YMMV / House of the Dragon

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• Accidental Aesop:
  • If someone in a position of authority is questioning you and Can't Spit It Out, stick with yes or no responses until you know exactly what they're asking about so that you don't needlessly incriminate yourself.
  • It's a good idea to not reuse names in a family over and over again, especially if your family is a powerful or influential one, so that there won't be any confusion over which person someone's referring to.
  • Also doubles as a Hard Truth Aesop, but breaking rules of an unjust society can be a Morton's Fork — if you go out of your way to follow them, you may sacrifice your own happiness in the process, but breaking them has a steep price of its own, and may sacrifice the happiness of others.
  • Animals — especially wild ones — are not mindless automatons or mere tools meant to serve humans, even if seemingly tamed and trained. At the end of the day, they have minds of their own and if you're going to be using one in a potentially violent situation, you need to respect the fact that their instincts may override whatever loyalty they have to you.
  • Related to this, even highly trained animals are still animals. If the trained animal in question is capable of being dangerous and will be present in dangerous situations, forgetting this, or allowing yourself to think of them as mere objects for your whims, can have very ugly results.
• Actor Shipping: Quite a number of fans love to ship Rhaenyra and Alicent's actresses together, owing to the fact that Milly Alcock and Emily Carey did admit to injecting a sapphic vibe into their performances and character interactions while Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke are often quite touchy-feely and close with each other in interviews and red carpet appearances.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: See this separate page here.
• And You Thought It Would Fail: There were many skeptical of the series before its premiere, with some like Penny Arcade's creators surprised that anyone thought Game of Thrones and its universe had any interest after its Audience-Alienating Ending. The number of viewers was still very high on HBO Max and other HBO platforms long after its end, not to mention the home video and merch sales, and controversial showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were gone (Ryan Condal replaced them), but the cancellation of its first spin-off Bloodmoon with an unaired pilot starring Naomi Watts wasn't a good sign. However, the House of the Dragon premiere had 10,000,000 viewers in North America alone, a number that grew to 20,000,000 by the end of the week. The numbers were even higher for the second episode and steadily increased with every new episode each week, and the overall reception was very good, with it being considered among the best shows of the year, and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had no shortage of praise and pride for the show during the company's November 2022 earnings call. The show was officially renewed for a second season less than a week after the pilot aired. The show even took home a Golden Globe Award for Best Drama, something Game of Thrones never managed to do.
• Anvilicious: The series is not at all subtle about showing how misogynistic medieval societies were through the stories of Rhaenys, Rhaenyra, and Alicent. Rhaenys was passed over as a successor to her grandfather despite being more qualified for the job of ruling Westeros than her male cousin Viserys, solely because of her gender. Rhaenyra bears tons of scrutiny for things a male heir wouldn't have to justify and frequently has her claim questioned, with many pushing for her to be replaced with her much younger and very incompetent Jerkass of a brother. Meanwhile, Alicent is coerced by her abusive and manipulative father into a marriage with the much older Viserys and becomes the Queen; while this may grant her infinitely more power than most women in Westeros, it's clear she's extremely unhappy with her lot and, as Rhaenys points out, is not fighting on behalf of herself but for the ambitions of her male relatives. And then there's the general tragedy of Rhaenyra and Alicent's friendship falling apart as they are turned against each other by a ruthless political system that is only maintained through Heir Club for Men and ambition.
• Award Snub:
  • While Matt Smith and Milly Alcock were nominated at the Critics Choice Awards, and Emma D'Arcy was nominated at the Golden Globes, Paddy Considine and Olivia Cooke were ignored for both awards. Many consider this a snub, considering that Cooke was highly praised, while Considine's performance is one of the biggest unanimities among fans and critics. George RR Martin has famously praised Considine's performance, and even joked that he was going to rewrite Fire and Blood to conform the story to Considine's version of Viserys.
  • To the surprise of many, despite all the praise from critics and fans alike, the cast of House of the Dragon was completely ignored by the Screen Guild Actors Awards. The series was also snubbed at the Producers Guild Awards, Directors Guild Awards and Writer Guild Awards, which are important and respected in the industry. As a comparison, the first season of Game of Thrones, released a decade earlier, managed to get nominations in all of these aforementioned awards (and indeed, each season of Game of Thrones managed to be nominated in at least two of these awards, and at most four).
  • At the 2023 Emmys Awards, the first season of House of the Dragon was nominated only in Dramatic Series and technical categories. The directors, scripts and cast were completely ignored. And what's worse is that this was the only opportunity that Milly Alcock and Paddy Considine had to be nominated for Emmys for this series.
