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Monday, October 31, 2022
Of course Vision is getting his own Marvel TV show on Disney+
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George R.R. Martin rails against Hollywood making “illegitimate changes” to books
George R.R. Martin wanted House of the Dragon to begin 40 years earlier
Sunday, October 30, 2022
Saturday, October 29, 2022
Friday, October 28, 2022
Thursday, October 27, 2022
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau reacts to “smug” Lannisters in House of the Dragon
Glass Candle Dialogue: House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 10 – The Black Queen
In our dialogue for the season finale, Petra and I discuss Daemon’s disturbing behavior towards Rhaenyra, Aemond’s apparent shock that a dragon is not a slave and the tendency for fans to rage when scenes don’t go the way they expect.
Petra: Well, here we are. At the end.
Luka: Also a beginning. I’m sure we’ll have future dialogues later on dedicated to looking back on the whole season and looking forward to season two, don’t you think? I don’t want these to be over!
Petra: I’ve really enjoyed bringing the Glass Candle Dialogues back. And, yes, I have plenty of thoughts about the season as a whole and, while my predictions usually turn out wrong, there are a lot of things I’m hoping for next season.
Luka: I’m sure we’ll do a bit of that today too, that’s inevitable. But it was an eventful episode by itself, too! What was your general first impression? And did it change on subsequent viewings?
Petra: I can’t talk about this episode without addressing the leak that occurred two or three days prior to its airing. I didn’t watch the leaked episode, but I did let myself get spoiled just enough to know that Lucerys’ death was accidental. I had a few days to mull over this change without knowing how it occurs, so when I finally watched the episode it was a relief that the scene worked. There were so many ways the writers could have absolved Aemond of responsibility to keep him likable that would have felt cheap and even corny. The way the sequence, in its final form, was – I’m so sorry – executed, was really interesting.
Luka: Ba-dum TSH! And I agree. Judging by the reaction some people had when the episode leaked, I could’ve sworn that Aemond just did an oopsie and had an accidental mid-air collision with Luke. Instead of demanding he take out his own eye and stalking him on a dragon at least five times the size of Luke’s as he cackles maniacally and tells him he owes him a debt in High Valyrian. “Accidental” is not the word I’d use. The dragons do get out of control, which I find fascinating, but Aemond’s not free of blame here, is he? The dragons disobeying their riders was another strangely controversial thing I absolutely loved. We saw Drogon get more than a little bit rowdy with Dany, and hey, as the Mother of Dragons herself said, “a dragon is not a slave.” The fact that they have a mental bond doesn’t mean they riders mind-control the dragons. I don’t know where anyone got that idea.
Petra: We already knew from Game of Thrones that Targaryens started keeping their dragons in the dragonpit because they were unwieldy, but we’ve never encountered a dragon disobeying their rider during a battle before. Some people felt that Vhagar was feeding off of Aemond’s hatred and carried out Aemond’s true desire by killing Lucerys. That’s not how I read the scene. I took it more as a consequence of Aemond’s hubris, that he thought he could chase this kid around, threatening violence and nothing meaningful would come of it. He’s a bully, trapped in a sort of arrested development by thinking that actions don’t have consequences. As Rhaenys said in the premiere, the young men of Westeros have never known true war. I think, from Aemond’s perspective, this was a continuation of that Pink Dread prank: cruel but meaningless. Idiot.
Luka: I see it the same way. Aemond’s obsessed and Luke’s young, and both are inexperienced, and surely that’s part of why Arrax and Vhagar disobey them. But there’s more to it than that. This is a much more honest take on dragons than many stories in that world would have us believe… which many readers took at face value, apparently. Dragons are cool, yes. They’re awesome, in both senses of the word. But that’s not all there is to them. I’d have thought the end of Game of Thrones would have taught all of us that, but even for those who discount that ending, A Dance with Dragons offers a very similar perspective to their danger. I’ll put it like this: when George talks about dragons being nuclear weapons, what is he talking about? They’re sentient weapons of mass destruction who, whether because of their nature or magic or both, are intrinsically connected to violence, to fire and blood. A Targaryen giving in to their basest desires is them being a dragon. That’s no coincidence. A dragon wants to burn shit up and probably be left alone the rest of the time. So yes, Arrax feels threatened and spits fire at Vhagar, and the oldest dragon of the world isn’t gonna take that. It seems perfectly reasonable to me, not only in the sense of “canon” (the least interesting aspect of the conversation to me, to be perfectly honest) and character motivations but more broadly as a cautionary tale (that the characters will ignore) of what dragons really are, and as a perfect parable of how the whole Dance will go. I think it’s delightful that the dragons themselves draw first blood in the Dance of Dragons. Just perfect.
Petra: I’m curious how dragon disobedience might factor into later conflicts, if at all. Obviously, every dragon battle can’t result in an accidental fatality, but it would be odd if the dragons mellow out after this.
Luka: Oh, I don’t think they will. Other dragonriders, Daemon in particular, seem to have a much firmer grasp on their dragons… though in his case I believe it helps that his disposition is much more dragon-like than that of many others. Speaking of Daemon, he’s in another controversial scene this episode. The stans are aghast! Personally, it shocked me too, seeing Daemon treat Rhaenyra like that… but instead of being outraged and looking at it as character assassination I reconsidered how I viewed the character, and wondered why his actions shocked me at all. Looking back on the season, I don’t believe I should have been shocked, you know? Many were apparently bamboozled by Daemon “turning a new leaf” after the big time jump—that wasn’t me, to be clear; I enjoy him greatly partly because of how dark he can go. But this still shocked me… in a good way!
