[TV] House of the Dragon

[Twdft]

The town square maiming felt very odd. Like they remember Gary the Baker was stealing from before and Bob the Blacksmith was going around raping, but they weren't punishing anyone previously? That just didn't make sense to me. Why weren't they enforcing the law previously?

Daemon mentioned how crime was rampant outside the castle. If you let it go unpunished for years and years I'm sure most people would know who the criminals are. The gold cloaks are not an outside force, they are recruited citizens tasked with policing their own city. I'm sure they have a good clue who to round up when set loose.

[Voidwielder]

The thing about the damned prophecy bullshit that tilts me is very simple - why the fuck would anyone actually care about some unknowable, unpredictable threat in some undefined, unknowable future? Why the fuck would Aegon the Conqueror of all people care about this, the man who had the most powerful dragon in the world and who could fuck off to the edge of the world even if something happened during his lifetime.

This messianic shit tilts so much.

[Gumble]

Hmmm I want to wait for a few episodes to come out before I binge them, but its good to hear its better than expected.

[Mhyroth]

We went in with low expectations after GoT but were pleasantly surprised. They seem to go back to the first seasons of GoT with the politics, backstabbing and ruthless nature of human nature.

We had hoped for a *proper* intro. My girlfriend wanted the GoT theme although I told her this isn't Game of Thrones.
Daemon gives me Ramsey Bolton vibes (voice-wise especially) and his unpredictable nature. There's a couple of actors/roles who feel a little out of place and have been put there for exposition, although this might change later during the season for me.
The gore was fine to watch, don't see what the fuzz was about.
I do hope they don't use the dragons merely for filling screentime and *wow* effect and we get some more story/lore related to them and what makes a Targaeryan be able to ride them for example..

For those who have read the book, how many seasons do you reckon they could pull this before it becomes too much? Since they seem to be getting a lot of creative freedom due to the nature of the book it's based on, could they go all the way to the reign and fall of the Mad King or would this be too much ground to cover?

[KainneAbsolute]

The thing about the damned prophecy bullshit that tilts me is very simple - why the fuck would anyone actually care about some unknowable, unpredictable threat in some undefined, unknowable future? Why the fuck would Aegon the Conqueror of all people care about this, the man who had the most powerful dragon in the world and who could fuck off to the edge of the world even if something happened during his lifetime.

This messianic shit tilts so much.

Because prophecy saved them, and made them kingd

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For those who have read the book, how many seasons do you reckon they could pull this before it becomes too much? Since they seem to be getting a lot of creative freedom due to the nature of the book it's based on, could they go all the way to the reign and fall of the Mad King or would this be too much ground to cover?

3 - 4 seasons.

There is a long road towards the Mad King. The events of the current series are covered by Fire and Blood, but a second tome was announced (who knows when is going to be published), and I guesd that covers up to Aerys.

The books that cover some previous events before Mad King are the stories of Dunk and Egg (also incomplete). There still many mysterieds involving these stories and the reign of the Mad King. I dont know if Martin wants to reveal them in Fire and Blood 2 or 3, or in a Song of Ice and Fire.

[RH92]

For those who have read the book, how many seasons do you reckon they could pull this before it becomes too much? Since they seem to be getting a lot of creative freedom due to the nature of the book it's based on, could they go all the way to the reign and fall of the Mad King or would this be too much ground to cover?

I might be mistaken but I think I heard it was confirmed to have 5 seasons in total.

Which is good in my opinion, seems like they won't rush anything. Story covers a huge timeline before it culminates in Dance of the Dragons (A battle between Daemon and Rhaenyra (blacks) against Alicent's and Viserys' adult children (greens) for succession after king's death). I personally don't think it will go any further because there is probably twice as much story to cover until you get to actual Game of Thrones.

[PACOX]

Anyine notice the subtle but effective transitions they made throughout c-section and jousting scenes. Can't think of the nake technique but for example when they make the initial cut during the c-section they transition to jousters brutally clashing. Makes your mind associate the violence and sound of the jousters with cut off the ladies belly. They did that several times throughout when they transitioned between the tournament and procedure. Very good directiom and editing, it was straight nasty.