• Catharsis Factor: From Episode 6, Ser Harwin Strong delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Ser Criston Cole after Criston provokes Harwin by implying that Harwin is the father of Rhaenyra's children, with the children and King Viserys in earshot. Unfortunately for Harwin, this is exactly what Criston wanted as it not only proved his point but also eventually led to Harwin's death, but viewers found it satisfying nonetheless since Cole did the exact same thing to Joffrey Lonmouth in the previous episode and suffered no consequences for it.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Daemon Targaryen. His morally questionable exploits include encouraging massive Police Brutality while commanding the City Watch, beating a man to near death for delivering a message to him from Viserys, murdering his first wife in cold blood and feeling no remorse for it, causing chaos in nearly every episode he appears in, and marrying the young girl whom his brother deemed too young to wed (she had matured by the time they married, but the age gap is still there). Despite all of this, his fans are just as smitten with him as Rhaenyra is and often justify his actions. It helps that he is played by Matt Smith, who's had a considerable fanbase since his days on Doctor Who. The dissonance is probably best illustrated by Claire Foy, Smith's former on-screen wife as Elizabeth II in The Crown, who found Daemon very distasteful to justify:
  Claire Foy: I was a very committed friend but I disagreed with [Matt's character] in many scenes. I then had to tell him that I found them disgusting to watch.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Lord Lyonel Strong became popular very quickly following the second and third episodes for his level-headed and sensible advice to Viserys and for seemingly being the only person on the Council who doesn't have an agenda of his own.
  • Harwin Strong is quite popular for being a manly man who's also a Nice Guy and a good parent to his secret children with Rhaenyra whenever he could, as well as giving Ser Cristen Cole his long overdue comeuppence for his crimes in Episode 5. Many fans expressed sadness and disappointment when he's quickly killed off alongside his father Lyonel, especially since viewers never get to know him much at all before his untimely demise.
  • Among the dragons, Caraxes became quite popular due to being the dragon with the most screen time, as well as his unconventional appearance and distinctive roar.
  • The young Blackwood boy (named Willem in a tweet) who's one of Rhaenyra's many suitors in the fourth episode became popular despite only having a minute of screentime for being able to effortlessly kill the much older and stronger Bracken knight (Jerrol) that was insulting him. Many fans hope that he will reappear in a future episode as an adult.
  • Helaena, despite not having as much importance as her brothers, is one of the most well-liked Greens for her interest in bugs, abilities in foresight, and the heavy implication that she's on the spectrum, as well as her sweet-natured and kind personality, all traits that fans found to be very endearing.
  • Uniquely, Daeron Targaryen of all people, despite never appearing in the series proper as of yet, is consistently mentioned as generally the favorite of Alicent's children and arguably the most anticipated character fans are expecting to see in season 2. Of course, most of this is drawn from his book counterpart, but Daeron still remains consistently a popular character.
  • Rhea Royce is only on-screen for a single scene, but her independent spirit and refusal to put up with any crap from Daemon, the most dangerous man in Westeros, even, or rather especially in face of him having obvious murderous intentions towards her caused her to gain much respect, even from Daemon's fans. It probably helps that, let's say, Daemon has somewhat oversold her unattractiveness.
• Evil Is Cool: Neither the Blacks or Greens are truly the heroes or villains but Daemon and Aemond are certainly the more underhanded of their respective teams. Despite this, their badassery and the charismatic performances of Matt Smith and Ewan Mitchell have also netted them a fair share of admirers.
• Fan-Disliked Explanation: Many fans were disappointed to learn that the reason Rhaenys didn't roast the Greens with Meleys in "The Green Council" was due to viewing the situation as not her fight and sympathy for Alicent as a mother, since in the next episode Rhaenys outright tells Rhaenyra that there will be a war coming because of the Greens, and Meleys' Big Entrance wiped out many smallfolk, plenty of whom were mothers themselves. Viewing herself as an outsider to the Black-Green conflict makes little sense either, since both her granddaughters are married into Rhaenyra's family and the Greens are directly usurping Baela's lawful status as future Queen-consort. Fans instead prefer to believe that Rhaenys spared them to avoid becoming a kinslayer, which Word of God has very explicitly stated to be untrue.
• Fan-Preferred Cut Content:
  • Some fans have expressed discontent that the wedding scene of Viserys and Alicent was cut from the second episode, especially after seeing backstage photos featuring Emily Carey in an absolutely gorgeous hairstyle and wedding dress.
  • Many fans object to the omission of Daemon hugging his daughters in consolation in episode 6, insisting that this Deleted Scene shows a much more sympathetic sensitivity of his character.
  • Additional dialogue recorded just before the grand Targaryen dinner depicts Aemond scolding Aegon for his excessive drinking, to which Aegon responds that in fact Aemond didn't drink enough. The decision to not turn this into an extra scene was quickly criticized by fans, as it would have greatly fleshed out the sibling dynamics.
  • The decision to not include Rhaenyra's naming of her and Daemon's miscarried baby Visenya or even confirm the child's sex has annoyed fans.
  • Many fans wished the deleted scene in episode 10 between Rhaenys and Baela was included, as it would've provided more context to Rhaenys' decision to support Rhaenyra and fleshed out Baela's personality.
• Fandom Rivalry: With Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, with both shows premiering only two weeks apart from each other and each episode being the Appointment Television event of the following 7-10 weeks. Both works are Prequel in the Lost Age adaptations based on popular fantasy franchises that already had an existing rivalry beforehand, albeit more friendly. Both works are mostly praised by critics, but the Amazon show has a way more mixed reception from audiences than House of the Dragon.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Some fans have quickly started calling Larys Strong "Middlefinger", as he's shaping up to become this series' lanky, unlikeable and backstabbing schemer, very much like Game of Throness Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish.
  • While Otto Hightower was the first to be granted the "Middlefinger" moniker, he has been subsequently labelled "Diet Tywin" for having roughly the same level of power and influence and yet practically none of the future Tywin Lannister's Four-Star Badass / Evil Is Cool.
  • Vhagar is the eldest living dragon and last survivor of Aegon's conquest. She has been dubbed "Grandma", "Meemaw", and "Boomer Dragon" by fans.
  • Caraxes has been affectionately nicknamed "Noodle Boi" by fans due to his odd, elongated appearance. He looks like a rope on wings.
  • Both weddings depicted onscreen in 1x05 and 1x07 have already earned the nicknames of "The Green Wedding" (for Alicent's dramatic dress statement) and "The Black Wedding" (due to it being between the two Black faction leaders).
  • Viserys has sparked multiple memes comparing him to a geeky dad who just wants his peace, so his gigantic model of Old Valyria is regularly referred to as his "Legos" due to the bricks' popularity with middle-aged fathers. His model is also frequently referred to as his "Old Valyria Lego set". Gundam fans have referred to it as his Gunpla models, and its unfinished status as his "backlog" — a collection of model kits that remain boxed and either not started or not finished.
  • "Vizzy T" for Viserys, as a reference to Robert Baratheon's own Fan Nickname of "Bobby B".
  • The hooded cloak that Daemon wears whenever he's about to commit a crime has been appropriately dubbed "the Crime Hoodie".
  • Criston Cole gets the unflattering "Sir Incelot," largely over how poorly he takes Rhaenyra's rejection.
  • Lord Willem Blackwood has been affectionately called, "Sir Fuck Around And Find Out".
  • Daemon calls Rhea "the Bronze Bitch" to slander her. Upon learning that she's actually quite attractive, some fans dubbed her "the Bronze Babe."
• Foe Yay Shipping: A lot of fans ship Rhaenyra and Alicent, who, while they were friends as kids, have spent most of their adult screen time hating each other. This is mainly thanks to the Les Yay between them and the chemistry between their actresses.
• Genius Bonus: The dagger that Daemon uses to stab through a corsair's breastplate would almost be an example of Armor Is Useless, except it is an almost exact replica of the historical eared dagger, which was specially designed to pierce through armor.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • When the brothers have their argument in episode 1, Daemon points out that he would protect Viserys from himself and also from the leeches in his court. In episode 4, Viserys calls Daemon a disease put on the planet to kill him. Ultimately Daemon was right and Viserys was completely wrong. Viserys' health got worse and worse the more Daemon was away (and was more stable when Daemon was around) and the opportunistic people around the king (and the actual leeches) ultimately did lead him to a sad, broken ending and worked to undo his legacy.
  • In Episode 2, Viserys' reluctance about using dragons and outrage at Rhaenyra for flying to Dragonstone is portrayed as a case of him being overprotective. In the season finale, Viserys' attitude towards dragons is proven correct when Aemond and Luke lose control of their dragons, and Luke ends up eaten by Vhagar against Aemond's will. People really should have taken that warning seriously in hindsight.
