It feels like just yesterday when I was sitting in my backyard with some of my friends in the beautiful August heat and they were telling me how it was NECESSARY for them to be home by 8:45 pm; HBO’s “House of the Dragon” was premiering at 9:00 pm sharp.

I don’t know if I was living under a rock, but I didn’t even know that HBO was coming out with a prequel to the show, Game of Thrones. It also felt like a full circle moment for me because when I was a senior in high school, the final season of “Game of Thrones” was being released, and now a whole new prequel was being made my senior year of college. 

Now, flash forward two months from that August day in my backyard, and I am distraught. It is the first Sunday at 9:00 pm when I do not have a “House of the Dragon” episode to watch… and then rewatch… and then analyze. 

The premiere of the show broke records, drawing in approximately 9.99 million viewers between HBO and HBO Max. HBO released that “House of the Dragon” drew in the largest audience in the streaming service’s history, including content that premiered before HBO’s streaming era. For comparison, the show Euphoria was viewed by 2.4 million people during its premiere; 313% less than the “House of the Dragon” premiere. 

According to an article in Variety, HBO’s “House of the Dragon cost just under $20 million per” episode to produce the 10-episode first season. So, obviously, my roommates and I would take watching the show extremely seriously. Millions upon millions of dollars were used to create this masterpiece. 

The show looks at the reign of House Targaryen 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones.” It is based on George R.R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood, and it follows the succession of King Viserys I Targaryen, and the battle between his children for the Iron Throne. 

Every Sunday my roommates and I have had the same exact routine come 9:00 pm. First, we all head into our living room. Second, I log into my HBO account. Third, we put subtitles on because sometimes the mixture of English and High Valaryian gets confusing. Finally, we begin the show and watch. 

During this intense hour, not many words are exchanged between any of us as we are all enamored with the remarkable acting and cinematography presented in each episode. But, occasionally some of us would scream at the television during certain scenes (I am ‘some of us’).

Student Pilar Wisor shares a similar Sunday evening “House of the Dragon” routine that proves my roommates and I are not alone. 

“Watching ‘House of the Dragon’ was truly a cinematic experience. Every Sunday night at 9 PM, all of my roommates would gather in our living room to watch each new episode together,” Wisor said. “For an hour each week, the show gave us all a time to sit down and enjoy each other’s company.  It’s crazy to think that the next season of ‘House of the Dragon’ will air when we are 2 years out of Villanova, and all of my roommates and I will be watching the show again individually but in tandem.” 

It is crazy to think that the next time this show will air will be about two years from now, but as we all have seen, time moves exponentially: especially, when an HBO super series premiere is at the finish line.