I am finding House of Dragons, the prequel to Game of Thrones, a bit of a bore.

First and foremost it is too dark. I don’t mean dark mood here, I mean too dark to see what is going on. At the beginning of every night scene, I go blind for a few seconds, kind of like when you turn out the lights and your eyes haven’t adjusted. Once I have regained my full sight, I am still left wondering who is talking and where they are and what might be going on. On the plus side, it is a wonderful depiction of night time. Seriously, even a few extra torches would help immensely.

Then there is the plot. It really is just a rehash of Game of Thrones. The only difference is there it is a new group of contenders for the throne who all have seemingly valid reasons to succeed King Viserys on the throne. The good news is that he is taking his sweet time to die. He was on his last legs from the start. But somehow, perhaps the leeches his doctor applies to his wounds, he has managed to hang on, coughing and hacking and barely being able to walk, for an incredible ten years. I wish I could say it creates tension in the show. He has to die in order for the succession battle to begin, until then everyone is waiting for him to kick the bucket. Maybe he lives so the audience can pick a contender to root for. Unfortunately, they are a nasty group of people. I can’t latch on to someone.

There are battle scenes and loveless royal marriages and doomed affairs and gruesome murders and period perfect costumes and fire breathing dragons and medieval sets and plenty of gratuitous nudity. Does this sound familiar?

The worst thing about the House of Dragons is the use of a made up language called High Valyrian. I didn’t like it in Game of Thrones but mercifully that show used it rarely. In House of Dragons it is spoken much more. But, for the life of me, why? No one speaks the language. The audience wouldn’t know the difference between High Valyrian and Chinese. It is unnecessary and adds nothing to the story. For me, in fact, it is a distraction because every time I hear it, I have to fume for a minute or two before I can read the subtitles.

A lot of work has been put into it. It is a good production but it has failed to grab me yet. I am committed to watching until the end of this season. Right now I can say that if I had my druthers I would rewatch Game of Thrones instead.