  • In episode 1, all the High Lords of Westeros swear oaths of fealty to Rhaenyra as King Viserys's chosen successor. When the Greens carry out their coup to install Aegon on the throne after Viserys dies, some Small Council members note that many lords who swore their loyalty to Rhaenyra twenty years ago have since died and been succeeded by their sons or nephews, who did not swear the oaths. They are proven correct when Borros Baratheon, who replaced his father Boremund, immediately uses that excuse to reject Rhaenyra's claim and instead sides with the Greens for the advantageous marriage alliance it will bring him.
• Incest Yay Shipping:
  • Unsurprising, given that Targaryens have an exemption from the laws against incest in-universe. At the heart of this story is uncle/niece Official Couple Daemon and Rhaenyra. Some book fans who knew this began shipping them before the show even premiered. The early episodes depict them as being close and affectionate, with a few Ship Tease moments, so by the time the fourth episode rolled around and their overt interest in each other was confirmed, people were already shipping them.
  • Alicent/Rhaenyra technically qualifies in a Retroactive Step way, since Alicent is Rhaenyra's stepmother (although most shippers wish she weren't, not just to promote their ship but because this marriage kind of ruined Alicent's life as well as her friendship with Rhaenyra).
  • Full-blooded siblings Aemond and Helaena started getting some attention after Aemond defended her to Aegon, even suggesting that he wished Helaena were betrothed to him rather than to Aegon. The fact that it’s Aemond who watches Helaena and Jace dancing like a hawk rather than her husband Aegon added fuel to the shipping fire.
  • The aforementioned aunt/nephew pairing of Helaena and Jacaerys has also picked up a few supporters after their dancing scene. It helps that earlier Rhaenyra did propose an engagement between the two, which could've potentially healed the divide between the Blacks and the Greens. It's generally agreed upon that Nice Guy Jace would've been a much better husband to Helaena than Aegon.
  • Uncle and nephew Aemond and Lucerys are also a widely popular pairing in the fandom, especially on Ao3. This also counts as Foe Yay Shipping, since Luke taking out Aemond's eye and Aemond killing Luke (though accidentally unlike the books) hasn't stopped the fans one bit.
• Improved Second Attempt:
  • The original series had been criticised for non-straight characters apparently only existing to be oppressed, suffer and die (even moreso than usual for characters in its setting), regardless of any intentions of invoking Deliberate Values Dissonance, and House even came in for more of the same criticism after the gratuitously brutal death of Joffrey Lonmouth. This is probably the reason why Laenor, who died in the books, was Spared by the Adaptation, allowed to escape from Westeros alive with his new lover after faking his death, instead of just becoming the latest in a long line of dead gay guys.
  • Though it was given a bit of leeway due to being a Pragmatic Adaptation, the previous series was criticized for having a much smaller scale than the books, which became more prevalent as it went on. Due to it having much higher production value than the previous series, this series is a much closer depiction of how big Westeros is, especially when it comes to the different locations and social events like hunting. Even the Iron Throne is redesigned to be grander than it was in Game of Thrones.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: One of the biggest criticisms of the first season is that it only has ten episodes covering the course of sixteen years with multiple time jumps in between. As a result, certain events are brushed over at the expense of the show's secondary characters (and arguably some of the main characters as well), whose developments are left unexplored or undercooked.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Some fans have taken umbrage with the fact that the series reuses the same musical theme for its main title sequence as Game of Thrones rather than come up with its own. Naturally, others were very happy to hear it, seeing it as of the same franchise-wide and iconic nature as the Star Wars theme for instance.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Alicent can be cruel to Rhaenyra seemingly as much out of jealousy as out of anger at her deception, acts relatively coldly towards her children, participates in the usurpation of Rhaenyra's throne, collaborates with Larys Strong to have her father's spies murdered and advances her son's claim despite knowing he's a loathsome creep. On the other hand, her younger years are a nightmare: she has been coerced by her abusive father to marry an older man, who doesn't respect her and with whom she is bound by duty to have sex despite hating every second of it, is relatively isolated at court, with Rhaenyra as her only friend despite said friendship being extremely volatile, she has to hear her friend's complaints despite Rhaenyra having it much better than she does, and of course becomes a mother way too young. Even after the timeskip, she is still married to a decrepit old man, has to contend with her eldest son and rightful heir to the throne being a loathsome creep, she believes for a time that her former friend is capable of murdering her children if she ascends the throne, and Alicent has to rely on the aforementioned abusive father to push her son's claim. Oh, and her only supporters, besides said abusive father? Criston Cole, who, while devoted to her, has extreme anger issues, and Larys Strong, an all-around repulsive man that is still her best bet at doing politics independent of her father.
