House of the Dragon
"House of the Dragon" treads familiar ground as its predecessor series. Once again, the central conflict is to determine who will sit on the Iron Throne, and it is set (so far) largely in Kings Landing with many familiar families and elements from "Game of Thrones." Unlike "Game of Thrones" the main cast of characters seems limited to members of the Targaryen (dragon rider) family and royal court members, and the action (so far) does not hop from locale to locale on the continents of Westeros and Essos. There are few immediately likeable characters, and (so far) no fun characters like Tyrion, Bronn, or The Hound. The story, based on what I've read of the source material and hints dropped in the original series, promises to be even grimmer, and will require at least several time jumps to tell as it was written. Episode three has a fairly thrilling action/war sequence, but I'm still waiting for the great character moments and dramatic power plays that made the original series so compelling.
The Rings of Power
"The Rings of Power" has faced a lot of backlash for deviations from the canon established by author J.R.R. Tolkien and yet feels immediately familiar, with recurring characters such as Elrond and Galadriel, a rousing Howard Shore score, the breathtaking spectacle of great human, Elven, and Dwarf kingdoms, not to mention the grand landscapes of New Zealand again subbing for Middle-Earth. The critiicism that it is largely Tolkien fan fiction is fair enough, but so far I've found it engaging, with immediately likeable characters, some solid action sequences, and some interesting mysteries set up in the first episode. My criticisms so far: The name Elinor Brandyfoot does sound (as some funny person on the internet noted) like it was arrived at by way of a Hobbit name generator (though I'm happy to see a female Hobbit take the lead for a change); I don't care for the Mad Max Barter Town music you hear when the Harfoot/Hobbit characters appear; overall the dialog among the Elf characters leans to the stilted; I don't like Elrond's short hair; and the Arondir character so far mainly seems there to set up an Elf-Human romance (the Elf-Dwarf romance in "The Hobbit" was corny enough). But these are minor complaints and I'm excited to see Numenor in Episode Three, and how the story of Sauron's return unfolds. It remains to be seen if "Rings of Power" will exceed the light, escapist fantasy bar it has already reached, but I'm fine with it either way at this point.
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