The sets, costumes, CGI are all first class like Game of Thrones. The plot(s) and dialogue are much more reminiscent of high class soap opera Downton Abbey.

GOT revolved around a great mix of palace intrigue but more so traveling duos that would culminate in a 'meet up' and often a battle or deaths of some sort to resolve plot points. Characters grew by overcoming challenges both physical and intellectual. We saw Arya grow up from a little girl to an adult before our eyes, all while played by the same actress.

In HotD what we get instead is strictly palace intrigue and a more soapy version of it endlessly revolving around who's sleeping with who and relentless child birth scenes (two in episode 6 alone). The traveling adventures are non-existent, and instead of seeing characters grow up we get massive time jumps that necessitate an entire recasting of the characters. Challenges include surviving childbirth, rare diseases and arson.

It still has its appeal and the cast does a fine job with what they're given to work with, but I'm nowhere near that feeling of "I can't wait for Sunday night" that I had with GOT, in which 60 minutes would fly by and feel like 15. Now I watch maybe a couple days later on HBO Max when I have the time, and I find myself continually thinking about whether the HBOM subscription is worth it just for this.

I hope they can pull away from 'Downton Incest' and move toward some of the things that made GOT (seasons 1-6) great. Otherwise this is feeling like just another show.