  • Aegon II is rude, lazy, unqualified, unempathetic and a rapist, but he's only in this mess because of the schemes of his mother and grandfather and continuously points out he's not suited for the throne nor does he want it to begin with. When his father dies and people are trying to place him on the throne, Aegon tries to hide and run away. Moreover, Aegon feels genuinely unloved by his family and desperately just wants to be loved and appreciated, and his childhood is largely implied to have been devoid of unconditional love from both Viserys and Alicent, who either ignored him completely or used him as a political pawn.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: While he's definitely not a good guy, Criston Cole "only" kills two men in the first season — one accidentally — yet he's more loathed in the fandom than more villainous characters like Craghas Drahar, Larys, or even Daemon for carrying a spiteful grudge against Rhaenyra, calling her the c-word, and bullying her kids.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Rhaenyra, just like in the books. Throughout the show, she has a relationship with Criston Cole (although that ship sinks pretty quickly after he refuses to take part in a secret extramarital affair with her), Harwin Strong (which lasts until his untimely death), and Daemon Targaryen (whom she eventually marries, although the incident from the season finale could count as ship sinking). Missing is her Les Yay with Laena Velaryon, but it is replaced with an equal, if not greater amount of Les Yay with Alicent Hightower.
• LGBT Fanbase: There is plenty of same-sex chemistry and androgynous fanservice going on in front of and behind the camera, and it's the first mainstream show to cast a non-binary performer in the lead role, so it was hardly a surprise that LGBT+ fandoms took to the series very well.
• Memetic Badass:
  • As of Season One, House Stark has yet to make a significant appearance, but everyone who ever mentions them both respects their loyalty and fears their strength.
  • Willem Blackwood is often hailed as a badass for winning a duel against the Bracken who was bullying him.
• Memetic Loser: House Celtigar gets this for being the third Valyrian house which is constantly snubbed by the Targaryens and Velaryons, who repeatedly mention how they're the only two Valyrian houses left.
• Narm:
  • Caraxes's roar is less of a Mighty Roar and sounds almost like a wheezy dolphin squeal. Mileage may vary whether that makes him unsettling and creepy or downright hilarious.
  • Although the opening credits are beautiful and enthralling, the rivers of blood are so thick and viscous that they look like spilled ketchup in some shots.
  • King Viserys dramatically going on about the prophecy of the "Prince Who Was Promised" can be unintentionally funny, given it was mostly Adapted Out of the predecessor show and what was left of it ultimately got turned into an almost universally poorly-received Red Herring.
• Nausea Fuel: The show clearly is not short on things to ruin someone's dining while watching:
  • One of the major events of the pilot "Heirs to the Throne" is The Tourney—and it does not shy away from showing us knights being too whipped up by battle frenzy that they eventually just go ahead and kill each other (either by axing someone to the face, smashing someone's head in or beating them—helmetless or otherwise—to fatal concussions). Even one of the joust stewards eventually fails to keep the contents of his stomach in.
  • The very opening of "The Rogue Prince" shows dying people and decaying corpses being eaten by crabs. Not a few viewers noted how they were caught unawares as they were just about to eat their viewing snacks.
  • Also from "The Rogue Prince", a gangrenous wound on Viserys's finger is treated with maggot therapy: he sticks his hand into a bowl full of live maggots, which will eat the rotting flesh, but leave the healthy parts alone. This is a real medical procedure by the way.
  • The last seconds of "Second of His Name" show us a victorious Daemon carrying through the sliced-off corpse of the Crabfeeder, entrails hanging out.
  • The climax of "We Light the Way" involves Ser Criston Cole punching out Laenor's paramour Joffrey Lonmouth with his gauntleted fists—ending with half the poor guy's face gone. It was a veritable Moment Killer in an otherwise straightforward pre-wedding feast, and yet par for the course for nearly all the weddings in this franchise.
  • Rhaenyra's childbirth scene in episode 6, complete with screaming, squishing and squirting sounds. There's also the afterbirth scene that follows soon after.
  • The children's fight in "Driftmark" ends with Aemond losing his eye, complete with a lovely shot of the aftermath in the following scene.
