Let's play the GoT Comparison game: I think the first seasons of GoT were not its best (nor its worst, of course): Too much useless tits, useless blood, useless aggressions... They threw a lot at the wall to watch what would stick. But by the time of HotD, they already knew that. HotD isn't clear of all these things, but they now have a purpose - and that, in a nutshell, is what this show is about.

'House' follows but a single plotline, compared to GoT's complex, multi-theatre drama, and it takes a "fast slowburn" approach, leisurely pacing thought years of events. It's quite a masterclass in storytelling we've got here.

And that's what makes this show so captivating: The slightest changes in one actor's characters, the alliances, the treasons - because it's based on real, timeless storytelling values, great actor direction, and efficient cinematography. With the first five episodes I watched, the show sure earned its dues.

A last word on 'wokeism': It is not a woke show, and gahd knows how much I hate these - just check out some of my reviews. The black actors are a whole House clan, not just a character here and there among whites, which makes it very plausible, and GRR Martin is alright with it. Yes, there are 'strong females', but these can also be wrong, or killed, and they are given no idiotic free passes like beating up 3-4 armored men twice their size - they are no Mary-sues here (much less than in GoT in any case - yeah I'm looking at ya, Arya Stark), just hard-headed women like there are in our world.

So in conclusion, HotD is a simplified, experienced successor to his much larger GoT parent, one that will satisfy greatly written and acted drama fans, instead of throwing away eye candy over more mediocre, woke content like some contemporary shows do.