tv show House of the Dragon | Season 2 | Episode 2: 'Rhaenyra the Cruel' | GoT Prequel

[Lil Mxnster]

44 minutes ago, Thuggin said:

I’ve been mostly really enjoying the show so far, but I really don’t know how I feel about the last episode. So far my biggest complaint was the battle scene at the end of episode 3 (unrealistic arrow dodging, dramatic buildup to a predictable dragon entrance, why didn’t the Crabfeeder see that coming?, why was he killed off screen?), but I think episode 5 might have been overall even messier.

 

• Driftmark looked empty af.
• Laenor’s wig is awful, and his character had no memorable dialogue that entire episode. I think the actor not being that great is a contributing factor.
• At this point, a wedding going wrong is more expected in Game of Thrones than it is subverted expectations.
• Joffrey assuming Rhaenyra and Criston are sleeping together based on the way they looked at each other seemed like a giant reach.
• Joffrey had no good reason to confront Criston about it and also reveal his relationship with Laeor right then and there, especially if homosexuality was as taboo in the realm as it appears to be.
• Still don’t understand why Criston beat Joffrey to death, and I’ve seen people attempt to justify it by saying Criston felt threatened by Joffrey’s words but that is still a massively overblown reaction.
• Why did no one from either House Targaryen or House Velaryon stop him from killing a nobleman?
• Why did no one stop him from leaving?
• Criston literally ruined a wedding party, murdered a nobleman in front of everyone, punched the future king-consort, put the future queen in danger, and he’s just gonna get zero consequences for all that? And this is the same guy who already got off scot-free for breaking his chastity vow with the future queen. 
• It’s hard not to see the last few points as a reward for a gay bashing. And I know people will defend it by saying life is brutish for everyone in the realm, but it’s no secret that the queer characters always meet especially quick and gruesome deaths (Oberyn, Renly, Loras, and then now Joffrey having his face pulverized in the most graphic way like a minute after coming out - even in the books he didn’t die until after the wedding).
• I appreciate the attempt to insert modern ideas in medieval contexts, but at certain points throughout the episode it took me out of it, the cringe boat scene especially.
• The overall pacing of the episode felt off. From the extremely slow start to the jumbled last few minutes.

That said, I am looking forward to seeing the new Rhaenyra and Alicent. Hoping the series only gets better from here.

 

You made several points  The start of the episode was completely a mess  

Edited September 20, 2022 by Lil Mxnster

[Mikeymoonshine]

24 minutes ago, Thuggin said:

I’ve been mostly really enjoying the show so far, but I really don’t know how I feel about the last episode. So far my biggest complaint was the battle scene at the end of episode 3 (unrealistic arrow dodging, dramatic buildup to a predictable dragon entrance, why didn’t the Crabfeeder see that coming?, why was he killed off screen?), but I think episode 5 might have been overall even messier.

 

• Driftmark looked empty af.
• Laenor’s wig is awful, and his character had no memorable dialogue that entire episode. I think the actor not being that great is a contributing factor.
• At this point, a wedding going wrong is more expected in Game of Thrones than it is subverted expectations.
• Joffrey assuming Rhaenyra and Criston are sleeping together based on the way they looked at each other seemed like a giant reach.
• Joffrey had no good reason to confront Criston about it and also reveal his relationship with Laeor right then and there, especially if homosexuality was as taboo in the realm as it appears to be.
• Still don’t understand why Criston beat Joffrey to death, and I’ve seen people attempt to justify it by saying Criston felt threatened by Joffrey’s words but that is still a massively overblown reaction.
• Why did no one from either House Targaryen or House Velaryon stop him from killing a nobleman?
• Why did no one stop him from leaving?
• Criston literally ruined a wedding party, murdered a nobleman in front of everyone, punched the future king-consort, put the future queen in danger, and he’s just gonna get zero consequences for all that? And this is the same guy who already got off scot-free for breaking his chastity vow with the future queen. 
• It’s hard not to see the last few points as a reward for a gay bashing. And I know people will defend it by saying life is brutish for everyone in the realm, but it’s no secret that the queer characters always meet especially quick and gruesome deaths (Oberyn, Renly, Loras, and then now Joffrey having his face pulverized in the most graphic way like a minute after coming out - even in the books he didn’t die until after the wedding).
• I appreciate the attempt to insert modern ideas in medieval contexts, but at certain points throughout the episode it took me out of it, the cringe boat scene especially.
• The overall pacing of the episode felt off. From the extremely slow start to the jumbled last few minutes.

