House of the Dragon - HBO - Discussion (Spoilers)

[XJDenton]

He's currently "gravely injured", not dead. Recovery is possible.

On another note, Paddy Considine did a stellar job on that last episode. As did the CGI/makeup team.

[cramx3]

He's currently "gravely injured", not dead. Recovery is possible.

On another note, Paddy Considine did a stellar job on that last episode. As did the CGI/makeup team.

Yeah, they framed it like he was basically dead, but it all just makes me fairly certain we will see him again.  I didn't read this book so I don't know how this plays out.

[The Realm]

He's currently "gravely injured", not dead. Recovery is possible.

On another note, Paddy Considine did a stellar job on that last episode. As did the CGI/makeup team.

Yeah, they framed it like he was basically dead, but it all just makes me fairly certain we will see him again.  I didn't read this book so I don't know how this plays out.

Are you talking about the King? Definitely dead. That last episode was awesome and so was Paddy but he is gone now. Alicent was confused by his final words and now believes he wants their son Aegon to become king but that was not what he was the saying. (Sorry I haven't read the book but I just am sure that was the King's last words before passing and now the civil war will begin to play out).

[XJDenton]

He's currently "gravely injured", not dead. Recovery is possible.

On another note, Paddy Considine did a stellar job on that last episode. As did the CGI/makeup team.

Yeah, they framed it like he was basically dead, but it all just makes me fairly certain we will see him again.  I didn't read this book so I don't know how this plays out.

Are you talking about the King? Definitely dead. That last episode was awesome and so was Paddy but he is gone now. Alicent was confused by his final words and now believes he wants their son Aegon to become king but that was not what he was the saying. (Sorry I haven't read the book but I just am sure that was the King's last words before passing and now the civil war will begin to play out).

I thought they were discussing Corys (the ruler of Driftmark, whose succession was being discussed).

[cramx3]

Yeah, that quote was about Corlys but I did mention if The King was finally dead at the end so maybe that's where the confusion came from.  I only questioned it because it seemed like he should have been dead already (and he collapsed at the end of an earlier episode where I actually thought that was it for him).  My friend mentioned if you watched with close captioning, it said something about final breathe.  So yeah, he is dead now, but I couldn't help questioning it for sure. 

[cramx3]

Well, that was an awesome ending to the episode.  And ew Larys foot fetish  wtf

[hefdaddy42]

Well, that was an awesome ending to the episode.  And ew Larys foot fetish  wtf

Yes, and yes.

[Samsara]

I called the dragon busting through to disrupt the ceremony. I mean, they foreshadowed that for a gazillion minutes. 

And that foot fetish thing. YUCK. My wife and I looked at one another and were like...why is he gesturing to her feet...wait...PUKE! lol.

[DragonAttack]

I called the dragon busting through to disrupt the ceremony. I mean, they foreshadowed that for a gazillion minutes. 

And that foot fetish thing. YUCK. My wife and I looked at one another and were like...why is he gesturing to her feet...wait...PUKE! lol.

I thought it would be Dameon (sp?) with the dragon.

The foot fetish thing.  Yup.  But, with all the rapes, castrations, crucifixions, beheadings, flaming bodies......hardly the 'worst' thing they've shown.

Oh.... and thank goodness for reviews and recaps for this show.  So much damn confusion, with brief introductions and similar names, where these really help. 

The main 'for instance':  the peace 'meal' where Aemond derisively toasts his nephews, calling them 'strong boys.  Such strong boys.'  Well,......their biological father's last name was 'Strong', hence the derision and following fight.  Having only been shown his character briefly on two episodes, the 'strong' part meant absolutely nothing when we watched the episode.

[gmillerdrake]

If it had been Daemon on his dragon the series would be over     She should have torched them all and been done with it.

[cramx3]

The foot fetish thing.  Yup.  But, with all the rapes, castrations, crucifixions, beheadings, flaming bodies......hardly the 'worst' thing they've shown.

Oh.... and thank goodness for reviews and recaps for this show.  So much damn confusion, with brief introductions and similar names, where these really help. 

The main 'for instance':  the peace 'meal' where Aemond derisively toasts his nephews, calling them 'strong boys.  Such strong boys.'  Well,......their biological father's last name was 'Strong', hence the derision and following fight.  Having only been shown his character briefly on two episodes, the 'strong' part meant absolutely nothing when we watched the episode.

The foot thing definitely is not the worst thing on the show.  But besides it being odd (especially since he has a club foot) it's very interesting to me that he has that power to get the queen to do that for him.  The whole situation between those two is going to be a very big issue at some point and it also kind of looks like it may put her at odds with her father as they are seemingly using two competing spy networks within the Red Keep. 

