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Why Game Of Thrones Is So Clever, According To House of the Dragon Star
House of the Dragon star Milly Alcock explains why Game of Thrones is so clever. First airing on HBO back in 2011, Game of Thrones introduced audiences to the dangerous land of Westeros. Based on George R. R. Martin's best-selling fantasy book series, HBO's show followed several warring houses as they all vie for the coveted Iron Throne. Game of Thrones was a critical darling for its first few seasons, with praise levied at the show's nuanced writing and strong performances from the cast.
Although later seasons drew considerable criticism, Game of Thrones remains one of HBO's most successful shows to date. The show boasted a large and varied cast, including Sean Bean, Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams, Kit Harrington, Sophie Turner, Lena Headey, and Peter Dinklage. Game of Thrones featured many unforgettable moments throughout its 8-season run, with season 3's Red Wedding, season 4's Mountain vs. Viper fight, and season 6's Battle of the Bastards among some of the most memorable sequences in the show's history. Now, Alcock, who plays Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, offers her opinion on one element of the show that contributed to its success.
To prepare for her role in House of the Dragon, Alcock tells The Wrap that she watched every season of Game of Thrones and read every script, coming to realize that part of what makes the show so clever is its willingness to kill off main characters. The actor explains that nobody is truly safe in the series, which audiences don't often experience. Check out Alcock's full comment below:
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“It’s just such a clever show. No one is safe. And I think that that is something that audiences aren’t given a lot of the time. We kind of have this in the back of our mind like, ‘Oh, they’re not going to kill off the main character.’ … It’s like, ‘No, Game of Thrones really likes to flip that on its head; that’s why I loved it. I was like, ‘No one is safe.’ It exceeded my expectations every time.”
It quickly became apparent that fan-favorite characters in Game of Thrones could be killed off brutally. Bean's Ned Stark, for example, was killed at the end of Game of Thrones' first season despite being a key player in the political landscape of Westeros. The most prominent and unforgettable example of this, however, is the show's infamous Red Wedding episode, where Rob Stark (Richard Madden), his wife, his mother, and a handful of his close allies are murdered in a shocking act of betrayal, solidifying that anyone can die in the series at any time.
House of the Dragon has already shown its willingness to kill off characters, but it's still too early in the show's lifecycle to know how the series will compare to Game of Thrones in this regard. While Game of Thrones was always unpredictable when it came to character deaths, the show also, for the most part, made sure that these deaths made sense and weren't purely for shock value. Initial reactions to House of the Dragon have been mostly positive thus far, meaning there's certainly hope for HBO's latest fantasy series to recapture the glory of the first few seasons of Game of Thrones.
