House of the Dragon vs. The Rings of Power: Which Was Better?

We are lucky to live in a time when we can partake of different versions of high fantasy. I myself am a HUGE Tolkien fan starting from the books. I read The Silmarillon within the day I got it one Christmas morning, stopping only for brief naps, and getting something to eat. On the other hand, my experience with House of the Dragon is primarily with the HBO series of which I suppose I am in the minority when I say that I enjoyed how that series ended. Having said all of that, I will now share my ratings of these two high fantasy series with a five-star rating scale. Five stars is the highest score on this scale. It’s a bit uneven since Rings only had eight episodes while House had ten. Though I will be averaging the scores in the end. For those of you who haven’t watched both or either yet this is a WARNING THAT THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. It’s time to go on an adventure. Come join me.

Episode One: Heirs of the Dragon vs. A Shadow of the Past. House of the Dragons got me at DRAGONS while The Rings of Power got me at VALINOR. These are two very exciting beginnings with both episodes setting the table quite well on what to expect in the stories to come. That being said, the first episodes were a very good start for both franchises. To that I gave each series four stars, and so the first episode duel ends in a tie. Moving on…

Episode Two: The Rogue Prince vs. Adrift. In The Rogue Prince we get a better look at Daemon Targaryen, the brother of Viserys, and apparently the black sheep between the two. The episode also establishes the closeness between Daemon, and Rhaenyra. On the other hand, Adrift focuses on Galadriel being lost at sea with an apparaent new ally, and Elrond makes the trek to Khazad-dum to visit his old friend Durin. With this I give House three stars vs. Rings two stars. In which case, House of the Dragon wins this round with its steady though unspectacular storytelling. I was really disappointed with the details of this episode of The Rings of Power. I mean, how in the name of Eru do you get to meet ship stragglers in the Sundering Seas? Inconceivable. Then there is Elrond making the walk from Eregion to Khazad-dum within a day? Without any encounters? Really. That just didn’t ride well with me, hence the rating.

Episode Three: Second of His Name vs. Adar. In Second of His Name, we are at the name day of young Prince Aegon who is named after the legendary Aegon the Conqueror. There’s a bit of a time jump here where we see the fruits of Allicent’s marriage to King Viserys. This is all happening while Daemon faces the Crabfeeder. In Adar, we finally get to see a glimpse of the legendary kingdom of the Dunedain: Numenor. Also, we get to delve into more events that happen in the Southlands which many a Tolkien geek will know eventually becomes Mordor. Numenor was enough for me to give Rings of Power four stars for this episode. On the other hand, House gains three stars for me. The episode was good, but nothing caught my eye to nudge the score higher.

Episode Four: King of the Narrow Sea vs. The Great Wave. After the events in Second of His Name, Rhaenyra continues her search for a suitable husband, while Daemon continues being the black sheep by seducing his underaged niece Rhaenyra in King of the Narrow Sea. Yikes. Over in The Great Wave, some shenanigans happen over at Numenor involving Galadriel while back in the Southlands the ranger elf, Arondir, has a decision to make. I’ll be blunt. Both episodes get one star for me for VERY BAD storytelling. You’d think that the security in the Red Keep could be a lot tighter going IN and OUT. How in all of the Seven Kingdoms can Daemon, and Rhaenyra go in and out with NO resistance? I’m surprised that Viserys or any of his blood didn’t ‘benefit’ negatively from those lapses in security. While over there in The Rings of Power, I can’t believe the same thing with the security of Numenor giving Galadriel that opportunity to escape. Come on, writers. This is Galadriel we are talking about…of course she’ll easily escape given the chance. Then there’s Adar, and his chance to just end the life of Arondir. That’s another head-scratching moment for me. You’re supposed to be one of the first fallen elves, Adar. Your wisdom is found wanting. Overall, I’d really like to forget that these episodes happened.

Episode Five: We Light the Way vs. Partings. In We Light the Way Daemon visits his wife, Lady Lhea Royce, in the Vale which results in Lady Lhea dying ‘accidentally’. There is also some politicking between the Targaryen’s, and the Valaryons. Such a classic move for Game of Thrones viewers. Over in Partings, this is the coolest I’ve seen of Galadriel since episode one, and the calmest in all of season one. I like this version of Galadriel over the arrogant, and impetuous one that we see most of the time. We also get insight of the relationship of elven trees, and mithril. This all leads to the story of the Silmarils. I’m a sucker for Tolkien lore, and this version of Galadriel so with that I’m giving Rings five stars vs. House’s three stars. So far, House of the Dragon has been pretty steady, but nothing really catches my eye since episode one.