That said, I am looking forward to seeing the new Rhaenyra and Alicent. Hoping the series only gets better from here.

This! I do not expect all the queer characters to live long happy lives (or any of them lol it's George RR Martin) but this felt so over the top. It really felt like they were stretching everything to have a gay man beaten to death in the most shocking way and then have everyone just move on. Like idk maybe that is supposed to be a statement on historic homophobia but that isn't how homophobia worked in history and generally queer nobles had much better lives as they were still nobles. 

 

Weak episode overall which is a shame because some aspects worked. 

 

I think George and the writers of this and of GOT have a bit of an issue when it comes to minority characters in general tbh. 

[effy]

20 hours ago, jadeabove said:

Sure, Ned Stark was the most calculated person of Season 1 of GOT. The patriarch of House Stark is the least calculated of the lords of the Seven Kingdoms. Just like Criston he is honest and just, which is what brought him to his death. In fact, I see some parallels between Ned/Jon and Criston Cole, including the "seed is strong" sta

tement. Criston also suggested to Rhaenyra to abandon the idea of the throne and her duty to live life, just like lovers of Dany used to do (I forgot who exactly).

 

IMO, parts of the theme of HOTD is that they are showing how history tends to repeat itself, and as much as we'd like this to change, without knowing your own history, you are doomed to repeat it.

pleasee, ned ruined his good boy reputation to protect his nephew AND took the secret to the grave. crispin can't compare.

 

speaking of the starks, they

support my girl rhaenyra during the civil war bc they recognized her as the heir during the succession ceremony. crispin wishes!

[BeachRat]

Alicen is such a major ***** i hate her so much i begin to stan her

the dress scene was gay herstory tho...

[Mariah's Glove]

Spoiler

The outrage over Cristons actions makes me FEAR what people will think once Aemond is older

 

a literal child murdering TERRORIST

 

lukes death is going to have people traumatized, especially due to the age difference of the actors

 

Edited September 20, 2022 by Mariah's Glove

[rac7d]

1 hour ago, Mikeymoonshine said:

This! I do not expect all the queer characters to live long happy lives (or any of them lol it's George RR Martin) but this felt so over the top. It really felt like they were stretching everything to have a gay man beaten to death in the most shocking way and then have everyone just move on. Like idk maybe that is supposed to be a statement on historic homophobia but that isn't how homophobia worked in history and generally queer nobles had much better lives as they were still nobles. 

 

Weak episode overall which is a shame because some aspects worked. 

 

I think George and the writers of this and of GOT have a bit of an issue when it comes to minority characters in general tbh. 

Queer nobles didn’t out themselves like that.

is Joffrey a noble or just sworn to protect laenor?

[rac7d]

7 hours ago, Zaynsus said:

So Criston killed a man and he's just going to get away with it ? Gosh, I think I'll stop watching the show... It's giving me GOT season 7 and 8

You have to ask who cares and why?

 

larnor crying over his body in front of everyone was too much. If your sworn protector can’t protect himself then he’s no good to them. And I’m sure laenors parents don’t care since they are marrying him off anyway.

so there is no one to fight for this man death, even so Criston didn’t care he was about to kill himself 

 

[PaloSanto]

was Joffrey even a nobleman? I always thought it was a minor house and thus why noone cared

[Mikeymoonshine]

24 minutes ago, rac7d said:

Queer nobles didn’t out themselves like that.

is Joffrey a noble or just sworn to protect laenor?

Of course they didn't, that's why it's being pointed out how ridiculous the scene was and how it stretched logic to have the shocking death and then ignored the consequences. This is unfortunately comparable to later seasons of GOT where actions don't get proper consequences. 

 

Also yes he was a noble, he was a knight from a noble house. In the book Christon injures him in a tourney and he dies of his injuries later. Lots of people were angry about this including the king but not against the rules of a tourney which is why he wasn't punished. That makes much more sense than what happened on the show. 

Edited September 20, 2022 by Mikeymoonshine

[Thuggin]

2 hours ago, Mikeymoonshine said:

This! I do not expect all the queer characters to live long happy lives (or any of them lol it's George RR Martin) but this felt so over the top. It really felt like they were stretching everything to have a gay man beaten to death in the most shocking way and then have everyone just move on. Like idk maybe that is supposed to be a statement on historic homophobia but that isn't how homophobia worked in history and generally queer nobles had much better lives as they were still nobles. 