  • We are given a closeup of the unfortunate Velaryon guard who was killed and burnt to be disguised as Laenor Velaryon, so he and his lover can proceed with Faking the Dead. While the head is no longer recognizably a human face, there are indeed photographs of victims of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that look like that.
  • Episode 8 has the nausea fuel at dinner, when Viserys removes his golden half-mask, revealing an empty right eye socket and massive rot and scarring on the right side of his face. Also from that episode, Vaemond Velaryon's head-slice death in court and his corpse laid out (still in two pieces) by the Silent Sisters while they prepare it for transport to Driftmark.
  • The season finale has Rhaenyra giving birth to a stillborn Visenya, shown in graphic, bloody detail. The cherry on top is the deformed child's skin, which almost appears to have scales like a dragon.
  • Arrax, Lucerys's dragon, is caught and devoured by Vhagar at Storm's end. The poor adolescent, and his rider alike, are swallowed by her massive jaws, before she shakes Arrax like a ragdoll, raining down innards, unidentifiable chunks of viscera, and his severed wings, down onto the ocean below.
• Older Than They Think:
  • Or at least in terms of an idea that could have been, which is reflected in the show's casting choice; while a black man being cast to play the Valyrian-descended Lord Corlys Velaryon was met with a mixed reception by the fans, George R.R. Martin himself noted in a 2013 interview that he wondered how his story would have gone had he chosen to make the Valyrians and the Targaryens black instead of giving them the usual "high fantasy" features, which he had ultimately decided against because of the unpleasant undertones of having a majority white country conquered by black people. This also likely serves as an explanation as to why he was in favor of the casting choice, as he had also had the idea in his mind for some time.invoked
  • The idea that Aegon's Conquest was based, in part on prophecies about the White Walkers was first mentioned in The World of Ice And Fire.
    Septon Barth's claim that the Valyrians came to Westeros because their priests prophesied that the Doom of Man would come out of the land beyond the narrow sea can safely be dismissed as nonsense, as can many of Barth's queerer beliefs and suppositions.
• One True Threesome:
  • A few fans have latched on to the idea of Alicent/Criston/Larys as a sort of twisted throuple. Alicent and Criston are shipped for their Lady and Knight dynamic, while many are intrigued by Larys' borderline Villainous Crush on Alicent.
  • Book fans have carried over the Daemon/Laena/Rhaenyra ship into the fandom and have latched onto the one interaction Rhaenyra and Laena have in episode 5. In the book, it's mentioned that the two families visited often, and that Rhaenyra was by Laena's side as she gave birth to the stillborn son which would ultimately kill her.
• Portmanteau Couple Name:
  • "Daemyra" for Daemon/Rhaenyra Targaryen.
  • "Rhaenicent" for Rhaenyra Targaryen/Alicent Hightower.
• Preemptive Shipping:
  • Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen got shipped together long before the show aired. They started having fanarts and edits on tumblr dedicated to them once the first trailer aired and a few images of adult Rhaenyra played by Emma D'Arcy and Daemon having sex on the beach and of their eventual Valyrian marriage got leaked online.
  • Aemond and Helaena rose in popularity on sites like Tumblr and Ao3 even before the characters were introduced as teens/adults and it was confirmed onscreen that Aemond was more fond of Helaena than her actual husband Aegon was. There were rumors that they would be involved in a Sibling Triangle with Aegon, forming a similar dynamic to Aegon IV, his sister-wife Naerys, and their brother Aemon the Dragonknight from the source material. Before Aegon and Helaena's children made their first appearance, many were theorizing that they were actually fathered by Aemond instead.
• Questionable Casting: Matt Smith being cast as Daemon Targaryen has been subject to much debate among the viewer base due to fans not being able to agree on whether he fits the ideal of Valyrian (or more specifically, Targaryen) beauty. His acting as Daemon has managed to win a few of his detractors over to his side, but not everyone has been accepting of this casting choice.
• Ron the Death Eater:
  • Young Alicent, since episode 1. While her characterization is changed from the ruthless social climber she was painted as in the book to a more naive girl that's only doing what her father tells her to, viewers have interpreted her as an evil manipulator and False Friend to Rhaenyra that's envious of her getting to live her life freely while Alicent herself is shackled to the role of being a Baby Factory for a man she has no love for. This interpretation neglects to acknowledge that Alicent has, for the most part, been supportive of Rhaenyra since her introduction, and even takes her at her word when Rhaenyra lies about what went down between her and Daemon at the pleasure house, which was against the wishes of her father.
