HBO's House of the Dragon

[Raymond F.]

Every week I like the show less. It I want to keep watching it which is more than I can say for Andor or LOTR for example.

But this last episode makes no sense. What is this plan? After all the drama of 2 episodes ago with the allegations and the already thin ice Rhanereys is skating on, how is this union 2 seconds after the big “accident” going to help her get credibility?

At least wait for this king to kick the bucket. Even though that’s apparently an impossibility lol dude supposedly died or will die more times in this series than that South Park guy, whatever hah name was haha

 

[Wor-Gar]

I have to admit, in hindsight not much has really happened so far. It all seemed intriguing and then they do a time jump which kills all momentum and tension.

I'm not sure I even understand the point of the time jump (other than to have kids grown up). They should have saved the jump for season 2.

 

[ZE_501]

I have to admit, in hindsight not much has really happened so far. It all seemed intriguing and then they do a time jump which kills all momentum and tension.

I'm not sure I even understand the point of the time jump (other than to have kids grown up). They should have saved the jump for season 2.

Definitely. From the very first episode I felt like I was being beat over the head with Medieval Cruelty and how cheap life was in Westeros, but it got me with the excitement (unlikely as his plot-armoured survival was) of Daemon's suicide attack to draw out the Crab Feeder's (that was his name?) forces.

After that it seems to have spiralled into more claustrophobic misery porn which begins to lose me again if I'm being honest. It has its moments but lacks the epic feel of GoT and it may well be due to there being no external threat, it's just a bunch of sociopathic oligarchs cutting each others' throats for the sake of dominance.

 

[Deeznutz6]

Anyone know what he whispered at the end?

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

We got some nephew sons lol

 

[ZE_501]

Anyone know what he whispered at the end?

Sounded like "...my love..."

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the most powerful man in Westeros died miserable, rotting away with no help from any of his great wealth and power. Heedless of his end, his children and relatives continue their bloody squabble for worldly power instead of recognizing their inevitable end and the unpredictability of it. 'Legacy' and all.

There's a lot more consequence-free murdering in this historical era. No immediate consequences anyway. I've lost track of the men who have been casually beaten to death, gutted, decapitated etc. during social events.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I was also confused by what the dying King was muttering.

The King's withering away was so tragic, so well acted, so gruesome... his breathing, that constant moaning in pain...

It makes Nolan's Two-Face look totally ridiculous, especially when refusing his meds.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Anyone know what he whispered at the end?

He was whispering a fragmented version of the "prophecy" of the Night King and the Walkers that he told to the princess in Episode 1.

My guess is the point is it will convince Queen Alicent that one of her sons is fated to be the "King or a Queen" that is Targaryean, thus kicking off what is an inevitable civil war for the throne.

The bastard children of the Princess and her affair with Strong means that there is no blood ties to the Velaryon House. (Daemon's two daughters mean nothing since they are step children) If one side of the civil war had the allegiance of the Velaryon house, then that would likely stop any war, it would mean fighting would be pointless as one side would have a disproportional force in arms, men, money, influence, ships, etc, etc . But if Visery's sister just opts out, which she has indicated she will do, then she will just stay out of it. She has no desire for ambition nor the throne.

The knotty problem there is the true "heir" Laenor, is still alive somewhere. And if he's proven alive, that makes the Princess's children expendable. That might be enough to get "Auntie" to finally get off the sideline and start killing people.

What's going to be interesting is one eyed arrogant Aemond and his dragon against his "uncle" Daemon. You can see Daemon is amused by his "nephew", even impressed at his boldness. But also the kid is a complete psychopath.

I'd said it before, I'll say it again, the lesson here is always the same - Kill your enemies as fast as you can, be decisive and leave no doubt. Vaemond Valaryon lost his head for what? He spoke out and made idle threats when he should have killed his sister in law, taken control of the Velaryon family by force, then killed everyone in that throne room.

It's unfortunate that the GOT last few season fell apart. Because the Roose Bolton and Ramsey Snow/Bolton situation was really interesting. Roose knew his bastard "son" was a psychopath. However there was a cold efficiency in having all your problems killed outright. Roose wanted the net effect of the total carnage, but not the reputation.

Love motivates sometimes. Fear motivates all the time.

 

[Wor-Gar]

You can see Daemon is amused by his "nephew", even impressed at his boldness. But also the kid is a complete psychopath.

Yeah, he's my new favorite villain.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

After that it seems to have spiralled into more claustrophobic misery porn which begins to lose me again if I'm being honest. It has its moments but lacks the epic feel of GoT and it may well be due to there being no external threat, it's just a bunch of sociopathic oligarchs cutting each others' throats for the sake of dominance.

I get where HOTD is going.

There is a current groundswell of period dramas out that got a huge boost from the appeal of The Crown and the award winning prowess of The Favourite. Hence the strong presence of British/UK actors.

