HBO has the first episode of its Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon free to watch on YouTubea marketing move that amusingly coincides with Amazon Prime’s release The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Friday last week.
Life is good now for fans of epic fantasy, with House of the Dragon draws the largest audience ever for a new HBO series (and seemingly the streaming service in the process). At the same time, The rings of power attracted 25 million viewers worldwide the day it premiered, which also happens to be Amazon Prime’s biggest debut.
The success of Amazon’s Tolkien adaptation is probably at least partly why HBO is giving everyone a taste of its latest adventure in Westeros, enticing you to sign up for yet another streaming service — although there are other reasonable explanations for the freebie besides are, ah , happy time of day. The game of thrones series finale received catastrophic reviews from critics and audiences alike Rotten tomatoesso while 10 million people tuned in for the House of the Dragon premiere, it’s understandable that some scorned fans of the franchise might need a little more convincing before jumping back on George RR Martin’s hype train.
House of the Dragon takes place almost 200 years before the events of the Game of Thrones series, detailing the demise of House Targaryen and their rule over the Iron Throne. As expected, there is a plethora of dragons, family fights and long, wavy wigs for those disappointed by the more contemporary hairstyles in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The watch link is unfortunately region locked and therefore not available outside the US, but UK fans can also watch the first episode for free thanks to an upload from Sky TV. Be wary that, as expected for a Game of Thrones spin-off, the series comes with an adult content warning.
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