House of the Dragon 1x01 "Heirs of the Dragon"

[CharlesPhipps]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 1x5

In a very real sense, "We Light the Way" is the end of Season One of House of the Dragon and in a more just world where HBO had more faith in the series then it would have been Episode 10 rather than Episode 5. The series has been rushing through the majority of the story about the Dance of the Dragons in Season 1 with numerous time skips as well as signs that another lengthy one is ahead. They seem to want to desperately get to the actual Targaryen Civil War and unwilling to give any time to rest to the plots going on. I think the show would have strongly benefited from letting them have an additional five episodes to soften the characters up.

I have somewhat mixed feelings on this episode as a result as it resulted in the jumping past of several more points in the story as well as signals the end of our current crop of actresses. Milly Alcock and Emily Carey did fantastic jobs as both Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent. While neither of them can pass for mothers of twenty-year-olds, I think their absence from future episodes is part of the reason that I am so down on this episode. They did an amazing number of changes to the status quo but no room for following the consequences up.

The episode opens up with what I suspect will be one of the two major controversial scenes of the episode with the introduction of Lady Rhea Royce, Daemon Targaryen's wife, who makes a great first impression. Unfortunately, Lady Rhea Royce taunts Daemon one too many times and he either causes her horse to rear or takes advantage of it doing so to kill her. This is the darkest action Daemon has taken yet and I wonder if any of the fanboys or girls will change their minds about supporting him.

Rhaenyra accepts the marriage proposal of Laenor Velaryon and the two of them discuss their impending nuptials. The problem being that Laenor is gay as the day is long and Rhaenyra is aware of it. However, they're cousins and good friends so they decide to make the most of their marriage by agreeing to have an open relationship. This IMMEDIATELY backfires with the fact that Ser Criston Cole has fallen deeply in love with Rhaenyra. He's crippled with guilt over breaking his oath of celibacy and the idea of being Rhaenyra's lover while she's married to another man disgusts him.

Viserys Targaryen is on his seeming last legs both heath-wise and monarchy-wise, so he's doing his best to marry Rhaenyra off to a house that will support her claim. Lord Corys is kind of iffy about the whole thing, far more so than you would have imagined for a man being offered the chance to make his grandson or daughter ruling monarch. It's clear that not even Corys has much faith in Rhaenyra's ability to keep the throne.

Ser Otto, by contrast, is someone who holds the blame for his dismissal on everyone but himself. Particularly, he blames his daughter for siding with Rhaenyra and says that her children would be murdered by the Princess if she were to ever ascend the throne. It implies that Otto would have the same sort of view to any children of Rhaernya and shows the man to be truly contemptible. Alicent also lets the poison sink into her soul due to both her father's influence and Ser Criston Cole confessing, unprompted, that Rhaenyra slept with him.

This leads to the mother of all awkward feasts as everyone has started plotting against one another openly for what amounts to no reason whatsoever. The friendship of Alicent and Rhaenyra is severed because the former is jealous of the latter's freedom as well as a willing pawn in her father's games. The latter is not really aware how the hurricane of her actions has affected the people around her and enjoys stirring the pot more, including teasing her uncle who wants to wed her.

I have some issues with the wedding itself as it seemed like murdering a man in the middle of one would have more consequences than it does. Then again, Ser Criston Cole is a Kingsguard so I'm sure the Kingsguard union will come to his defense. He might end up on Administrative Leave for a month with pay thanks to Alicent's involvement. I'm sure Laenor's lover will be found with a sword in hand and some milk of the poppy sprinkled over him. AKAB.

Oh well, we'll see how the next massive time skip of about fifteen years or so goes.

7/10

[Frustration]

The dialogue is incoherent, with one sentence connected to the next only by free association and not by logical progression. And many of the individual sentences are simply idiotic - particularly "the sea is always right".

[hammerofglass]

Because port is always left.

I'll show myself out.

[stryke]

Because port is always left.

I'll show myself out.

Amused me.

Best thing about this episode is the cutting together of Alicent's green dress and the various reactions to the wildfire explosion in Blackwater.

[Madner Kami]

Because port is always left.

I'll show myself out.

No need to, you made at least two people chuckle, so it counts as a decent joke.

[McAvoy]

My problem with the series is the pacing. Like they are too eager just to get to the good parts of the story. This episode is one example.

