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

[TaggedGalaxy]

3 minutes ago, tigalion said:

I don't mind Vhagar going rogue (after all Aemond stole him) but it's quite silly that they did the same with Arrax. Even Luke in total control of Arrax would have been crushed by Vhagar so this was unnecessary. Also Luke deserved a more dignified end that this. Imagine him trying to face a big unstable dragon on his tiny one with full knowledge that they can't win. That would have been brave. 

That wouldn’t have really made sense for his character though. He was shown to be timid and not confident. He looked terrified to even go on this mission. Also he was told to not fight and Rhaenyra made it clear he was being sent as a messenger, so him trying to escape rather than fight a dragon twice the size of his made sense both character wise and story wise.

[tigalion]

7 minutes ago, TaggedGalaxy said:

That wouldn’t have really made sense for his character though. He was shown to be timid and not confident. He looked terrified to even go on this mission. Also he was told to not fight and Rhaenyra made it clear he was being sent as a messenger, so him trying to escape rather than fight a dragon twice the size of his made sense both character wise and story wise.

Yep i know. But if they are going with the theory that this wasn't an accident (at least that's what they say in that article) and Arrax was only reacting to being chased, then it's more dignified that Luke at least can feel the emotions his dragon is going through and totally backs him agaisnt Vhagar.. Yet here not only he prohibits Arrax to attack which he does anyway and they both die. That potrays Luke as a bad dragonrider, which is quite a coincidence that we have two of them in the same place at the same time. 

[Memphis]

 

legends 

RIP baby Arrax

 

[Xantalli]

6 minutes ago, Memphis said:

 

legends 

RIP baby Arrax

 

The cgi for the dragons were pretty fantastic this ep ugh Arrax was such a small baby dragon 

[Emperor]

10/10 season, flawless show 

[Xantalli]

3 hours ago, mystery said:

Not to spam with interviews but here is another one Ryan did with DEADLINE: ‘House Of The Dragon’: Showrunner Ryan Condal Talks About Season Finale, Those Dimly Lit Episodes, And Maddening Time Jumps

To me personally I find a lot of his answers to these questions so encouraging for the show and how they will approach the overall story and its conclusion. The big importance he is giving to George's approval and advice is great. 
 

  Hide contents

How does it work with George? He’s not in the writers room routinely, correct?

He was at the very beginning, way back when we had this very small group of writers, none of whom worked on the show once we officially got picked up. So he was involved with that. Generally it’s George and I in communication. I send him everything. I send him outlines, I send him scripts, I send him cuts, I send him text messages, I send him questions, Why did you do this? What does this mean? Who is this person? We stay in constant communication. He’s very active and reads a lot and gives a lot of feedback. Other times he just sort of defers and says, go with the Gods. I keep him in constant contact with the materials so he can know what’s going on if he chooses to. But he is a very busy guy. It’s really hard for him to engage with us at the pace that we would need him to, to weigh in on every single little decision. The train is moving too fast. But he always knows what’s going on. That’s the thing that I promised him from the beginning: I might not always do exactly the thing that he wants me to do, but we will always talk about it. We will always have the discussion, and I’ve honored that.

Are we to assume now that dragons have a mind of their own?

I think you should always assume that dragons have minds of their own. They’re living, breathing creatures that have a level of sentience to them. As Daenerys told us in the original series, dragons are not slaves. They have saddles on them, and they speak High Valerian to a degree and they listen and obey their riders. But when a wild animal is threatened, an animal will sometimes respond. If you go all the way back to the pilot, Viserys warns us that the idea that we control dragons is an illusion. He says that to Rhaenyra. He says they are a power that we should have never trifled with. That’s one of the cautionary tales that we’re setting up, the stance of the dragons. When you go to war with a bunch of nuclear weapons that have their own sentient thoughts and feelings to a degree, unexpected things can happen.

Where will you pick up the action next season? Minutes later?

To be revealed. I will say, as a reward to our wonderful audience for following us through all the time jumps and recasts, they are done. We tell the story in real time from here forward. The actors are playing these characters until the end. We’re not recasting anybody. We’re not making any huge jumps forward in time. We are now in the Dance of the Dragons, and we’re gonna tell that story.

