House of the Dragon Is BORING As Hell

Summary

In this video, the reviewer discusses their reluctance to continue watching 'House of the Dragon,' a prequel to 'Game of Thrones.' Despite the prequel's visual appeal, they found it lacking in engaging storylines and relatable characters. The reviewer criticizes the series for its focus on women's complaints and labor scenes, which they felt detracted from the narrative's depth. They argue that the original 'Game of Thrones' captivated audiences with high stakes, complex characters, and a realistic portrayal of power struggles, which 'House of the Dragon' fails to replicate. The reviewer concludes that they will not invest time in a series that does not hook them from the outset.

Takeaways

• 📺 The speaker initially intended to review 'House of the Dragon' but decided against it, finding it uninteresting and boring.
• 🔥 They loved 'Game of Thrones' for its high stakes, complex characters, and the unpredictable nature of the story.
• 🎭 The speaker appreciated the realistic portrayal of power struggles and the philosophy that power is central to human conflict.
• 🚫 They criticized 'House of the Dragon' for focusing on women's complaints and lack of engaging male characters.
• 🤰 The script highlights the repetitive scenes of women in labor, which the speaker found uninteresting and not a compelling plot device.
• 👑 The speaker mocked the portrayal of queens as being burdened by childbirth and childcare, which they felt was unrealistic for their status.
• 🖼️ They praised the visual aspects of 'House of the Dragon' but felt that without a compelling story, the visuals became dull over time.
• 🚫 The speaker expressed frustration with the need to watch multiple episodes to reach an engaging part of the series, arguing that a good show should hook viewers from the start.
• 🏰 They felt that 'House of the Dragon' failed to capture the essence of what made 'Game of Thrones' great, particularly the high stakes and relatable characters.
• 🔗 The speaker promoted 'Established Titles' as a way for people to gain a title and respect, using their own title as an example.
• 🎙️ The speaker concluded by recommending their podcast for more content, suggesting that 'House of the Dragon' did not meet their expectations.

Q & A

What is the speaker's initial reaction to 'House of the Dragon'?

The speaker finds 'House of the Dragon' boring and not engaging, stating that they have no interest in continuing to watch it.

Why does the speaker believe the original 'Game of Thrones' was so captivating?

The speaker was captivated by 'Game of Thrones' due to its complex characters, the willingness of the author to kill off characters, and the cynical and down-to-earth philosophy of power.

What aspect of 'Game of Thrones' did the speaker find particularly unrealistic in its depiction of women?

The speaker found the depiction of women warriors who were small in stature yet able to duel with everyone else unrealistic and breaking the rules of reality.

How does the speaker feel about the ending of 'Game of Thrones'?

The speaker believes that 'Game of Thrones' trailed off at the end and that the ending was not well-executed.

What is the main criticism the speaker has about the characters in 'House of the Dragon'?

The speaker criticizes the characters in 'House of the Dragon' for being uninteresting, with a focus on women complaining and no compelling male characters.

What does the speaker think about the portrayal of labor and childbirth in 'House of the Dragon'?

The speaker finds the portrayal of labor and childbirth in 'House of the Dragon' to be overly focused on complaining and dissatisfaction, which they find unrealistic for the characters' social status.

Why does the speaker believe 'House of the Dragon' fails to capture the essence of 'Game of Thrones'?

The speaker believes 'House of the Dragon' fails because it lacks high stakes, real characters, and situations that matter, which were key elements of the original series.

What is the speaker's stance on long-form television storytelling?

The speaker enjoys long-form television that can sprawl like a novel, but they expect to be engaged from the first episode and are not willing to endure hours of uninteresting content for a potentially good later episode.

What is the 'Established Titles' project mentioned in the script?

The 'Established Titles' project allows individuals to purchase a one square-foot plot of land in Scotland, thereby earning the title of Lord or Lady, and is presented as a unique gift idea.

What promotional offer is mentioned for 'Established Titles'?

The first 200 people to purchase a title pack using the speaker's exclusive link will receive a plot near the speaker's own plot, and a discount is offered with the code 'claven'.

What does the speaker suggest about the quality of 'House of the Dragon' compared to the original 'Game of Thrones'?

The speaker suggests that 'House of the Dragon' lacks the depth, realism, and engagement of 'Game of Thrones', and they ultimately decide not to continue watching it.

