Why I'm watching House of Dragons

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CT_Phipps

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To quote another story about a dysfunctional family of great influence, "Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!" I watched the extended Comic Con trailer for House of the Dragon, and it was like all the old feelings I'd suppressed from my days as a Game of Thrones superfan came running back.



We'd broken up for good reasons. Season Eight was a dark period in our relationship but let's be honest, it hadn't been good between us in a while. Things had been treading water for a while with massive changes from the books like the excision of Young Griff, Sansa being given Jeyne Poole's role as Ramsey's torture victim, and the Martells going from my favorite characters in the novels to people I just wanted annihilated. The Sparrow Plot was a meditation on the power of the people, and it was turned into another attack on religion. Tyrion lost his dark turn after murdering his father. We could be here all day.

There's also the fact I wasn't exactly in a great place with George R.R. Martin himself. I love the song "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch." I'm a writer myself. Sometimes the creative juices don't flow or flow in different directions. I even told myself that I didn't care if he finishes the books because what he'd given us in unfinished form was worth it for the experience. I told myself this, but I was lying. I gave my wife copies of the first four books when we were dating, and we've celebrated our twelfth wedding anniversary.

But I'm sold. The sight of the trailer combined with all the little tidbits and characters I recognized from Fire and Blood transported me back to the time when I was ready to join Daenerys in her purge of slavers as well as when the Others still had menace. However, you may want to know the reason for my insanity, so I thought I'd share.

1:] Nobody does it better

Game of Thrones has had many imitators since it went off the air. However, none of them have managed to capture my interest the way HBO's adaptation of the books has. I was one of the people who liked the Wheel of Time by Amazon but even I wasn't blind to the flaws. The Witcher comes closest but they're fundamentally different kind of stories. No, HBO and Martin developed a ten-year relationship that was like nothing on television and still remains unique. The politics, magic, intrigue, characterization, and, yes, sexiness was all a delightful cocktail that you can only get one place.

2:] Weiss and Benioff aren't involved

It probably seems ungrateful to those two to specifically cite their lack of involvement as a reason for why I'm willing to give another chance, but a lot of behind-the-scenes material has made me think the show's biggest flaws were their architecture. The pair sprung the idea that Game of Thrones should be five seasons and theatrically released movies (which HBO, a cable company, wasn't keen on) on their producers right as they were finishing season four. They were eager to move on and unwilling to have other people carry the show beyond them. Apparently, also immune to any form of criticism and prone to doubling down. There's a deleted scene, for example, where Arya watches a play where they simulate Sansa’s assault by Ramsay Bolton. One of the audience complains and another tells them not to watch if they're so annoyed by it.

3:] It's complete

Fire and Blood will not be for everyone because it is a work of cryptohistory rather than novels, but George R.R. Martin has it all plotted out for us. The cast of vivid characters, sex, violence, blackmail, bastards, and dragons is all there. While I hate to say I'm utterly spoiled, I kind of am and know how this tragedy is going to play out the same way I would if I went to see Hamlet or Revenge of the Sith again. For better or worse, I know how the story is going to go and will be giggling like the Red Wedding when my wife speculates on the civil war she's predicting between Daemon and his niece Rhaenyra.

4:] The cast looks incredible

It's not Doctor Who that I'm looking to for Matt Smith's performance but his role as Prince Phillip in The Crown, but I think he'll bring a massive amount of talent to the role. The fact we're going to be seeing young actors in the role of Rhaenyra and Alicent before skipping ahead a couple of decades also tells me that they're going to get all the nuances of this. Emma D'arcy is bringing a lot of chops and I'm even happy to see Olivia Cooke escape from Ready Player One. But when I say looks incredible, I mean the LOOK is incredible. Everything I've seen of their characters is fantastic and we're a long way from the t-shirts of Shanarra.

5:] Dragons

I'm a simple man. I see a dragon, I smile. I hear the show is going to have sixteen characterized dragons and dragon fights, I am sold. Will I ever see a live action Dragonlance in my lifetime? Probably not. Will I take this instead? Yes.

Would I watch anything BUT this? None of the other spin offs appeal to me because they're not pure Martin. Snow? I'll watch it but not with the same enthusiasm? Dunk and Egg? OH, HELL YES. But this? This will be my jam, I'm sure.
 
I'll watch it after its concluded. And if people say its any good.

