While most audiences simply enjoy the joy of having two of their favorite fantasy stories come to life in the form of house of the dragon Y the rings of powerAmazon and HBO have been waging a quiet behind-the-scenes war for dominance in the streaming sphere.

A game of Thrones fans, it doesn’t matter one way or the other if the show is the most popular in the world or is overshadowed by its longtime rival. Right now, most of them are preparing to say goodbye to a true legend of Westeros. A man who directed some of the most visually stunning episodes and equally stunning battle sequences in television history.

All this and more comprises today’s summary of game of Thrones news, so read on without further ado.

‘The rings of power’ takes over ‘The house of the dragon’ but only in streaming

While at first, it seemed that the hype surrounding house of the dragon would bury the rings of power and his divisive debut amidst the rubble, Jeff Bezos’s $1 billion gamble is finally proving to be more than the sum of his renowned name. According to a new Nielsen report, the rings of power absolutely crushed House in viewing figures for the week of August 29 to September 2. 4, though that only counts hours watched in the US on streaming platforms. The Westerosi prequel still has millions of viewers on cable, so with that in mind, the gap becomes a lot less intimidating for HBO.

‘House’ fans aren’t ready to say goodbye to this Westeros legend

game of Thrones fans get a jolt of excitement every time Miguel Sapochnik is mentioned in the lead. The director of such acclaimed episodes as “Hardhome,” “Battle of the Bastards,” “The Winds of Winter,” “The Long Night” and “Bells” returned as showrunner for House and even directed a few episodes, but we’re sorry to inform you that this Sunday’s seventh episode, titled “Driftmark,” will be the creative’s last directing credit on game of Thrones. Sapochnik might decide to return at some point, but as far as the fandom goes, the director has pulled out of Westeros.

Would Ned Stark support Rhaenyra Targaryen or Alicent Hightower?

Ned Stark is honor incarnate in the world of Westeros. The Warden of the North and the head of House Stark is so righteous, in fact, that his simple way of playing both sides of morality was what ultimately got him killed. Beyond that, however, Eddard was a man of his word, and everyone knew that to be the absolute truth, even his enemies. So with that in mind, game of Thrones Fans have been wondering if Ned would side with Rhaenyra, knowing about her illegitimate children, or Alicent Hightower, who is by all accounts the rightful queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and her offspring share Viserys’s blood.

On the one hand, Rhaenyra is the proclaimed rightful heiress, but on the other hand, Alicent’s children have more legitimacy. So which side would Ned choose? While the complexity of the situation doesn’t offer a simple answer, fans have been discussing this on the official site. House subreddit, so pay a visit if you’re intrigued by some of the answers.

That’s all for now, but we’ll have more for you tomorrow as we get closer to the premiere of the next house of the dragon episode.