Ryan just gets IT!! What an insightful interview!! Really love that they’re are honing hard on the “dragon are not slaves” narrative! Time & time again we’ve seen from the show\books that while Targaryen’s can bond & ride dragons, at the end of the day, dragons have a mind of their own & will do as they please! Arrax fire blasted  Vhagar & in retaliation she fought back, despite what their riders were commanding them to do!  
One event that happens in the books that always stood out to me was when the good  Queen Alysanne tried to fly Silverwing past the wall at winterfell & despite her many efforts Silverwing refused & kept flying back! Also the whole Ballerion/Aerea debacle was also really telling! 

[Miles.]

4 hours ago, mystery said:

VARIETY: ‘House of the Dragon’ Showrunner Talks SPOILER in the Finale, Changes From George R.R. Martin’s Book, and What to Expect for Season 2

Great interview with Ryan Condal where he addresses some concerns and thoughts about the season & how the show will move forward. 

Here are some of the more important ones:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

In the book, Aemond means to kill Luke. So how did you decide to shift it to an accident instead?

Historians have told us that Aemond intended to kill Luke, but I don’t think any of them could purport to know what was going on in Aemond’s head the time. And I would also dispute the word “accident” a bit. I mean, Aemond got on his giant dragon and chased his nephew on his much smaller dragon through the clouds screaming and yelling at him, incensing his dragon and starting a fight. He didn’t know how Arrax or Luke were going to respond, and it ended in tragedy. I don’t think that was what Aemond intended when he threw his leg over the saddle, but he did a horrible, dangerous thing. That is the point: This is a war of many cuts that lead to a really, really bloody wound. It adds complexity and nuance to the character that’s potentially interesting. There’s lots of runway to go on with Aemond as a character and the story of the Dance. This is his first act as a dragon rider and a warrior and it’s gone very wrong. Now what happens as a result, and how does he respond? Those are the questions I’m interested in as dramatist.

Along with Alicent’s misunderstanding of Viserys’ deathbed ranting about the Prince Who Was Promised, is that something that we should be expecting through the run of this show: critical events unfolding as much by tragic happenstance as by clear intent?

We’re trying to make this as much like a real history is possible, and history is messy. The pieces for the Dance of the Dragons were put into place a long time ago. Whether or not Viserys has that conversation or doesn’t with Alicent, very likely the next morning they’re still having the same meeting. And I don’t know that Alicent actually has the power at that point to put a stop to them. So it’s more about how Alicent reacts to it. Her counsel, obviously, had this whole plan that they concocted without consulting her you know, to find Aegon and place him on the throne. So does history change if that [conversation] doesn’t happen? Maybe things play out a little differently, I don’t know. What we’re fascinated with, on a meta narrative level with this story, is showing how messy and unreliable history is. I mean, this is a book written by one author with an agenda trying to filter through the accounts of three other authors, all with their own agendas. And were expected to take the one true history out of this book? No. The thing that George is laughing at on the side is how anybody can read “Fire & Blood” and think that this is the one true official account of anything. It’s an expression of this story. There are things that happen in it that are very well documented and are real, and there are other things where there are huge gaps and we don’t know quite why this happened or who quite who this character was. Our story is trying to apply the whys, and the nuances to it. So I think there are things that are can be perceived as accidental are not quite as intended in real history, and that will happen in the show. But there’s plenty of instances through Season 1 where that thing happened exactly as was intended, and then you see the results.

Why did you have Daemon choke Rhaenyra?

It’s a moment that I think is surprising and shocking for Daemon as a character, but I also think it’s one of those things that’s been set up over the course of the entire season. Daemon — while an incredibly charismatic and deeply interesting, complex character, I think — he’s also capable of great darkness. It’s simmering just beneath the surface. When he learns in that moment that Viserys never believed in him enough, as his actual heir to the throne, to pass this thing on that he clearly just easily passed on to Rhaenrys, it breaks him. He loved his brother so deeply and trusted him, even through all the problems that they had, and Viserys never shared it with him. He kept [Daemon] in the dark, and it just it breaks Daemon. Instead of reacting with grief or sadness that you see out of him later, he reacts with rage and he takes it out on Rhaenrya.