[RH92]

Anyine notice the subtle but effective transitions they made throughout c-section and jousting scenes. Can't think of the nake technique but for example when they make the initial cut during the c-section they transition to jousters brutally clashing. Makes your mind associate the violence and sound of the jousters with cut off the ladies belly. They did that several times throughout when they transitioned between the tournament and procedure. Very good directiom and editing, it was straight nasty.

It was on purpose actually, the film makers wanted to put emphasis on what was Aemma saying earlier about giving a birth to a child is woman's battlefield. As said in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB5WFSQUOx0 (beginning at around 2:12 mark)

The scene was fantastic. Usually these kind of scenes are never shown for what a serious struggle they are, especially back in the days. They are often portrayed as comic relief to show a man panicking or just straight up skipping the tough part and showing a woman holding the baby.

[Kumorii]

Well, I think at the same time we’re shown to not take prophecy dreams with complete accuracy, given the kings own dream about his son clearly didn’t happen since the child died immediately after birth. He was right about the sex tho… The details of who, what, when and where are unclear, but that it does happen in a similar way.

Not knowing too much about the books, I’m going to assume his dream may have been about his son that he has with Alicent?

I think it's more about the interpretation of dreams and prophecies rather than the accuracy of them.

He talked about a boy being born with the iron crown. Which I took at first metaphorically. Because he would be heir and the one with the crown. That's the reason he wanted a boy.

The point of the crown though refers to the manner of birth, as his wife even said:
"Boy wearing a crown, Gods spare, birth is unpleasant enough as it is". Which refers to her being cut open, which an iron crown would do.
And Viserys made the choice to cut her up to make him an heir.

Talking about thundering hooves, splintering shields and ringing swords refers to the tournament.


Then the son died, but afaik it didn't mention anything about any duration.
I was hellbent on that it wouldn't be a boy. Making his choice to sacrifice his wife a double disaster. But I think the point of it being a boy is to give validity to the prophecies or dreams, but you have to be wary of interpreting them.

[Nebron]

The thing about the damned prophecy bullshit that tilts me is very simple - why the fuck would anyone actually care about some unknowable, unpredictable threat in some undefined, unknowable future? Why the fuck would Aegon the Conqueror of all people care about this, the man who had the most powerful dragon in the world and who could fuck off to the edge of the world even if something happened during his lifetime.

This messianic shit tilts so much.

Targaryens were saved because Aegon's great-great-great grandmother, Daenys, had a gift of prophecy and forsaw the Doom of Valyria.
Prophecies, especially those in dreams, were a huge part of Targs legacy. Even the first episode doubles down on that with Viserys' dream of male successor's birth.

Usually prophecies are vague af, and thus are almost always misinterpreted. So yeah, there's a guy who dreams of a great threat coming from the north, that will eventually destroy the whole world, so he decides to unite people against a common threat that may come. Since he knows that may not happen during his lifetime and it's pretty unbelievable - he creates a tradition of passing this information as a secret to a heir. Because he believes in Targaryens superiority, he claims that only Targ can sit on the Iron Throne, since only they have power (dragons) to unite.

Basically this.

[everydaygamer]

What I didn't get is how did the soldiers know what crimes those guys were guilty of? Feels like they collected a bunch of random bums and started yelling made-up accusations at them. "Hm...you look like a thief...THIEF!"

Pretty sure they didn't have a file with pictures and evidence on any of them.

I imagine that was the point, it was a show of power.

[Twdft]

The thing about the damned prophecy bullshit that tilts me is very simple - why the fuck would anyone actually care about some unknowable, unpredictable threat in some undefined, unknowable future? Why the fuck would Aegon the Conqueror of all people care about this, the man who had the most powerful dragon in the world and who could fuck off to the edge of the world even if something happened during his lifetime.

This messianic shit tilts so much.

You know scientists tell us about climate change and most people on an intellectual level agree that it's getting worse, we didn't have 35°c every summer when I was young. World will not end this year or the next, but we know that our children will have 40°c summers and in the times of our grandchildren half the population of asia will have to emigrate away from the coasts. We know all that but very few people actually care.

