As prequels to beloved properties Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings running at the same time, the two series were pitted against each other for the past two months, despite data showing there’s a pretty significant overlap between fans that preferred one and watched the other. Nonetheless, House of the Dragon had apparently come out triumphant, even when only accounting for streaming viewership without adding HBO’s cable users.
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Chartr’s own Instagram post states that all differences aside, it would appear that both shows were big wins for their own studios. However, the caveat is that House of the Dragon’s $200m budget was, at the very least, 2.5 times smaller than Rings of Power’s, even with two extra episodes. The firm also notes that preferences seem to be pretty split, as their own office poll resulted in a draw.
Out of the two, Rings of Power has more room for improvement in season 2, especially considering its source material is much more scarce and less direct than House of the Dragon, which had the benefit of author George R.R. Martin constantly praising the work done by the showrunners. In the meantime, both fantasy series will go back to the drawing board, as the complexity of each production means fans won’t be seeing a new season of either one until 2024.
Some criticism behind The Rings of Power points to it copying too many Lord of the Rings moments or themes, without directly adhering to certain aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien’s lore. House of the Dragon certainly doesn’t suffer from that, as Martin has been gushing praise about how some of his characters made the jump.
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Source: Chartr Daily | Instagram