By the way, I have a couple of really nicely done fan edits of series 7 and 8 of GoT. They, obviously, can't repair everything but they do a good job of the more generally accepted bad shit of the real show leaving quite a lot out but creating a more satisfying flow of events and overall narrative. Worth a look for some here, perhaps.
 
I'll watch it when I can--which probably means when and if it becomes available at my local library. Of course, I'm not the pickiest viewer when it comes to TV. A downside is that my wife won't watch it, as it will be too violent.
 
I'll probably binge-watch it at some point when I'm subscribing to HBO for a month or two. I tend to rotate streaming services that way.

But then, I'm also somewhat of an apologist when it comes to the original TV series.
 
Here's a non-spoiler review of the first episode.

 
Very little actual review in that review.

I'm going to watch it because I think the basic story as outlined in Fire and Blood will make a decent series and the story is actually finished this time. It also has the advantage of being more contained and having a consistent identity (the books sort of struggle by wrestling with a classic pre-millenial fantasy coming of age story wihen the author clearly become more interested in developing the fantastic pseudo-history element of the series - this time I think we're only getting the latter).

It also, as I said, doesn't have pointy eared elves (and the dull high fantasy cliches they represent) which is refreshing. I have to admit given the huge amount of fantasy that's out there to adapt, it's tiresome that we keep getting adaptations of stuff like the Witcher or the Wheel of Time.
 
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There's a couple of books that are coming out and have come out which basically describe the "behind the scenes" of D&D being a lot more hostile and questionable in their decisions than we were led to believe because HBO really wanted to be the good guys and avert Executive Meddling.

* Basically, from everything I've read D&D wanted to get out of Game of Thrones as early as Season 4 and were hoping to wrap up the series in Season 5 before releasing theatrical movies. HBO reacted to this the way a cable companty WOULD react to the fact that they do not produce theatrical movies and would not make nearly as much money nor would it in any way benefit from them. D&D were nonplussed by this.

* D&D were apparently also suffering fatigue from the show because they wanted to start moving it from the more expansive three sets working simultaneously at all times down to one set. Which they found out wasn't happening (no shit, Sherlock). A lot of their efforts were trying to rapidly reduce their workload.

* D&D did have the fact that they were trying to stick with the main cast so they wanted to combine or cut characters whenever possible like Victarion Greyjoy, the Martells, Quentyn Martell, and so on. The Golden Company is literally an entire seasons more of material with Griff the Pretender (I don't know this for sure but it's pretty damn obvious) and so on they decided to dump on Jon instead. But again, they wanted to reduce their workload and bring the show to a close, not continue to expand on it.

* Apparently Lady Stoneheart was supposed to be a plot according to the actress but they cut it as well among other book plots.

* D&D started playing hardball with HBO and wanted to do "Confederacy" instead despite the fact every executive at HBO apparently HATED the idea. For, well, obvious reasons. They were promised it if they would continue making Game of Thrones, though, so it became a case of them doing it for the promise but at dramatically reduced episode sizes.

* D&D also found the cast increasingly hostile and didn't expect the level of resistance they got from Kit Harrington, Emilia Clarke, and others. They had expected most of them to be ready to move on but quite a few of them felt this was their gravy train and HBO had been quite good to them. Emilia Clarke was actually feeling like D&D were the bad guys in her much-publicized disputes about nudity and health concerns since HBO happily amended her contracts. Kit and Emilia had also been given ample time to work on other projects. The "rushing to the end" really got them in several fights.

Amazon product
 
A lot of what they cut from the books deserved to be cut or condensed. On the show though definitely too many character beats and plot threads are resolved anti-climatically in the later seasons.

Although things start to meander far too much in the later books Martin's strong suit has tended to be his plotting and I'm pretty sure Martin himself will do a better job of resolving things in the books, assuming he ever finishes them.
 
A lot of what they cut from the books deserved to be cut or condensed. On the show though definitely too many character beats and plot threads are resolved anti-climatically in the later seasons.

Although things start to meander far too much in the later books Martin's strong suit has tended to be his plotting and I'm pretty sure Martin himself will do a better job of resolving things in the books, assuming he ever finishes them.

I've always thought the fourth book and the first half or so of the fifth book were the weakest parts of the series. Too many characters just wandering around and the overall story not really going anywhere for a while, until things pick up around the middle of ADWD. So I agree that cutting was necessary.

I suspect D&D didn't go all that far off of GRRM's future plans as much as people think, though like you said, GRRM probably would have done a better job with the execution. GRRM hasn't shown his cards yet, so to speak, so he has the benefit of not getting the scrutiny that D&D have.