Luka: That said, I don’t think that moment could’ve worked for me in almost any other situation. It was a perfect combination of elements that did it: for most of the episode up to that point, Rhaenyra and Daemon have been at odds with each other about the prospect of war. Daemon believed he’d married a dragon like him, but he’s starting to see his brother in her. He literally (and publicly!) accuses her of this: “That’s your father talking.” Then comes the straw that broke the camel’s back: Rhaenyra says she’s trying to avoid plunging the realm into war because she believes she has a near-divine prophetic duty to keep it united at any cost, a prophecy passed down to her by her father. I truly believe this is the perfect mix of things that would lead Daemon to strangle Rhaenyra in anger: he’s impatient; he’s seeing a side of Rhaenyra that reminds him of the weakness he so disliked in Viserys, as much as he loved the man; and the Song of Ice and Fire makes him angry not only because it’s dream nonsense and not the real tangible things they’re discussing (“Dreams didn’t make us kings; dragons did”) but also because it means Viserys never considered him a true heir, as Daemon was never told of this. Impatience, anger, jealousy, all at once. So the scene worked for me, in this instance, but I understand if it didn’t for a lot of people (as long as it isn’t because “my sweet family man Daemon would never! ”), and I don’t think that would have made a lot of sense to me in any other circumstance, you know? The only thing that irked me is that this had never come up before. One would think this would have been addressed in six years of marriage. It stinked to me a bit of “these characters don’t exist when they’re not on-screen,” which is not thoughtful writing. Maybe Rhaenyra only feels free to pass on the information now that Viserys is dead? I accept that’s an entirely valid read, but my first impression was that it didn’t feel right.
Petra: To be honest, the fact that the prophecy is kept a secret at all doesn’t make sense. If the fate of the world is at stake why on earth wouldn’t you share that information with everybody? Especially if you’re using it to justify your family’s legitimacy as rulers. Feels like the Westerosi equivalent of the divine right of kings: “if we’re not in charge, the Others will take you.”
Luka: My only explanation for that is that they’re trying to make peace with the Faith and have historically gone to war with them over Targaryen customs. So maybe they don’t want to introduce this obviously heretical prophecy into a society who mostly believe in the Seven. I do wonder if they’ve told some Lords of Winterfell, though. One would think they would. That could be why Torrhen knelt to Aegon without a fight. Maybe we’ll know one day.
Petra: Maybe. Anyway, Daemon choking Rhaenyra was another thing I learned about through the leaks, and a lot of people were unhappy that it ruined Daemon’s character growth. I didn’t feel that way, even before I learned the context of the scene. Daemon enjoyed mutilating civilians as a Commander of the City Watch, he committed a war crime at the Stepstones and he crushed his first wife’s head in with a stone. The notion that Rhaenyra would be immune to his violence plays into the dangerous notion that she’s different, that she brings out his best self, that he’d never behave that way towards her. To be clear, Rhaenyra never says anything even remotely resembling “I can fix him.” I’m just saying, violent behavior tends to spill over into all aspects of a person’s life. And I do understand that the scene was upsetting. As much as I’m enjoying Aemond as an amoral disaster, if he choked Helaena, that would cross a line for me. I get why Daemon fans were disturbed by this episode, but acting as if Daemon didn’t already have a long history of toxic, violent behavior is just … that’s not the character that’s been written.
Luka: I do want to say, some Daemon fans were disturbed. Or rather, angered. I’m a Daemon fan, and I was disturbed, which I believe was the point of the scene, but I ended up appreciating it as a choice from the writers. When you said that “violent behavior tends to spill out into all aspects of a person’s life,” that reminded me of a Twitter thread by Julia Gfrörer I read a few days ago about the fan response: “There’s no such thing as a violent man who’s only violent towards the people who deserve it. George has been repeating this theme in his work for decades, almost to the point of tedium, and yet some of you still refuse to take it onboard. Perhaps the most seductive myth in the world is that of righteous violence. If you thought House of the Dragon of all shows was going to perpetuate it you are stupid beyond words. I really don’t know what else to say at this point. Some of you didn’t quite catch on with Daenerys. That’s okay, it happens. But to fall for it a second time! Pal, get back in the kiddie pool!” A bit harsh, maybe, but true.
Petra: Absolutely. Perfectly worded. I love morally gray characters and, of course, it’s always fun to root for the villain. For the most part I disagree with people who moralize or condemn fans for enjoying anyone but the nicest, most upstanding characters. But then we get the discourse surrounding Daemon and some of the talking points sound too reminiscent of, well, real world situations.
Luka: Right. There’s the question of how much responsibility a show—any work of art—has to balance its spectacle with the violent reality of what that spectacle represents. It’s a complicated question. Sometimes a show isn’t on the nose enough about this for most of the audience and viewers are surprised when the character they’ve been enjoying does truly awful things. The responsibility is shared, I believe, between the viewers and the show creators. The show wants to give us some cool dragon shit and other violent action while also commenting on what this violence actually is and where it leads. There’s some inherent tension in that, but some watchers just want the cool action and they feel called out when a show examines the realities of the characters perpetrating that violence. This happened with Dany. But, as I said, the writers also have a responsibility to balance the spectacle with its harsh realities. With Dany, it seems like it worked for very few people, despite the seasons in Meereen showing how she could easily go down a similar dark road in Westeros. I count myself amongst those for whom her “turn” at the end worked, but even I admit the last season needed a few more episodes to bridge that gap, emotionally. With Daemon, however, as cool as he is, I fail to see how one could miss he’s a violent, impatient, chaotic man, not built in the essentially heroic mold of Daenerys at all. So in this case I speak confidently when I say it’s some viewers’ lack of media literacy that failed their comprehension of the character, and not the other way around. That sounds harsh, but… come on, it’s the Rogue Prince! This wasn’t exactly a twist.
Petra: Daenerys had a moral agenda, at least. Personally, she lost me when she killed Mirri Maaz Duur, but I understand why the majority of readers and viewers continued to root for her as she, fundamentally, did her best to make the world a better place, even if her practices had problematic colonialist undertones. Daemon just wants to see the world burn. Literally.
Luka: I’m sure we’ll be litigating this fascinating character for years to come. I’m open to changing my mind about him, too. I’ll leave it at this: I’m quite curious about how the writers will adapt certain events in his future. But that’s for another day. Another year too, sadly. We touched on the big controversies of the finale, but I believe that’s kind of a shame, in a way, because I must say I greatly enjoyed this episode, and what it did with the characters of Rhaenyra, Rhaenys, Corlys and Luke and many others. I was even excited for the three Queensguards, as tertiary as they may be! It was a great character-focused episode, for a finale. Do you have thoughts on any of their journeys this episode?
Petra: I felt Corlys and Rhaenys’ conversation was overdue. I understand why we didn’t get more time with them in this massive, sprawling story, but it was nice for them to finally take stock of everything that’s happened to their family, and it was genuinely poignant when Corlys, of all people, decided to retire from politics only for Rhaenys to tell him that was no longer an option. As for Luke, I knew he was a dead kid walking, and I was impressed by how much personality he was given in his final episode. He’s got a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and he’s trying to do his best. His death hit me harder than I was expecting.
Luka: Me too. They had work to do this episode, didn’t they? He’d been a cute little kid, and seeing a kid die horribly would already be sad, of course, but we needed to have a bit more of a connection to him. We knew he felt uneasy about inheriting Driftmark since his conversation with his grandfather, Corlys, in “Driftmark,” but we needed this opening scene with his mother. I knew why it existed, and it still worked for me. So much weight to put on a fourteen year old, especially one who’d rather not have any of those responsibilities. Jace is an older teen and more intense, taking his responsibilities more seriously than any heir we’ve ever seen, but you can tell Luke would be much happier if he was just allowed to be a child. Poor kid. Rest in peace, my namesake! Or, in pieces? Sorry.
Petra: Usually when a character exists only to die, they’re written so blandly in an effort to make them likable that I don’t care about them. This is especially true of children who, in general, are written to act much younger than they are. This wasn’t the case with Luke. I truly got the sense that, had he lived, he would have had an interesting character arc ahead of him. Well done, Elliot Grihault.
Luka: Great work, Elliot Grihault, and may your character’s death inspire the surviving characters to do terrible deeds and destroy the House of the Dragon from within! That final shot of a vengeful Rhaenyra will stay with me for a while. I can’t wait to see where they’ll take her next season. Emma D’Arcy has done an astounding job with the character, especially these last few episodes. Everyone was going on about how Paddy Considine deserves an Emmy, and rightly so, especially since this was his only season, but D’Arcy deserves to be on that conversation too. They did great, to the very last moment of the season.
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Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Maisie Williams rewatched Game of Thrones, says it “fell off” at the end
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
The Black Queen: A House of the Dragon Twitter Recap
So with “The Black Queen,” we’ve reached the final episode of the first season of House of the Dragon, and with it, the concluding Twitter Recap. But! There’s hope on the horizon. In a mere two years, there’s more to come. And if there’s anything we’re good at in this fandom, it’s waiting…and waiting…and…waiting….C’mon, y’all, after waiting a decade for TWOW, we can do a little two-year wait standing on our heads!
This week, you cried for Lucerys, screamed at Aemond, cursed out Daemon, and cheered for Queen Rhaenyra. And yes, there was a solid round of “What the fuck”s with another terrifying birth scene. As far as TV trademark scenes go, that’s an interesting choice, but I salute their boldness.
Be patient with loading times, etcetera, etcetera and so forth. Thank you all for reading and joining the live tweeting fun this season! We couldn’t do it without you. We love this fandom so much. You really are the greatest one around.
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House of the Dragon season 1 concludes with strong ratings
The first season of House of the Dragon came to a strong finish with roughly 9.3 millions viewers across all platforms.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, this turnout is slightly lower than that of earlier episodes in the season, but it’s hardly a fumble. Each episode of House of the Dragon has averaged 29 million viewers, which, for context, is higher than the viewership for all but two of Game of Thrones‘ seasons.
“We’re so thrilled to see House of the Dragon catch fire with Game of Thrones fans around the world, as well as new viewers who are discovering the world of Westeros for the first time,” Casey Bloys, the chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max said in a statement. “Congrats to George, Ryan, Miguel and the whole House of the Dragon team on an incredible first season.”
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Author Olivie Blake tells us about The Atlas Paradox and The Atlas Six TV show
Monday, October 24, 2022
House of the Dragon Post-Mortem of “The Black Queen”
All good things must come to an end, and the first season of House of the Dragon is no exception. In the finale, “The Black Queen,” Team Rhaenyra learns of the death of Viserys and Aegon’s coronation…and then the hits just keep on coming. It’s time to settle in for the long wait for season two, but first let’s fly like Vhagar is on our tail (too soon?) straight into today’s interviews and videos!
Matt Smith describes his character to The LA Times, saying whether Daemon is a sociopath or lovable rogue “depends on what side of the bed he gets out on. I think he’s just an agent of chaos in many respects…I was trying not to be too black and white about him.” He adds, “I think he has a sense of duty to his family, weirdly. I think he’d lie on his sword for his brother or Rhaenyra. He’s got a weird moral compass — perverse and strange, but nevertheless, there is a set of laws that he’s guided by. Where he feels alive is in that lane of chaos and anxiety and madness. He lives on a knife’s edge, all the time.”
Speaking of Rhaenyra, what does Smith think attracts Daemon to her? “There is a deep but consistent pull towards one another for a whole host of reasons. It’s never just one thing. It’s hard because you’re asking me to comment on the relationship, but actually, I don’t really think of it in those terms. You just do it and let other people decipher it. It’s about giving over to the audience and letting them pick what it is. We’re just the vehicles.”
“You can’t really have too much of an opinion on someone like Daemon because otherwise you’d never represent him with an even hand, because he does so much bad.” That may be so, but apparently it’s working for him. When asked why Daemon doesn’t seem to age, Smith remarks, “He’s always eating his greens. Gets lots of sleep. And doesn’t give a flying f—.” Good advice for us all.
Be sure to read the full article here.
The finale saw the return of the Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon. Steve Toussaint explains Corlys’ mindset after his absence to TV Line. Regarding his desire to stay out of the conflict and just live out their lives, he says, “I think, at the very moment he says it, he believes it. He believes I made these moves, they didn’t work out…but fundamentally I don’t think that’s who he is.” He continues, “I don’t think [Rhaenys] believes it of him, either…there’s a moment when she says something like, ‘No, no, wait. No. We can’t just… we’re too far in this. We have to follow this through and be part of this.’ There’s a slight moment in him that thinks, ‘Ah, OK! Cool!’ When he wakes up, he’s saying what he thinks she wants to hear, as opposed to how he really feels. And she surprises him.”
