House of the Dragon - Game of Thrones prequel

[Boothjan]

Another strong episode - I thought the time shift worked better than expected.

 

Spoiler

I really enjoyed how much of an utter cunt they've made Prince Aegon - a proper mix of Joffrey and Viserys from GoT in him!

 

Good starts for the new actresses playing Rhaenyra and Alicent too

 

[Bazjam]

Really good episode. The passage of time has ramped up all the tensions to boiling point. Thought both the new actors were great as well.

[Ravern]

19 hours ago, Strafe said:

I know it’s a pseudo medieval time period or whatever and that even in modern times childbirth is indeed quite a feat but I do find something slightly gratuitous/sadistic about the amount of agony (both on screen and referred to), the writers have put some of the child bearing characters through in just 6 episodes.

 

I think it's gruelling but not gratuitous. It's not casually chucked in as plot device or ultraviolence, but instead a repeated and fundamental thematic and narrative element.

[George Clooney]

Someone on Twitter has just pointed out that if you’re rewatching GOT, there’s a pretty major spoiler in there.  That twat Joffrey even goes and spoiled this before it was made in season 3 ep 4, just in case anyone is going to rewatch (it’s a very quick line and easy to forget if you don’t know that it’s referencing but he is talking to Margaery and points out where

Spoiler

Rhaenyras remains lay and how she dies).

 

[Delargey]

@George Clooney I spoilered the hotd character ref.

 

It's the scene where joffre is in the Sept of bealor you want to skip.

 

[Number 28]

I managed to spoil something for myself re: Rhaenyra just by idly browsing the SOIAF wiki to figure out how many years are between Viserys' reign and the reign of the 'Mad King'...I wouldn't recommend trying to look up anything.

 

Anyway, I enjoyed catching up with the characters this episode...

Spoiler

"Ah, Rhaenyra's been at it with Harwin, how lovely"

*dies in a fire*

"Ah, Daemon's been at it Laena, how lovely"

*dies in a fire*

Not a world I would wish to live in, nope.

 

Random collection of thoughts:

I had assumed Laenor was going to at least manage to 'do his duty' somehow and impregnate Rhaenrya. It seems spectacularly dumb to raise a brood of brunette kids. I guess Cersei and Jaime got away with it (well, for the most part). I guess there's also not much in the way of effective contraception.

 

It only just dawned on me that Larys Strong ordered the murder of his own family. I guess he didn't think much of them. Is cutting out the tongue of assassins the done thing so they can't blab about their mission? But they could nod and shake their head and point at the guilty party? I do like the theory that he's a greenseer and every time we see a rat it's Larys spying.

 

Also, Alicent is giving me strong Cersei vibes and Ser C. Cole should be renamed Ser A. Hole, amirite?? I wasn't expecting to see Paddy still alive. It's actually pretty funny how detached from reality he is.

 

@Delargey I'm not sure how saying she's dead somewhere is a spoiler when it's 200 years later? Haven't you've made a small spoiler re: where she was put to rest? 

 

Talking of that place, is it me or is it fucking huge in this series?

[Waggo]

That was a truly excellent episode, although I fail to see the need to change the 2 actresses, even though there was nothing wrong with the performances of the new pair.

[Hitcher]

Even more puzzling when Criston hasn't even aged!

[Delargey]

@Number 28 just think it's better to put it in spoilers tag just in case. Canst hurt.

 

 

Spoiler

I didn't say any character was laid to rest. Just want scene people will know skip if they're watching that ep 

 

[Gommy]

The ageing up is sort of weird, but it has to be said they did a great job with all of them.

 

Spoiler

Assuming I have it right Daemon was married to the little girl that Viserys almost wed? and Rhaenyra her brother.

 

So in many ways the ageing up was needed for those two as they were way too young in episode 1 to really work for what they got to here.

 

But it does make for some weirdness as the characters relative ages all feel jumped about.

 

[Delargey]

Spoiler

Yeah you're right.

@Gommy

[George Clooney]

1 hour ago, Delargey said:

@George Clooney I spoilered the hotd character ref.

 

It's the scene where joffre is in the Sept of bealor you want to skip.

 

Thanks id actually just come back to do that as stupidly at the time I thought “oh naming then won’t matter as we know they’re dead by then, the spoiler is how they die” but just thought that it obviously heavily implies they die during the series still so it would actually spoil to expect to see them die on screen. Apologies.

[MrPogo]

Spoiler

Dunno if this is a spoiler or not, as it’s about something which hasn’t happened, but; the king’s lasting very well for someone who looked unlikely to even make it to the end of them first episode!

 

[Bazjam]

I thought they did the aging up really well. There was no way you could of had the original actors as believable mothers of children that age. Plus the added maturity of the characters really ramps up the tension of the long lasting bitterness between the pair. 

 

Thought the episode was amazing. The whole episode was as tense as fuck.

[Girth Certificate]

I'm not convinced that down the dragon-ramp is the place to store a pig

[choddo]

I have no idea whatsoever what happened at the end of episode 6. I might have fallen asleep for a bit when the queen was talking to the walking stick guy and inspired him to do something malevolent.

 

Spoiler

Did he have his brother killed?

 

[Alan Stock]

I seem to be the outlier here but I found this episode really meh. I found the time skip jarring although they have done a good job with getting actors that look and act really similar. I'm just finding that bizarrely this story is dragging on without much tension even though its covering years at a time, in contrast to last episode where things were finally starting to ramp up.

