Princess Rhaenyra Standing in front of a dragon and the Iron Throne Photo: Rotten Tomatoes

The “Game of Thrones” universe is one of the most loved universes in all of television and book history. Created by George R.R. Martin, the universe is a mix of medieval times and fantasy. There are dragons, giants, zombies and so much more. The whole universe is one big power struggle and a competition to see who can control the Iron Throne. The Iron Throne is the king’s throne and during “House of the Dragon”, the throne is controlled by the Targaryens.

The Targaryens are the descendants of dragon riders from a once thriving, now destroyed Valyria. In the GOT universe, there are two major continents, Essos and Westeros. Both shows focus primarily on Westeros, while Valyria was in Essos. Westeros is made up of seven kingdoms and a great wall preventing all sorts of creatures from the North from entering the land. Within these seven kingdoms, there are numerous houses all vying for power and wealth. Coming from Essos, the Targaryens used their dragons to conquer the kingdoms and name Aegon as king.

“House of the Dragon” is set hundreds of years after these events and gives us insight into the Targaryen rule. King Jahaerys is rapidly declining and is yet to name his heir. He has to decide between his daughter whose rule would not be accepted by many as she is a woman or his infant son. His son was born from his second wife who he did not love as much as the first. Throughout the show, a divide forms between the two suitors for the throne. Both sides are backed by larger forces and at any moment all out war could break out.

Fans have been pretty thrilled with the series as the finale for the original show was not looked upon favorably. Critics and fans rate the show about 85%. Everyweek viewers and fans alike await 9 pm ET on Sundays for the new episode to be released. “Wow” said junior Martin Andra-Thomas, “This show has everything I could ever want. Dragons, battles, armies and so much more. The show just keeps on getting better.” “House of the Dragon” is truly a hit, and the only hope is that the ending does not let down fans as the original’s ending did.

“Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power” is set thousands of years before “The Hobbit” and the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. LOTR displays numerous races such as Elves, Dwarves, Men, Hobbits, Orcs, Goblins, Trolls and so much more. Evil forces led by the mighty Sauron constantly grow and threaten the peace. “The Rings of Power” shows how Sauron regained his power after his defeat from the Elves.

The show as a whole, covers numerous different storylines. In one, the forces of evil have been in hiding for a long time, regaining their strength. An eleven hero, Galadriel, is aware of this second coming of evil and is trying to rally forces against it. Another storyline, features another elf named Elrond, who ventures to find a mythical material in the Dwarves’ mountain. This material is said to be impenetrable and the Elves only chance at survival. Also, there is a race of people called Harfoots. These people are similar to Hobbits and are miniature people. A child Harfoot finds a mysterious man who fell from the sky and befriends him. The show follows all of these stories and eventually they will all converge.

Fans of the universe are not too thrilled with the series as it is not book accurate. Senior Maddie Swartz said, “The show is very entertaining and I just love this universe as a whole.” The show comes out every Friday and typically is an hour long. These series are pretty well received and viewers as a majority have been pleased. A lot of viewer satisfaction is riding on these two endings, so they must live up to the hype.

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