Now imagine a powerful person experiences a real prophecy. Not just a dream but a psychic event that shows him how civilisation will suffer and billions of people die, mental but so real that he can't ignore it. A powerful man like Aegon the conquerer who actually has the power to do something about it. A man with dragons, protector of the realm. I don't see any bullshit in him trying to actually, you know, protect the realm.

[melodramocracy]

Not a bad opener. Not a ton of character depth yet, maybe that will flesh itself out. I sense a lot of "too soon" from folks who felt burned by S8, and I can't say I blame them.

A lot of the appeal of GoT is how so many very different stories merged, and that doesn't seem to be what may happen here. It's enough to keep me watching, no matter.

[Skandulous]

Not a bad opener. Not a ton of character depth yet, maybe that will flesh itself out. I sense a lot of "too soon" from folks who felt burned by S8, and I can't say I blame them.

A lot of the appeal of GoT is how so many very different stories merged, and that doesn't seem to be what may happen here. It's enough to keep me watching, no matter.

That takes multiple episodes and seasons to properly flesh out and you expected that in a 1 hour episode?

[PACOX]

I imagine that was the point, it was a show of power.

Thats exactly what it was. Guilt or innocence didn't matter. The march through the city was about control and fear.

[Twdft]

Watched it four times now in as many days. I might be addicted, to Westeros as such. The episode itself has such a nice flow to it, I don't even fast forward anything.

Something nobody mentioned so far is how Rhaenyra lies to people outside her immediate family. She told Alicent and Daemon how she wished for her dad to have a son. But told her mother she wanted a sister and even made up a name for her.

[Ihavewaffles]

[Kreuger]

Allready renewed for a season2

https://tvline.com/2022/08/26/house-...rones-prequel/

"Gods be good, indeed: House of the Dragon, HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, has been renewed for Season 2 just six days after its series debut."

[Logwyn]

It's interesting how, in Aegon's prophetic dream, all of Westeros stood united against the Night King, with a Targaryen seated on the Iron Throne.

Yet, in Season 8, which takes place during the New """""""""Long""""""""" Night, only the Vale and the North cared about the threat from Beyond the Wall, and a Lannister was seated on the Iron Throne. Cersei Lannister and her subjects (all the southern kingdoms) also refused to help fight the Night King. Hilariously, the bulk of the forces at Winterfell was comprised of Dothraki and Unsullied, who come from Essos.

It would seem that Aegon's prophetic dream turned out to be bullshit, since none of those things happened. Unless this show and the Jon Snow sequel subtly and slowly retconned The Long Night from S8. I hope it's the latter actually.

I see many people online take this scene as evidence that they are trying to pull a "Somehow the Night King has returned" move and maybe reveal that the "Long Night" Aegon saw in a dream was not actually the 30 minutes evening we saw in Season 8. I am hyped for the Jon Snow sequel honestly.

Prophecies can be wrong. But... I still think they should have revised things in GoT. They go South to deal with the ingrates in the South that just hide in their holes in Kings Landing. Then deal with the threat from the North.

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Is it bad that I think it is sad there are people out there that have to have videos like this example video for a 30-60 minute long show?

[Varodoc]

Prophecies can be wrong. But... I still think they should have revised things in GoT. They go South to deal with the ingrates in the South that just hide in their holes in Kings Landing. Then deal with the threat from the North.

Prophecies being wrong is bad writing and is the reason why S8 is trash. Star Wars wouldn't be so popular if it turned out that the prophecy of the Chosen One was just some massive fuck-up (and the reason why the Sequels are so hated is because they undo Anakin's sacrifice).

If you as a writer introduce any kind of prophecy about any character, it's then bad writing to not give closure to that prophecy. You might as well not introduce it in the first place. If a prophecy is wrong then it's just a waste of time for the reader.

People probably wouldn't have been so mad about Jon Snow not fighting the Night King, if the previous lore didn't revolve around the prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised; which, surprise surprise, expectations subverted, ended up going nowhere!