discussion Better first season: Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon

[LP54]

Now that House of the Dragon has been completed, which show had the superior first season?

 

Game of Thrones

 

 

House of the Dragon

 

[Kummercell]

GOT, by far.

House Of The Dragon s1 is better than the last 4 seasons of GOT but doesn't compare to the first 4.

[mystery]

Game of Thrones takes it I think but considering the entire House of the Dragon story and the next seasons actually having source material to adapt. I think House of the Dragon can surpass it for me. 

[My Tears Ricochet]

GOT

[Delirious]

GOT was great but it did lag. HOTD was much more consistent imo

[Hephaestus]

House of the Dragon. Easily.

[JBJT2786]

Ya having poor memory of season 1 of GOT. The first ep was good then it dragged until the final 2. HOTD was more cohesive.

[littlepotter]

I definitely enjoyed house of the dragon more than the first GOT season but i'm not sure if we can compare them. Like i don't think I would have even gotten through hotd if it weren't a prequel

[makeme]

GOT but both were amazing

[AxelFox]

I'm leaning towards HOD 

[Hector]

Easily House Of The Dragon. GOT didn't really become what it was for me until Season 3.

[Summerboy95]

HOTD was more entertaining and more dynamic

[Mr. Stratus]

house of the dragon is just season 8 with more episodes. Thrones season 1, SWEETIE

 

*Cersei season 5 Voice*

 

This poll is an INSULT to a great show, why should we take the word of gays on a forum - over the heir to HBO?

[Breathe On Moi]

I haven’t even watched HOD yet and I can already tell it’s been overhyped.

 

If you didn’t watch GoT season 1 live, you shouldn’t have an opinion on it tbh  most captivating first season in the last 2 decades. 

[TaggedGalaxy]

GOT season 1 was better but HoD exceeded expectations since most people went into it skeptically and planned on boycotting it after the disaster of GoT season 8. The people running HoD seem to respect and love the source material though and I think in the long run they will do the story justice unlike D&D who took a massive dump on the story when they stopped caring

[Johnny Jacobs]

the tie i- 

 

s1 of hotd qas good and got the franchise reputation back up but s1 of got was too iconic.

i think the fact that we are more prepared to the shock value than last time makes a diffrence as well

[est. in 90s]

HoTD ain't topping GOT.

 

I know some OG GOT stans are hoping to recapture the lightening in the bottle that was GOT with HoTD but it's not happening. HoTD can be great on its own, magnificent even and one of the best shows on television for its time, but it ain't and will never be GOT despite being a prequel. The world building, character arcs and multiple compelling plots (w/o it being a jumbled and confusing mess) alone CLEARS HotD that so far feels very rushed and far less nuanced than GOT did at this point in the series.

Say what you will about the last seasons of GOT, it had its lows, but the highs were like touching Mount Everest   

[Miles.]

Both were excellent.  HOTD is too fresh, I can't choose yet.

[Eóghan]

The only thing missing from GoT S1 was the budget (2 big battles relegated to off screen, a few locations skipped for later seasons, less direwolves, no cometh etc ...), it really did hold that season back from being the best introductory season of all time. But it still did a masterful job at world building and introducing so many characters/locations.

 

As for HotD unfortunately it had already lost this battle before it even began because the original material just can't compare. But I'll say this it's really impressive how they were able to put together a pretty good show from a lore-chronicle that's very dry while the first ASOIAF book is a masterpiece. Dumb & Dumber already had their work cut out for them, easiest job ever.

Now the original material isn't the only advantage GoT had, HotD may have perfected the dark and gritty of GoT by cranking it up to a 100 but it's also missing the humour and heart. But that's a question of taste.

[fridayteenage]

Sansa starks show

[Godly]

Still have to see the finale, but HotD is overhyped AF.

 

I've been mostly enjoying it even witht these quibbles, and episodes 7-8-9 have been major improvements, but it remains exhaustingly monothematic, full of bizarre writing choices, claustrophobic sets, mid VFX and acting from several secondary characters, some baffling recasts, poorly lit scenes and, most of all, it was adapted in a way that occasionally makes it feel closer to a documentary than a TV show, jumping through years and crucial moments with no harmony whatsoever and barely-introduced characters meeting their fates before we even got to learn their names being presented as some major plot development that should make a big impression on the viewers but that have never failed to leave me cold. And it could be because of them having more colorful and distinct personalities, but I thought the GoT characters were better sketched out after one episode than arguably anyone from HotD beside Viserys is a full season in. 

 

As I said though, the last few episodes have been really good and that's probably because the show is settling on the part of the story it set out to tell in the first place, so I have faith in the next season. The worst I can say about GoT's debut season is that, from what I remember, it stalled a bit in the middle but it never felt boring since there were too many characters and storylines intertwining for entire episodes to drag, so it wins. It also had a central mystery with the death of Jon Arryn that automatically made it more gripping than HotD which most closely resembles a soap opera.

[LP54]

I will give it to HOTD.

 

In my opinion, they didn't have to use all the sex to keep people entertained. I think HOTD starts off much more exciting that GOT.

[Destiny]

Coming into this thread, I did not expect these results.

 

Both are equally good but I voted for Thrones only because the multiple & massive time jumps, constant actor changes and pacing issues made House of the Dragon  a lot less cohesive.