What story beats did you most mourn having to skip given the accelerated timescape of the season?

There are little moments that would have been great to be able to dramatize, but I feel none of the beats that were left out would change anything dramatically about what you’re seeing happen as a result on screen. There are great moments of Daemon dueling the Sea Lord of Braavos’ son for Laena’s hand and winning her over, and seeing Laena claim Vhagar — wouldn’t that be great? But we were also going to see Aemond claim Vhagar, and it felt like that because of the overall narrative, it was more important to see him do it. There are moments like that: Wouldn’t that be great? Yes, it would. But what does that actually change? Does it change that much in your understanding of the story or where it goes? I think we had to make some some harder decisions. But we worked really long and hard on structuring that first season and I’m really happy with where we landed with it.

Several scenes that were in the marketing ended up getting cut from the show, including what appears to be Alicent and Viserys’ wedding — was that just for time?

There’s all sorts of decisions that go into that stuff. We never shot a wedding for Viserys and Alicent. There was a moment where we see Alicent in her wedding dress, where Rhaenyra was dressing her, as a callback the first episode where Alicent helps Rhaenrya dress for her naming ceremony when she’s named heir to the throne. In the final analysis, as we were building out the whole season arc, we just looked at a bunch of that stuff. We were trying to figure out the most impactful place to leave Alicent and Rhaenrya’s story and it felt like that break that they have in the small council chamber was more powerful than whatever the next beat that you go to.

Where is Alicent’s fourth child Daeron? This is something that a lot of fans have been wondering. Why has no one even mentioned him at this point?

He does exist. No worries, everybody. He’s the youngest son. He’s warded off at Oldtown to Hobert Hightower and soon to Ormond Hightower, who is Hobert’s nephew, who becomes Lord of Oldtown. Honestly, this stuff happened all the time in this world. It’s not our modern day where if you had a 6-year- old, you would FaceTime them every day and see how they’re doing and write letters. He’s there. That’s the fact. When he is relevant to be mentioned — and he will be — he will be mentioned.

 

3 hours ago, mystery said:

Not to spam with interviews but here is another one Ryan did with DEADLINE: ‘House Of The Dragon’: Showrunner Ryan Condal Talks About Season Finale, Those Dimly Lit Episodes, And Maddening Time Jumps

To me personally I find a lot of his answers to these questions so encouraging for the show and how they will approach the overall story and its conclusion. The big importance he is giving to George's approval and advice is great. 
 

  Reveal hidden contents

How does it work with George? He’s not in the writers room routinely, correct?

He was at the very beginning, way back when we had this very small group of writers, none of whom worked on the show once we officially got picked up. So he was involved with that. Generally it’s George and I in communication. I send him everything. I send him outlines, I send him scripts, I send him cuts, I send him text messages, I send him questions, Why did you do this? What does this mean? Who is this person? We stay in constant communication. He’s very active and reads a lot and gives a lot of feedback. Other times he just sort of defers and says, go with the Gods. I keep him in constant contact with the materials so he can know what’s going on if he chooses to. But he is a very busy guy. It’s really hard for him to engage with us at the pace that we would need him to, to weigh in on every single little decision. The train is moving too fast. But he always knows what’s going on. That’s the thing that I promised him from the beginning: I might not always do exactly the thing that he wants me to do, but we will always talk about it. We will always have the discussion, and I’ve honored that.

Are we to assume now that dragons have a mind of their own?

I think you should always assume that dragons have minds of their own. They’re living, breathing creatures that have a level of sentience to them. As Daenerys told us in the original series, dragons are not slaves. They have saddles on them, and they speak High Valerian to a degree and they listen and obey their riders. But when a wild animal is threatened, an animal will sometimes respond. If you go all the way back to the pilot, Viserys warns us that the idea that we control dragons is an illusion. He says that to Rhaenyra. He says they are a power that we should have never trifled with. That’s one of the cautionary tales that we’re setting up, the stance of the dragons. When you go to war with a bunch of nuclear weapons that have their own sentient thoughts and feelings to a degree, unexpected things can happen.

Where will you pick up the action next season? Minutes later?

