House of the Dragon - Season 1 Thoughts

I've had nearly 24 hours now to digest the season 1 finale of House of the Dragon, and indeed the entirety of the first season.  And I have some thoughts.  I will say that I enjoyed the second half of the first season a lot more than the first - it was significantly more entertaining.  But I will also say that the very last episode was a bit of a dud.  And that's mainly due to an issue that has affected (and will continue to affect) my viewing of House of the Dragon, especially compared to Game of Thrones.  And that is spoilers.  I went into Game of Thrones totally blind with no idea what was going to happen, and that made for some sensationally shocking moments (the Red Wedding!).  However, I have fairly extensive knowledge of what is going to happen in House of the Dragon - and yesterday's finale was a classic example of that, even if how it happened was not exactly known.  But it definitely takes something away from the show for me.  Generally, I will say that if you liked Game of Thrones then you will like House of the Dragon.  It's good TV, but it's not great TV - Game of Thrones had higher highs and lower lows than House of the Dragon, and I think the highs are what made it a classic show.  House of the Dragon has some ups and downs, but is generally a bit more consistent - though consistently dour.  It can be a slog - it doesn't have the heart that Game of Thrones does.  And it is dark (literally in some episodes, which a lot of people complained about but which I didn't notice - so at least my TV settings appear to be in good order!).  Interestingly as the season went on, some characters were clearly developed to be equivalent to characters in Game of Thrones - we have a new Joffrey, a new Littlefinger, a new Daenerys.  And ironically for a show about dragons, I find the best moments in the show don't involve dragons (at least not directly anyway).  I will continue to watch it - although my expectations for future seasons are not great.  We have the sides set now, so I expect the show will become a lot more action-oriented with an over-reliance on dodgy CGI dragons - and that is not necessarily a good thing.