Just read House of the Dragon was HBO's most watched series opener ever. Pretty impressive considering the ending of the main series was almost universally hated.
House of Dragon
- Thread starter FMPoke
- Start date
I think they timed it well. Right before the start of football season. Very little "huge" shows airing at this time. Kind of a dead time for TV content (if that is possible with so many options these days).
And bob’s magic dragon is named Puff.
Especially smart to beat Lord of the Rings spin off to air.
If you go to HBO Max there are a bunch of three or four minute videos where they interview various cast members and walk you through the characters and relationships. For those of us who have not read the book its really helpful
If you don't want spoilers you probably need to avoid this thing called the internet.
Episode 2 was one of the longest hours of my life; I checked to see how much time was left half a dozen times. A Stark/Winterfell storyline would have been 100x cooler but I guess middle aged housewives and Magic the Gathering nerds can't get enough dragon porn.
I thought the episode was fantastic. I'm all in on the series. There hasn't been at ton of action but it is coming. I think the setup has been to all of it has been great.
It was a bit slow in parts but that's just part of developing the characters and their motivations.
Not every episode can feature whore house orgies and mass dismemberments of the peasants. Some are just about political maneuvering and backstabbing. This one was devoted to fleshing out the characters and advancing the plot. It was fine. Its early be patient.
Finally watched Ep2. I loved it. That was classic GOT. Character development, great dialogue, foreshadowing, political strategy, all of it. This show is still missing a Tyrion or a Littlefinger, but otherwise it’s fantastic. Taking its time, I love that.
I think Otto Hightower has a lot of Littlefinger. Spy everwhere. Playing everyone against the king. Pimping his 15 year old daughter to the king to comfort him.
Yeah I agree about the scheming for sure. He’s a snake without a doubt. He just doesn’t have quite the character or gravitas that Littlefinger had. He couldn’t pull of the “Chaos” scene for example.
Anyone know who the dragonriders were at the end of episode 3?
Are they new characters we haven't met yet?
Are they new characters we haven't met yet?
Yep. The kid who Lyonel Strong suggested Rhaenyra marry.
What a great episode. Really liking this show.
For clarification.
Unless I am mistaken, Laenor Velaryon is the son of Corlys Velaryon and Rhanys Targaryen, which is why he (and his younger sister Laena) have Targaryen blood and are able to ride dragons. Rhanys Targaryen is King Viserys' 1st cousin.
Very few individuals in Westeros are able to become dragon riders. In general, they have to have Targaryen blood (there are a very small number of exceptions in the books, and none in the show (so far). But, Targ blood does not guarantee that one can ride dragons. The dragon has to accept its rider. For example, King Viserys was a dragon rider, but is not anymore. When he was young, he rode Balerion (one of the original 3 dragons brought to Westeros from Valeria prior to the conquest). But, Balerion died, and despite the Targ family having 20+ dragons, none of them accepted Viserys as their rider.
As the show progresses, who can and can not ride dragons will become very significant.
Unless I am mistaken, Laenor Velaryon is the son of Corlys Velaryon and Rhanys Targaryen, which is why he (and his younger sister Laena) have Targaryen blood and are able to ride dragons. Rhanys Targaryen is King Viserys' 1st cousin.
Very few individuals in Westeros are able to become dragon riders. In general, they have to have Targaryen blood (there are a very small number of exceptions in the books, and none in the show (so far). But, Targ blood does not guarantee that one can ride dragons. The dragon has to accept its rider. For example, King Viserys was a dragon rider, but is not anymore. When he was young, he rode Balerion (one of the original 3 dragons brought to Westeros from Valeria prior to the conquest). But, Balerion died, and despite the Targ family having 20+ dragons, none of them accepted Viserys as their rider.
As the show progresses, who can and can not ride dragons will become very significant.
No but I know they are an incestual blood line, just got the vibe, can't remember all of the Lore and who married who and all that....They seemed to have a chemistry from the first episode and she asked Daemon to kill her right in front of all those people and he folded like a wet blanket.