How does Toussaint envision their relationship evolving as they move forward? “I haven’t had those discussions yet with Ryan and the team…But then also, there is something about Rhaenys that those last three or four episodes have shown: There is a wildness under her that is unleashed. And it may be that for the first part of this first season, she is the restraining power within the couple. ‘We don’t do that, Corlys. We’re fine. We’re happy.’ The tables may turn and she may be the one that’s much more gung-ho and much more racing ahead to do stuff. It’s be interesting to see how that goes.”
Toussaint also shares his thoughts on why Corlys and Rhaenys back Rhaenyra. “When Viserys says ‘My heir will be Rhaenyra,’ much as Corlys may disagree with it, he is still a stickler for propriety. If the king has named his heir, then that’s who it is. It doesn’t matter how you feel…I believe that Corlys is like, ‘OK, that’s what has been said. That’s the law of the land, and we are honor-bound to support that.’ I think that’s what leads to his decision — along with his wife, obviously — in the final episode to say, ‘OK, we’ll ally with them.'”
Read the rest at TV Line.
Showrunner Ryan Condal makes the rounds at several outlets. First up, he tells Entertainment Weekly that it was always the intent to close the season with Luke’s death. “The thing that really pushes [the Targaryen conflict] over the edge, because it now involves people outside of just House Targaryen, is this act of war that happens over Storm’s End. It was fairly apparent right from the outset that was where [the endpoint] had to be.”
“The war is called the Dance of the Dragons, and this is the first dragon fight that has happened since Old Valyria,” Condal explains. “So the fact that is the first shot, to me, made it an almost necessary end point for the first season. Aegon seizes Rhaenyra’s crown and throne claim here, but now the stakes have gone up to this point. What’s going to happen next? It’s such a great precipice to leave everybody on going into the second season.”
Condal elaborates on the dragon sequence to Variety, saying, “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.”
He adds, “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?” It’s a shame we’ll have to wait so long to find out!
Check out both interviews here and here.
Over at Deadline, Condal remarks that it wasn’t the intent to bookend the season with dead Targaryen babies, but that “there’s a lot of beautiful symmetry in this season. It also began with a dragon ride and ended with a dragon ride. There’s a lot of symbolism to take from it. But yes, I think we realized in the domino-ing of events that happened in the final episode, one aspect was linking the horrific birth that goes terribly wrong in the pilot with another horrific birth that goes wrong in the finale. It’s mother and daughter…It’s a nice piece of symmetry that we did not see at the outset.”
He also address the somewhat controversial decision to have Daemon choke Rhaenyra. “That is an incredibly shocking scene and honestly, one of my favorite scenes of the finale that is beautifully performed by Emma [D’arcy] and Matt [Smith]…That primal danger is always lurking beneath the surface, and it just happened to come out in that moment. It was made very obvious to him that his brother never really regarded him as the true heir of the throne. That infuriates him. It’s the worst hurt that he could experience to learn that Viserys kept [the prophecy] from him, that he so willingly shared with Rhaenyra. It just breaks Daemon in that moment, and that’s how he reacts.” No one ever said Daemon is a good guy, folks.
Finally, Condal speaks with The New York Times about the reception the show has received. “I was surprised in a happy way about how quickly everybody embraced it. I really thought it was going to be more of a hill to climb because we were following the Beatles, and how do you do that? You don’t. You just try to do your own thing, and hope it connects with people. But I was shocked that people came right out the gate and accepted it, generally — this massive fandom, and tens of millions of people watching the show, and writing about it and talking about it.”
He goes on to discuss the divisive nature of the story he’s telling. “We live in a world where people need to pick sides. Particularly in America…we live in this incredibly charged political environment, where every decision that’s made has to have a blue or red flag over it, and there has to be a side taken. That’s slowly what this story becomes.” He adds, “Because it’s an escapist fantasy that has characters with dragons and swords and magic, I think there’s a real need for the audience to find a side within it, and find black hats and white hats, good guys and bad guys. They’re welcome to, but what you’ll find in watching the show is that the side you’re on is likely going to change as the story evolves.” It seems most people are firmly entrenched on Team Green or Team Black for now, but I suppose time will tell.
Go to Deadline and NYT for more.
In this week’s “Inside the Episode,” showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, director Greg Yaitanes, and cast members Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, and Ewan Mitchell discuss the Blacks’ reaction to the death of Viserys and the usurpation of Rhaenyra’s throne, and how the stage is set for war.
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House of the Dragon Review/Recap Roundup Season 1 Episode 10 – The Black Queen
Episode 10s in the Game of Thrones universe historically process the insanity that happened in episode 9 at a slower pace, so that we as an audience can digest what happened last week, and watch the pieces get put into place for next season. Did House of the Dragon episode 10 follow suit in its forebear’s tradition? Did the critics of the Internet play along? Did they like it? Did I like it? All this and more can be found within. Who am I? It’s me from just last week. Silly you; you knew that! Every week, for each new episode of HOTD, I deconstruct the multitude of reviews out there, boiling them down to one short summary sentence that will perfectly encapsulate what the original author was saying, no questions asked…and by that I mean that I deconstruct whole essays down to one sentence apiece, often quoting them verbatim. So don’t @ me!
What I will do is attempt to summarize the original review as best I can, and if my tease whets your appetite for their style of review, you are encouraged to head over to their site and let them know…after of course letting us know your thoughts in the comments below. At the bottom, I will summarize my review of the reviewers’ reviews.
All squared? Jolly good, let’s dive in.
What did the Internet think of HBO’s House of the Dragon episode 10, “The Black Queen?” Hey, here’s a recommendation: Before you dive into any of these other critics I’ve rounded up (pfft – boring! Who would do that/write about that/etc.?), why don’t you check out Sue’s recap of last night’s episode? Once you’ve done that, here’s what the rest of the Internet had to say about last night’s episode:
Alec Bojalad, Den of Geek – In which not much can truly prepare you as a viewer for a graphic and tragic depiction of a miscarriage.
Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone – In which Ryan Condal has all the money in the world, so he is racing to get to the flashier stuff without fretting nearly as much on the foundation on which this House rests, and until the people matter as much as the dragons, the prequel will have a hard time living up to the show that inspired it. (Insert from David – I should note that Alan FREQUENTLY criticized “the show that inspired it” when it was airing…..Cool.)
Aja Romano, Vox – In which it’s hard not to find the whole thing anticlimactic, even if the episode does culminate in an explosive moment.
Belen Edwards, Mashable – In which the kinslaying is a preventable tragedy, as well as a reminder of just how powerful dragons are.
Daniel Van Boom, CNET – In which it’ll be a long journey ahead, and House of the Dragon’s first season was a good start.
Glen Weldon, NPR – In which the characters on the show are drawn with a lot more nuance and ambivalence than their comparatively sketchy and ruthless counterparts in Fire & Blood.
Helen O’Hara, IGN – In which the emotional impact of this finale shows that all that ground-laying has established characters to care about and invest in, and kicks off the Dance of the Dragons in earnest with the best action scene of the season.
Hillary Kelly, Vulture – In which after an entire season of war reports from the allegedly integral Stepstones, they finally do matter.
Jeremy Egner, New York Times – In which it was a stirring, often moving season finale that included many of the show’s signature elements as it set up the Dance of the Dragons.
Jenna Scherer, AV Club – In which in the infodump to end all infodumps, showrunner Ryan J. Condal squeezes in enough information to make a grand maester’s head spin.
Kim Renfro, Insider – In which the show went with a much more solemn, tragic route instead of inserting any supernatural elements to Rhaenyra’s baby, as the book did.
Kimberly Roots, TVLine – In which HOTD brings us to the precipice of a legendary entanglement and then dragon-dives us right into the fray.
Lauren Sarner, New York Post – In which Aemond “One-eye” Targaryen has just made sure that everyone in HOTD is now hurtling towards death.
Meghan O’ Keefe, Decider – In which Cregan Stark is hands down one of the coolest characters in this entire saga and it’s exciting that we might get to meet him (and some other members of his family) next season.
Rob Bricken, Gizmodo – In which everything you need to know is stated in in Emma D’Arcy’s unbelievable body language as Rhaenyra’s knees buckle, staggering at the news, and how the Black Queen twists in rage and pain and anguish to face the camera, declaring war better than the word ever could.
Sean T. Collins, Rolling Stone – In which it’s directed with keen attention to color and composition by Greg Yaitanes.
Zach Kram, The Ringer – In which the finale bookends its pilot episode, when Rhaenyra’s mother died in childbirth.
Summary: Episode 10’s The Black Queen ended the season in rousing good form that didn’t rankle many feathers. Some were surprised by Daemon’s sudden marital violence, while others indicated his duplicitousness was there along. Some found Rhaenyra’s miscarriage gratuitous, while others thought it essential. Nearly everyone liked the Aemond/Vhaegar vs. Lucerys/Arrax dragon rider chase sequence. People are excited for season 2.
My Review: I thought the season finale lived up to its potential, on the backs of a season full of buildup, and sent us into the off season with much to talk about. As always, the music killed, and the cinematography in this episode was notably better than some of the episodes along the way. There are numerous changes to the entire trajectory of the season I personally would have made, but I am not the showrunner. With the season finale that we DID get, I was extremely happy, and thought it was appropriately tense. I was thrilled to return to Westeros after all these years, can’t wait to see what we get next. Emmy noms for Paddy Considine, Milly Alcock, and Emma D’Arcy please. Thanks for reading all season – hope to see you around!
Well, anyway what do you make of these reviews/recaps? Sound off in the comments below, politely, but with a firmly gloved hand. Just don’t throw any gloves.
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Sunday, October 23, 2022
House of the Dragon delivers a solid finale that pulls one too many punches
House of the Dragon Season Finale “The Black Queen” Recap
The Dance of the Dragons has truly begun. And the first casualties cut right to the heart of the Black Queen herself in tonight’s season finale of House of the Dragon.
Spoiler Note: This recap and the comments section may contain mild spoilers from George R.R. Martin’s novels and Westeros histories, whether or not that material has appeared on the show yet. If you have not read the books and wish to remain completely Unsullied, we encourage you to check out our non-book-reader recap by Oz of Thrones!
At Dragonstone, Lucerys Velaryon views Driftmark on the Painted Table, and ponders his future as Lord of High Tide, with his grandfather Corlys still injured and recovering. Rhaenyra reassures her son and remembers her uncertainty when she was named heir.
Rhaenys arrives to Dragonstone with news of the king’s death, and Aegon’s coronation. Rhaenyra is shocked at the turn of events, and Daemon is angry (much like the viewing audience) that Rhaenys didn’t burn everyone to the ground when she had the opportunity to do so and end the coup.
The news has other consequences: Rhaenyra goes into early labor, and it doesn’t go well. While she labors in agony, Daemon begins strategizing with their allied lords. Rhaenyra summons her sons Jace and Luke to her and gives them the big news. She has her eldest Jace carry her orders to her husband; hubby is less than pleased to be restrained by his wife. The birthing ends in tragedy, with Rhaenyra producing a disfigured stillborn child.
The child is laid to rest in a traditional fiery Targaryen funeral. Ser Erryk Cargyll arrives from King’s Landing, with Viserys’ crown and vows to serve Rhaenyra. Daemon crowns her and kneels; the crowd (all except Rhaenys) kneel to their queen.
Now the planning begins in earnest, with Team Black assessing their allies and where they stand with everyone. House Baratheon has a new lord who may need “reminding” of his father’s oath. Daemon suggests harnessing the power of a handful of riderless dragons. Meanwhile Otto Hightower shows up at Dragonstone with an offer for Rhaenyra: she can surrender and keep Dragonstone- or else. He presents her with a note from Alicent – a page from their shared Nymeria book- to soften her up. She agrees to consider the offer.
Discussing the offer, Daemon and Rhaenyra argue and he becomes furious with her for actually considering it. He chokes her in his ire. She mentions the prophecy of ice and fire, and she realizes that Viserys never shared Aegon’s dream with Daemon.
