HBO's House of the Dragon

[Wor-Gar]

Shows just about to get interesting... and then go away for another year and a half.

 

[greygoose]

Shows just about to get interesting... and then go away for another year and a half.

Yep. It's been such a slow build up. Parts have been interesting however some have been quite boring.

Cool seeing all the new dragons join the party.

 

[ZE_501]

Although I'm enjoying it a lot, I' also getting a bit much of the men-are-silly-impulsive-patriarh-tyrants vibe...
Maybe I need to rewatch the first season, but I feel that Daemon has been nerfed quite a bit. Also, Rhaenyra seemed a lot more formidable in the first season...

There's ... a hint of that? But the Queens are pretty murderous and going at each other while paying lip service to 'peace' and 'saving thousands of lives' --- hyopcrisy in full effect. They're all pretty eager to spend lives on this show, so long as it's not their own. Case in point being the last episode:

Spoiler:

"So here's the worst most psychotic fire breathing dragon we have. Good luck, suckas!" *stays to watch*

 

[SwedishHeat]

So, is the mythology that the dragons can sense Targaryen blood, or is it just that the dragons just think "Hmm, this person seems worthy"?

In the latest episode, I got the impression that all the people brought before the dragon had Targaryen blood to some degree, but the dragon killed most of them anyway.

 

[Wor-Gar]

In the latest episode, I got the impression that all the people brought before the dragon had Targaryen blood to some degree,

Or they had been lied to.

Anyway, that first guy who had the right blood also got eaten a couple episodes ago, so who knows what the rule is now.

Lucas must be advising George RR Martin.

 

[ZE_501]

Or they had been lied to.

Could be.

Anyway, that first guy who had the right blood also got eaten a couple episodes ago, so who knows what the rule is now.

Lucas must be advising George RR Martin.

LOL ... Sea Smoke set him up. Acted submissive before err ... smoking him.

So, is the mythology that the dragons can sense Targaryen blood, or is it just that the dragons just think "Hmm, this person seems worthy"?

In the latest episode, I got the impression that all the people brought before the dragon had Targaryen blood to some degree, but the dragon killed most of them anyway.

I haven't read the books, but it appears to be a mix of both? What's-her-name who's just wandered into the wild to tempt death looking for a large, wild dragon ... had tried before and nearly been killed or something. The resident dragons didn't vibe with her but Little Miss Death Wish is going for it again.

And given how 'most fearsome' and belligerent the big dragon was, I guess the combination of Targaryen blood

Spoiler:

and the willingness of that guy (Hugh? Is that his name?) to stand up to certain death with rage rather than cowering fear made him a good match?

 

[ZE_501]

So I did some quick Internet-ing.

Blood is part of it, temperament likely matters, and lineage being close to former riders is also a likely factor. Vermithor and Silverwing are both around 100 years old and have had previous riders, like Sea Smoke.

Vaghar is apparently around 180. I only skimmed a couple of sources so don't know how accurate this is.

 

[abake]

Loved this last episode. It was pretty clear who were going to end up with dragons, but it was still entertaining to watch. And that Tully kid, damn!

 

[Wor-Gar]

The Tully kid is great. The two new dragon riders were just too obvious, yes.

This show just keeps demonstrating to me how great Game of Thrones was.

 

[karamazov80]

So I did some quick Internet-ing.

Blood is part of it, temperament likely matters, and lineage being close to former riders is also a likely factor. Vermithor and Silverwing are both around 100 years old and have had previous riders, like Sea Smoke.

Vaghar is apparently around 180. I only skimmed a couple of sources so don't know how accurate this is.

There is a behind the scenes segment after the show where they discuss this. They talk about there being some mystery here, and it allows the writers to do whatever they want apparently.

 

[SwedishHeat]

There is a behind the scenes segment after the show where they discuss this. They talk about there being some mystery here, and it allows the writers to do whatever they want apparently.

Seems like it was written to be ambiguous. Like, since the Targaryens believe they are the most powerful house, and since they can ride dragons, their assumption is that you have to have Targaryen blood to ride a dragon. And since they've been in power for so long, they've just repeated that story for generations and that's all anyone believes ... but it's not true.

It's probably a "correlation is not causation" type of situation.

 

[ZE_501]

Seems like it was written to be ambiguous. Like, since the Targaryens believe they are the most powerful house, and since they can ride dragons, their assumption is that you have to have Targaryen blood to ride a dragon. And since they've been in power for so long, they've just repeated that story for generations and that's all anyone believes ... but it's not true.