I feel sorry for Rhaenys, she's the forgotten soul with nobody to look up to...And her only real friend decided to marry her father and have a son (soon to be second child)....
Very interested to see where this post war with the crab people put Daemon and Viserys...Does he stay away or does he come back in some way?
Agree on the take they will get together in some form. Hooking up? Maybe. But definitely will be on the same team. It’s so tempting to look it all up, as the whole story has been told. Really trying to take it episode by episode and not do any researching.
Looks like he comes back w a massive following. This whole Step Stones episode is setting up Daemon to be a real force to the crown IMO. He sacrificed himself (well was willing at least) for the victory. That will change everything for him.
I don't want to spoil anything for you guys, other than to say that GRRM has stated that in both GOT and HOTD, there will be book cannon and show cannon, and the two will often diverge. One thing that seems necessary though is that HOTD will lead to the death of a lot of dragons. There is basically 100 years between the two series, and dragons had been gone from the world for a long time at the beginning of GOT.
An interesting theme of ASOIAF is that as the book series begins, magic is mostly gone from the world (most everyone thinks that The Others, Giants, Children of the Forest, Wargs, Wights, etc are old myths rather than things that really existed), and it is suggested that the death of all the dragons led to the gradual demise of magic in the world. After Danarys' dragon eggs hatch, magic returns to the world. Gradually at first, then more and more as the series progresses. I'm very interested to see if this carries over to HOTD and if we see a lot of magical humans/entities as the series progresses.
Did he? I thought he was doing what he thought was in the best interest of the king, but Rhaneys screwed him over in an attempt to protect herself.
Nope. Otto is out for Otto. Light finally came on for the King. Surprised it took this long. Feels like the King always new but didn't want to admit it.
Looks like a significant time jump next episode as the younger actresses are only credited with 5 episodes.
Agree. He reminds me a little of Varys that way. Always says it’s about the Realm and the King, but it’s always about him. Maybe in the past he was truly a loyal servant, but that’s clearly changed.
I’m worried for this. Milly Alcock has killed it. The new girl better be really good.
Rhaenyra and Daemon...I guess it wasn't 'hooking up' but I could always feel the tension they had between each other.
I think Hightower is in trouble now...I believe he wants his grandson to be the heir to the throne but not being so forward.
Def interested in what is going to happen next.
I think Hightower is in trouble now...I believe he wants his grandson to be the heir to the throne but not being so forward.
Def interested in what is going to happen next.
The knifes are out. I'm going to have to take a second look at this to exactly follow all the players at the wedding feast. Does GRRM just hate weddings?
I watched the post-show discussion (on HBO, right after the episode), and they said that the audience should have expected everything to go south if they were followers of GOT/GRRM. Shit hits the fan at all of his big weddings.
Some interesting characters to watch going forward.
Lord Lyonel Strong: New Hand of the King
Sir Harwin Strong: Lyonel's son. He is the big dude who took charge and broke up the brawl at the wedding
Larys Strong: Lyonel's club footed son. He is going to be a lot like a combination of Varys and Littlefinger. He will use his lameness/weakness to appear to be non-threatening (like Varys did with being a eunuch), and get information that his father/brother can not get due to being perceived as threats. As we saw last night, he is also cunning and manipulative when it comes to what to do with information (like Littlefinger).
2nd pilot was good. Now I have to relearn all the actors and their characters again. The actors seem to pronunciate names so quickly its hard to pick up sometimes. But my family is enjoying the plotlines.
Felt like they tried to cram way too much into one episode. Much like the last season of Game of Thrones. I need to watch a second time.
IMO, fantastic job of casting. I found the new actors to be completely believable as older versions of the prior actors.
It was VERY dense. That’s the problem w the time jumps. They need to basically catch you up on what everyone is doing and then set the stage for the rest of the story. That’s been my biggest at complaint of the series. Hopefully it slows down now.
I still like young Rhaenyra better, but the new one is good as well. Otherwise the old casting is spot on.
