'Lord Of The Rings: Rings of Power' vs 'House Of The Dragon': Which will be crowned as BEST fantasy drama?
Life becomes a little more interesting when you are competing, isn't it? It was about time someone addressed the 'elephant' in the room or should I say the 'dragon'? I think you already got it. With the upcoming release of HBO's 'Game Of Thrones: House Of The Dragon,' and Amazon Prime Video's 'Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, people have already started pitting the shows against each other. It is nothing unusual as both are high-budgeted fantasy series which is just a reason for the media and fans to stir more drama out of the two. Both are highly anticipated shows but only one can get the gold medal.
Although HBO's 'Game Of Throne: House Of The Dragon' is being released before Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power,' the former will be still airing at the time of the latter's premiere date. HBO's 'House Of The Dragon' is being released on August 21, 2022, while 'Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power' will be released on September 1, 2022. Time will tell which is comparatively a better series, even though the creators feel that the shows will not be pitted against each other.
RELATED ARTICLES
‘The Rings of Power' on Amazon Prime: Fans go into frenzy over new trailer, say ‘no one is safe’
'House Of The Dragon' on HBO: Decoding the complicated Targaryen family tree
When the creators of 'House Of The Dragon' were asked about is there any sort of lingering competition between the two powerhouse franchises, Dragon co-creator George RR Martin recently told The Hollywood Reporter, “We’re not even on the same night!” He continued, “It’s not a death match or anything. I wish them success. I hope they wish for our success. We don’t have to be bracketed together.”
On the other hand, the 'Rings of Power' showrunner Patrick McKay recently told a press conference, “We don’t think of the show in terms of (its) genre or other shows that might be out there,” adding, “This is Tolkien’s Middle-earth. We just wanted to be true to that and drown out and forget about what might be happening in another realm someplace else.” But the fans will love to disagree. Despite all this sophistication can it be really true that the creators of the two shows don't feel any pressure?
Here is a brief outlook on the two projects starting from their budgets to the storyline.
Budgets
HBO's 'House Of The Dragon' already has pressure on it to be better than or at par with the existing sequel 'Game Of Thrones'. The production house didn't reveal how many dimes it cost them to make the series but a source told Variety that apparently the first season, which is a 10-episodical prequel has cost them $20 million per episode, which makes the budget of the show $200 million.
In comparison, Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power's budget is a staggering $1 billion, according to reports. It is wild how much money gets invested in these fantasy dramas to make them worth the viewers' time. Life isn't perfect but your favorite series can be, at least we know that now. Both the series will definitely draw fans of the preexisting series and movies but the real question is who will out beat the expectations of the viewers and the unspoken competition with one another?
Plots
Let me walk you through the storylines of both. As we are already familiar with both of the franchises but HBO's 'HOTD' is about the story of the Targaryen civil war that took place about 300 years before the events portrayed in `Game of Thrones', whereas Amazon's 'LOTR: Rings of Power' theme is set thousands of years before the events of JRR Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' and takes viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien's pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
After covering all the bases, it is now on the viewers to pick their choice. Do you really think we would go that far out of the limb to choose one show when things are so uncertain? After the release of the show, based on the fans, numbers, and reviews, things will become crystal clear. As of now, let us see who gets to sit on the iron throne because let's be real, it is a throne and not a bench, and may the best shalt be throned.
