes of Game of Thrones and what participating in it means to the cast and crew.


• Introducing the Characters (HD; 15:14) includes Rhaenyra Targaryen, Daemon Targaryen, King Viserys, Otto Hightower, Rhaenyra & Alicent, Lord Corlys Velaryon, Rhaenys Targaryen, Ser Criston Cole and Mysaria.

HBO sent the SteelBook for purposes of this review, but it looks like this standard version comes with a digital copy and a slipcover.

House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Like many fans of Games of Thrones, I wasn't completely wowed by that series' final season, though I think I liked it at least a bit more than many others. I was therefore just a little trepidatious about what House of the Dragon would have in store. The series may have a few passing pacing issues, and while ostensibly more focused on one central family than Game of Thrones, it may still be reeling under the weight of having to introduce so many characters more or less simultaneously. But the series manages to capture a lot of the magic that first attracted viewers to Game of Thrones while offering some rather provocative new story elements. Technical merits are first rate, with the 4K UHD presentation upping an already superb 1080 rendition. The supplements are also very enjoyable. Highly recommended.