Also, agreed on the recaps.  There's so much nuggets that I don't pick up and I may not even pick up if I rewatched, but these recaps and youtube videos spot them all.  It shows just how well written this show is, including your example.

[gmillerdrake]

how well written this show is

I know it's been said a hundred times already but.....while I feel like the 'action' or 'huge' moments aren't quite GOT level (yet)......the writing on this show is freaking fantastic. So well done.....

[cramx3]

how well written this show is

I know it's been said a hundred times already but.....while I feel like the 'action' or 'huge' moments aren't quite GOT level (yet)......the writing on this show is freaking fantastic. So well done.....

I agree, but season 1 of GOT had little to no action either.  To me, it seems like this season is really all set up for the future of the show so it makes sense for it to be mostly dialogue and drama.  However, we did get to see some action with the Crabfeeder early on and some cool dragon scenes that we didn't get in GOT until much further on.  It definitely seems like there will be a big war coming so lots of time to add big action scenes in the future too.

[hefdaddy42]

There's gonna be plenty of action in future seasons, trust me.

[ariich]

Episode 8 was excellent, Paddy Considine's performance especially was superb.

Episode 9, eh. Some of the GOT tropes are wearing a bit on me. I was already a bit bored of the whole obvious-bastard-children-look-like-their-father being so important to the plot, as it was for the Baratheons/Lannisters in GOT. Now the entire plot is being driven by a simple misunderstanding on Alicent's part just because everyone is called Aegon. Just not the kind of storytelling I find interesting.

[gmillerdrake]

Now the entire plot is being driven by a simple misunderstanding on Alicent's part just because everyone is called Aegon.

I was a little ticked about this as well. A sick man who's been doped up for years mumbling something as he died suddenly is taken as gospel? I 'get' that even had he not muttered those words that there was already a coup in place with members of the council....so, it appears that 'war' was going to happen no matter what. But Alicent specifically should have known better than anyone that he was delusional and dying in that moment.

[WilliamMunny]

Now the entire plot is being driven by a simple misunderstanding on Alicent's part just because everyone is called Aegon.

I was a little ticked about this as well. A sick man who's been doped up for years mumbling something as he died suddenly is taken as gospel? I 'get' that even had he not muttered those words that there was already a coup in place with members of the council....so, it appears that 'war' was going to happen no matter what. But Alicent specifically should have known better than anyone that he was delusional and dying in that moment.

I was annoyed at first, but in retrospect I feel this is a pretty genius plot turn.

Alicent's final moments with her zombie-husband speaks to how far people will go to hear what they want to hear. The payoff comes when she realizes that, regardless of the final declaration, the council has been preparing a coup for some time.

[cramx3]

I'm not entirely sold she wasn't aware of which Aegon he was talking about, but since it was ambiguous she used it to her advantage although as just mentioned, it was kind of moot when the council was already plotting.  I could see this just being a mental mind trick she's playing on herself to justify what she figured might happen regardless.

[gmillerdrake]

Now the entire plot is being driven by a simple misunderstanding on Alicent's part just because everyone is called Aegon.

I was a little ticked about this as well. A sick man who's been doped up for years mumbling something as he died suddenly is taken as gospel? I 'get' that even had he not muttered those words that there was already a coup in place with members of the council....so, it appears that 'war' was going to happen no matter what. But Alicent specifically should have known better than anyone that he was delusional and dying in that moment.

I was annoyed at first, but in retrospect I feel this is a pretty genius plot turn.

Alicent's final moments with her zombie-husband speaks to how far people will go to hear what they want to hear. The payoff comes when she realizes that, regardless of the final declaration, the council has been preparing a coup for some time.

Yeah.....that was a pretty intense moment for her character and you could see she was genuinely surprised and upset. And even just as disgusted and upset when she saw how easily her father and council were willing to murder everyone 'for the sake of the realm'.

I'm not entirely sold she wasn't aware of which Aegon he was talking about, but since it was ambiguous she used it to her advantage

I think it was a moment like what WilliamMunny said.....she heard what she wanted to hear without thinking or allowing herself to consider he meant a different Aegon.

[hefdaddy42]

Alicent may not have known he was speaking of another Aegon.  She, after all, is not a Targaryen.

[gmillerdrake]

Alicent may not have known he was speaking of another Aegon.  She, after all, is not a Targaryen.

True.....it's like when someone says the name Tony at an Italian family reunion

[The Realm]

I was pretty underwhelmed by the latest episode. Episode 9s in the GoT universe have a history of delivering something huge but this one really failed to deliver much of anything. Hopefully episode 10 is great as I have really enjoyed this series overall.