It's probably a "correlation is not causation" type of situation.

Based on some ASOIAF Wiki stuff, it is a blood thing but goes back to Valyria, so it's not specifically *Targaryen* as such. Martin's history and lineage stuff is super convoluted so even the source material is a little murky, seemingly by design.

 

[karamazov80]

I thought it was interesting that the first guy who tried had a physical deformity. Not sure if that was done to really show how nasty these dragons are not to have sympathy or what.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I thought it was interesting that the first guy who tried had a physical deformity.

I thought that was just to show why he was 'cast away' as a Targaryen -- like what the upper class parents did to Devito Penguin.

 

[ZE_501]

I thought that was just to show why he was 'cast away' as a Targaryen -- like what the upper class parents did to Devito Penguin.

In that universe, a guy like that is at a serious disadvantage already, and given he wasn't acknowledged in any special way, maybe it was a combo of nothing-to-lose and Martin's tendency to sporadically inject physically disadvantaged characters with positive traits (intellect, bravery etc.)

I thought it was interesting that the first guy who tried had a physical deformity. Not sure if that was done to really show how nasty these dragons are not to have sympathy or what.

I don't think a human's appearance means much to them. They'll bond with some humans, burn or crush or outright eat other ones. Have no compunction about killing their own kind either.

They were originally tamed with magic spells, magic horns, whips etc. but are by nature wild animals and never truly domesticated.

 

[abake]

I'm really liking the lore of GOT and HOTD, too bad I found Martin's prose absolute crap and didn't even get past the first half of the first book

 

[Wor-Gar]

too bad I found Martin's prose absolute crap

Why was it so bad? Never read a lick.

 

[abake]

Honestly, I couldn't give you a specific reason, I just didn't enjoy reading it.
I can tell you which writers I think are great: Dan Simmons, Iain M. Banks, Neil Gaiman, Anne Leckie, N. K. Jemisin, Brian Aldiss...
All are just wonderful to read, and their books are fantastic.

 

[The Entity]

He could write like this:

Lord Littlefinger entered the great hall to speak to the Stark sisters.


Instead, he writes like this:

Lord Littlefinger walked into the great hall. He was wearing a black moleskin cape with a great pelt made from polarbear skins, over a dark blue doublet with gold inlays and gold stitches upon the seems. The buttons of his doublet were golden and gleamed like fire in the light of the flickering flames in the hall's great hearth. Upon his left breast he wore his mockingbird sigil in exotic lapis azuli, a gift from the great sultan of Rahashi. The little mockingbird's eyes were green emeralds from the mines of Ullabar. His trousers were dark grey and made from the finest silk. They were imported specifically for him from the free cities of Essos. Upon the side of his trouser legs ran three silver stripes, the defining mark of the ancient house of Ad'idas. Beneath his brown boots made of seal fur that came from baby seals who were clubbed to death within minutes after being born, he wore white crew socks that reached halfway his calves and were trimmed with red bands. The boot's laces were made of leather of the great aurochs. As dureable as it was stylish.
He walked toward the two Stark sisters to speak to them. Arya was wearing a brown cape made of badger pelts over a lighter brown leather tunic. The great direwolf sigil of House Stark was embroidered upon the front of the tunic with the menacing wolfs head in eggshell white over a field of light green...

Anyway, you get the gist. I'm all for setting a scene and describing how characters look, but he's taking it too far IMO. No wonder his next book isn't done yet.

 

[ZE_501]

Just watched the finale. They're taking quite the risk in terms of pacing and writing. Not sure how I feel about it yet, although I did like the build-up to war shown in several scenes from the perspective of soldiers/fighters.

Not sure how I feel about

Spoiler:

the Admiral -- she seems a little bit cookie-cutter in terms of character. And Alicent's continuous flip-flopping is ... tough to swallow? I can see how she's getting pushed in this direction thanks to her psycho kid but even so ... and Mysaria goes from Champion of the People to "Meh ... guess we gotta break a few eggs on the road to victory" -- I get it, she's pragmatic but I don't see much conflict in her, for someone who was characterized as a champion of the Small Folk just a couple episodes ago. Finally, in the books Ulf is a total **** and he's shaping up to be one here, but wow is he overconfident, all things considered.