'Game of Thrones' prequel 'House of the Dragon' has a better audience score on Rotten Tomatoes than 'GoT' final season

The series managed to amass a healthy 86% — a rating better than Seasons 7 and 8 of the hit HBO blockbuster
'House of the Dragon' featuring Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) on HBO (IMDb)
'House of the Dragon' featuring Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) on HBO (IMDb)

'House of the Dragon' seems to gain more fans by the day. Less than a week into its release, the prequel of the critically-acclaimed 'Game of Thrones' has managed to garner better audience rating on the review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes. The final of the season of the HBO blockbuster raked in just 30% from the fans, but 'House of the Dragon' managed to amass a healthy 86% — a rating better than Seasons 7 and 8 of 'GoT'.

Earlier, it was an impressive 83% critic rating that encouraged fans to give the period fantasy drama a shot, and safe to say, they weren't disappointed. 'GoT' Seasons 1-7 averaged between 89 to 96% except for the final season which earned 55% with the consensus reading, "Game of Thrones' final season shortchanges the women of Westeros, sacrificing satisfying character arcs for spectacular set-pieces in its mad dash to the finish line." The audience rating wasn't impressive either as they gave it a paltry 30%.

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HOTD - Viserys Aemma Picture
A still from the 'House of the Dragon' (HBO)

While the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes will definitely change by a percentage or two, there's no denying that the show definitely comes with more promise. With nine episodes remaining, the final percentage may vary on the audience rating front, but odds are that will stay in the 80s. For those who haven't caught the show yet, the official synopsis reads, "The reign of House Targaryen begins. House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones, is coming to HBO and HBO Max on August 21. Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Fire & Blood,” the series, set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, tells the story of House Targaryen."

It adds: "Paddy Considine (HBO’s The Third Day and The Outsider), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint (It’s a Sin, Doctor Who), Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel and Rhys Ifans to star. Additional cast members include Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, John Macmillan, Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes, and Savannah Steyn."

"Martin and Ryan Condal serve as co-creators of the series. Miguel Sapochnik and Condal are showrunners, and the pair also serve as executive producers along with Martin, Sara Hess, Jocelyn Diaz, Vince Gerardis, and Ron Schmidt. Clare Kilner and Geeta Vasant Patel also direct the series. Greg Yaitanes is the director and co-executive producer. Game of Thrones and Westworld composer Ramin Djawadi scored the series"

'House of the Dragon' airs on Sundays at 9 pm ET on HBO. Episode 1 is available for streaming on HBO Max.

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