Weekend Watchlist | What to watch if you liked House of the Dragon

“House of the Dragon,” the recent “Game of Thrones” spin-off, aired its final episode on HBO and HBOMax on Oct. 23, and if you’re going through a withdrawal, we understand. Here are shows and movies to watch if you enjoyed “House of the Dragon.”

Carnival Row (Amazon Prime) // Sinéad McDevitt, Digital Manager

My first instinct when pitching this show is calling it “‘Urban Shadows’ but a show,” but that’s probably not going to mean much to people outside the Pitt Rollplayers Discord, so here’s the pitch for people who aren’t heavily invested in TTRPGs.

What do you get when you cross high fantasy with a neo-noir murder mystery? “Carnival Row,” which is one of my dad’s favorite shows. The show stars Orlando Bloom as Rycroft “Philo” Philostrate, an inspector investigating brutal murders in the titular “Carnival Row,” a section of The Burugue filled with immigrant high fantasy creatures. So add “Brooklyn” to the recipe I mentioned earlier. Or really any show or movie that deals with turn-of-the-century immigration in large metropolitan areas.

“Carnival Row” features an engrossing mystery in a sprawling city with dark forces lurking beneath and a stellar cast. Plus, season two, which was delayed due to COVID-19 is finally coming out in February, so now’s your chance to binge the show.

Succession (HBO Max) // Toni Jackson, Staff Writer

At their core, “Succession” and “House of the Dragon” are basically the same show. They both have old patriarchs overstaying their welcome, betrayal, mommy issues, daddy issues, power-hungry kids and light child abuse.

The series focuses on the Roy family, who owns fictional media conglomerate Waystar Royco (think Fox News). As the patriarch and founder of the company Logan (Brian Cox) gets older, the family struggles with the question of who will inherit his position. The Roy family and extended characters are all equally bad people, but their complete disregard for anyone but themselves is what makes the show enjoyable.

The show isn’t 100% focused on business — the Roy siblings’ horrid personal lives are as entertaining as the manipulation their father puts them through. Because of this, the show is also darkly funny. “Game of Thrones” was funny in a way “House of the Dragon” lacked, and “Succession” masterfully follows the same thread of humor.

Season four is currently filming and set to air in spring 2023, which leaves plenty of time to start or even rewatch this wonderful show.

The Wheel of Time (Amazon Prime) // Sinéad McDevitt, Digital Manager

Like “Game of Thrones,” “The Wheel of Time” is based on a sprawling fantasy series and has recently become a high-budget show following different characters vying for political power.

Based on Robert Jordan’s books of the same name, the first season follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) and her ward, Lan (Daniel Henney), who are seeking out “The Dragon Reborn,” someone with intense magical power prophesied to either save the world or destroy it. However, they end up finding four potential candidates and must bring them all to safety, all while dark forces chase them.

The first season is eight episodes and does an amazing job setting up this new world, the people who inhabit it and those people’s beliefs. The unnamed world of “The Wheel of Time” feels alive and I’m excited to learn more. While we don’t yet have an official release date for the second season, filming wrapped up in May of this year, and with “Rings of Power” over and not a potential competitor, we’ll hopefully learn the date soon. That means now is a great time to catch up!