Spoiler

Also I felt pretty cheated that the king for some reason seems to be completely fine after his collapse at the end of the last episode, with no explanation. Yes he looks terrible but its 10 years he's held on with this clearly foreshadowed disease now, I thought him dying was going to get big things happening.

 

The story feels almost like its been reset at this point, with a host of new characters, the existing ones have kids and new perspectives on life.   

 

I'm not going to discount the show based on one episode but its starting to lose me a bit.

 

By the way can people please label book spoilers, I've already been spoiled on a future plot twist in this thread with no warning. When we see spoilers here we assume its about the current episode.

 

[memories]

7 hours ago, choddo said:

I have no idea whatsoever what happened at the end of episode 6. I might have fallen asleep for a bit when the queen was talking to the walking stick guy and inspired him to do something malevolent.

 

  Hide contents

Did he have his brother killed?

 

 

Spoiler

Brother and father I think

 

[scottcr]

The show effectively did reset… the first four episodes were basically back story to set the scenes and help understand the tensions between the families for what will now be an inevitable and fast moving descent into civil war

[Hanzo the Razor]

The wife and I are enjoying this so we started re-watching GOT. We could both play a part in Season 1 so we started with Season 2. It's lightyears ahead of this. Funny as fuck in places too. That's one thing I find in things these days. Whether it's Rings of Power, Andor or this it's all so utterly po-faced. Give us the odd giggle for fucks sake! Look at The Sopranos. Often called the greatest TV show of all time. Funny as fuck. Deadwood. Brutal but funny as fuck. Where are the quotable lines in this? There are none. I'm not looking for Jar Jar Binks. Just the odd bit of clever dialogue or catty humour that GOT did so well in the first few seasons.

[Number 28]

I have been pondering that a lot myself since it started. Thinking back to Game of Thrones, there's so many likeable or at the very least sympathetic characters...Tyrion obviously, most of the Starks, drunkard King Robert with 'Bessie's tits' and the smug Jaime Lannister, they all had a lot of charm, and of course the comically irritating/sadistic Joffrey. Rhaenyra and Daemon were the only people providing the tiniest bit of relief from the relentless misery, one because she smiled a lot and the other because he does comically fucked up evil things. Now Rhaenyra has been aged up she's as dour-faced as all the others. I'm still locked in though. It's still fairly compelling and there's only a few episodes left.

[Skull Commander]

Losing "young" Rhaenyra at this stage feels like such a blow. She was one of the few likeable characters for me, and already her replacement is annoying me. 

 

I would agree that there is charm lacking compared to GOT and I think the comparative lack of memorable characters does it no favours at all. I mean they have even reused an unmemorable Lannnister actor from GOT to come back as an unmemorable Lannnister in this (I didn't realise till I read this somewhere).  

[Number 28]

I hadn't heard of the Tully/muppet thing Before. Nice. 🐸

[scottcr]

On 01/10/2022 at 08:40, Skull Commander said:

Losing "young" Rhaenyra at this stage feels like such a blow. She was one of the few likeable characters for me, and already her replacement is annoying me. 

 

I would agree that there is charm lacking compared to GOT and I think the comparative lack of memorable characters does it no favours at all. I mean they have even reused an unmemorable Lannnister actor from GOT to come back as an unmemorable Lannnister in this (I didn't realise till I read this somewhere).  

theres definitely no Tyrion or Jaime equivalents to provide the banter… the Lannisters were always the best in GoT.
 

[BitterToad]

I really really like this and I don’t know why as I always kinda felt Thrones went off the boil after season 1 and then was this really big expensive thing I didn’t really care about. I watched it all and enjoyed the spectacle and the big moments but it never quite captured what made season 1 special. 
 

This just feels really beautifully drawn out in the moment to moment and then you get a bit of a time jump and get to see where the chess pieces have moved by the next week. The characters are developing nicely throughout the years and while I don’t really know where it’s going in the grand scheme of things outside of “who will be king?” I’m absolutely loving my hour with it every week. Thumbs up!

[NexivRed]

Is there a thread for the Snow sequel?

[probotector]

I’m too scared to start this.

 

Can someone just confirm…are we looking season 1 quality or season 8?

[makkuwata]

Closer to season 1, without the jokes.

 

This weeks ep

Spoiler

I yarred a 123 stream and thought I found a dodgy copy. Nope, just Miguel Sapochnik back to his “The Long Night” ways.

 

You’d think someone would have a word after last time.

 

[Ravern]

20 hours ago, BitterToad said:

I really really like this and I don’t know why as I always kinda felt Thrones went off the boil after season 1 and then was this really big expensive thing I didn’t really care about. I watched it all and enjoyed the spectacle and the big moments but it never quite captured what made season 1 special. 
 

This just feels really beautifully drawn out in the moment to moment and then you get a bit of a time jump and get to see where the chess pieces have moved by the next week. The characters are developing nicely throughout the years and while I don’t really know where it’s going in the grand scheme of things outside of “who will be king?” I’m absolutely loving my hour with it every week. Thumbs up!

 

Yes. This is the Better Call Saul to Breaking Bad (analogically - not actually as good as BCS of course).

[Skull Commander]

1 hour ago, makkuwata said:

Closer to season 1, without the jokes.

 

This weeks ep

  Reveal hidden contents

I yarred a 123 stream and thought I found a dodgy copy. Nope, just Miguel Sapochnik back to his “The Long Night” ways.

 

You’d think someone would have a word after last time.

 

Yup. Unforgivable. Almost ruined the episode for me.