  • Some fans have dubbed Criston Cole an "incel" — an odd term to apply to a guy who is propositioned for sex and offered a position as paramour, but turned it down to be electively celibate instead. The notion springs from seeing Criston as a Crazy Jealous Guy who wants more from Rhaenyra and is wounded by her rejecting his proposal. This interpretation ignores: 1) the Questionable Consent in their sexual encounter, 2) Criston's proposal is a last-ditch effort to regain his honor, more Gender Inverted Honorable Marriage Proposal than romantic, and 3) Rhaenyra wanting to continue their sexual relationship is putting his life at risk.
• Signature Scene: A crippled Viserys making an unexpected Big Entrance in the throne room to exert his authority one last time and defend his daughter Rhaenyra and having a long walk to the Iron Throne, with Daemon helping him up the last few steps and putting the crown back on his head. It instantly became one of the most memorable and poignant scenes of the series.
• Squick:
  • Ser Otto Hightower not so subtly orders his teenage daughter to "comfort" King Viserys, the father of her best friend, to her obvious discomfort, even suggesting she wear one of her dead mother's dresses. This is noticeably a day or two, at most, after the traumatic death of Viserys's wife and son. Thankfully, Alicent realizes the King just needs a comforting ear right now.
  • Corlys offers up his 12-year-old daughter to Viserys in episode 2, feeding her lines and telling her she won't have to bed Viserys until she's 14. Even Viserys is bothered by the idea of wedding a child. What's worse is that Corlys gets upset when Viserys chooses Alicent over her, with Viserys's decision likely having to do with Alicent being a little older, though considering she's only in her late teens at the very most, choosing to marry her over Laena is simply the lesser of two evils comparatively.
  • Then by episode 3, Otto Hightower takes it to the extreme by advising Viserys to wed Rhaenyra to her half-brother Aegon, who just turned two years old. The sheer absurdity of such a pairing causes Viserys to break out into laughter until he realizes that Otto was genuinely serious, which causes the King to lash out at him in sheer disgust (even Otto views it as kind of a last resort to cease the discussion over who should succeed Viserys as king).
  • The passionless sex scene between Alicent and Viserys, complete with Alicent's disgusted Thousand-Yard Stare, confirms this is an Awful Wedded Life for her. Not helped in the least by the scene also showing off the many large open sores on Viserys's backside, which have only grown worse since the first episode.
  • Even though there's no nudity or dialogue implying anything sexual, the scene where Alicent buys information from Larys by showing him her feet, and then letting him jack off as a reward, is incredibly unsettling and fascinating. It's a Sex for Services situation, and Alicent clearly doesn't like having to resort to it. Also, it's Larys she's doing this for, who already adds creepiness to every scene he's in, and who has known her since she was a teenager.
  • Rhaenyra's stillbirth, shown in full gory detail in Episode 10. And true to the "half-dragon" curse in the books, it seems the stillborn child has scaly skin.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Laena Valeryon. Prior to episode 5, she only had brief appearances that didn't establish anything about her character, and in episode 5 she's only onscreen for a few minutes to set up her marriage to Daemon after the time skip and before that to imply that there is some closeness between her and Rhaenyra that was otherwise unseen in the prior episodes. Then there's the fact she somehow tames and bonds with Vhagar, the biggest and oldest living dragon, in an Offscreen Moment of Awesome. Some fans feel that her book relationship with Rhaenyra and Daemon (it's been interpreted by fans that it may have been polyamorous) could have been fleshed out more to give the two a more established dynamic with their extended family before her inevitable death, as well as a better reason for why Daemon would have chosen her instead of continuing in his pursuit of Rhaenyra. After getting a bit of focus on the family she had with Daemon in episode 6, she commits suicide via dragon fire to avoid dying from her childbirth complications.
  • Joffrey Lonmouth. He's only in one and a half episodes and dies in the same episode he gets more than a few seconds of screen time in. While like Laena, he was Doomed by Canon, fans felt that there could have been more time spent setting up his and Laenor's relationship to make his subsequent death it more impactful. That said, it did leave an impact on fans for other reasons.
  • Harwin Strong. For him, Rhaenyra eschews potential lovers that would at least make her children look more like her husband, and their Secret Relationship is decades long and clearly loving, but we still have no idea how they started their affair and what drew her towards him for all those years.
