House Of The Dragon Episode 1 Review - 8 Ups & 2 Downs

Approximately 18 minutes into the first episode of House of the Dragon, Daemon Targaryen leads his Gold Cloaks into the streets of King's Landing to mete out "justice" upon the criminal underworld. What follows is a purge the like of which Thrones' fans will be more than familiar with; thieves have hands removed, rapists are castrated and murderers are beheaded. And as fans of Game of Thrones will also be familiar, the entire sequence occurs in nauseatingly graphic bloody detail. Be it the arterial spurts from stumps of limbs or the sight of a bloody set of genitalia on a chopping block, the violence displayed is absolutely visceral.

The problem is that, it's just unnecessary. Daemon's purge of the city's criminality could easily have been relegated to occurring off screen; the scene almost feels like it was only included to highlight that Game of Thrones' gory signature touches won't be going anywhere.

Speaking of unnecessary touches that won't be going anywhere, as one progresses into the episode, we come to HBO's almost obligatory semi-nude brothel scene, with exposed flesh casually on view as far as the eye can seen.

While it gives the scene an air of authenticity, the shock value evident when Thrones first began to push the boat out on on-screen nudity is no longer there; it's almost like viewers have become numb to it after eight seasons. Yes, it's a key aspect that helped launch Game of Thrones' success but it also highlights a reliance on overused material that quite frankly shocks only for the sake of shocking.