As a prequel to the popular and hugely successful Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon was always going to have an oven-ready fanbase full of passionate viewers.
But it seems that some fans of the show have chosen a side to support and will defend their favourite characters in spite of the motives or morals behind their actions.
And there are plenty of forums where you can be told that you have, in fact, been watching the show all wrong.
Now, this is a bit of a weird stance to take in many respects.
Firstly, it’s pretty clear that morality is pretty low down the list for characters in HotD. As such, there is no objectively ‘good’ or ‘evil’ side to be on. This is (or at least should be) one of the elements of the show that sets it apart from some others. All characters are flawed in some way and occasionally make bad or irrational decisions.
With this in mind, nailing your colours to the mast in favour of one side or the other could leave some viewers looking pretty foolish. Because we don’t know what twists and turns the writers have in store. There’s every chance that just when you think the show or a particular character will take one direction, something will change and it (or they) will head somewhere else altogether.
And then what? Fans still desperately try to defend the indefensible actions of a character because they, at some previous moment in time, chose to ‘support’ one family over another?
Ultimately, this is no way to watch (and certainly to enjoy) the show. House of the Dragon is not about good vs evil. It’s about political intrigue and manoeuvring. It’s about the lengths that people will go to (ok, maybe would have once gone to, but the general principle still remains) in the pursuit of power and influence.
And while we’re on the subject of historical morality, can we stop judging fictional characters in a fantasy world against modern-day standards? Yes, some of what we see is shocking. But that’s kind of the point of it.
Because watching the Starks and Lannisters go about their daily lives, doing a bit of shopping and having a go at some Westeros version of Wordle would be incredibly boring.
So, let’s all relax a little bit, realise it’s a fictional show (yes, a very good one that you can really get sucked into, but a fictional TV show nonetheless) and actually enjoy the intrigue, skulduggery and manipulation that makes it all so engaging. Surely, that can’t be the wrong way to watch it?