Outlines

00:00

🐉 Disinterest in 'House of the Dragon'

The speaker expresses their lack of interest in watching 'House of the Dragon', a prequel to 'Game of Thrones'. Despite being asked multiple times by producers to review the series, they have only watched five episodes and found it unengaging and boring. They loved 'Game of Thrones' for its complex characters, unpredictable plot, and the high stakes involved in the power struggle. They appreciated the show's realistic portrayal of power dynamics and the character development, especially of Daenerys Targaryen. The speaker also criticizes the trend of creating unrealistic 'warrior women' characters in modern stories, preferring characters that adhere to a more believable and relatable reality. They conclude by discussing the concept of 'established titles', where one can purchase a plot of land in Scotland and become a lord or lady, and promote the use of the code 'claven' for a discount.

05:01

🎨 Visual Appeal but Lack of Story Stakes in 'House of the Dragon'

The speaker initially praises the visual appeal of 'House of the Dragon', comparing it favorably to modern art and expressing a preference for the show's imagery over contemporary museum art. However, they quickly become critical of the series' lack of engaging storylines and character development. They note the absence of compelling male characters and the overemphasis on female characters complaining about their inability to become king due to their gender. The speaker also criticizes the portrayal of childbirth and the constant dissatisfaction expressed by female characters, which they find unrealistic and unappealing. They argue that the series fails to capture the high stakes and genuine character struggles that made 'Game of Thrones' so captivating. The speaker concludes by stating that they will not continue watching 'House of the Dragon' due to its lack of early engagement and the need to endure several uninteresting episodes to reach a potentially good part of the series.

Keywords

💡House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon is a prequel to the popular series Game of Thrones, set in the same fictional universe of Westeros. In the script, the speaker discusses their lack of interest in watching the show beyond the first few episodes, citing boredom and a lack of compelling stakes as reasons for not continuing. The show is used as a contrast to the original series, highlighting what the speaker found engaging about Game of Thrones.

💡Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is a critically acclaimed television series based on George R.R. Martin's novels. The script references the series as a point of comparison for House of the Dragon, with the speaker expressing their enthusiasm for the original show's intricate plotlines, character development, and the high stakes involved in the struggle for power.

💡Stakes

In the context of storytelling, stakes refer to the importance or urgency of the events in a narrative. The speaker criticizes House of the Dragon for lacking stakes, meaning that the events and characters do not engage the viewer as much as they did in Game of Thrones, where the struggle for the Iron Throne was a central, high-stakes conflict.

💡Character Development

Character development is the process by which a character's personality, abilities, and relationships evolve over the course of a story. The script mentions the strong character development in Game of Thrones, particularly the growth of Daenerys Targaryen, as a point of contrast to the perceived lack of compelling character arcs in House of the Dragon.

💡Power

Power is a central theme in Game of Thrones and is discussed in the script as a driving force behind the characters' actions. The speaker reflects on how the pursuit and use of power was depicted in the original series, and how it differed from the portrayal in House of the Dragon, where power dynamics seemed less engaging.

💡Established Titles

Established Titles is mentioned in the script as a way for individuals to purchase a plot of land in Scotland and gain a title of 'Lord' or 'Lady.' This is used as a humorous aside, with the speaker suggesting that while they may not be 'Lord of the Multiverse,' one can still become a lord by purchasing land through Established Titles.

💡Visual Imagination

Visual imagination refers to the creation of mental images or the ability to visualize concepts. The speaker praises the visual aspects of House of the Dragon, suggesting that the show's visuals are a feast for the eyes, representing the imagination brought to life through technology.

💡Realism

Realism in a narrative context refers to the degree to which a story resembles real life or is presented in a way that is believable. The script contrasts the realism of Game of Thrones, with its gritty portrayal of power struggles and character flaws, with the perceived lack of realism in House of the Dragon, where characters' complaints and actions felt less authentic.

💡Femininity

Femininity is discussed in the context of the female characters in Game of Thrones, particularly the warrior woman Brienne of Tarth, who embodies both strength and a sense of loss for traditional femininity. The speaker argues that this portrayal was more relatable and real than the depiction of women in House of the Dragon, which they found less compelling.

💡Long-form Television

Long-form television refers to narrative-driven TV series that unfold over multiple episodes or seasons, often likened to a novel in structure. The speaker expresses their love for long-form storytelling but criticizes House of the Dragon for not engaging the viewer quickly enough, suggesting that a show should captivate from the outset rather than requiring several episodes to build interest.

Highlights

The reviewer expresses a lack of interest in watching 'House of the Dragon', citing it as boring and not engaging.

The reviewer contrasts their excitement for 'Game of Thrones' with their disinterest in its prequel, 'House of the Dragon'.

The reviewer criticizes 'House of the Dragon' for focusing on women's complaints rather than compelling storytelling.