So the end shows the marriage ceremony when there is still blood on the ground. No explanation or anything. Wasn't this supposed to be a long event? That this was just a feast, nothing more? Because if this is the wedding night, then the feast follows the wedding.

So they rushed the ceremony without cleaning up the mess? Obviously they wanted to tie things up for the younger actors so they could go on with the older ones for the time skip.

Honestly this should have been the whole season using the young cast. Then use the second season.

At this pace, this series could end by season 3 possibly 4.

It's pretty much a meme now that Daemon gets banished for him to show up the next episode walking like he doesn't give a fuck.

Cristian Cole killing Joffrey isn't a bad idea. In the book, Cole accidently kills him in a jousting accident.

[stryke]

At this pace, this series could end by season 3 possibly 4.

I'm pretty sure I've heard them say that's exactly their intention for the Blacks vs Greens era. Then if the show is still doing well they'll continue doing more of the timeline.

[CharlesPhipps]

At this pace, this series could end by season 3 possibly 4.

That is exactly HBO's plan. No 8 Seasons.

[McAvoy]

At this pace, this series could end by season 3 possibly 4.

That is exactly HBO's plan. No 8 Seasons.

Well at least they have a plan this time around. So they will pace it accordingly. I am just worried they will pace it too fast and not let events build up as they should.

[CharlesPhipps]

https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogs ... queen.html

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 1x06 "THE PRINCESS AND THE QUEEN" is basically a reboot of the entire House of the Dragon series, which is an odd thing to happen in the fifth episode of the season. Here, we have a massive decade-long time skip, a change of a substantial portion of the cast's actors, and a focus on setting up the new status quo. It feels like they could have made an entire season out of the first five episodes or skipped them entirely.

I've complained earlier about the show's issues with time and it's not something that has gotten any better but something I hope we're at least past the worst of. There's too many important character beats and events that need to be followed up on. Just last week, we had Ser Criston Cole beat to death a guest at the royal wedding and it's not even mentioned in this episode. That's because it took place ten years earlier but it still is something that should have been mentioned or, better yet, had a whole episode of follow up.

Anyway, the premise is that Rhaenyra has just given birth to another child that is suspiciously neither black nor white-haired. Their father is obviously not Laenor but Ser Harwin Strong, the city guard captain. As such, Alicent takes no small amount of pleasure in rubbing this fact in Rhaenyra's face. She truly believes her father's insane statement that Rhaenyra would murder her children so she's planning to murder hers first.

Fans of Fire and Blood will appreciate Alicent is no longer being treated as a sweet and kind girl done dirty. No, she's taken several levels in jerkass and is now someone who spends all of her time spitting Rhaenyra, Rhaenyra's children, and underming their position at court. It's much more similar to the character in the books but it will come as a great shock to those used to the show's portrayal of her.

Speaking of awful characters, we also see Ser Criston Cole has turned from a charming knight in shining armor to a vengeful bully that not only displays misogynist behavior toward Rhaenyra but also behaves as an absolute scumbag toward young children. I suspect he will rapidly become the anti-Jaime Lannister among fans and be someone the audience actively roots for dying.

Rhaenyra is a great deal more mature despite her questionable choice of making a paramour of a man with no resemblance to her husband. She has evolved into a person who could be a capable queen and effective leader but has already made dire enemies of both her stepmother plus a Kingsguardsman. Worse, she's still not overly fond of her husband and hasn't been making the kind of alliances she needs to with Alicent plotting to put her son on the throne.

I like the depiction of Aegon in the story as he's clearly an unhinged wild child who has no limits on his behavior. He's also a bully who enjoys tormenting his relations and should never be entrusted with power. The fact Alicent keeps trying to to turn him against his relatives (and it's working) shows how much of a duplicitous and awful person she's become. Also, the fact she has no interest in the greater good of the realm but only her own family's advancement.

The big villain of the piece seems to be Lord Larys Strong and his turn on his family is genuinely shocking. Unfortunately it lacks dramatic impact because we haven't gotten to know Lord Strong or their father very well. This is another element that shows how much the show has suffered for underdeveloping its characters outside the Targaryens. Also, I don't get Lord Larys' motives that go from 0-100 for evil in an instant.

In conclusion, the acting is strong in this one but so disconnected from the rest of the stories that we've experienced that it might as well be a new show. As such, I am really hoping we're done with the time skips as they've effectively killed a lot of my interest in the show. It's still fascinating and well-written but I feel like I'm on a roller coaster.

7/10