To be revealed. I will say, as a reward to our wonderful audience for following us through all the time jumps and recasts, they are done. We tell the story in real time from here forward. The actors are playing these characters until the end. We’re not recasting anybody. We’re not making any huge jumps forward in time. We are now in the Dance of the Dragons, and we’re gonna tell that story.

Thanks for posting these!  It really comes across that Ryan has a deep love, reverence, and respect for George and the source material, and that makes me very happy and hopeful that they'll be able to stick the landing.  His responses to these questions are both measured and detailed.  The changes the show did make are clearly intentional, done with George's blessing, and for the most part elevate the show (aside from Criston killing Joffrey Lonmouth at the wedding).

 

Makes me even more excited for S2!

[Miles.]

I thought the finale was great, and that S1 as a whole was great.  I actually really loved the two major changes they made in E10. 

 

First, Daemon choking Rhaenyra.  Daemon is NOT a hero, and many of his worst actions so far have been downplayed, justified, or omitted altogether.  I was getting a little worried, but this makes it clear that he is still a complex, interesting anti-hero with some very dark traits.  I look forward to them taking him to even darker places in the coming seasons.

Second, Aemond killing Luke by accident.  I think this adds to Aemond's character - he's not a psychopathic killer.  Yes, he wanted to hurt Luke, yes he wanted to scare Luke.  He's still a bad person.  But he's also smart, he knows this is going to cause a full-fledged war.  And, like others have said here and like the show has hammered home time and time again, dragons are not pets, and not even the most experienced riders (which neither Luke nor Aemond are) can fully control them.  They are sentient nuclear warheads.  It makes total sense that two teenage boys who have never fought on dragonback before would lose control.  

 

Visually, everything at Storm's End was STUNNING.  Loved how they broke through the storm just before the climactic final scene so that we could clearly see the gory end.  Gives me a lot of hope that the battles in the future will be even more incredible, even without Miguel directing them.  

 

Also I loved the juxtaposition of Aemma and Rhaenyra's miscarriages.  Yes, they were both horrible to watch, but it was also powerful to see Rhaenyra retain her agency, take control of the situation, and not allow anyone else to make that choice for her.  

 

Book Spoilers:

 

I would have loved to end the season on the line: "An eye for an eye, a son for a son, Lucerys shall be avenged."  But they can still do that in the S2 premiere!  I can't wait for Blood & Cheese oh my ******* god.  I hope that happens around E3.  Have Daemon and Mysaria set it up in E1 and E2 while showing a lot of Helaena and her kids, and then bam... E3 explosion.  

I wonder where they will end the next season.  With Jace going to both the Eyrie and Winterfell, Daemon going to Harrenhal, and the fighting in the Riverlands, I can see that taking up most of the season.  They can even move up the taming of the dragonseeds slightly, and introduce Addam, Alyn, Nettles, Ulf, and Hugh Hammer.  Then end the season with the Rhaenys V Aegon & Aemond at Rook's Rest.  That would be an extremely powerful finale.  The only other place I could see them ending would be with the Battle of the Gullet, but I think that would be pushing a little too far.

I am so excited for all the new cast members that will be joining next season.  Cregan, the dragonseeds, and Daeron are basically confirmed.  We should also see Black Aly and Bloody Ben.  Maybe Sara Snow too.  Ahh I don't want to wait 2 years for all this!

 

 

So happy!  Hats off to George, Ryan, Miguel, and the rest of the team!  I didn't think they could pull me back in after S8  but they did!

Edited October 24, 2022 by Miles.

[Nicholai]

The only ones that are mad at what Daemon did are the ones that are watching this show as a ******* novela and only want to see Nyra and him being happy and in love 

[Karla Cabello]

leave vhagar alone. she is senile, probably thinks visenya is still riding her

[Rage]

50 minutes ago, Miles. said:

 

 

Book Spoilers:

  Hide contents

I would have loved to end the season on the line: "An eye for an eye, a son for a son, Lucerys shall be avenged."  But they can still do that in the S2 premiere!  I can't wait for Blood & Cheese oh my ******* god.  I hope that happens around E3.  Have Daemon and Mysaria set it up in E1 and E2 while showing a lot of Helaena and her kids, and then bam... E3 explosion.  