The reviewer discusses the importance of high stakes in storytelling, which they feel is missing in 'House of the Dragon'.

The reviewer praises the visual aspects of 'House of the Dragon' but finds the story lacking.

The reviewer expresses dissatisfaction with the portrayal of women in 'House of the Dragon', feeling it is unrealistic and whiny.

The reviewer criticizes the lack of interesting male characters in 'House of the Dragon'.

The reviewer discusses the unrealistic depiction of childbirth and its impact on the narrative.

The reviewer compares the queen's portrayal in 'House of the Dragon' to their expectations of a queen's life.

The reviewer argues that 'House of the Dragon' fails to capture the essence of what made 'Game of Thrones' great.

The reviewer emphasizes the importance of engaging storytelling from the first episode, rather than needing to wait for later episodes.

The reviewer concludes that 'House of the Dragon' is not worth watching and does not understand its appeal.

The reviewer discusses the concept of established titles and how it allows individuals to become a 'Lord' or 'Lady'.

The reviewer promotes a sale on established titles and provides a discount code for the audience.

The reviewer ends with a call to action for viewers to subscribe and support the channel.

Transcripts

so we wanted to do a video of my

reviewing House of the Dragon the uh

prequel to Game of Thrones and I watched

five episodes of it and I kept coming

into the studio and they would say to me

the producers would say to me have you

finished House of the Dragon I would say

no no I'll get to it I'll get to it I'll

get to it and I thought why should I get

to it I don't like it it's not it's not

any good it's boring as hell and I

really don't want to the reason I

haven't watched more of it is because

I'm not interested so I'm instead going

to review why I wouldn't finish House of

the Dragon after loving Game of Thrones

and I think the best way to approach

this is to speak first about what it was

about Game of Thrones that at its peak

obviously it trailed off at the end they

kind of blew the ending but at its peak

I seriously felt was more excited to

find out who was going to win the Iron

Throne than who was going to become

president of the United States I was so

wrapped up in the show that it had

become almost real to me and that really

is what you know what a work of art can

do when it's really cooking and it was

cooking and what was it about the show

that was so great I mean this sex stuff

what they call the sex position where

whenever somebody was explaining the

complex family ties were always two

women banging each other in the

background this is an HBO trick they use

it for the first two seasons and then

they stop doing it because they want to

lure people in uh that that didn't mean

much to me you know except it was it was

fun to watch

but that was not what it was that Drew

me in it was the Incredible characters

uh the fact that the author George RR

Martin was willing to kill them off so

you never really knew what was going to

happen the cynical and down-to-earth the

philosophy of the piece which was the

power uh is is everything basically

power is what people fight for and what

people die over and if you don't fight

and play the power game you get killed

and you know like that that may or may

not be the case but that was the world

of the uh work of art and that was one

of the reasons I thought the women

characters were so interesting a lot of

people complained for instance there

were a lot of rapes and I thought well

yeah if there are no guns you're going

to get raped I mean that's how power

works and um and so I thought that they

were beaten into political correctness

they were beaten into having women

warriors and things like that which I

just thought was garbage uh but I but I

thought for a long time a long period

you were actually watching a fantasy

that was more real than some of the

reality shows the other thing about it

is the stakes were genuinely brilliantly

depicted Khaleesi Rises up she's nobody

she's a piece of human flesh that

they're trading around but through her

luck and pluck she makes her way and

becomes more and more powerful more and

more dominant as a character The Arc of

the character is she starts to care

about the slave she starts to care about

the little guy because she was a little

guy because she was abused and so you

you want her to become the Liberator of

these people you don't care that she

happens to be the powerful person you

just care that she becomes the Liberator

of the of the Nations but at the same

time as she accrues power she starts to

be separated from that little person

that she was and that's a fascinating

Arc of character and it was the whole

story of the peace and the women were

fairly well depicted when they had a

warrior woman she was big and ugly and

it was and ungainly and she felt bad

about that she missed her femininity but

she still wanted to be a warrior and

that was a real character that you could

identify with instead of these women who

are you know five foot four little

nothings but they can duel with

everybody else that I complain about all

the time only because it breaks the

rules It Breaks the Rules of reality and

it breaks the rules of most of the

stories they're telling now many of you

know me as the lord of the Multiverse so

you would expect me to get a lot more

respect than I do the reason I don't is

because I just don't go around bragging

about being a Lord but you should that's

what you should do I should go around

and the way you do that is you get go to

established titles established titles is

your opportunity to earn the title of

Lord or lady and get the respect you

deserve all you need is a one square

foot plot of land in Scotland

established titles is a Project based on

