Board 8 > House of the Dragon S2 (Spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Not sure if people have been watching but I really liked this so far! Some weak parts (idk what's going on with the two ship brothers, and I didn't love the dialogue in that scene) but the argument between Daemon and Rhaenyra in this episode was really strong imo

Haven't watched episode 2 yet, but I felt that episode 1 was completely a return to form with last season. The ending blew me away, for certain.

my only problem with this weeks episode was how fast the twin got to dragonstone. how did he get there by himself?!?

stellar otherwise, the argument between Otto and Aegon was a highlight

Chaeix posted...

my only problem with this weeks episode was how fast the twin got to dragonstone. how did he get there by himself?!?

stellar otherwise, the argument between Otto and Aegon was a highlight

Dragonstone is consistently referred to as "across the bay" from King's Landing, so a single boat trip might be doable in that short of time.

Yeah ya know what I legit love this show. Thrones s1-4 was some of my favorite tv ever, and this show has pretty consistently been a step back in the right direction imo

And at least they actually have finished books to reference this time

King viserys was my boi last season, but now i dont really have a new favorite. I wish i could like criston cole but hes such a bastard lol

tag

Yeah Dragonstone is pretty close, I felt the passage of time was fine.

Also really enjoying this, especially this last episode! I felt that the two argument scenes mentioned here, that were both great, were sort of framed as deliberate parallels to each other which made them work even better. Excellent acting from Rhys Ifans in the Greens argument.

Speaking of which, is it just me or is the acting kind of better here than in Game of Thrones? It feels a bit more natural and grounded I think.

Shows that aren't consistent with episode's runtime should be flayed btw.

55 mins, 66...how am I supposed to plan around this?! I can accept it for a finale or a premiere but come on...

I definitely think this show has quality, but I feel like it's just missing something. I think it kinda has the problem that the vast majority of the characters are all tremendously unlikeable, not in an acting sense but just the way they are written. There's no easy person to root for like Ned or Tyrion or (at least early) Dany.

RyoCaliente posted...

Shows that aren't consistent with episode's runtime should be flayed btw.

I would rather have the writers realize their vision than be beholden to pointless episode lengths. I'm a grown boy. I can stay up ten extra minutes.

scarletspeed7 posted...

I would rather have the writers realize their vision than be beholden to pointless episode lengths. I'm a grown boy. I can stay up ten extra minutes.

To me this is a double-edged blade. Yes, realizing their vision is good. However, sometimes things can be cut. Things can be tighter, and you get scenes in episodes than a decade ago would be a deleted scene on a DVD.

LightningStrikes posted...

Speaking of which, is it just me or is the acting kind of better here than in Game of Thrones? It feels a bit more natural and grounded I think.

Definitely have great actors, but the writing has been super strong(for the most part-I have a couple nitpicks, but it's just that nitpicks). When the writing went to shit in the later season of Game of Thrones is when the over-the-top-characters became ridiculous instead of believable and everything else kind of snowballed into an avalanche. Everyone is killing it so far, especially Emma D'arcy, and Rhys Ifans.

When its a binge release I often dont like the longer episodes because it makes the whole thing feel like more to get through, but once a week is alright I think.

RyoCaliente posted...

There's no easy person to root for like Ned or Tyrion or (at least early) Dany.

This is a fair reaction but its also very much the point! On the other hand, it does give you people to root against, like that little so-and-so Aemond! Or his older brother on that note.

Otto Hightower best acting.

But still on Team Rhaenyra. Middle fingers up to the weakling King, his whore queen mother, and her fuck boy.

Show is fantastic! Glad someone made a topic for it.

Complaining about different episode lengths is so silly and the most boomer complaint ever lmao.

dilateDChemist posted...

Otto Hightower best acting.

But still on Team Rhaenyra. Middle fingers up to the weakling King, his whore queen mother, and her fuck boy.

Otto Hightower's "The fuck did you say" look when Aeron was praising Cristen Cole's plan was...Otto is too old for this shit.

I feel like episode 2 should've ended like 5-10 minutes earlier

not because it was too long, but because I feel like alicent hooking up with fuckhead again is a weird place to end it on, when the brother fight was what the episode was really building up to

They gave her a lot of sympathy throughout the episode, so they had to remind you that she still sucks lol

Team Rhaenyra always and forever.

Otto was incredible this episode though.

Agree that the acting is better, although GoT did notably kill off a lot of its better-acted characters by the end which didn't exactly help.

But yeah both major argument scenes - Aegon/Otto and Rhaenyra/Daemon - were terrific for that

Thorn posted...

Otto was incredible this episode though.

