With a new cast of characters and a more diverse production crew, the "Game of Thrones" prequel "House of the Dragon" finally came out on Sunday and immediately blew up social media.
The events of the series are set two centuries before the plot of the events that unfolded during the "Game of Thrones" timeline. The focus of the 10-episode prequel series is House Targaryen, made infamous by Emilia Clarke's Daenerys and her terrifying dragons in the original series.
But many users, while satisfied with the use of the original music theme and references to the original series, note that the spinoff is not a "Game of Thrones" ripoff.
Some Twitter users, for example, asked where the series' huge budget went when the costumes supposedly looked cheap.
"HBO spent $20 million per episode on House of the Dragon and yet the wigs look like that?!?!" one user wrote.
Others simply noted the show's traditional high level of on-screen violence.
"Welp. That’s one of the most f**ked up (and unfortunately realistic) things I’ve ever seen in TV. #HouseoftheDragon," echoed the sentiment another netizen.
"Joffrey was a nightmare. She will be great. And that uncle is going to be a menace. #DemThrones," one Twitterian posted.
"And House of the Dragon is already disturbing as f**k, insane violence, weird sex, crazy ass dialogue, and a screaming lady giving birth who will most likely die, yup GoT is back lol," another post said.
A separate deluge of tweets came about complaints about the crashing HBO Max app, likely due to the large number of viewers, which spoiled some fan experiences.
Prince Daemon Targaryen, played by actor Matt Smith, known for his "Dr. Who" reprisal, is one of the new faces in the series. The actor revealed in a previous interview that his evil persona is far more nuanced than he initially seems to be.
The sci-fi drama was co-created by George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal, whose work includes the 2016–19 sci-fi drama "Colony," and is based on Martin's "Fire and Blood" work. Along with the prequel's director, Miguel Sapochnik, who has experience from the "Game of Thrones" series, Condal serves as executive producer and co-showrunner.
In the first episode of the series, Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) succeeds his older cousin Princess Rhaenys Velaryon as the heir to the Iron Throne (Eve Best). However, Viserys must have his own heir because both his daughter Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy plays the adult version, while Milly Alcock plays the younger version) and younger brother Daemon harbor ambitions to become powerful figures.
Among the ensemble of actors are figures such as Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Emily Carey, Graham McTavish and Sonoya Mizuno.
New episodes of this season of the series will be released once a week, with the season finale is expected on October 23.