 

Weak episode overall which is a shame because some aspects worked. 

 

I think George and the writers of this and of GOT have a bit of an issue when it comes to minority characters in general tbh. 

Right, some people think we’re asking for there to be ruling same-sex couples when really we just don’t want the only queer representation to be torture porn.  And even if homosexuality was truly so taboo back then, that only makes it more nonsensical for Joffrey to share that with Criston when he already knew Criston’s secret but Criston didn’t know his. But the reality in the show seemed to be that, at least among many of the nobles, Laenor’s homosexuality was an open secret. And either way, I don’t think simply murdering a noble man at a wedding party, especially the “best friend” of the future king-consort and groom, should fly. Like what are the guards even there for then?
 

 

And I’m seeing a lot of takes like this defending it, but there are so many issues here. For one, since when does Criston care about the heir?  He just tried to get Rhaenyra to run away with him and abandon her duty to inherit the throne. And you’re telling me he’s apparently so pissed off that Rhaenyra won’t marry him that he’ll kill the next guy that sets him off, but he’s still willing to protect her inheritance at all costs? Like he couldn’t even wait to do that until he and Joffrey were alone? Secondly, what secrets did Joffrey share? The whole point of Joffrey’s conversation with Criston was letting him know that his secret was safe with him because Joffrey had an incriminating secret of his own, so they had an incentive to look out for each other. I don’t think Criston was about to kill himself because he feared the secret getting out. The current queen already knows the secret, and Criston was fully ready to accept being punished by death. It came off more like he just wanted to kill himself if he couldn’t have all of Rhaenyra now that he had already lost his chastity. And finally, don’t even get me started on “consequences”.  Yes, it’s a given that Joffrey is supposed to face the immediate consequence of being pummeled in the face to death for an admittedly bold way of coming out to Criston with the goal of establishing mutual protection over each other’s secrets, but Criston faces no consequences for breaking his chastity vow, taking Rhaenyra’s virginity, clumsily revealing both of these secrets to the queen because he misinterpreted the conversation, ruining a wedding celebration for the future queen and king-consort, murdering a noble man in cold blood in front of an audience, and endangering other high ranking attendees. And not only that but he gets saved by Alicent before he can even kill himself at the end of the episode too.
 

Edit: Sorry for the novel. I am enjoying many parts of the show and am hopeful it will continue to be good, but I guess those last few minutes of the last episode just left a particularly bad taste in my mouth because GoT turned to **** at the end too in seasons 7 and 8 and also recency bias duh. I really love any scenes involving Rhaenyra and Daemon, especially when they speak High Valyrian. That convo in the middle of the ballroom floor when Rhaenyra was calling Daemon’s bluff by urging him to kill the Kingsguard and take her away to Dragonstone to marry her >>> 

[Mikeymoonshine]

25 minutes ago, Thuggin said:

Right, some people think we’re asking for there to be ruling same-sex couples when really we just don’t want the only queer representation to be torture porn.  And even if homosexuality was truly so taboo back then, that only makes it more nonsensical for Joffrey to share that with Criston when he already knew Criston’s secret but Criston didn’t know his. But the reality in the show seemed to be that, at least among many of the nobles, Laenor’s homosexuality was an open secret. And either way, I don’t think simply murdering a noble man at a wedding party, especially the “best friend” of the future king-consort and groom, should fly. Like what are the guards even there for then?
 

 

And I’m seeing a lot of takes like this defending it, but there are so many issues here. For one, since when does Criston care about the heir?  He just tried to get Rhaenyra to run away with him and abandon her duty to inherit the throne. And you’re telling me he’s apparently so pissed off that Rhaenyra won’t marry him that he’ll kill the next guy that sets him off, but he’s still willing to protect her inheritance at all costs? Like he couldn’t even wait to do that until he and Joffrey were alone? Secondly, what secrets did Joffrey share? The whole point of Joffrey’s conversation with Criston was letting him know that his secret was safe with him because Joffrey had an incriminating secret of his own, so they had an incentive to look out for each other. I don’t think Criston was about to kill himself because he feared the secret getting out. The current queen already knows the secret, and Criston was fully ready to accept being punished by death. It came off more like he just wanted to kill himself if he couldn’t have all of Rhaenyra now that he had already lost his chastity. And finally, don’t even get me started on “consequences”.  Yes, it’s a given that Joffrey is supposed to face the immediate consequence of being pummeled in the face to death for an admittedly bold way of coming out to Criston with the goal of establishing mutual protection over each other’s secrets, but Criston faces no consequences for breaking his chastity vow, taking Rhaenyra’s virginity, clumsily revealing both of these secrets to the queen because he misinterpreted the conversation, ruining a wedding celebration for the future queen and king-consort, murdering a noble man in cold blood in front of an audience, and endangering other high ranking attendees. And not only that but he gets saved by Alicent before he can even kill himself at the end of the episode too.