The Serpent Queen, The White Queen, The Spanish Princess, Dangerous Liaisons, The Great, Becoming Elizabeth, Downton Abbey, even something on the edge like Outlander.

BBC and Starz just pumps these shows out. There is an established built in audience for this kind of stuff. Every few years, they'll pump out another Pride and Prejudice and Little Women. Every so often you'll get a modern remake like Bridget Jones Diary that made huge money. Even HBO is forcing it's way in with boring schlock like The Gilded Age.

This is like the BBC's version of Wolf Hall, just wrapped in George RR Martin and sprinkled with dragons. They aren't even trying to hide it.

It's not for everyone. Stuff like Wolf Hall is a hard sell to a mainstream American audience. I loved The Great and like the current Serpent Queen, but I understand that's a specific kind of niche. The tone can be off putting for lots of people.

This show is sort of trapped. It can't be just GOT 2.0 thus it has to intentionally work it's way to be something else.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Yeah, he's my new favorite villain.

One Eyed Aemond is a psychopath. You can't negotiate with psychopaths.

But he's an easy kill. Ambush him with wildfire, say his dragon turned on him because he's not worthy to be a Dragon Rider. In that culture and world, that's enough to make the death go away and not linger.

Viserys was gutless. If he had balls, he would have recognized that his two sons, one is a serial rapist, and the other is an eye patch wearing loon, would start a civil war. I would have cut both their throats, also Alicent and her father, then blamed Daemon and the Princess for it, then used that as pretext to kill them both and just start over. If there's one thing that's certain, Viserys at least could sire children. His swimmers were strong enough to get Alicent pregnant. He could have done a Charlie Chaplin. Just kept speed firing loads in old age until he was a father again.

When you are the king, the story becomes what you want it to become.

They don't respect their "King Viserys". That's the big problem, or was the big problem. Once people lose respect for you, it never returns. Ever. That's real life, not just HOTD. If you can't earn back people's respect, and if they will ruin the entire kingdom, your only choice is to kill them all.

So, let's be clear, the son who is a serial rapist. I'm not sure I'll get a lot of pushback here if I said if I was living in that universe, I'd just burn him alive with Wild Fire. Someone would buy me a Coke afterwards. You'll say, Coke was not invented then. I'll say they would invent Coke just to thank me for burning that POS rapist alive.

 

[Wor-Gar]

One Eyed Aemond is a psychopath. You can't negotiate with psychopaths.

But he's an easy kill. Ambush him with wildfire, say his dragon turned on him because he's not worthy to be a Dragon Rider. In that culture and world, that's enough to make the death go away and not linger.

I think he'll be a good challenge. Better than the Crab Feeder anyway.

 

[jye4ever]

Wait did he think he was talking to his daughter at the end instead of Alicent.

If so that’s a lame catalyst to spark this impending civil war.

 

[ZE_501]

I get where HOTD is going.

There is a current groundswell of period dramas out that got a huge boost from the appeal of The Crown and the award winning prowess of The Favourite. Hence the strong presence of British/UK actors.

Yeah, I can see that.

It's not for everyone. Stuff like Wolf Hall is a hard sell to a mainstream American audience. I loved The Great and like the current Serpent Queen, but I understand that's a specific kind of niche. The tone can be off putting for lots of people.

I love The Great and I'm interested in the Serpent Queen, but I'm running hot and cold on HotD so far ... I don't need it to be GoT (it can't be) but I'm not sure where it's landing yet.

 

[jye4ever]

The king deserves an Emmy he is freaking amazing.

But enough of the damn time jumps.

 

[davejames]

I'm enjoying the hell out of the show myself, although I admit it does sometimes feel like I'm watching a daytime soap opera with all the family infighting and betrayal constantly going on. Lol

But I do at least find these family dynamics incredibly compelling to watch, thanks to the great performances, and don't mind at all that it's been fairly bloodless so far.

 

[ZE_501]

I'm enjoying the hell out of the show myself, although I admit it does sometimes feel like I'm watching a daytime soap opera with all the family infighting and betrayal constantly going on. Lol

But I do at least find these family dynamics incredibly compelling to watch, thanks to the great performances, and don't mind at all that it's been fairly bloodless so far.

Are we watching the same show?

 

[Heavy Metal Spike]

I'm enjoying the hell out of the show myself, although I admit it does sometimes feel like I'm watching a daytime soap opera with all the family infighting and betrayal constantly going on. Lol

But I do at least find these family dynamics incredibly compelling to watch, thanks to the great performances, and don't mind at all that it's been fairly bloodless so far.

• Days of our dragons ?
• The young and the Targaryen ?
• As the dragon turns ?
• All my children ? (didn't even need adjusting!)
• The bold and the butchered ?
• General horsepital ? (K - I think that one went a bit too far!)

.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Die-nasty.

 

[ArtDamage]

Are we watching the same show?

If you remove all the child birthing scenes IT IS relatively bloodless