At Corlys’ bedside, Rhaenys stews over his return- and his previous absence at war. As he awakes, she catches him up on what he’s missed and informs him of his brother Vaemond’s death. Corlys, now more reflective than six years before, rues his previous ambitions.
Corlys joins Rhaenyra and the lords in their council and brings some much needed straight talking to the affair. Her talk of “hope” is all well and good but it won’t go far. Corlys pledges his ships and his support for her cause. But Rhaenyra is now more cautious. She decides to send her sons as envoys to gather the support of House Baratheon and House Stark.
Rhaenyra sends Jace to Cregan Stark at Winterfell, and Luke to Borros Baratheon at Storm’s End, to remind them of their oaths to her. She makes her sons swear not to fight and act only as messengers, before sending her boys off on their dragons.
In a cave somewhere on Dragonstone, Daemon coos and sings, summoning forth a massive beast- the dragon Vermithor, riderless since Jaehaerys I.
At Storm’s End, Luke lands to find he’s not the only royal messenger. Prince Aemond Targaryen and his dragon Vhagar are there too. Unfortunately the new king Aegon has made a better offer in his message, offering the gruff Lord Baratheon a bride with his alliance. Unable to match the offer, young Luke can only retreat. Aemond seizes the chance for vengeance, demanding an eye for an eye and revealing his missing one has been replaced with a bright sapphire. Baratheon sends both Luke and Aemond out of Storm’s End before the situation escalates.
Luke flies off on his young dragon Arrax, knowing he’s in danger. The skies over Storm’s End are aptly stormy. It’s not long before he realizes Aemond is on his tail with the huge dragon Vhagar, taunting him and laughing. Luke is able to dodge and get away with his faster and slimmer dragon, zipping into canyons and tighter spaces.
Arrax is feisty and spits fire at the cranky old Vhagar and that may be their undoing. Because Vhagar is really pissed now. Just as Luke and Arrax seem to be flying free of the storm and safely away, Luke looks up to see the mouth of Vhagar coming down on him and Arrax. Ignoring Aemond’s orders telling him “NO!” the older dragon chomps down. Aemond can only watch as Luke and Arrax are destroyed and fall from the sky.
At Dragonstone, Daemon delivers the news to his wife that her son has fallen. Rhaenyra turns to the flames for a moment, and then turns back to face the world, with tears in her eyes.
Season Finale Thoughts
The Opening Credits: Okay it’s been an entire season and I can safely say, I still don’t care for them. The blood is gross and too literal to be interesting, and the symbols shouldn’t be impossible to decipher for a casual viewer. While they are an absolute treat for the hardcore Fire & Blood reader or Targaryen stan, they’re meaningless to everyone else.
Cregan Stark, here we come! The fancasting and fake announcements rumor mill will be lit.
Dragonseeds, here we come! With Daemon seeking out Vermithor, we can start speculating on how much (and which) of them we’ll see in season two.
The Return of Devilish Daemon: Daemon’s nasty reputation seemed to ease up mid-season and it looked like we were getting a more playful version of the man. (Sure he killed Vaemond but they’re enemies in a conflict.) The finale obliterated that idea with him choking Rhaenyra in a shocking act that will piss off a lot of his fans for sure. He did kill his first wife after years of loathing her, so it’s not that much of a shock though, is it? He was right though when he told Rhaenys she should’ve dracarys’d all the Greens. He’s not nice but he’s right sometimes. That’s a dark gray character for ya.
Reach the stars and fly a fantasy: That sequence with Aemond, Luke and their dragons was some dark NeverEnding Story shit, wasn’t it? It was so tightly directed, I couldn’t tear my eyes away for a second. If I didn’t already know that Luke was doomed from the book, I would’ve believed he was getting away thanks to Arrax’s swiftness against Vhagar’s unwieldy bulk. That’s what I want to see in a dance with dragons.
Stormy grays over Storm’s End: Don’t tell us it was too dark if you watched it on a 360p pirated leak version. Not that there was a leak. What leak? Never mind.
A dragon is not a slave: To quote Dany. And they aren’t your family dog either. Dragons may have a strong bond with their human, but they don’t obey them all the time. I think that’s especially true when they’re facing somthing that goes against their own nature or self-preservation. Vhagar resisted the urge to dracarys Laena when first ordered (for obvious reasons), requiring a few commands, and she ignored Aemond in the heat of battle after being flame-attacked by Arrax. I think it makes dragons more interesting when they’re unpredictable and subject to whims, rather than dragons being mindless beasts with nukes at their disposal. Accepting that he didn’t want Vhagar to commit that one act doesn’t let Aemond off the hook for his behavior; he was determined to take Luke’s eye at Storm’s End and then he chased him all over the sky, with sociopathic laughter. HOTD is adding complexity to all the characters, and that includes the dragons.
The No-Hats Policy: Remember how no one on GoT wore face-obscuring hats or helmets ever, even when they should and we kinda made fun of it? (Well, I did.) Well now they’re wearing helmets properly all the time and I think it’s probably making it difficult for some viewers to realize who is who. When the twins were glaring at each other on the bridge at Dragonstone it occurred to me that if I didn’t anticipate this was going to happen, I might be puzzled as to why the camera was focusing in on two Kingsguard squinting a bit. Because the helms completely covered their faces. And of course teen-Laenor was covered by his helm when he rode his dragon, and there are some other examples….Anyway, the No-Hat Policy might need softening.
Emmy for Emma: There’s been a lot of talk about Paddy, but spare a thought for Emma D’Arcy come awards season. Because they carried this heavy episode (and a few other episodes too). They are the Black Queen, and a wonderful discovery for House of the Dragon.
Valar Morghulis
Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault): A final tribute… Handsome, wise, strong. Let us drain our cups to this strong boy!
Arrax (dragon): Poor baby. He never had a chance against Meemaw Vhagar.
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House of the Dragon Season 1 Finale The Black Queen – Open Chat
After the long and winding road to the Game of Thrones spinoff, it’s hard to believe we’ve reached this point, but it’s time for the season finale of House of the Dragon.