  • Mysaria. Unlike her book counterpart, she's given a tragic backstory and a desire to improve the lives of the smallfolk of King's Landing, which in theory could give the audience more perspective on how the actions of the nobility affects those living on the lower echelons of society. However, for all her prominence in the advertising, she only appears in half the episodes of the first season, with very little screentime overall.
  • The official podcast seems to have picked up on this, devoting an episode to conversing with the actors of Harwin (Ryan Corr), Lord Lyonel (Gavin Spokes) and Laena (Nanna Blondell) about how they tried to make the most of their short roles.
• Too Cool to Live:
  • Lyonel Strong. Not only is he shown to be a surprisingly competent administrator despite his otherwise deferential personality once he becomes Hand of the King, but he's also one of the few of Viserys's advisors who isn't motivated by personal ambition, but instead a genuine desire to serve his king the best he can. Sadly, he dies in Episode 6 thanks to the machinations of his younger son.
  • Lyonel's son Harwin can qualify as well, being reputed to be the strongest knight in Westeros who genuinely loves Rhaenyra and their sons despite the illegitimacy of their relationship. Like his father, he ends up dying just as he's given the spotlight.
  • Laena Velaryon. Apart from her Offscreen Moment of Awesome in taming the biggest living dragon in all of Westeros, she was one of the few people who managed to keep her husband, the Rogue Prince himself, in check. A pity that she ended up dying due to childbirth complications, but not without one last moment of fanfare by letting Vhagar Mercy Kill her.
• Ugly Cute: Some of the dragons may qualify.
  • Caraxes, though fearsome and intimidating, has goofy-looking proportions, a squeaky roar, and an Uncatty Resemblance to his rider that has endeared him to many fans.
  • Vermax, Jacaerys's dragon, when he is still a small adolescent with a wide-eyed, gecko-like visage many have found adorable.
  • Vhagar, despite her saggy skin, weathered scales, and tattered wings, has been seen as endearing by some fans due to her lazy, cantankerous personality, which even the showrunners have described as "similar to an old cat". At least before she gets truly scary in Episode 10.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The CGI dragons Caraxes and Syrax are impressively lifelike, especially considering that they both have unique designs that visually distinguish them from each other and the three dragons from Game of Thrones. The other dragons that later appear prove to be just as visually stunning, such as the ancient-looking Vhagar, the demonic-looking Meleys or the young adolescents Vermax and Arrax.
• Win Back the Crowd: After the divisive final season of Game of Thrones, the first season of the series was widely praised for recapturing the feel of the original show's early days. Ratings likewise surged for HBO on levels comparable to the original series, despite a significant amount of the show's viewership coming in through streaming.
• WTH, Costuming Department?:
  • Just like on its predecessor show, the Targaryen white wigs continue to be a problem area, with one critic even stating that the dragons looked more realistic than the hair. Additionally, the Race Lift of House Velaryon has led to some highly questionable white wigs with curly and dreadlock textures, particularly for the Velaryon children, which were criticized and, unsurprisingly, memed by the audience due to how ridiculous they looked in some scenes. Even Rhaenyra's brown-haired sons get in on it with Jacaerys for some reason having a brown wig even though Harry Collett's natural brown hair (which is also curly, similar to Jace's biological father Harwin Strong) would have done just fine on its own.
  • Most of the costumes themselves are gorgeous, but there have been mutliple issues with improper fitting, likely due to COVID guidelines restricting the usual fitting sessions with the actors. One example is the sleeved yellow dress worn by young Rhaenyra; the way it sits on her shoulders makes it seem too big for her and the construction of the bodice causes the material to bunch up in the wrong places, looking too tight across the bust and rumpled around the collar and stomach. Considering Rhaenyra is the princess of a family at the height of their power (and all her other clothes look fabulous), it raises questions as to why she'd be wearing what looks like someone else's hand-me-downs.
  • The crown of Aegon the Conqueror received mixed reviews. With a lot of people pointing out its lack of trademark square rubies even though it looked like it had slots for them. The fact that its shape is more ornate than described^{From the books}a Valyrian steel circlet with big square-cut rubies played a role as well.
  • Unlike on Game of Thrones, where the showrunners alone oversaw the costuming department, on HotD each episode director passed on their own guidelines for the dresses worn in the episode, leading to the main characters' wardrobes appearing disjointed. While on the predecessor show, each region, house and character had a cohesive set of fabrics, patterns and historical influences used in their costume design, Rhaenyra and Alicent do display some color coding, but otherwise their dresses are all over the place, ranging from 6th century Byzantine influences, to Tudor era and Renaissance designs.

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