I think it was the most likeable he'd ever been. The first half of that scene with Aegon and Criston I was laughing non-stop at just how done he was with the pair of them. All of his reactions were hilarious to me.

Viserys was one of my favourite characters across both shows and this episode had tons of references to the way his influence, good and bad, hangs over everyone's head. Aegon's destruction of his Lego model (fuckin sacrilege, how dare you), and then Otto missing him during that scene.

i'm a bit surprised by the love for s2. i enjoyed s1 quite a bit but s2 (and especially e2) has dragged a lot for me and felt like we're just going through the motions and being asked to care about characters where i've got zero attachment. king aegon's son, the white worm (and her atrocious accent), the shipwright bros, and the eric bros - all big "meh" energy. season has also just felt very dour and unfun. i realize the plot is pretty heavy but one way to get me invested is to show me something enjoyable

best parts of the season have been otto and cole's bastardry

I didn't care about Aegon's son outside of the obvious "he's a kid", but I did care for the affect it would have on all the other characters, which is the difference. I like how they've clearly differentiated Aegon from, say, Joffrey. I think it would have been easy to do a repeat but Aegon isn't as unapologetic a monster (at least not yet).

Shipwright bros scene stood out like a sore thumb to me though like I said earlier. Strange vibe to it. The dialogue was so much less sharp than in some of the other scenes.

aegon is literally a rapist who patronizes child-fighting rings that include his own bastard sons, not sure he should be viewed any better than joffrey!

XIII_Rocks posted...

I think it was the most likeable he'd ever been. The first half of that scene with Aegon and Criston I was laughing non-stop at just how done he was with the pair of them. All of his reactions were hilarious to me.

Viserys was one of my favourite characters across both shows and this episode had tons of references to the way his influence, good and bad, hangs over everyone's head. Aegon's destruction of his Lego model (fuckin sacrilege, how dare you), and then Otto missing him during that scene.

100%.

Like I said, I'm completely on Team Black - but that Otto scene with Aegon and Cole I could almost see how one could be on Team Green for his sake, and his sake alone.

y'all have been sleeping on otto, he's been incredible from the beginning. his confrontation with daemon on the bridge at dragonstone was fantastic. THIS IS AN ABOMINATION

Otto's a manipulative prick but surrounded by insane Targaryens and Criston fucking Cole he looks a lot better

Daemon is still the most hilarious one

SeabassDebeste posted...

i'm a bit surprised by the love for s2. i enjoyed s1 quite a bit but s2 (and especially e2) has dragged a lot for me and felt like we're just going through the motions and being asked to care about characters where i've got zero attachment. king aegon's son, the white worm (and her atrocious accent), the shipwright bros, and the eric bros - all big "meh" energy. season has also just felt very dour and unfun. i realize the plot is pretty heavy but one way to get me invested is to show me something enjoyable

best parts of the season have been otto and cole's bastardry

This is not a "fun" show... Having just watched S1 again before this one, it's exactly the same.

Goddamn, there is just...there is NO ONE on Team Aegon worth rooting for.

Blaziken posted...

Goddamn, there is just...there is NO ONE on Team Aegon worth rooting for.

i like aemond

Alicent is at least doing what she feels is right and I can respect that. We'll see what she does now that she knows the truth about what Viserys meant, though it seems she's powerless to really do anything at this point. Knew Larys would become Master of Whispers eventually and I'm looking forward to that development. Can't wait to see Cole's absolute incompetence as Hand too.

The logistics of Rhaenyra and Alicent's meeting felt very S7/8 Game of Thrones. Very out of the blue and convenient. The scene itself was quite good but it felt really out of place. It felt like the show desperately trying to get the two of them in a scene together. Felt the same about the young Rhaenyra cameo. All a bit shallow and fanservicey.

This was definitely the least engaging episode so far, but it still had it's moments. Can't wait until fucking Criston Cole meets his demise.

XIII_Rocks posted...

The logistics of Rhaenyra and Alicent's meeting felt very S7/8 Game of Thrones. Very out of the blue and convenient. The scene itself was quite good but it felt really out of place. It felt like the show desperately trying to get the two of them in a scene together. Felt the same about the young Rhaenyra cameo. All a bit shallow and fanservicey.

Yeah, the logistics part was a bit silly in how fast it all came together, scene was good though.

As for Harrenhal I disagree there since it's long been established (if not in HotD then in GoT) that it's haunted and spooky af so I was fine with that.

Daemon entering/exploring Harrenhal was peak Dark Souls energy too lol

Definitely a slower episode, but the Harrenhal scenes were great.

Thorn posted...

