I watched the final season of Game of Thrones with a healthy sense of trepidation. After seven seasons of buildup, would the writers tie off the storylines that we had invested our (sometimes literal) sweat and tears into viewing? Would our favorite characters die in the final conflict with the Night King? And why on earth were there only six episodes?

Fans were left with a bitter taste in their mouths as those questions were answered. The final episode of Game of Thrones had over 19 million viewers, and it was met with one of the lowest ratings of an episode in the series’ history. I, like many others, treated it as if it never happened, as if the series was simply unfinished. I became simply uninterested.

All of this to say, House of the Dragon had rather large shoes to fill. As a spinoff and prequel series, it had a responsibility to be faithful to the spirit of the original TV show. As a revival of the fandom, it had the weight of all that disappointment to overcome.

It did both beautifully. The pilot episode was the highest viewed premiere in HBO history, and ratings continued to climb as the episode progressed. I was sucked right back to 2019, with a community that was just as excited as I was for Sunday nights and the inevitable and delicious consequences of episodes past.

Heading into the finale of Season 1, I felt that bitterness again. Scrolling through TikTok to see what ridiculous jokes and new theories the fandom had come up with had become a personal tradition (my favorite creators include @kale_eesi, @ladydragonjj, and @lordcicerodagreat). “The Green Council,” the penultimate episode, was rather unpopular in the online spaces I had engaged with over the past ten to eleven weeks. Unfortunately, the finale was leaked two days early, and I forgot all about my fears as I dodged spoilers for two days. House of the Dragon finished its Season 1 run with 9.3 million viewers, just slightly lower than the premiere.

As viewers decide whether they return to watch Season 2 or if the series is worth their time at all, I hope they skip the numbers and look towards the communities that have reformed around this content. “The Black Queen” was met with praise from fans, and my feed is still inundated with Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon content weeks after the show has ended. House of the Dragon may never be a cultural touchstone quite on the level of its predecessor, but hopefully, it can help wash the bitter taste of disappointment away with stunning visuals and high-stakes family drama. It certainly did for me.