Finished the short season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms last night. I liked it quite a bit and found it a pleasant change from the OG Game of Thrones. Actually, I liked GoT a lot, but Martin's nihilistic world wore thin on me after a while. While the Seven Kingdoms world is the same and his underlying philosophy is still there--and it lead to some typical GoT-world moments I thought would've been better if the show would commit to a bit more traditional story-telling--it had a couple of strong protagonists that I found myself rooting for. They were a nice contrast to the power-is-everything, the-strongest-rules ethos that generally pervades that universe. The story-telling, acting, and directing were all superb, as per usual for that franchise.
Like I say, I liked GoT but I'm not sure I would ever revisit it. I tried House of the Dragon but it didn't hook me in the first episode, I didn't connect with any of the characters, and again, the nihilism irritated me. But Seven Kingdoms had likable characters and the story immediately made me care about what happens to them. Definitely plan to watch s2 whenever it comes out.
