‘Rings of Power’ vs. ‘House of the Dragon’ – Which Was a Better Show?

This year graced us with two seasons of massive fantasy epics, but which one ended up being the better show?

This fall saw two magic fantasy properties releasing shows. Amazon’s the Rings of Power brought Lord of the Rings to the small screen. At the same time Game of Thrones returned for a redemption tour with House of the Dragon. Both were long-awaited prestige shows, with major money behind them. Both had a decent amount of negative press going into them as well.

Now obviously personal preferences will vary, and in many ways, the shows are going for very different things. Maybe a comparison is unfair, as despite some overarching similarities (both are prequels for instance), they both trying to be their own thing. However, not making comparisons is boring, so let’s try to take a semi-objective look at some elements in each show and how they match up.

Rings of Power vs House Of The Dragon: Visuals

via Amazon

Both shows looked really good. However, I feel that in this category Rings of Power was the winner. It might be the best-looking show of all time. The show was just absolutely stunning with amazing shots and visuals all around. Considering the amount Amazon paid for it, it makes sense it was good.

House of the Dragon on the other hand looked good, but not amazing. Most of the sets and costumes looked good, but they were pretty limited.  The show didn’t go to very many locations, unlike Rings of Power. In addition, some of the dragon CGI looked a little wonky, and the dragons didn’t show up all that much. While HotD wasn’t bad looking at all, Rings takes the crown here.

Rings of Power vs House Of The Dragon: Writing 

It’s probably not hugely controversial to say that House of the Dragon had better writing. Now both shows had some good moments. Rings of Power had its times. The conversations between the Dwarfs and Elrond were all great. There were some great times there. But a lot of the show’s emotional moments failed to hit in a very amateurish way. House of the Dragon hit a lot more often. Viserys for instance is an amazingly well-written character.

Staying True to the Source Material

via HBOMax

There really isn’t all that much to say here. House of the Dragon is very true to its source material Fire & Blood. It’s a mostly faithful retelling of the events in that book. Some minor things are changed here and there, and some things that are ambiguous in the book are made clear in the show, but overall it’s quite faithful.

The Rings Of Power… wasn’t. The show wasn’t really an adaptation, but more… inspired by. It wasn’t based on any particular book or story. It wasn’t trying to be true to anything, and so it wasn’t.

Rings of Power vs House of the Dragon: Internal Consistency

via Amazon

Even when a show isn’t consistent with its source material, it should at least be internally consistent.  This is a category I feel that House of the Dragon kind of fails on. How characters act and their motivation often seems to change from episode to episode. Friendships end and then get restarted kind of randomly.

Part of this is issues related to the time skips, but overall while each episode might have been good, often they didn’t hang together or mash up well. Rings of Power on the other hand was pretty consistent. Even if it didn’t have the best writing, the characters tended to always act like themselves and themselves. It was pretty consistent with itself, and that’s a good thing.

Overall Thoughts on the Story

via HBO

Overall both shows had good and bad parts. I think House of the Dragon had a tighter, more focused story that was easy to follow. Rings of Power on the other hand told a more sprawling tale. This had advantages, but not all its various plots were equally engaging. This made its biggest strength into a bit of a weakness as well. HotD’s plot was overall a lot easier to follow, and it was likely a better show. However both shows are getting a second season, so we will have to see how they go later down the road.

Let us know which show you liked better, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.