Productions set in fantastic universes have been attracting people all over the world to the screens for a long time. When we say The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Game of Thrones, we have always seen a great fantasy production in the 2000s. The last two great representatives of these great fantasy productions were House of the Dragon and Rings of Power.
The first few episodes of these productions, both of which tell the past in the universes of very big productions, for which their producers and publishers have placed great hopes, for which they sacrificed millions of dollars and poured large sums of money into advertising, have been published. Let’s compare these two series together.
In the red corner; The dragon of Westeros, the progenitor of the game of thrones, even the blacks are blonde, House of the Dragon!
HBO Max’s series is the first of many spin-offs to Game of Thrones, which has never been defeated by any of its rivals, and has dealt the biggest blow on its own. Although its budget is not as big as its rival, House of the Dragon (HotD) is already waiting for viewers with millions of viewers familiar with the series universe and with the direct involvement of George RR Martin.
In the production, where we watch how the Targaryen dynasty had difficulty in capturing the iron throne -despite its dragons- before Game of Thrones and again the fight for the throne, there are a lot of politics and in-story twists that prevent dragons and the fact that we are watching a fantastic universe.
In the blue corner; Amazon’s hope is the Rings of Power, one of the most epic stories ever told in cinema, powered by the foundation of the entire genre!
Rings of Power, which will almost rule the future of Amazon Prime Video, also holds the title of being the most expensive production ever made for TV or a broadcasting platform. In this production, which tells years before the Lord of the Rings films, we will get to know Sauron’s process of becoming Sauron and the Second Age.
With its elves, humans, all kinds of strange creatures, and very different regions, the Rings of Power manage to present a visual feast. In Rings of Power, we will see the struggle of different characters whose paths we are sure will cross at some point.
Round 1: Which show is better in terms of visuals?
Whether it’s the color palettes, the costumes, and the CGI, Rings of Power looks ahead of its competitors. Of course, millions of dollars coming out of Amazon’s seemingly bottomless pockets have a big impact here, but in terms of storytelling, the Rings of Power have a more fantastic and fairy-tale feel, which is reflected in the colors.
House of the Dragon, on the other hand, is a series in black. The overall mood of the production is similar to the last two seasons of Game of Thrones. So much so that even the places with daily sun in the original series became a place with the most gray clouds in the sky in this series. Medieval European peasant clothes, well-tailored clothes and artificial wigs do not make their job any easier.
First round winner: Rings of Power
Round 2: Sounds and music
Another point that House of the Dragon has problems with is the sounds. While the use of Game of Thrones music in the opening theme is a big plus, there is no catchy music use in the series. In general, the voices of the voices are a little low in the series, and the cries of the dragons do not appeal to the ear. Because the dragon cry, which looks like the voice of a child who has pharyngitis and tries to scream, is not scary at all. This is a glaring situation when dragons are one of the main factors in the series.
On the other hand, Rings of Power doesn’t give much in this regard. There is no catchy music from the production until now, and there is no song that will stay in our minds. Since the Lord of the Rings universe is a universe full of songs and poems, this deficiency is more striking. Speech sounds or sound effects are better.
Round two winner: No, but HotD is better.
Round 3: Script
In this episode, we can say that the Rings of Power started the fight rather loosely. The approaches of the two sides to the stories are quite different. The Rings of Power have decided to start the story from separate ends and combine them all in the middle. Therefore, we can evaluate the general structure after the progression of the stories that are set up in different ways is a little clearer. In terms of episode or scene, although House of the Dragon managed to knock down the Rings of Power this round, the Rings of Power were not knocked out. Still, someone better read the scripts for the Rings of Power. Maybe you wrote “My son tries to swim across the ocean” to the woman, do you think that makes sense?” they say so
House of the Dragon is also not so advanced in terms of scenario. In this, of course, there is also the fact that the series is trying to gather its speed for now and trying to create a background in accordance with the events in the future. Still, events are much more predictable than what we’re used to in Game of Thrones. At least the purebred members of the Targaryen house speak their own language among themselves, which is a plus.
Third round winner: House of the Dragon
Round 4: Acting
As both House of the Dragon and Rings of Power decided to launch with relatively little-known players, it was initially difficult to predict which player would perform well. When we watch the published episodes of both series, we cannot see a striking actor performance. Frankly, it seems like it would be unfair which side we put forward in terms of acting. It would be better to wait for a while for the players to warm up to the characters. However, it is possible to say that we see more multidimensional and realistic characters in the Rings of Power.
The winner of the fourth round: A draw but the scales are starting to lean towards the Rings of Power.
Conclusion: These two series are not very related to each other and there is a Marvel-DC-like situation between them in terms of structure. Both exist for our enjoyment and we don’t have to compare them.
So, which fantasy production would I choose?
My own preference is that we can watch it on Amazon Prime Video screens… The Legend of Vox Machina! Although they sometimes make sexually explicit teen jokes, you have a character development pattern, you have a world-building pattern, the voice-overs are already great. I would recommend giving that animation a chance, too, especially if you’re already an RPG player.
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