Daemon entering/exploring Harrenhal was peak Dark Souls energy too lol

The table was very Elden Ring as well.

I've avoided reading any further in my copy of Fire and Blood because I like this show enough that I want to watch it without spoilers. I don't particularly feel like I need characters to root for. Plenty of entertaining characters on both sides.

I do agree 2x03 was the slowest one yet, but that might not be a bad thing. We can pace ourselves while heading toward the finale. Doesn't need to be an epic twist or shock at the end of every episode.

Also, to its credit; To me this felt like one of the few Game of Thrones OR House of the Dragons episodes that actually captured the spirit of what GRRMs Westeros stories are about. Game of Thrones is supposed to be anti-war, but D&D made every battle into this epic spectacle that got people rooting for the "heroes" to chop down armies of evil badguys with no names, families, or backstories.

House of the Dragon 2x03 was overshadowed by this sense of dread that everyone knows war is coming, and that it's going to be awful, but the characters no longer have the power to stop it from unfolding. The blackwood and bracken stuff at the beginning was done in an extremely tasteful way; we saw the STUPID way that this kind of massacre can get started, we saw the aftereffects with hundreds of bodies littering the riverbanks, but we weren't shown any spectacle that glorified the war and fighting.

this was by far my favorite episode of the season so far

the previous two episodes i felt bored and impatient for the war to just start, but this one actually gave me a reason to just enjoy the show at its own pace. just a bunch of good scenes.

the logistics of the final scene were a little fast and insanely risky and rhaenyra is way too naive thinking alicent still has the ability to stop this war. this is the first time for the season i've cared about rhaenyra or alicent.

tonight!

i haven't seen any spoilers but allegedly tonight's episode got early viewer feedback that it's one of the best episodes ever between both hotd and got, so i'm excited

Man...they just up and killed one of the few characters I was fully onboard with.

That episode was badass as fuck

I dont think ive ever seen dragons look this cool or believable. The cgi on them feels so weighty and they all look perfect to scale

Aemon is now definitely my favorite

Damn what an episode. Dunno how they're supposed to deal with Vhagar, if they ever do. She's so huge compared to the others! Haven't read anything so I don't know how it goes!

really enjoyed the final battle

rhaenyra is so fucking bad at commanding lmao

Chaeix posted...

i haven't seen any spoilers but allegedly tonight's episode got early viewer feedback that it's one of the best episodes ever between both hotd and got, so i'm excited

You ain't lying.

Great episode all around.

that was a significantly more consequential episode than i expected despite how last week's ended, what a ride

another great episode this week.

did anyone else laugh when the two kingsguard bumped into each other?

MariaTaylor posted...

another great episode this week.

did anyone else laugh when the two kingsguard bumped into each other?

Yes, but just after that I had to pause the episode because Alicent was making me laugh. For some reason, idk if it's just my humour, but the show seems to be mining a lot of comedy just on facial reactions. Alicent when Aegon said "they don't want to listen to my thoughts", Daemon when that witch lady said she was an owl. Like, the reactions are hilarious

OK yeah episode absolutely ruled. Aemond is like a magnet on the screen, I kind of love him

And yeah a real shame that HotD lacks the presence of GoT because that was up there with any of them. Also RIP Rhaenys, one of the best characters and performances. A sort of pseudo-Olenna with less sass and more...steel, idk.

Though they're all nailing it, including Matt Smith who is now in Silent Hill. I was on board with the young Rhaenyra cameo this time, partly because it was so grizzly and also because making it happen twice makes the first one seem like less of a cheap cameo.

MariaTaylor posted...

another great episode this week.

did anyone else laugh when the two kingsguard bumped into each other?

XIII_Rocks posted...

Yes, but just after that I had to pause the episode because Alicent was making me laugh. For some reason, idk if it's just my humour, but the show seems to be mining a lot of comedy just on facial reactions. Alicent when Aegon said "they don't want to listen to my thoughts", Daemon when that witch lady said she was an owl. Like, the reactions are hilarious

agreed with both of these. not every episode has to be jokes galore but both GOT and HOTD are better when there's levity or dark humor. everything about aegon these last two episodes has been great

So who won/loss that battle?

dilateDChemist posted...

So who won/loss that battle?

Greens.

When Cole woke up the ambient dialogue mostly paints a picture of what must of went down after Rhaenys died - whether it was Aemond/Vhagar or the siege guys finally getting there now that they weren't getting burned in the field, a breach in the castle defenses was made so the castle was clearly falling to the Green forces.

Though, depending on what happened to Aegon whether it should be counted as a Pyrrhic victory since the king may have been seriously injured (doubting he actually died there) idk.