Jump to content

House of the Dragon


crash_davis

Recommended Posts

I couldn't decide what the most ill conceived plan of the episode was: a) Daemon's contemplated fixer upper flip of Harrenhal (sure, that seems doable . . . by himself I guess); b) Ryneera sneaking into KL to smoke the peace pipe around the prayer circle with Alicent (so 20 seconds after she walks away she is captured and killed and the show ends).  

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, bschoolprof said:

I couldn't decide what the most ill conceived plan of the episode was: a) Daemon's contemplated fixer upper flip of Harrenhal (sure, that seems doable . . . by himself I guess); b) Ryneera sneaking into KL to smoke the peace pipe around the prayer circle with Alicent (so 20 seconds after she walks away she is captured and killed and the show ends).  

I thought it was a pretty savy move of Alicent and she was bringing in her brother to kill Ser Cristen en route and on the march (to bring back her dad as the hand, and show she's brutally strategic to kill her lover), but it looks like he is going to be wimpy and need Cristen's help looking at next week's trailer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The horror movie vibe as Daemon came down the stairs at Harrenhal was pretty good

The whole set / production of Harrenhal is incredible. I like how they are folding in the haunted aspect that has been alluded to in the past.

That whole last episode would have looked awesome on a big screen. The POV dragon rides were dope.
  • Hook 'Em 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

One minor gripe, would've been fun to at least be a bit of the battle b/w the Bracken and Blackwood.   Guess the budget wouldn't allow it.

One of my gripes also with this show.  No combat battles shown....they did that last season with Daemon coming out of the cave with Crab guy's head or whatever.  And just showing us the post battle shots.  I miss GoT.

But they got all their budget on the Dragon scenes.

Edited by utxmike05
Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, utxmike05 said:

One of my gripes also with this show.  No combat battles shown....they did that last season with Daemon coming out of the cave with Crab guy's head or whatever.  And just showing us the post battle shots.  I miss GoT.

But they got all their budget on the Dragon brothel scenes.

FIFY

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this a quality show worth watching, or just something to watch because it's on, because it's associated with a mostly outstanding prior project, etc.? 

In other words, is it more like good GoT or bad GoT? 

I can see that there's been 38 pages of content devoted to it, but that doesn't answer my question. 

*please quote this post in any response - I don't plan on reading this thread otherwise, because if it's good, I won't want to read any spoilers... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Is this a quality show worth watching, or just something to watch because it's on, because it's associated with a mostly outstanding prior project, etc.? 

In other words, is it more like good GoT or bad GoT? 

I can see that there's been 38 pages of content devoted to it, but that doesn't answer my question. 

*please quote this post in any response - I don't plan on reading this thread otherwise, because if it's good, I won't want to read any spoilers... 

If you loved GOT, you should watch it.  It has much, much slower pacing. . . lots of buildup to an eventual war we all know is coming.  It's a much smaller story (1 book for the whole show).  It's nowhere near as good as peak GOT (like seasons 1-3), but it's much better than the shit David and Dan put out at the end of GOT where they ran out of book material and were just throwing shit to the wall as hastily as they could.  

  • Hook 'Em 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Is this a quality show worth watching, or just something to watch because it's on, because it's associated with a mostly outstanding prior project, etc.? 

In other words, is it more like good GoT or bad GoT? 

I can see that there's been 38 pages of content devoted to it, but that doesn't answer my question. 

*please quote this post in any response - I don't plan on reading this thread otherwise, because if it's good, I won't want to read any spoilers... 

It's not early GoT, for sure. The world they are creating in House of the Dragon doesn't have that same authentic "lived in" feel. Some of the acting is GoT level (Rhys Ifans, Olivia Cooke, and Emma D'Arcy would have no problem hanging with the best of the scene chewers from GoT), some is CW (if you're a fan of Fabian Frankel's turn as Criston I feel sorry for your soul). The story has a lot of potential, but there is some ham-fisting of the narrative (episode 4 should begin with the death of Rhaenyra, any other outcome is plot armour and pandering, but what are you gonna do. This whole setup is bonkers.) that reminds me of the mid-story-telling of Season 6+ of GoT.

If you're a fan of GoT, though, the show offers some highs that can compete with anything in late-stage GoT, while only having to trudge through lows that are far and away higher than the worst of the same.

Edited by BoomMF
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, BoomMF said:

It's not early GoT, for sure. The world they are creating in House of the Dragon doesn't have that same authentic "lived in" feel. Some of the acting is GoT level (Rhys Ifans, Olivia Cooke, and Emma D'Arcy would have no problem hanging with the best of the scene chewers from GoT), some is CW (if you're a fan of Fabian Frankel's turn as Criston I feel sorry for your soul). The story has a lot of potential, but there is some ham-fisting of the narrative (episode 4 should begin with the death of Rhaenyra, any other outcome is plot armour and pandering, but what are you gonna do. This whole setup is bonkers.) that reminds me of the mid-story-telling of Season 6+ of GoT.

If you're a fan of GoT, though, the show offers some highs that can compete with anything in late-stage GoT, while only having to trudge through lows that are far and away higher than the worst of the same.

