Given once-diehard fans thought Game Of Thrones became a bit rubbish the more it leaned into CGI monsters and rather queasy incest romances, the first episode of House Of The Dragon had a bold opening 15 minutes.
The series kicked off with a giant dragon and Matt Smith, looking like a Poundshop Geralt Of Rivia, seemingly creepily perving on his own niece. So far, so Westeros.
Of course the other things Game Of Thrones was known for was the rumpy-pumpy and, er, willy-slicy.
It wasn’t long before Smith’s Prince Daemon Targaryen and his fascist police treated a serf to a bit of impromptu medieval castration, the camera lingering on the poor chap’s now-detachable manhood.
Things only got more gory from there: a noble joust turned into a full-blown rammy akin to a Saturday night square go at Saracen Cross in Glasgow: the scene was interspersed with a genuinely upsetting forced caesarean birth.
Once past the lurid, gleeful brutality of House Of The Dragon, and into the dim, candlelit backrooms of the Red Keep lurks a gripping, sometimes opulent tale of palace intrigue.
Paddy Considine’s King Viserys quietly frets about his lineage, Rhys Ifans darkly uses his daughter for nefarious ends and Milly Alcock’s reluctant heiress looks doomed already.
What a bloody great show.
House Of The Dragon, Sky Atlantic
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe