It’s an epic story being told on an epic stage. The critics are having their say on George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King, the UK stage adaptation of the hit novels and series.

The sold-out show’s reviews embargo finally lifted after previews began a couple of weeks ago at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s home of Stratford Upon Avon. The ambitious production has drawn a number of strong notices. First look images courtesy of the RSC are below. This after multiple early shows were cancelled, much to fan ire.

Whatsonstage gave the star a glowing five-star review, calling it “a triumph; a soaring, surging spectacle and a latter-day history play, both serious and popular…It is a remarkable achievement, wonderfully directed by [Dominic] Cooke and superbly acted by every member of the 35-strong ensemble. The result is a brilliant exhibition of how theatre can create magic.”

The Guardian gave the show 4/5 stars, calling “an action-packed saga of dry ice and fire…this prequel to the TV series has one joust after another, spectacular stagecraft and plenty of modern resonance.”

Metro also gave the show 4/5 stars, writing: “As a stand-alone piece of theatre, The Mad King scrapes through. But as an extension of the Game of Thrones world, it scores well, shifting the narrative to the stage with suitably theatrical thrust.”

The Independent was also a fan, noting in its 4/5 star review, that the “stellar stage show has all the thrillingly staged battles, gory deaths and, yes, dragons that the most bloodthirsty fan could hope for… there’s also a surprising amount of heart – of the warm, still-beating kind – as it lingers on the faces of its fallen.”

The Daily Mail lauded the show but was one of many to acknowledge the challengingly long running time: “The first half of Cooke’s superbly staged, spectacular production has the feel of a dynamic Bayeux Tapestry: a stunning pageant of medieval stop-motion animation. But after the interval, the plot takes off. Sparks fly romantically and dramatically, which is just as well because, at three hours 45 minutes, it’s almost as long as Hamlet.”

The Telegraph had similar things to say in its largely positive review: “At almost four hours, it’s a long evening, sometimes too dense with detail, and it lacks the grit and gore (not to mention the nudity) of the TV series…Still, it capably serves newbies and devotees, and speaks in a timely fashion to our age of unruly leaders…It’s not up there, yet, with the Harry Potter or Stranger Things prequels but, on balance, the Game of Thrones franchise has yet another worthwhile and lucrative spin-off on its hands.”

The Times was one of the few dissenting voices, claiming that while the play “gives hardcore GoT fans a chance to go hunting for ‘Easter eggs’, it seldom comes close to matching the grim aura of the TV series…Duncan Macmillan’s script is sorely lacking in poetry. Events plod forward, one after the other, and although Michael Shaeffer is a thoroughly compelling presence as the cruel and chronically unstable monarch Aerys, other performances seem nuance-free. Too many lines are simply shouted. You expect better of the RSC.”

Game of Thrones creator Martin is said to have been heavily involved in the play, having a representative in rehearsals at all times, and he attended the opening night in Stratford on Saturday.

The Mad King is a stage prequel that, according to its official synopsis, is set in Harrenhal as a long winter begins to thaw. “At a lavish banquet on the eve of a jousting tournament,” the synopsis reads, “lovers meet and revelers speculate about who will contend. But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the bloodthirsty actions of the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot. Far away, the drums of battle sound. Family bonds, ancient prophecies, and the sacred line of succession will be tested in a dangerous campaign for power. Who will survive? Who will rise?”

The play is inspired by the “Robert’s Rebellion” lore of Martin’s sprawling book series, in which the married Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, son of the Mad King Aerys, falls in love with, and runs off with, Lyanna Stark. This leads to a rebellion led by Robert Baratheon, who is engaged to Lyanna. Successfully deposing the Mad King, The Rebellion leads to the downfall of House Targaryen.

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli drama Fauda will return to Netflix on September 8, and we’ve got first-look images here.

Season 5 of the show, which comes from lead star Lior Raz and writer Avi Issacharoff, is set two years after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Haunted by the trauma of the events, Daron Kavillio (Raz) and the other fighters embark on a deadly race to stop a catastrophic attack on Israel, forcing them to confront the true cost of warn after war.

Melanie Laurent and Hakim Djaziri are joining the cast alongside Ram, with Yaakov Zada Daniel and Doron Ben-David returning. The show debuts on Netflix globally following its run on Israeli network Yes, which is the commissioning broadcaster.

Omri Givon is the director and writes alongside Omri Shenhar, Issacharoff, Raz, Sari Azoulay Turgeman, Yona Rozenkier and Nir Berger. Raz and Issacharoff scrapped their first scripts for Season 5 following the October 7 attack and reformulated with that shocking event at the center of the story.

Liat Benasuly is the producer, with Nitay Netzer the DoP, Rachel Ben Dahan the costume designer and Sari Azoulay Turgeman the editor.

Yes TV and L. Benasuly Productions are the co-producers with Yes Studios on international distribution. The eleven-episode season filmed across Israel and Hungary.

“This is a TV show, not reality. But we thought that there is still a story here to be told,” said Issacharoff, co-creator and exec producer. “We wanted to ask very tough questions to people all over the world, not only in Israel. Is the revenge worth it? Is continuing this very endless cycle of bloodshed worth it? Where is it taking you? I think these are the questions that are at the heart of this season.”

Fauda has often been lauded for portraying the incredibly complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a relatable way, while opening a window into the situation in the present-day Middle East. Netflix has acquired all seasons to date.

Below is a selection of pictures from the new season.

SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from the series finale of the Starz crime drama Power Book III: Raising Kanan.

Although it has come time to say goodbye to Power Book III: Raising Kanan, things are only beginning to shape up for the titular character, who is coming back with a vengeance in the upcoming follow-up series Power: Origins. Sascha Penn, the creator of both Raising Kanan and Origins, is taking a moment to take it all in.

It’s a difficult task to conclude a series and hit all the right notes, but Penn wrapped up Raising Kanan with a lot of love and care. And while many may not understand the reasons why we had to have our hearts broken with the loss of Lou (Malcolm Mays), Marvin (London Brown), and then Raq (Patina Miller), we should trust the process and watch how the rest of the story unfolds on Power: Origins.

Penn spoke to Deadline about the events of the finale, that epic post-credits scene, and what’s coming soon from his new prequel series that will finally bring together the powerful trio of Ghost (Spence Moore), Tommy (Charlie Mann), and Kanan Stark (Mekai Curtis).

DEADLINE: So many fans are sad because we said goodbye to our favorites. But, as Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson says in the final beats of the finale, this is not an ending, but a beginning for Kanan. What say you?

SASCHA PENN: The show was always called Raising Kanan, and it has always been that. We are a product of our families and our environment and our experiences. By the end of this series, you do have a good sense of how Kanan became Kanan. You may not love that journey, and you may be really upset about that journey, but it is a journey that I do believe explains how he became the character that we get to know in Power. We’ll know even better in Origins. I feel good about the story we told, and I do feel like it has a real ending.

DEADLINE: You surprised viewers with the young Tommy and Ghost, who are so young that Kanan won’t even mess with them. [Laughs] Why was it important to include them?

PENN: The one question I’ve been asked the most of any question over the past six years: when are we going to see Ghost and Tommy? In our timeline, they’re way too young to be super involved. But I always knew, even from the pitch, that at one point we would glimpse at them just enough for people to feel like, ‘Oh wow, there they are.’ And by the way, we put them into the show before we even knew Origins was happening.

DEADLINE: We need to discuss the post-credits scene. It’s Kanan’s birthday and the family, almost all of whom are now gone, are there for new mom Raquel. There’s an episode of Good Times on [Season 2, Episode 24 titled “The Lunch Money Ripoff.“]. Why did you pick that show?

PENN: In terms of going with Good Times, that show is on my Mount Rushmore of television series as a kid. I’ve watched every single episode of Good Times, and, like everybody else, I wish I was part of the Evans family. That family felt like this idealized family to me, right? So it was really important to include it. And this notion of this idealized family juxtaposed with this other family [on Raising Kanan]… I can’t unpack all of what it meant to me, but there was something about it that felt really appropriate.

DEADLINE: It fully makes sense, for anyone that knows that episode. Here’s a “bad” kid with an absent father bullying other kids in school, including the Evans family’s youngest Michael (Ralph Carter). He wasn’t a “bad” anything, more so a victim of his circumstances, like Kanan. What say you?

PENN: There was another episode which we considered. In the episode [Season 2, Episodes 9 & 10, The Gang, Parts 1 and 2], JJ (Jimmie Walker) was shot by a gang member [named Mad Dog].

DEADLINE: That would’ve worked out well as well, but I think you picked the right episode.

PENN: Yeah. I felt like we have this moment, we have Good Times, then we see Raq as a new mother, and what that responsibility feels like. Raq didn’t set out to raise this kid who ultimately wants to kill her. No, she’s like every other parent. She has this tiny baby that’s defenseless in her arms, and she’s like, ‘I’m gonna protect you. It’s you and me. I got you,’ which is heartbreaking in a completely different way. I think most parents really set out to do the right thing by their kids, but it’s hard. Life intervenes in all sorts of unexpected ways. But I felt like it was meaningful to have the last image of this series be a mother loving her son.

DEADLINE: What can you tease about Origins?

PENN: It takes place in like 2002, 2003. Tonally, it is different than Raising Kanan and Ghost; there’s a little more levity. It’s a little bit more like 48 Hours or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. That’s sort of what we were aiming for. So it’s fun. Not to say that there isn’t dark stuff in it, and Kanan is there and it’s a pretty grim version of him. It’s super fast-paced. The actors that are playing Tommy and Ghost are amazing. They’ve done the right thing, which is that they give you enough of the original Tommy and Ghost while at the same time making the characters entirely their own. We just wrapped last week on 18 episodes. I think people are gonna love it.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.