This also might he hasn't published the next book, since he may be reworking some plot threads based on audience reaction, but that's just speculation on my part.
 
I'm planning to watch. This was the prequel that I thought HBO should make. The story's complete, it's epic, but not nearly as sprawling as A Song of Ice and Fire. Fire & Blood is not as fleshed out as a novel, but I always thought the GoT writers were at their best when they crafted new scenes based on Martin's plotting.
 
EPISODE ONE REVIEW:


HOUSE OF THE DRAGON is the prequel series to HBO's fantastic (for the first few seasons or so) GAME OF THRONES. It's a pretty distant prequel as well, taking place two hundred years before Daenerys Targaryen attempts her epic quest to assume the Iron Throne, which absolutely ended wonderfully and everyone lived happily thereafter. As you can see from my intro, there's some bitterness and ill-feeling leftover from Season Eight's finale which many fans share. Can House of the Dragon recapture the magic? Do we want it to?

Yes. With caveats, yes.

Yes, very much so.

The premise is King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine) is having a really crappy two day as he loses both his wife and his heir, a boy, a day later. Viserys is a different kind of monarch in Westeros in that he is neither a religious fanatic, lunatic sadist, or utter incompetent. He's a bit conflict adverse but that's hardly the worst quality to have in a setting where conflict is resolved with mass murder. The Targaryens have been rulers in Westeros for a century and they're at the height of their power due to having a dozen or so dragons.

The issue is succession with Viserys having no sons, one daughter, one brother, and a cousin who was already passed over to make him king. Westeros would very much like to have a man as their king, so that would indicate Daemon (Matt Smith) should be the king but he has the problem of being a relentlessly debonair rogue that everyone is afraid will have them killed when he ascends. Probably because he would. To be fair, they're all a bunch of scheming bastards and he has a Han Solo meets meets the Tudors ruthlessness.

Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) wants to skewer Daemon's chances by unexpectedly supporting Viserys' daughter, Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock), as the heir instead. This will end up shooting him in the foot as his daughter, Lady Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey), already is in position to comfort the grieving Viserys that is old enough to be her father verging on grandfather. Really, Otto all but tries to pimp her out in his grief over his widowdom and she's suitably disgusted. It's also doubly awkward because Rhaenyra and Alicent are besties, bonding over being the smartest people in the Red Keep but kept from power by their sex. Oh and the fact they're teenagers.

A lot of this is set up for later episodes in the series and if you aren't interested in a show about who will sit on the Iron Throne, backstab one another, betray their loves, or curiously ignore all the incest going on then why are you watching Game of Thrones? I mean, House of the Dragon? The big thing this series has both for and against it is that it is a return to the pageantry, beauty, crassness crossed with high society, violence, and sex of GOT. It feels a trifle more aware of its female audience this time with Matt Smith there to be balance out the fanservice but it's very much a show that feels like, "Can we just pretend we never had that messy breakup?" The answer would be no except...dragons.

Damn you, HBO, but you got me with the dragons. It's like that moment in Peter S. Beagal's The Last Unicorn where Christopher Lee talks about seeing unicorns (only with dragons) for the first time: "Each time I see the dragons, my dragons, it is like that morning in the woods and I am truly young, in spite of myself." I mean, young again in this case refers to 2019 but that feels like a very long time ago with the Pandemic and other things that make me long for Westeros. Watching George R.R. Martin's work on screen again is like going on a date with your ex after you've both grown and remembering the good times while forgetting the bad. But it's the dragons that got me here and dragons that will keep me to stay.

I could nitpick about details: Rhaenyra is being set up as the plucky young heroine who should be queen because why shouldn't a girl be queen without ever questioning the fact that a hereditary despotism's problems are not what sex the ruler is. Matt Smith is doing triple duty as the comic relief, romantic lead, and a handsome rogue with some truly dark qualities. Some Tyrion-esque humor would have been appreciated but the season is young.

There's some very uncomfortable parts in this episode with the caesarion scene being genuinely traumatizing. The contrast between it and the violence of the tournament is powerful stuff, though, and underscores that this is a patriarchal society that is no woman's land. It may be a little too heavy on this theme but the central conflict being between Alicent and Rhaenyra is something that I think will provide plenty of fodder for future episodes.

In conclusion, you've probably made up your mind on whether or not to see House of the Dragon. However, I give this a stamp of approval. It could end up disappointing me and we break up the same way we did before for the same reasons. However, so far, things are very good and I am way more excited for this than any program this year.
 
