I watched House of the Dragon for the first time and I'm exhausted

In the interests of full disclosure, I was a big fan of Game of Thrones.

I say was, because I was so disappointed by the lacklustre final season that by the time the show eventually fizzled out, I'd had enough of dragons, swords and fantastical mythology.

Then House of the Dragon was announced, and I rolled my eyes so hard they nearly fell out of my head.

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The inevitable prequel is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, and even with the casting of Paddy Considine, Matt Smith and Rhys Ifans, I struggled to gather the energy to watch it.

Then the reviews came out, declaring House of The Dragon to be a more measured, more nuanced take on the violent and bloody Game of Thrones saga - but still I resisted the urge to get sucked back in.

Then this week the show's second season began, and I've found myself dragged kicking and screaming back into the world of Westeros.

But before embarking on season two, I've had to binge watch the first 10 episodes in preparation, and it left me absolutely exhausted.

I'll try to keep the following fairly vague, so as not to spoil the plot for those who haven't seen the first series yet.

The 10 episodes cover (roughly) a 20-year period of time, and you'd think we'd fair whip through those decades, yet there were portions of the story that were like swimming through treacle. The reason for this is the plot is laying the groundwork for the events which will spark the civil war that will bring down House Targaryen.

This slow-burning fantasy somehow manages to be even darker than its predecessor.

The characters feel much more complex than those of its forerunner, and straight out of the gate it's hard to judge who you should be rooting for, and those you should be hoping will be swiftly - and grotesquely - dispatched.

The plot's political machinations are also much more intricate. Feeling like some sort of four-dimensional game of chess, at some points I wished there was a chart that would help me keep track of royal relations, house loyalties, or who is plotting against who.

After sitting through the first distinctly dragon-free hour, I was rewarded for my patience with the arrival of Caraxes and Syrax, formidable beasts belonging to the Targaryens. And I'm happy to say dragons remain a staple for the rest of the show, in all their fiery and scaly glory.

As political and deep as the storyline is, there's also a liberal sprinkling of everything that made Game of Thrones so popular. Blood is violently and freely spilled, with a few particularly gore-soaked killings.

The show looks truly glorious, shot in some beautiful locations in Spain, Cornwall and Derbyshire. I know parts of this new series were shot a little closer to home on Anglesey, as one of our day trips across the island was briefly held up to allow uniform-clad extras to traipse across a lane and on to the beach for filming.

I had feared House of the Dragon was just a potboiler, a way for the studio to keep making money from a fantasy world many had turned away from in the wake of Game of Thrones' insipid final series.

But this is a rich, vibrant and visceral world that very much deserves its time in the spotlight.