While most audiences are simply basking in the joy of having two of their favorite fantasy stories on live-action in the form of House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power, Amazon and HBO have been fighting a discreet war behind the curtains over the dominion of the streaming sphere.
To Game of Thrones fans, it doesn’t matter one way or another if the show is the most popular in the world or is overshadowed by its long-time rival. Right now, most of them are preparing to say goodbye to a true Westeros legend. A man who directed some of the most visually stunning episodes and equally breathtaking battle sequences in television history.
All of this and more comprise today’s roundup of Game of Thrones news, so read ahead without further ado.
‘The Rings of Power’ takes over ‘House of the Dragon’ but only on streaming
While at first, it seemed like the hype surrounding House of the Dragon would bury The Rings of Power and its divisive debut in the rubble, Jeff Bezos’ $1 billion wager is finally proving to be more than the sum of its well-recognized name. According to a new report by Nielsen, The Rings of Power absolutely crushed House in viewing figures for the week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4, though that’s only counting the hours watched in the US on streaming platforms. The Westerosi prequel still has millions of viewers on cable, so taking that into account, the gap becomes quite a lot less intimidating for HBO.
‘House’ fans are not ready to bid this Westeros legend goodbye
Game of Thrones fans get a jolt of hype whenever there’s mention of Miguel Sapochnik at the helm. The director of such acclaimed episodes as “Hardhome,” “Battle of the Bastards,” “The Winds of Winter,” “The Long Night,” and “Bells” returned as showrunner for House and even directed a few episodes, but we regret to inform you that this Sunday’s seventh episode, titled “Driftmark,” will be the creative’s last directorial credit on Game of Thrones. Sapochnik might decide to return somewhere down the line, but as far as the fandom is concerned, the director has retired from Westeros.
Would Ned Stark support Rhaenyra Targaryen or Alicent Hightower?
Ned Stark is honor incarnate in the world of Westeros. The Warden of the North and the head of House Stark is so righteous, in fact, that his simple way of interpreting the two sides of morality was what ultimately got him killed. Beyond that, though, Eddard was a man of his word, and everyone knew that to be the resolute truth, even his enemies. So, with that in mind, Game of Thrones fans have been wondering whether Ned would side with Rhaenyra, knowing about her illegitimate children, or Alicent Hightower, who, by all accounts, is the rightful queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and her offspring all share the blood of Viserys.
From one side, Rhaenyra is the proclaimed rightful heir, but from another, Alicent’s children have more legitimacy. So, which side would Ned pick? While the complexity of the situation yields no simple answer, fans have been fighting this out over at the official House subreddit, so do pay a visit if you’re intrigued about some of the answers.
That’s all for now, but we’ll have more for you tomorrow as we inch closer to the premiere of the next House of the Dragon episode.