Episode Six: The Princess and The Queen vs. Udun. We have a ten year time jump for The Princess and The Queen. Allicent becomes more curious of Rhaenyra’s children because they do not have the recognizable silver hair. Daemon loses his wife Laena Velaryon after she commits suicide by exposing herself to Vagar’s dragon breath. You really can’t blame her since she lost her baby at childbirth. I suppose the emotional struggle was unbearable for her. Over in Udun, war happens as the army of Numenor steps in to save the Southlanders from the attack of the orcs led by Adar. All’s not so well as we get the reason why Mordor is the way it is as the episode ends with an eruption from Mount Doom. Three stars for both series with up-and-down storytelling, but nothing really happened to deserve a higher score for both.

Episode 7: Driftmark vs. The Eye. Here’s where House of the Dragon gets interesting for me in Driftmark. This is the funeral of Laen and aftermath to that. This is a beautiful episode that is the calm before the storm. Viserys is dying, and it shows. He manages to gather his family to get along up to one ominous dinner. You can feel his influence in the factions of Allicent, and Rhaenyra. It really is just his presence, and influence that are holding the Targaryen’s together. There isn’t a lot of action here, but the tension is at a boiling point, and I really love the undercurrents set in motion here. This episode is worth five stars. On the other hand, The Eye gets three stars for me with a slow but even story in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption. Queen Miriel of Numenor is now blind. The Harfoots run into a group that is hunting for a returned Sauron. Durin sides with Elrond for the mithril. All good, but nothing to push my rating beyond three stars.

Episode 8: The Lord of the Tides vs. Alloyed. The Lord of the Tides showed the last exercise of power by Viserys. He supports in person on the Iron Throne the legitimacy of his grandson’s (Rhaeneyra’s son) succeed in the Driftmark. Vaemond Valeryon challenges this by calling out the parentage of Rhaenyra’s sons which leads to him being decapitated by Daemon. Also, in his dying breath, Viserys causes enough confusion to make Allicent believe that his grandson Aegon, and not Rhaenyra should succeed him on the Iron Throne. Such a beautiful episode that gets five stars from me. In another world, Alloyed is the last episode of The Rings of Power. We find out that ‘meteor man’ is Gandalf, and Halbrand, Galadriel’s closest ally, is in fact Sauron. I’m not surprised with this, and I can deduce from what I know from Tolkien lore that Sauron as the Bringer of Gifts is in fact Sauron. Same goes for Gandalf though his appearance in Middle-Earth is a bit off to me. Also, we get to see the Elven Rings of Power made with the help of Halbrand/Sauron. Having said that, I can only give Alloyed four stars, and not five. I was expecting something much more for a final episode. These events weren’t enough for me to give Alloyed five stars.

Episode 9: The Green Council. Since there aren’t any more episodes of Rings of Power, I will be moving forward with my review with only House of the Dragon episodes starting with The Green Council. Here we get to see the aftermath of Viserys’s death. Allicent makes her move to establish her son, Aegon as King of the Seven Kingdoms. With her allies, Allicent begins to remove threats to Aegon’s rule, and preven anyone from joining Rhaenyra’s side. She gives an offer to Rhaenys Velaryon to basically ‘join her or die‘. Rhaenys gives her answer with a roar from her dragon, Melys. Rhaenys then storms out majestically on Melys out of Aegon’s crowning ceremony, and off to join Rhaenyra. The battle lines are being drawn, and the Dance of Dragons is coming. This episode gets five stars for me.

Episode 10: The Black Queen. Now this is how you end a season with a promise of what is to come. The Black Queen shows us the reaction of Rhaenyra to the crowning of Aegon II as ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. It is interesting to note that the crown worn by Aegon II is the crown Aegon the Conqueror while Rhaenyra wears the crown of her father Viserys who was an advocate of peace. And, this is exactly what Rhaenyra did in the episode: eveything in her power to avoid war. It’s what her father would’ve wanted. To the very end of the episode she was forging alliances to ensure peace. Unfortunately, Vhagar and Aemond had other plans. In a diplomatic mission, Luke Targaryen, and his dragron , Arrax, were devoured by Vhagar in an aerial assault. Rhaenyra’s expression at the end of this episode says it all. No need for words. THIS IS WAR. Five stars for me on an excellent ending to the first season of House of the Dragon.

