'House of the Dragon' Season 1 Is Full of Wasted Potential

After the announcement that House of the Dragon Season 2 would consist of a mere eight episodes, it's hard not to ask a simple and distressing question: is history repeating itself? Season 1 of the Game of Thrones prequel already felt underserved with 10 episodes, a classic case of too much plot crammed into far too short a timeframe. You'll remember Game of Thrones ran for six seasons of 10 episodes apiece until Season 7 dropped to seven episodes, followed by Season 8's bare minimum of six. As we know, the show's quality spiraled down alongside those descending numbers. Despite the House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones creative teams not overlapping, I shudder to think a nightmarish Groundhog Day is breathing down our collective necks.