I liked it. Packed with incident which is refreshing compared to the many GoT episodes that spun their wheels.

I feel like they should have gone at least a full hour and a half. Maybe even done two episodes simultaneously.

There's a lot of vitriol to overcome.
 
House Of Dragons has the same trouble motivating me to watch it as any other prequel series.

Nothing of it seems to be of any consequence.
How does any of it matter if you already know what's going to happen long after everyone's gone?

I get it if you're a hardcore fan of the books and the setting. Background info, sure, I guess.
But that's not really me.

That and season 8 left such a sour taste in my mouth that I'm not even sure I'd even give a continuation (or, rather, a spinoff) a shot.
 
How does any of it matter if you already know what's going to happen long after everyone's gone?
See Braveheart, Spartacus, various Henry VIII's shows and dozens of other historical films for who to make what is already a foregone conclusion interesting drama.

Which also highlights the main issue, that it is in essence a historical drama. Not handled right then it comes off as dry history.

A side note: It doesn't have Dragon and Blondes but there is a near equivalent from history the Anarchy.

Even a show based on the time period
 
House Of Dragons has the same trouble motivating me to watch it as any other prequel series.

Nothing of it seems to be of any consequence.
How does any of it matter if you already know what's going to happen long after everyone's gone?

I think the answer to that is that the consequences of the larger events are known but the consequences of the characters are not. If you're reading a book set in the Middle Ages, for example, you might not personally care what happens in the conflict between King Henry V and the French but you might care very much what happens to Jean the protagonist and his girlfriend because we don't know what happens to them.

Which is to say "every Assassin Creed character is dead because it's usually centuries or millennia in the past but they still have character stories that can end any number of ways."
 
I think the answer to that is that the consequences of the larger events are known but the consequences of the characters are not. If you're reading a book set in the Middle Ages, for example, you might not personally care what happens in the conflict between King Henry V and the French but you might care very much what happens to Jean the protagonist and his girlfriend because we don't know what happens to them.

Which is to say "every Assassin Creed character is dead because it's usually centuries or millennia in the past but they still have character stories that can end any number of ways."

"Nothing in a prequel seems to be of any consequence" is an attitude that I frankly don't understand. But then again, I've read and watched plenty of novels, movies, and TV shows based on historical events in which what happened to the protagonists was already established fact. I've also watched plenty of TV or movie adaptations of books that I've already read, so I knew going in exactly what would happen to every single character. Hell, that was true for most of the original run of Game of Thrones!

Ultimately, every human being's eventual fate is identical: they die. Period, full stop, do not pass "Go", do not collect $200. It's the details of the journey to that point that make the story interesting or not.

Anyway, I liked the first episode.
 
If you're reading a book set in the Middle Ages, for example, you might not personally care what happens in the conflict between King Henry V and the French but you might care very much what happens to Jean the protagonist and his girlfriend because we don't know what happens to them.
Right, but the problem for me is:
I don't care about Jean or his girlfriend. They are "new" characters, but have no connection at all to the characters that I actually do care about (other than being vaguely in their past and partly ancestors).

Coming back to GoT, what I would be interested in is what becomes of the characters after season 8.
Some of them were clearly set up for potential sequels/spinoffs.
None of which happened because reasons.

If the series had started with House Of Dragons, I'd have watched it, no doubt. And then later GoT when that came out as I would've been interested in how things develop.
But in this order? Nah. I just really don't care.

It's the same for me with every prequel, no matter which media format it takes. Even the SW prequels I only watched at home years later cause I was very bored (and a movie is much less of a commitment of time than a series or book).
Once I have grown attached to a story or character, I only really care about how that story continues, but barely at all about what happened in the past. That's something I'd read up about online.
 
Right, but the problem for me is:
I don't care about Jean or his girlfriend. They are "new" characters, but have no connection at all to the characters that I actually do care about (other than being vaguely in their past and partly ancestors).

Coming back to GoT, what I would be interested in is what becomes of the characters after season 8.
Some of them were clearly set up for potential sequels/spinoffs.
None of which happened because reasons.

Then I have no solution for you other than saying that you're drawing an arbitrary line in the sand and that you're missing out on some fantastic fiction like DUNK AND EGG.

Oh and indeed there is a show coming out called SNOW but I have less interest in it than the prequels.
 