Episode title: “The Black Queen”
Written by Ryan Condal
Directed by Greg Yaitanes
Runtime: 62 minutes
Content Warnings: TV-MA: Adult Content, Adult Language, Graphic Violence, Nudity
Episode 10 Video Preview
Episode 10 Preview Photos
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House of the Dragon Episode 10 live stream (“The Black Queen”): Watch online
Saturday, October 22, 2022
Black Adam producers reveals how shocking end credits cameo came together
Black Panther 2 had a different story before Chadwick Boseman’s death
Friday, October 21, 2022
The Night’s Cast: House of the Dragon Ep 9, “The Green Council”
The King is dead. Long live the Q… uh, King? In “The Green Council,” the Greens conspire and successfully steal Rhaenyra’s throne (for now) and will likely face significant backlash from the Blacks as we head into the finale on Sunday.
On this week’s episode of the Night’s Cast, Vanessa and Petra discuss character motivations (or lack thereof), choices and their consequences, and who really cares about the smallfolk anyway?
The podcast is available on iTunes and SoundCloud, and you can follow us on Twitter as well. Happy listening!
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
House of the Dragon: Fabien Frankel thinks Criston Cole still loves Rhaenyra
Glass Candle Dialogue: House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 9 – The Green Council
This week, Luka and I discuss Alicent’s motivations, the scavenger hunt for Aegon, and how to feel about Rhaenys crashing that coronation ceremony.
Luka: “The Green Council” has been very well reviewed, but it looks like a certain portion of the fandom didn’t like it that much. Where do you stand, overall?
Petra: I really enjoyed it. I like this idea of dedicating an entire episode to characters we’re implicitly supposed to oppose. The aspect of the story I’ve latched onto most is the generational nature of the conflict; the way Rhaenyra and Alicent have passed their trauma onto their children. So, I’m most invested when House of the Dragon focuses on Aegon, Aemond, Helaena and, though they weren’t in this episode, Jace, Luke, Baela and Rhaena.
Luka: This may be the episode I’ve changed my mind about the most. Having read Fire and Blood, I had different expectations for how it’d be structured; I expected more Green Council, and less searching for Aegon. On my first watch, that made me impatient and led me to miss (or at least not to truly feel) what those scenes were accomplishing. Which was a lot. It was the heart of the episode! On second watch, knowing what was coming, I thought it was actually well-paced. I’d like to ask you something, following up from last week: you weren’t sure about how Alicent believing that Viserys changed his mind about Aegon would affect her character. You thought it may make her feel, well, dumb. Do you like it more now that we’ve seen her reaction and that of everyone else around her?
Petra: I certainly felt vindicated that no one else seems to believe her, not even those who benefit from it like Otto. I was surprised by how much Aegon telling his mother she’s wrong ingratiated him to me. He isn’t likable, but at least he’s willing to acknowledge the emperor has no clothes. As for Alicent … boy, I don’t know what to think of her. I wouldn’t say I thought her reaction last week made her seem dumb, but it introduced new elements to her motivation that I felt we didn’t need. She told Aegon in episode six that he should take the throne, yet this episode she behaves as if this is a course of actions she’s only just considered. She seemed shocked and angry that Otto and the other members of the Small Council had been planning a coup without telling her. For sixteen years she’s treated it as a foregone conclusion that Rhaenyra will kill her children once Viserys dies, yet now, thanks to their brief reconciliation, she’s concerned for Rhaenyra’s safety?
Luka: But that’s the thing: Alicent is all about propriety and legitimacy. Of course she is shocked that Otto and the Small Council had been planning a coup, because a coup is not what she wanted; especially not a violent one. What she wanted until the very last moment was for Viserys to realize Rhaenyra was “trouble” and make Aegon heir. I thought Cooke played it so well: every single time she tells someone about Viserys’s deathbed confession, you can tell she’s convincing herself of it, hanging on those words for dear life because that’s what she needs to believe to justify herself. Of course, no one believes her, even among those who are happy to use her words as a story to prop up Aegon. This difference between Alicent and Otto and the rest of the Greens proves true for the crux of the episode: the race to find Aegon. The Greens may be one party, but they’re not a monolith, which is a wise adaptation choice. Alicent wants to offer good terms Alicent believes Rhaenyra may accept “without shame.” It’s not just to save face; she wants to “do it right.” Otto, in turn, wants to storm Dragonstone, take Rhaenyra and the Blacks by surprise, and imprison them only to execute them when they inevitably refuse to bend the knee. In Fire and Blood, Aegon II is the one who wants to do the latter, and Alicent and Helaena convince him to offer Rhaenyra terms of surrender instead. This, I thought, was a beautiful expansion of that, making Alicent much more of a three-dimensional, complicated character who makes decisions in her own right. Partly spurred by Rhaenys’s dig at her, of course. That was such a beautifully written scene, by the way, and one crucial to understand Alicent’s struggle: “You desire not to be free, but to make a window on the wall of your prison.”
Petra: That scene was fantastic. Rhaenys put words to what I had been feeling, that Alicent remains indentured to men however much she talks about the importance of soft power. In some ways, their conversation makes me feel better about the deathbed confession because it acknowledges, makes a thematic point, of Alicent not breaking bad, not having her, “I am through being polite, goddammit!” moment. As we see in her interactions with Criston Cole and, um, Larys, her power is entirely contingent on the men in her life allowing her to have power.
Luka: So disturbing. And not because of the fetish. I feel like we gets to live through Alicent’s perspective in this episode, and what a sad perspective it is.
Petra: I’m also not crazy about how it further reduces Larys to his disability. The man with the clubfoot has a foot fetish? C’mon, guys.
Luka: I hadn’t even made that connection! Is that on purpose? If so, yeah, it’s a bit unsavory, at the very least, especially for a character who’s so sinister already and one of the only disabled characters. Besides Aemond, I suppose.
Petra: Thus far, Aemond does not seem to be entirely defined by his missing eye. I may change my mind after next episode, but so far he’s got dimensionality beyond what happened to him as a kid. Also, I can’t tell you how vindicating it is, after years of going it (mostly) alone as a Theon fan, to favor a character that other people also like. The Aemond memes have been delightful.
