"House of the Dragon"

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely".  Or there is a danger in interbreeding and an "unbridled lust for power".  SPOILERS AHEAD.  Much like GOT you have an entitled, privileged royal class who wage war for power with the common people taking the biggest hits.  It's engaging like GOT (have to rush to the next episode) but there is an ick factor when it comes to who is married to whom.  It was hard for me to get over.  It's also difficult to figure out who is who as they not only have similar-sounding names, two characters actually have the same name (which comes out in the line of succession ... which is very ... murky).  And they are almost all blondes and the time jumps mean constant recasting, so it gets fairly tiring asking yourself, "now who is this?"  I didn't love it, because of the aforementioned "ick" and for the basic reason that nothing goes particularly well for our so-called heroes.  For all the committed GOT fans, I have to say ... these are not good people.  I mean, some try to be good.  And some are good at certain things (Rhaenyra is a fairly good mum) but overall ... yeah, not so much.  They crave the throne, they get on the throne, and it all falls apart.  One former king, in a vision, makes a rather prophetic statement ... about how the crown corrupts, crushes and destroys all who wear it.  He's not wrong.  Watching this became an exercise in wishing that someone, anyone, could just truly be honorable.  It was not to be.  Ended up feeling like "White Lotus" meets "Medieval Times".  Just ugly acts dressed up for Middle Ages consumption. Season three felt like a chore to watch.  At least I finally got my dragons.  And season four is two years off.  So maybe I'll get over it.  Maybe I won't.