Here's my review:

https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2022/08/house-of-dragon-1x02-rogue-prince-review.html

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 1×02 “THE ROGUE PRINCE” is, as the title indicates, the second episode of the House of the Dragon series from HBO. The prequel to Game of Thrones, it is a chronicle of the Dance of the Dragons civil war detailed in George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood. I very much was excited for this episode and started writing my review as soon as I finished watching it for the second time. Why twice? Because one view isn’t enough.
The first thing that I must comment on is the fact that the new opener is fantastic with a drizzle of blood moving through King Viserys’ model of Old Valyria.

It’s a sign that everything is going to be even more ominous and nasty than Game of Thrones. The theme music is the same from Game of Thrones, which is a bit like reusing the Star Wars theme. Yes, it’s not original but it’s hard to top perfection.
This is an action-less episode as it instead focuses on King Viserys and his choice to wed a new bride after the death of his beloved Aemma Arryn. Unfortunately, the best candidate for him to wed is the twelve-year-old daughter of Corys Velaryon. This is something that no one else seems to have a problem with while Viserys, to his credit, is viscerally disgusted by the prospect of.

Unfortunately, Viserys doesn’t win any points with the fact he is willing to marry a girl his daughter’s age. I think with things like the recent Baptist Church, Utah Church, and Matt Gaetz scandals that this is unfortunately topical and shouldn’t remotely be topical. I also lost a lot of respect for Corys for the exact same thing that Otto Hightower was doing (i.e. pimping his daughter) except even worse due to her age. Mind you, Viserys should have tried to heal the rift by marrying Rhaenyra to Laenor, his son, or at least made a betrothal with them. Rhaenyra as a married monarch is something that would be less controversial among the Lords of Westeros.

Viserys trying to stand up for himself by marrying an actual woman and yet playing into Ser Otto’s hands is an interesting character beat. It shows that he wants to be powerful but he’s really a puppet and desperate for Otto’s approval. The fact that “I cannot permit you to go” from Otto WORKS when Viserys is about to confront his brother is something no Targaryen or king should have tolerated.

Speaking of which, the next major plot point is Daemon Targaryen attempting to get his brother’s attention by stealing a dragon egg, taking over Dragonstone, and claiming he plans to marry a second wife in violation of the Faith. It fails spectacularly and only avoids becoming a massacre of the King’s Hand and his guard due to the timely intervention of Rhaenyra. It’s also a clear sign to Otto that she’s not the meek puppet her father is and is unsuitable as a potential monarch for the same reason that Daemon isn’t: they won’t be his pawns.

I truly believe Ser Otto didn’t think Rhaenyra would rule or attempt to assert her authority. In retrospect, it’s clear they’re going with the idea that Ser Otto believed she’d be another Viserys he could control assuming that she became queen before Viserys married his daughter. The fact she asserts herself as much as she does sets the stages for his betrayal–with the Kingsguard, her speaking up, and of course her rescuing him on dragonback.

Really, I liked that Otto Hightower was within minutes of being killed by Daemon and all of his men when the dragon blasted them because, of course, Otto wouldn’t back down. It’s a sign that Otto isn’t nearly as intelligent as he thinks he is outside of his comfort zone. He’s so used to being the King (rather than the Hand of the King) that he utterly underestimated how far Daemon would go. It was a nice, “Power is power.”

I think I like Alicent’s character arc here as she’s being forced into the scheming role by her father but is clearly anxiety ridden and terrified of all the repercussions that might hit her. I actually kind of think this is a valid take on her character from the books because we think of the scheming Cersei-like Alicent a lot but we don’t think of her, “kindly nurse Alicent who used to read to Old King Joe.” Still, she doesn’t want to marry Viserys but is being forced to seduce him in sweet ways that amount to faking interest in his Warhammer 40K models.

I enjoyed the fact that I got to hear some more dialogue from Mysaria, Daemon’s mistress, but it is done in a terrible “Essos” accent that I think really distracts from the actress’ performance. Still, it’s nice to have any Smallfolk or commoner’s perspective on these sorts of things. I also like how she points out that Daemon’s antics won’t get him killed but might get her killed.

In conclusion, this is a solid episode, but I think the lack of humor and action is a bit of an issue. We could have used a more humorous set of characters to provide levity to the storyline. The fact that so much is spent on child brides and build-up for the inevitable Dance of the Dragons is also a bit of an issue. I can’t help but wonder if they might have been better served by starting with the beginning of the conflict with all of this as backstory.
 