Yep, as I said above in the book the death makes more sense and I think the implication is that he fell our of favour because of it so Alicent swoops in and recruits him. Probably as a slight against Rhaeynera. It makes more sense, is less torture porn. Still disposing a queer character for the story arcs of straight characters but the show definitely made it a lot worse. 

[Destiny]

THEY ARE COMING

 

 

 

[Lovett]

Quote

 

House of the Dragon Averaging 29 Million Viewers Per Episode, Audience Rises 3% in Week 5 (EXCLUSIVE)

 

Viewership of House of the Dragon has hit a steady pace.

 

The fifth episode of the Game of Thrones prequel drew 3% more viewers than Episode 4, Variety has learned exclusively. Additionally, Season 1 is now averaging 29 million viewers per episode.

 

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/house-of-the-dragon-ratings-episode-5-wedding-1235377997/

[BOOMBAYAH]

6 minutes ago, Destiny said:

THEY ARE COMING

 

 

 

EMMA  the way incels are calling them ugly but even disheveled they look ethereal here…I can’t wait for their serve on Sunday.

[Sombre]

The episodes are going by slowly but it's fine because they're building characters. They're handling time jumps horribly though. 

[Mariah's Glove]

That clip of emma

 

AHHHHHH

 

the incoming serve 

[Dekkan]

35 minutes ago, Destiny said:

THEY ARE COMING

 

 

 

Miss D'Arcy coming to prove everyone wrong, ahh

 

[mystery]

That clip looks amazing. I already know Emma will devour the role.

[Roman Holiday]

Allicent hasn't really done anything wrong for people to hate her. I don't think she cares about Rhy's chastity as much as she's been lying to her face for years now and made her look like a fool. Yeah she married her Daddy, but that was the hand's doing. Rhy would have done the same in her shoes. 

Edited September 20, 2022 by Roman Holiday

[Thuggin]

Emma already looking like they’ve experienced Rhaenyra’s entire life

playing this role   Also Laenor’s new actor seems like an upgrade.

 

I’m curious how the greens will be portrayed. Will they be one-dimensional villains everyone will be rooting against or will it be more nuanced than that?

[Roman Holiday]

1 hour ago, Destiny said:

THEY ARE COMING

 

 

 

Emma looks so much like Hunter Schafer. I keep thinking it’s her. 
 

 

Laenor being an oblivious gay. “So glad Im not a woman.”  

[Drowned8World]

2 hours ago, BOOMBAYAH said:

EMMA  the way incels are calling them ugly but even disheveled they look ethereal here…I can’t wait for their serve on Sunday.

Emma looks breathtaking in Mothering Sunday. A face made for period productions 

 

 

[Roman Holiday]

1 minute ago, Drowned8World said:

Emma looks breathtaking in Mothering Sunday. A face made for period productions 

 

 

She has a very British face, which really helps. 

[Lovett]

8 minutes ago, Roman Holiday said:

She has a very British face, which really helps. 

*They. Emma goes by they/them pronouns.

[Mariah's Glove]

42 minutes ago, Thuggin said:

Emma already looking like they’ve experienced Rhaenyra’s entire life

playing this role   Also Laenor’s new actor seems like an upgrade.

 

I’m curious how the greens will be portrayed. Will they be one-dimensional villains everyone will be rooting against or will it be more nuanced than that?

Ya I’m wondering this too. Im hopeful they give alicent a slightly more humanized early GOT Cersei treatment, rather than the Cersei of seasons 6-8 where she was basically a terroristic Disney villain who drank wine and looked out windows. 
 

as for the green children

 

Spoiler

I’m not sure how you make aegon and aemond sympathetic, especially once they grow up. 
 

aegon maybe a bit at first, as he doesn’t want to usurp Rhaenyra until Criston convinced him that she will kill his siblings. But he becomes a monster after that. Aemond is just a psychopath, but maybe people will like that due to his chaotic nature. 
 

the biggest green sympathy moment will definitely be blood and cheese/Halaena, so I can see that moment turning audiences away from the Blacks for a moment as they literally assassinate a toddler