I am not a lover of the original books series, therefore all the words following are only applicable to this TV series.

As said, the show is an epic soap opera, it depicts the rise and down of the house of dragons. However, as a extension series of the GoT, we do hope more. Overall, despite the show depicts its characters much more complex, and sometimes overly complex, the 1st season tells only a simply story: the king made some terrible and rushed choices and then troubles followed.

If you judge it as a soap opera, I would give it 9, as it is basically what GRR Martin has been writing about through all these years: family affairs decorated with some epic plots.

I gave it 7/10 however, because it hardly steps even one step out of those boring and daunting family affairs. Through out the season, what we see is basically marriage after marriage and then betrayal after betrayal. It would be freshing when you first saw it, but then, you found those storys hardly different. It is always about finding a heir and no more. And, come on, it is 2022, if it is not extended from GoT, people would hardly appreciate another costume drama...

More, although the eps jumps abruptly in years, and sometimes the audiences may feel divided, the pacing is actually slow and boring. The characters acts with each other for no obvious purpose and make a mess that doesn't seems to be meaningful in the end. For example, they make Daemon a good competitor for the throne in the first few eps. Then, for some reasons, he seems to be obsessed with his sister and then become a cozy husband? Again, Alicent also has unfounded motivations and few abrupt turnings of her atitude towards Rhaenyra make this character shattered as well. She loved his childhood companion and then turned away from her. Then, suddenly, the old and hardly clear-minded king said something and she become mercyful?

Forgive me if I make mistakes understanding all those stories, but I all I wanted to say is that the grand plot is too simple yet the story itself is too complicated and narrowed. I hope this could be fixed in following seasons and the show could focus more on something that is beyond tiring family affairs.