Opening to one of the largest premieres in HBO history, House of the Dragon, a Game of Thrones prequel, was viewed by an exceptionally large number of people. Episode One's viewership exceeded roughly 30 million pairs of eyes, according to Variety—and the fantasy series continued to pick up even more viewers as the show went on. House of the Dragon even won Best Television Series (Drama) at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, which is an accolade that Game of Thrones wasn't once able to achieve over the course of its eight seasons.
But not everyone will bend the knee. Thrones's Queen Daenerys herself, Emilia Clarke, hasn't watched a single minute of the prequel. "I just can’t do it," she told Variety. "It’s so weird. It’s so strange." On one hand, I totally get it. There's certainly a lot of weirdness going on in House of the Dragon, especially when it comes to depictions of incest, creepy foot fetishes, children beating the hell out of each other, failed childbirths, and much, much more.
But to miss out on one of the biggest shows of the year—and the franchise that launched your career? Well, Clarke has a pretty good reason. "I’m so happy it’s happening. I’m over the moon about all the awards… I just can’t do it," she explained. "It’s kind of like someone saying, ‘You want to go to this school reunion that’s not your year?'... That’s how it feels. I’m avoiding it.” Maybe one day House of the Dragon will pique her interest, but that's a totally fair point. You don't graduate from Westeros University and look back. Though some people *cough* Jon Snow *cough* may want to return for grad school. It's not too late, though—Clarke has approximately two years before House of the Dragon returns to our screens, should she ever decide to catch up.
Josh Rosenberg is an Assistant Editor at Esquire, keeping a steady diet of one movie a day. His past work can be found at Spin, CBR, and on his personal blog at Roseandblog.com.