a historic Scottish custom where

landowners are referred to as lairds or

Lords and Ladies in English in your

title pack you'll be bestowed with at

least one square foot of dedicated land

on a private estate in edelston Scotland

plus an official certificate with a

Crest I have one your certificate

features a unique plot Number with which

you can see the exact location of your

Land Titles packs from established

titles or fun and unique gift for any

occasion and there are even couple packs

that come with adjoining plots of land

with a special someone in your life with

your certificate you could officially

add the prefix of Lord or lady to your

credit cards plane tickets and even your

dating profiles and get this established

titles told me that the first 200 people

purchasing a title pack using my

exclusive link will receive a plot

within a few walking minutes of mine

established titles is actually running a

massive sale right now plus if you use

the code claven you get an additional 10

off go to establishtitles.com Cleveland

to get your gifts now and help support

the channel you can't be lord of the

Multiverse but you can be Lord of a plot

of ground in Scotland if you know how to

spell Clavin and by the way it's

k-l-a-v-a-n House of the Dragon it

looked beautiful when it opened up I

thought this is going to be great the

first episode I loved and most of what I

loved about it was visual I just thought

I would so much rather look at this than

a Jackson Pollock painting I would so

much rather look at this than go to any

Museum that shows artwork after the no

19th century I mean this is this is

beautiful this is the imagination come

to life this is technology being used to

create the visual imagination and

enhance the visual imagination it was

great and I love that then however the

story had no Stakes whatsoever where's

the Steak all it was was women

complaining it was women complaining

from the beginning to the end there were

no men of Interest the only really great

male character was this weakling King

there were a couple of mildly

interesting uh subordinate characters

but it was women complaining one that

they couldn't be king now why can't I be

king It's like because you're a woman

that's not fair you know that was the

whole thing and you didn't they didn't

have any reason and secondly it was like

endless endless scenes of women in labor

complaining about it and and you know it

was interesting because they showed you

that giving birth was a kind of power

and they showed you how for instance the

queen was worried when the woman who had

been designated the heir to the throne

would have a baby and they had the scene

where right after having a baby she's

summoned to bring the baby to the queen

she has to get out of her labor bed and

uh and bring the baby to the queen and

here's a little clip of that

a boy I just heard yes hold on

where are you going

she wants to see him now

coming with you I should hope so let me

take him no she'll get no such

satisfaction from you just take my arm

at the least

was it terribly painful

oh God I took a lot through the shoulder

once

my deepest sympathies

I am glad I'm not a woman

walk walk

what could she possibly want

I thought we were past this as much as I

respect what women go through in

creating the human race it's not

inherently oppressive that that's who

you are it's just life it is just life

and so the way that women were depicted

was kind of like it was somehow a cheat

that they had to go into labor the men

by the way in the story treat them quite

nicely they say what a wonderful thing

you've done and you know you've been

heroic going through this Labor uh but

the women are just constantly

dissatisfied and they're constantly

whining and we're supposed to care the

scenes that used to that crack me up the

most with these scenes of the queen who

is stuck producing babies and she's got

the baby on the knee and the baby's

crying the queen is rolling her eyes oh

I have to put up with this baby and I

thought you got to be kidding me she's

the queen she doesn't have to do

anything most Queens you know the maid

brings the baby in every now and again

oh darling hi it's good to see you mama

loves you take them away now he's

starting to cry that's the way that

really works you know so the queen is a

powerful thing you're not an unpowerful

figure and yes the king is more powerful

and that's the way life life was in

those days and so the complaining the

constant complaining about it there was

no reason to care who had the throne

because there was nothing at stake so

none of it mattered it didn't matter and

so after a while the visuals got boring

after all the characters got boring and

finally I just have to say this one

thing that really bugs me about long I

love long-form television I love

watching a show that can you know splay

out like a novel and all that but people

keep saying to me oh you've got to get

to the sixth episode if you don't grab

me in the first episode my question is

this if I have to go through five boring

hours to get to the sixth interesting

hour on my deathbed are you going to

give me those five hours back that I

wasted getting to your lousy sixth

episode because you don't know how to

tell the story no no I'm done House of

the Dragon is over it sucked I'm not

watching anything for six episodes to

get to the good part it really did not

understand what was great and what was

beautiful about the original which was

that the stakes were high the characters

were real the situations were real and

it mattered and it mattered a lot

because you were just really wrapped

into it this doesn't matter at all man

that was great and if you want more

great content like And subscribe And

subscribe to the Andrew klavan podcast

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