Is this the book thread?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Those eggs eventually ended up with Danerys

Not sure if spoiler but The Ringer does recaps and full deep dives after each episode, also multiple podcasts on HoD, along with other prestige TV show...anyway here is what they say:

Are Those Daenerys’s Eggs?

This week, Rhaenyra sends Rhaena and Joffrey to the Vale. She also sends four dragon eggs:

image.thumb.png.5a11db6b3754a9a9eb339573550bdeab.png

 

Look familiar?

 

image.thumb.png.9c71f9559cbff78c04beb1d41468e6a2.png

It’s difficult to see, but Daenerys’s three eggs are red, yellow, and green, as are three of the eggs Rhaenyra is sending out. This can’t be a coincidence. And for eagle-eyed viewers, this is a very fun and exciting Easter, uh, egg. But for book readers, it’s bittersweet at best. That’s because readers already have a great, heavily hinted at origin story for Daenerys’s eggs.

 

Remember the princess I mentioned earlier, Rhaena Targaryen? The one who took up residence in Harrenhal toward the end of her life? Before she sequestered herself in that damp old fortress, she lived for a time at Fair Isle, where she met a noble lady named Elissa Farman. Rhaena and Elissa grew close, and Elissa soon joined Rhaena’s court at Dragonstone.

 

But once on Dragonstone, Elissa became bored. The Farmans had “sailed the western seas since the Dawn Age,” per Fire & Blood, and Elissa had the heart of an adventurer. From the book:

 

As a child, it was said that she spent more time at sea than upon the land. Her father’s crews used to laugh to see her climbing the rigging like a monkey. She sailed her own boat around Fair Isle at the age of four-and-ten, and by the time she was twenty she had voyaged as far north as Bear Island and as far south as the Arbor. Oftimes, to the horror of her lord father and lady mother, she spoke of her desire to take a ship beyond the western horizon to learn what strange and wondrous lands might lie on the far side of the Sunset Sea.

Elissa pleaded with Rhaena to raise gold so that she could sail the Sunset Sea—the sea to the west of Westeros. But Rhaena refused her. She couldn’t bear to lose her, uh, good friend.

Finally, Elissa left. She went to Driftmark, then caught a ship to Pentos, and from there made her way to Braavos, which houses some of the finest shipwrights in the world. A fortnight after her departure, it was discovered that three dragon eggs were missing from Dragonstone. Ser Merrell Bullock reasoned that Elissa must have made off with them and sold them in Essos to fund her adventure. King Jaehaerys was furious—and concerned that the eggs could hatch and a new dragonlord could rise against the Targaryens. But Grand Maester Benifer reassured him: “They may not hatch,” Benifer said. “Not away from Dragonstone. The heat … it is known, some dragon eggs simply turn to stone.”

“Then some spicemonger in Pentos will find himself possessed of three very costly stones,” Jaehaerys replied.

The crown never caught up with Elissa or those eggs. But this story was later confirmed by King’s Landing’s network of spies. Elissa had taken on the name Alys Westhill, sold the three dragon eggs to the Sealord of Braavos, and used the funds to build the ship Sun Chaser and sail it west into the Sunset Sea, where she vanished for good … except for many years later, when Corlys Velaryon—yes, our Corlys, the Sea Snake—caught a glimpse of an old, weathered ship in Asshai-by-the-Shadow that he swore forever after could only have been Sun Chaser.

Nearly 250 years after Elissa arrived in Essos with those eggs, the wealthy Pentosi magister Illyrio Mopatis gifted three dragon eggs to one Daenerys Targaryen on her wedding day. It was said that they’d long ago turned to stone.

Elissa Farman’s story endures regardless, but it sure hits harder if those eggs we see in this episode became Daenerys’s. It would be frustrating if the show undid that bit of lore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, Scary Stranger said:

I don't actually like any character in the show.

That's one of my big problems.  I remember when the Stark ancestor was onscreen a few episodes back, I was like "fuck yeah, a good guy."

But nope, back to KL and dragonstone to dwell on rotten people.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

Im enjoying the show, but it is lacking a character like the Hound, Tyrion, or Bron, someone who was always good for a laugh.  

Same. Season 2 has improved but the show lacks characters with any charisma.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/1/2024 at 10:09 AM, bschoolprof said:

After pioneering the inclusion of gratuitous and needless female nudity in almost all of its shows, I guess HBO has decided to pivot to fully nude dudes now.  

HBO is also pivoting out of my subscriptions. 
 

Insane how far and fast they cratered 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

Im enjoying the show, but it is lacking a character like the Hound, Tyrion, or Bron, someone who was always good for a laugh.  

Not to go full on bookfag, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. Cregan Stark, the Sea Snake, and Daemon were my favorites in the book. Not because of their humor, but because of their bad ass battle prowess. Mushroom, one of the narrators, is the only funny aspect of the book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Put me in the camp that’s enjoying it but wishing it had better characters. If this is what the source material provided, then I hope they deviate from that or else the series will have limited potential.

Also, lol @ Ser Criston getting a haircut between the 10 minute mark and 25 minute mark. “I have this super important mission but I need to visit the barber first.”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

Also, lol @ Ser Criston getting a haircut between the 10 minute mark and 25 minute mark. “I have this super important mission but I need to visit the barber first.”

Jokes on him. Still spotted because from 2 miles in the air, who needs haircut to positively id someone?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...