[DTwwbwMP]

I was pretty underwhelmed by the latest episode. Episode 9s in the GoT universe have a history of delivering something huge but this one really failed to deliver much of anything. Hopefully episode 10 is great as I have really enjoyed this series overall.

Really? Wow, I was completely enthralled with E9.

[gmillerdrake]

I was pretty underwhelmed by the latest episode. Episode 9s in the GoT universe have a history of delivering something huge but this one really failed to deliver much of anything. Hopefully episode 10 is great as I have really enjoyed this series overall.

Really? Wow, I was completely enthralled with E9.

Yeah….same. Thought it was right in line with how it should have gone. Good stuff

[The Realm]

I was pretty underwhelmed by the latest episode. Episode 9s in the GoT universe have a history of delivering something huge but this one really failed to deliver much of anything. Hopefully episode 10 is great as I have really enjoyed this series overall.

Really? Wow, I was completely enthralled with E9.

Yeah….same. Thought it was right in line with how it should have gone. Good stuff

Yeah, I just think my expectations may have been too high. Great show though.

[gmillerdrake]

I was pretty underwhelmed by the latest episode. Episode 9s in the GoT universe have a history of delivering something huge but this one really failed to deliver much of anything. Hopefully episode 10 is great as I have really enjoyed this series overall.

Really? Wow, I was completely enthralled with E9.

Yeah….same. Thought it was right in line with how it should have gone. Good stuff

Yeah, I just think my expectations may have been too high. Great show though.

I think we all were hoping for that GOT Ep. 9 type ‘thing’ to happen. A lot happened but it wasn’t huge like in GOT

[hefdaddy42]

I wasn't hoping for anything.  That way lies disappointment.

I'm just absorbing what they give us.

[hefdaddy42]

[gmillerdrake]

S2 can’t get here soon enough!

[lonestar]

S2 can’t get here soon enough!

Seriously... talk about ending on the perfect note.

[hefdaddy42]

Yep, that was a great season ending, and setup for the war to come.

[gmillerdrake]

I thought it was interesting that this war will now begin due to two dragons essentially ignoring their riders and deciding to take each other on. Both riders begged their dragons to ‘serve’ them and chill yet they ignored them and attacked.

Was that how it was portrayed in the GRRM telling of it? Aemond certainly had the look of "oh shit...what just happened?" and wasn't intending on killing Lucerys. Just curious as to if that's how it went down in the source material??

[lonestar]

Aemond definitely didn't intend that lol

[hefdaddy42]

I thought it was interesting that this war will now begin due to two dragons essentially ignoring their riders and deciding to take each other on. Both riders begged their dragons to ‘serve’ them and chill yet they ignored them and attacked.

Was that how it was portrayed in the GRRM telling of it? Aemond certainly had the look of "oh shit...what just happened?" and wasn't intending on killing Lucerys. Just curious as to if that's how it went down in the source material??

I don't remember it being accidental.  But the source material is not really a novel, it's more like a history book, so it doesn't always have motivation or internal reasoning.  Which is probably beneficial for the showrunners, as it gives them a lot of wiggle room.

[gmillerdrake]

I thought it was interesting that this war will now begin due to two dragons essentially ignoring their riders and deciding to take each other on. Both riders begged their dragons to ‘serve’ them and chill yet they ignored them and attacked.

Was that how it was portrayed in the GRRM telling of it? Aemond certainly had the look of "oh shit...what just happened?" and wasn't intending on killing Lucerys. Just curious as to if that's how it went down in the source material??

I don't remember it being accidental.  But the source material is not really a novel, it's more like a history book, so it doesn't always have motivation or internal reasoning.  Which is probably beneficial for the showrunners, as it gives them a lot of wiggle room.

So after I posted that I did some reading online and read that interpretation. They were saying that being that it was a 'history' written by Maester's that the "villians" and "hero's" largely depend on the political leanings of the Maesters who wrote the text you were reading. They used Laenor's death as an example.....saying that while the 'history' may show that Daemon and Rhaenyra murdered or conspired to murder him....that the HBO series may be depicting the 'actual' events that took place and not just be telling the story told by the Maesters.

So....that while the 'history' may be written that Aemond intentionally killed Lucery's.....they're now showing what 'really' happened. They also mentioned that the source material doesn't indicate that Alicent heard Visery's last mention of the prophecy and getting confused....that it suggests her and Otto intentionally installed Aegon as king as a coup.

'If' that's the case and the show is depicting or is taking the direction of showing what 'really' happened and clarifying the written history and clearing it up.....that'll be a neat approach.