I wonder where they will end the next season.  With Jace going to both the Eyrie and Winterfell, Daemon going to Harrenhal, and the fighting in the Riverlands, I can see that taking up most of the season.  They can even move up the taming of the dragonseeds slightly, and introduce Addam, Alyn, Nettles, Ulf, and Hugh Hammer.  Then end the season with the Rhaenys V Aegon & Aemond at Rook's Rest.  That would be an extremely powerful finale.  The only other place I could see them ending would be with the Battle of the Gullet, but I think that would be pushing a little too far.

I am so excited for all the new cast members that will be joining next season.  Cregan, the dragonseeds, and Daeron are basically confirmed.  We should also see Black Aly and Bloody Ben.  Maybe Sara Snow too.  Ahh I don't want to wait 2 years for all this!

 

 

I agree with your timeline! I always imagined them wanting to save Blood and Cheese for an episode 9 'red wedding' type of moment, but it makes so much more sense with the narrative to see it as a purple wedding / direct result of the previous season's big moment. I think they'll end S2 with Rook's Rest, with Aegon being disfigured and Aemond seizing power as Lord Protector. I'm so excited.

[Underworld]

2 hours ago, Memphis said:

 

legends 

RIP baby Arrax

 

You forgot her

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Underworld

[Dragonfly]

great episode  what do I do with my life now?

at least I can watch Dragula tomorrow

[1DES]

3 hours ago, Xantalli said:

The cgi for the dragons were pretty fantastic this ep ugh Arrax was such a small baby dragon 

ngl. Caraxes looked cheap. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by 1DES

[mystery]

 

I can't get over the last minute of this track. Him combining Rhaenyra's "Rhaenyra's Welcome" princess theme and her "Power of Prophecy" heir theme and turning them into this dark haunting cloud of grief that consumes her. Stunning!

[Terylee]

Where is the song that plays during the dinner scene in episode 8? The last time Viserys sees his family. It is a standout for me and one of my faves scenes but it seems it is not on the soundtrack.

[FlyPirate]

i am completely shook. what an incredible episode. it has everything (well i missed Olivia Cooke ngl!)

 

 

[TaggedGalaxy]

1 hour ago, Underworld said:

You forgot her

 

No one cares about the Madonna of dragons, an old bitter washed up hag attacking the girls that are younger and hotter than her 

[chris1991]

Do we really have to wait until 2024 for the next season?

 

[Hephaestus]

24 minutes ago, TaggedGalaxy said:

No one cares about the Madonna of dragons, an old bitter washed up hag attacking the girls that are younger and hotter than her 

[Hector]

 

What a cultural reset this season was  Loved every episode and the wait will be agonizing for season 2. Very curious to see how it does next year in awards season. 

[Hector]

Outside of the U.S., HOUSE OF THE DRAGON has surpassed GAME OF THRONES Season 8, making it the most viewed HBO title ever in Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan on an HBO streaming service. (The series streams on HBO Max in 39 countries in Latin America, 21 countries across Europe and on HBO GO in SEA, HK and TW.)

 

We love to see it.  

[Mikeymoonshine]

Just to clarify I didn't criticise the choking scene because I like "stan Daemon" or want them to be in love or whatever. I just felt a bit uncomfortable seeing it. I thought

having that and a long drawn out childbirth scene in the same episode was a bit much. I get that people liked those scenes, not saying they are wrong. We've had multiple childbirth scenes this season though. I just feel like I'd rather see more actual character development with female characters and less focus on misogynistic violence and the dangers of having kids. Not saying those things shouldn't be addressed but sometimes it feels over the top. This was the ep she learned her father died, got crowned queen, was deciding whether or not to go to war, lost a son ect. Lots of ground to cover and they could have focused on that stuff a bit more. 

 

Still loved the episode overall though. 

[Memphis]

2 hours ago, Underworld said:

You forgot her

 

I did not! I didn't believe dragons could be ugly until I saw it

 

54 minutes ago, TaggedGalaxy said:

No one cares about the Madonna of dragons, an old bitter washed up hag attacking the girls that are younger and hotter than her 

[mystery]

She is so nasty!