So who won the battle of supremacy in high fantasy? Totalling my scores, ten episodes vs. eight, House of the Dragon wins over The Rings of Power 3.75. over 3.25. House of the Dragon was mostly steady until it reached its second act where the story really picked up. On the other hand, Rings of Power had all the lore within its grasp, but suffered from inconsistent, and sometimes lazy storytelling. As a long-time Tolkien fan, I’m hoping that the showrunners come up with a much better season two. Season one was passable, but below expections. Meanwhile, House of the Dragon is on course for an explosive second season getting us into the meat of Dance of Dragons. In any case, I enjoyed both series. It just so happens that House of Dragon was better.

Agree with me? Disagree with me? Give me a comment. I’m off to the next adventure.

Amazon Prime’s’Invincible’ Delves into Responsibility and Relationships

You’ve heard it so many times before: with great power comes great responsibility. ‘Invincible’ highlights this in spades, and you get to see two versions of responsibiltiy at the center of this adult animated series. The story focuses primarily on the relationship of father, Omni-Man who is also Earth’s greatest superhero, and son, Invincible. Omni-Man aka Nolan Grayson is a Viltrumite who came to Earth to protect it from evil. Or so the story initially goes. Invincible aka Mark Grayson got his powers upon turning seventeen, and is being schooled by Omni-Man to use his powers properly. Between them and with them is Debbie Grayson, wife to Nolan and mother to Mark, who serves as the apparent moral barometer for both characters. The dynamic of these three characters serve as the lynchpin for the development of the series’ plot as it drives the story forward tackling on the responsibility and burden of being, for Omni-Man and Invincible anyway, the most powerful heroes on the planet.

However, not everything is as clear cut as it seems. Later on we find out that Omni-Man’s initial story of protecting Earth was all a big lie. In fact, he came to Earth to prepare it for conquest by the Viltrumite Galactic Empire. More so, Omni-Man doesn’t see humanity as a race worth the time to save, but rather, not only does he see them as beneath him, he also sees humanity as, in his words ‘pets’. Of course, this doesn’t rub well with Invincible since he is part human, and this builds a burning tension between father and son on their responsibilities: Omni-Man to his Viltrumite origins, and Invincible to his love of the human race. This difference in priorities inevitably leads to a massive conflict that takes all of Earth into the battle, an it’s a scary sight to behold. By the end of season one, the future of the Earth is placed in these two characters hands while the rest of humanity can do nothing but watch the resolution of the conflict. Indeed, the battle brings a lot of tension considering that humanity’s survival will be determined by beings who, though they call Earth their home, are not even completely human.

If you’re familiar with Robert Kirkman, then you know that he has already had success wiht a series also based on a comic book, ;The Walking Dead’. Unlike the zombie series, “Invincible’ focuses on super heroes and not a zombie apocalypse. Similar to ‘The Walking Dead’, the story also focuses on a father-son relationship. Additionally, ‘Invincible’ takes the same liberties using violence as an integral part of the storytelling, and it benefits from it as a means to highlight important elements of the story. This is not a series for children. Yes, it is a superhero series, but the show is catered to a much more mature audience. In spite of this, the series is also a coming of age story with Mark Grayson growing into his powers as he realizes that the life of a superhero is not all fun and games. Mark aka Invincible had to make many decisions that often cause moral and emotional dilemmas in his daily life. This continues till the end of season one, and he learns that having powers like his father is not as simple as having them and using them as he wishes.

As a teenager, Mark Grayson also encounters difficulties in his personal life, particularly with his romantic relationships and his schooling. This was seen in his interactions to both Atom Eve, a fellow superhero, and classmate Amber Bennett. Mark finds his relationship with both quite challenging. However, it is his relationship with Amber that takes a big hit due to his time as a superhero. Though the conflict between Amber and Mark resolves positively, the growing friendship between Invincible and Atom Eve provides a better anchor to Mark’s superhero life. Moving forward, this romantic triangle will provide some interesting dynamics in the future.

All in all, ‘Invincible’ is a story about power, responsibilty and maturity. Though the relationship of Mark and Nolan take center stage, how Mark adjusts to his new status quo as a teenager with powers cannot be ignored. More so, Mark’s growing pains into the person he wants to be will determine the ultimate fate of the Earth. The challenge for Mark will be his acceptance of the responsibility that accompanies his powers. Invincible has already taken a stand on what he wants to do. Now all that is needed is for Mark to follow through. As such, season one of ‘Invincible’ has provided enough hooks for future stories to tell.

If you’re up for a more mature take on the superhero genre, give ‘Invincible’ a try. You’ll find that there are many layers to its storytelling. The series uses the comicbook superhero backdrop to talk about family, relationships and responsibilty. These elements makes it stand out from other superhero series.