HBO’s galvanized return to Westeros in the Targaryens’ nest of vipers
[ad_1]
WE SAW – Le Figaro was able to view the first three episodes of the event series derived from Game Of Thrones. Great quality but so far less epic. Launch on OCS Monday morning.
How to maintain the achievements of Game Of Thrones while stepping out of its shadow? This is the complex equation posed with patter House Of The Dragon, the first spin-off series from HBO’s cult saga. Three years after the controversial end of the tribulations of Jon Snow, Arya Stark and Daenerys Targaryen, liberator transformed into Nero, the doors of Westeros reopen on Monday on OCS. And offer a trip back in time 172 years before the events of the original saga to tell the fratricidal war between the ancestors of Daenerys Targaryen. These infighting will bring about the downfall of House Targaryen.
Read alsoHouse of the Dragon versus The Rings of Power: the game of the playoffs in sight
Dragons, torture, a live caesarean section, a brothel… From his first images, House Of The Dragon is part of the shock and bloody continuity of its initiator, from which it takes up the beautiful notes of the credits of Ramin Djawadi. The know-how of the parent series on the sets, the embroidered costumes, which evoke the beginning of the Renaissance and the splendours of the Byzantine Empire, intact. The only one left behind, the hairdressing department. It decks out its protagonists in hideous silver-blonde wigs. On the other hand, with a budget of 20 million dollars per component, the series no longer skimps on the special effects allocated to its dragons and their exploits.
Intimate account of the dislocation of a family
In House Of The Dragon, there is no question of saving humanity from frozen zombies or of witnessing the settling of scores between seven dynasties. The more intimate subject illustrates the ravages of power and patriarchy within the same royal family. Conflicts of loyalty between generations, parents and children, and childhood friends are increased tenfold and boil in a Shakespearian setting.
At the beginning of House Of The Dragon was the prosperous reign of the Targaryens. To maintain order, the aging King Jaeharys summons a council to choose his heir: his granddaughter Rhaenys or his grandson Viserys. As in the France of the Middle Ages which rediscovered the Salic law, the rejection of a female monarch prevails among ministers who prefer the benevolent Viserys. Yet faced with the same problem of succession! His wife gave him only one daughter Rhaenyra. The 14-year-old is more interested in dragon-riding escapades than wielding power. Viserys’ other heir is his younger brother, the aptly named Daemon. This sadist, always quick to cut off the protruding limbs, considers himself more fit to reign than his good-natured elder.
No epic blast yet
Aware of the danger posed by this bloodthirsty and unpredictable cadet, Viserys turns his back on the precedent that gave him the crown and enthrones Rhaenyra as his successor. Exiled, Daemon dissents. Pragmatic, the nobles of Westeros swear allegiance to Rhaenyra while pressuring Viserys to remarry and father the long-awaited prince. Each house highlights their daughters, regardless of age. One of the suitors is Alicent Hightower, Rhaenyra’s best friend and daughter of the king’s hand. A betrayal for Rhaenyra and a reason for discontent for barons who believe that the Hightower are monopolizing the levers of power.
Apart from a disgusting scene where crabs devour prisoners, House Of The Dragon does not reconnect immediately with the epic battles of Game Of Thrones. The series relies on the long time of genealogical and political palavers and silences that had made the salt of the talkative and reluctant first season in action of the original saga.. Game Of Thrones was a storm breaking, a civil war. House Of The Dragon is the chronicle of gathering clouds, a Tudor war of succession. Starting with pirate skirmishes.
This exhibition requires patience and indulgence towards large temporal ellipses. The lack of humor and the sense of the formula of a Tyrion Lannister are felt. The Who’s Who of the younger branches of the Targaryens is not always easy to follow. Keep an eye out for Rhaenys and Corlys Velaryon, Westeros’ greatest admiral and explorer.
Supervised by the director of the battles of the Bastards or Winterfell Miguel Sapochnik, House Of The Dragon benefits from the return to the writing room of the creator of Game Of Thrones. By adapting its historiographical account Blood and Fire, the novelist George RR Martin ensures a perfect continuity between the serials. Scholars will appreciate the mentions of the White Walkers, cursed visions of the Targaryens, and peripheral appearances of Stark and Lannister ancestors.
Read alsoThese TV series that become classics
Built-in admonitions
Despite this parade of courtiers, valiant knights and consort wives, the first episodes of House Of The Dragon offer flesh only to its Targaryen trio In the skin of Viserys, Paddy Considine shows the ravages of a power too indecisive and procrastinating. By dint of maintaining the status quo, the dilettante monarch creates a relaxation that calls for disorder. Milly Alcott who plays young Rhaenyra – she is then replaced by Emma D’Arcy – cultivates her striking resemblance to Emilia Clarke who played her descendant Daenerys in games of thrones. A little weaker link, Matt Smith (The Crown), who plays off his slimy charm, isn’t very subtle in Daemon’s madness and perversions.
Nevertheless House Of The Dragon incorporated the remonstrances made to his predecessor. The cast makes room for talent from minorities. Westeros becomes mixed, notably via the Velayron clan. Sexuality relies less on the male gaze. #MeToo has been digested, as evidenced by the restraint with which the collusion between Alicent and Viserys is treated. Desire, consent are articulated. The clash of queens will also take place. Beginning with male shenanigans, the series actually builds the clash between Rhaenyra and Alicent over several decades. Two women thrown against their will into games of power and matrimonial alliances that are beyond them. One tries by its persuasion to impose itself, the other by independence. Rhaenyra shares, with Daenerys, a messianic vocation which overwhelms her and pushes her, like all Targaryens, towards intransigence and hubris. Through her, House Of The Dragon corrects the mocked posterity of Daenerys, the idol betrayed by the botched epilogue ofe Game Of Thones.
[ad_2]
Source link