I prefer and admired that they made it such a character-based episode. The original series sometimes had meaningless, repetitive action for little payoff (e.g. Ramsey torturing Theon storyline).
 
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON episode 1 is available for free from Youtube for awhile. I think this is good for people who want to give it a try without getting HBO.

 
The first three episodes have been outstanding -because the producers/writers/directors have enough material to work with. When Dumb & Dumber started running out of material (thanks to Martin's endless detours in GoT), the stories, plots and especially characters took a nosedive. That's when smart characters started becoming unbelievably stupid.
 

"Second of His Name" is probably the weakest of the three House of the Dragons episodes so far. This is partially due to yet another massive time skip when I think everyone is actually quite invested in the story as is. We could have easily done a couple of episodes on the aftermath of Queen Aemma's death as well as the marriage of Alicent Hightower to the King. Part of this is due to the fact that they didn't start the series with the Dance of the Dragons beginning, in my humble opinion, so we're caught between the show moving too fast and getting bogged down in a season of backstory simultaneously.

The episode can be summarized as taking place in two parts: the Great Hunt and the Stepstones War. A Great Hunt has been arranged for the celebration of Prince Aegon's second birthday and King Viserys is already getting pressure to marry his daughter off as well as name his son the new heir. Waiting two years with the infant mortality rates seems reasonable, sadly. Meanwhile, Daemon and Corys are not doing great in their war against the Crabfeeder.

We start with a three year time skip and unfortunately, it makes Rhaenyra look terrible because it looks like she's been in a snit for literally that entire time. Milly Alcock is forced to play a bratty teenage daughter for an entire hour of runtime and it removes a lot of the awesomeness we saw with her for the past two episodes. Rhaenyra is just mean to Alicent the entire time and the fact it's meant to have been a years-long estrangement doesn't make her look any better. She also pouts about her arranged marriage versus trying to think of bolstering her claim to the Iron Throne by making allies.

This episode really belongs to Emily Carey and Alicent Hightower is at her most sympathetic. If we're meant to infer that she's spent the past three years trying to rebuild her friendship with Rhaenyra, no matter the betrayal, it's something that shows she has the patience of a saint. We also see she's not overly enthusiastic about stealing Rhaenyra's birthright. Which Otto points out that the majority of the realm would see as the reverse.

Surprisingly, Otto is shown to be a trifle more sympathetic this time around as well. While still a scheming weasal, he's clearly not interested in just destroying Rhaenyra to get what he wants. He wants her married off to a Great House and a comfortable retirement. He also is interested in marrying her to his grandson, 16 year age difference or not. Seriously, Viserys seems to be the only man with any sense of age issues in the realm and he still married a teenager.

We get some build-up for a possible Rhaenyra and Cristin Cole romance, however. They get to spend the majority of the Great Hunt alone together as well as making it clear that Cole is personally very loyal to Rhaenyra for raising him up to the Kingsguard. I'll even go so far as to say part of her problem is Rhaenyra is suffering some sexual frustration while being terrified of marriage due to her mother's horrific death as well as the political ramifications. Really getting some serious Elizabeth I vibes here.

Viserys is at his worst here but he's also starting to show some spine. Sadly, it seems that he's finally picked on the fact that everyone thinks of him as a weather vane. Blow on him and he goes whichever direction you want. Unfortunately, growing a spine primarily means that he's become a drunk and willing to yell at everyone who annoys him until they back down. He's gone from being a harmless but otherwise good man to being more and more just Robert Barthaeon the early edition. Thankfully, he's not taken to spouse abuse yet.

The battle scenes are both the best and worst part of this episode. The plot armor is strong with Daemon Targaryen as he shrugs off multiple arrows as well as stands up to a hundred men before bringing down his dragons. On the other hand, I also like the implied politics of it all with the reason the Crabfeeder was winning is because he had a nation standing behind him while it was just Daemon as well as House Velaryon trying to take him down. Sometimes dragons win wars, other times its logistics.

In conclusion, I liked it more than Rings of Power's opening episodes but I think I'm going to be continued to be disconcerted with all these massive time jumps and I know there's still more ahead since The Dance of the Dragons is a decade or so aware. I always love dragons on screen, though, especially when they're frying people and could have used more of that. Just keep Rhaenyra being awesome, give me some more Matt Smith's Rogue Prince, and throw in more dragon action--that's all I want show. Also a half point off for not naming the episode, "A Feast for Crabs."

7.5/10
 
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