House of the Dragon: Ranking Every Season 1 Episode

Ranking all 10 episodes of House of the Dragon Season 1, worst to best.

By Charlie Ridgely - June 9, 2024 03:17 pm EDT

At long last, House of the Dragon is finally making its way back to HBO for a new season. Two years after the first installment of the hit Game of Thrones prequel concluded, the series is returning with more than two months worth of brand new episodes. The action kicks off on Sunday, June 16th, and fans will at last witness the great war for control of Westeros between the two factions of Targaryens.

With the premiere of House of the Dragon Season 2 just a week away, it felt like a great time to revisit the season that came before. We took a look back at all 10 episodes of House of the Dragon Season 1 in order to determine which hour of television has what it takes to be best of the series (so far). A daunting undertaking, but someone's got to do it, right?

Below, you can find the full lineup of House of the Dragon Season 1 episodes, ranked from worst to best (though the worst is still pretty good).

10. "King of the Narrow Sea"

House of the Dragon's entire first season is solid, but something has to come in last. That unfortunate honor is being bestowed upon the fourth episode, "King of the Narrow Sea."

While the episode isn't "bad" by any stretch, it is undoubtedly the most uncomfortable, as it includes Daemon's pursuit of a young Rhaenyra and her subsequent affair with Criston Cole. It also doesn't help "King of the Narrow Sea" that it's followed by an excellent one-two punch bookending the time jump. At the end of the day, "King of the Narrow Sea" is the most forgettable episode of the season.

9. "The Rogue Prince"

house-of-the-dragon-dragonstone-explained-daemon-targaryen.jpg — (Photo: HBO)

The second episode of House of the Dragon largely deals with the fallout of the Queen's death, as everyone surrounding Viserys is trying to get him to remarry someone much younger in order to continue his line. It's not the most intriguing story of the series, to say the least.

The other story throughout the episode, however, is much more interesting. We get a glimpse into just how wild and unpredictable Daemon Targaryen can be, and Matt Smith puts an immediate stamp on the Game of Thrones franchise.

8. "The Princess and the Queen"

"The Princess and the Queen" kicked off a new era of House of the Dragon, as it was the first episode to star Olivia Cooke and Emma D'Arcy as Alicent and Rhaenyra, respectively.

The episode puts a lot of emphasis on showing the audience who those two characters grew up to be in the 10 years since we last saw them, giving it a slightly slower pace than other episodes. But it is still a wonderfully written hour of television that sews the seeds of drama into a new generation of Targaryens. It also deserves a shoutout for building Harwin Strong into a such a memorable character, despite his short-lived time on the show.

7. "We Light the Way"

"We Light the Way" brought the first half of House of the Dragon's debut season to an end in incredibly dramatic fashion. Alicent wore the green dress and planted the seeds for the eventual showdown with Rhaenyra, and Criston Cole forced a massive wedge right in the middle of that already growing divide.

The episode also begins with an absolute wallop of an opening scene, as we watch Daemon's ruthlessness reach an unprecedented new high.

6. "Driftmark"

Most of House of the Dragon's first season is set in King's Landing or on Dragonstone, but the seventh episode of the series took viewers to a much more interesting location. The Isle of Driftmark was given such a great design for House of the Dragon. Even if the episode were flat, it would've been a joy to spend some quality time in the stunning seafaring town. Fortunately, the episode itself was just as good as the production design.

There are so many memorable and very important moments packed into "Driftmark." Aemond's connection to Vhagar and the subsequent family standoff remains one of the most pivotal scenes of the whole season, and the Laenor's death twist was executed to perfection.

5. "Second of His Name"

Some of the best episodes throughout Game of Thrones were centered around epic, large-scale battles, the likes of which hadn't been seen on a TV series before. House of the Dragon didn't have much of that in Season 1 (there will be a LOT in the coming seasons), which makes "Second of His Name" really stand out.

The final act of the episode see Daemon thrust into a situation where he feels he needs to prove himself on the battlefield. He leads the Velaryon forces against the Crabfeeder's pirate army with a false surrender and a fantastic battle ensues. The cherry on top of the whole sequence is Matt Smith's performance, in which Daemon conquers the day without speaking a single line of dialogue.

4. "The Heirs of the Dragon"

house-of-the-dragon-game-thrones-targaryen-family-tree-timeline-explained.jpg — (Photo: HBO)

House of the Dragon not only had the difficult task of continuing the legacy of one of the most popular and acclaimed TV shows in history, but it also had to find a way to get a lot of fans back on its side after the wildly divisive final season of Game of Thrones. The series premiere managed to do both.

In "The Heirs of the Dragon," fans not only got a glimpse of the writing and world-building that made Game of Thrones so great, but we were also introduced to a group of compelling characters from the very first scene. House of the Dragon quickly established itself as a series worthy of its franchise name.

3. "The Green Council"

It's honestly hard to separate the ninth and tenth episodes of House of the Dragon Season 1, as they were designed to go hand-in-hand. "The Green Council" and "The Black Queen" show the start of the Dance of the Dragons, first from the perspective of Alicent, then from the perspective of Rhaenyra. The two work to compliment each other well.

"The Green Council" is excellent from start to finish. We get to watch as trust collapses throughout the Red Keep and the Small Council scrambles to usurp the Iron Throne, and seeds are planted for a lot of intriguing stories still to come. It's also impossible not to talk about the episode without mentioning Rhaenys' shining moment in its closing minutes, when she reminds us all why she should've been on the throne all along.

2. "The Black Queen"

The Season 1 finale gets the nod over its predecessor on this list simply because of the performances from Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith. As Rhaenyra and Daemon realize the horrible position they've been put in, their reactions couldn't be more different. D'Arcy and Smith take that divide and run absolutely wild with it.

"The Black Queen" also gives House of the Dragon its biggest sequence of actual dragon's to-date. Aemond and Lucerys' chase out of Storm's End is nail-biting, giving fans just a small taste of the intense and tragic war that's about to unfold.

1. "The Lord of the Tides"

The eighth episode of House of the Dragon Season 1 is the most well-written of the bunch, and it may not be all that close. A large chunk of this episode is just people arguing over a throne that hasn't even been vacated yet, and in the hands of Writer Eileen Shim and director Geeta Vasant Patel, it becomes a riveting hour of television.

"The Lord of the Tides" is the final episode for King Viserys Targaryen, a character who was given vibrant life and unending depth by Paddy Considine. In this hour, Considine delivers his finest scenes, including a sequence that just follows his character walking towards his throne for the very last time. A perfect farewell to a phenomenal character.