Luka: I guess Theon just needed a cool eyepatch! Speaking of Aemond, I’ve seen some befuddlement as to why he and Ser Criston were sent by Alicent to search for Aegon separately from Otto’s men, the Cargyll twins. I saw some people who were so confused about the premise of the race that they thought Otto wanted to have Aegon killed for some reason. I thought it was clear, but seeing so many people miss the point makes me think it’s a flaw in the script, direction, and/or editing. Were the stakes of the race for Aegon established well enough for you?
Petra: I initially got confused on who set Mysaria’s house on fire, thinking it was Otto, only later realizing it was Larys at Alicent’s behest. But I followed the logic that whichever side found Aegon would be the one to decide Rhaenyra’s fate.
Luka: Exactly! At the Green Council, Alicent realized Otto would do whatever he wanted when she saw they’d been planning behind her back and when, despite her protestations, he ordered Westerling to “take” Rhaenyra. Then she learned he’d sent the twins to retrieve Aegon, so she saw the only way to force her father to follow her plan: if she got to her son before Otto, she’d have an ace up her sleeve; if she could have Aegon safely stashed away, Otto would have to agree to her plan to offer Rhaenyra fair terms instead of stabbing her in the back. No king, no coup.
Petra: Ironic that Aemond was on the mission for a peaceful transfer of power.
Luka: Right! Aemond’s not exactly the best steward for his mother’s goal of making Aegon king while saving Rhaenyra’s life. His heart isn’t on it, to say the least. Still, mine was! It felt like a suspenseful cat-and-mouse thriller. The race for Aegon also made me think of how Aegon is a prop not unlike all other Targaryen regalia: Alicent tells Otto they need to legitimize Aegon’s rule by using the Conqueror’s crown and sword, and they hold the coronation in the historic Dragonpit in front of hundreds of thousands of people, and the funny thing is they’re using Aegon the same way, as a prop! Just like it is with whoever has the throne, the crown, Blackfyre, and other symbols of power, whoever holds Aegon has the power too. He’s just another symbol! The question is: are any of these symbols enough? Doesn’t Rhaenys show them how useless they are when faced with true power? It’s a more subtle thing, but Mysaria alludes to another form of true power: the consent of the people, which the highborn ignore to their detriment, as I’m sure we’ll witness in future seasons. I saw this episode as an enactment of Varys’s parable: “Power resides where men believe it resides. It’s a trick— A shadow on the wall.”
Petra: It was also an example of Alicent forcing her child into the role of political pawn just like her father forced her. It’s all so toxic and superficial, both on a political level and a familial one.
Luka: Or, in other words, “You imbecile!”
Petra: That was something, wasn’t it? The way she smiled when she said it, I wondered if she meant it as a sort of joke: “You imbecile, you need to ask?” But in context, Aegon clearly does need to ask. Thinking back to the third episode, I think it’s a bit odd that they introduced Aegon into the story as this child who was showered with love and preferential treatment because of his sex, only to have him grow into this sullen asshat due to emotional deprivation.
Luka: Viserys, man… “My only child,” he told Rhaenyra. Obviously his mind was addled at that point, but I think that only revealed how he felt in his heart. He seemed to regard his children with Alicent more like nephews or grandchildren, really. It’s not a wonder to me that Aegon turned out like that. You said it first, but I feel sorry for the guy, despite him being a rapist asshole, which is good writing in my book. They’re not writing a moralistic fable here. Some of the takes I’ve read… look, I don’t even want to go there. But yes, getting to know Aegon much better, as well as Aemond and to a lesser extent Helaena, was a big part of why the long search for the prince worked for me. It gave us room to learn about Alicent’s children, about Alicent’s rift from her father, about what Mysaria’s deal may be, about where four of the seven Kingsguards will position themselves in this schism, and more. Now, I suppose it’s time to move on to the coronation, isn’t it?
Petra: Grand ceremonies do not end well in Westeros. What’s your take on Rhaenys’ splashy entrance?
Luka: The main criticism seems to be that Rhaenys sure killed a whole bunch of folk only to then not kill the very people whose death could avoid the upcoming civil war. At first I was mixed on it myself, but I realized that mostly came from foreknowledge I have that Rhaenys lacks. She hasn’t read Fire and Blood. She doesn’t know she’s in a TV show which must surely lead to a civil war (or else why would they be telling this story?). So I think it’s perfectly fine that she doesn’t have Meleys incinerate the Greens right there and then, as tempted as she obviously is. It wasn’t a random usurping king standing on that podium: it was half of Rhaenys’s family and reigning dynasty; her late cousin’s wife and queen; the entire Small Council, including a lord and two brothers of some of the richest and most influential lords, and Grand Maester Orwyle from the Citadel; and, of course, Septon Eustace of the Faith of the Seven. Killing them would avoid a war with the Greens present there… but it would make a whole lot of enemies, and it would mean committing some of the most heinous crimes in that world: multiple counts of kinslaying and regicide; and blasphemy, I suppose, for killing the Septon. The highborn take those things much more seriously than killing a few hundred civilians. So instead she sends a message, showing them true power in contrast to all the empty symbols Alicent and Otto have gathered there.
Luka: Still, characters aren’t pieces on a board: Rhaenys has good personal reasons not to incinerate them all; characters don’t and shouldn’t act as rational actors always. That would be boring and robot-like. Having her waver is not inconsistant writing; it’s people, us, who are inconsistent. But even if Rhaenys was a perfectly rational decision-making machine, there were good reasons not to do it. I don’t believe killing them all would’ve necessarily avoided a war, as I said, but even if we accept that, then so could’ve the Greens by secretly assassinating Rhaenyra at any point in the last twenty years; so could Rhaenyra by storming the city with dragons now, or by having Otto killed years before. There have been many such murderous opportunities! The single difference I can spot is this was a show original, a departure from Fire and Blood. There’s a reason none of those things happened: typically, leaders, as much in Westeros as in the times the story is inspired by and in our own times, are much more willing to kill hundreds of thousands of people, or even millions, if it’s done in a way that’s considered “proper” and legitimate.
Petra: I appreciated the scene as a microcosm of the Dance, in that a character we’re intended to like massacres smallfolk to send a message to her enemies whom she doesn’t kill because their lives have value. Even so, the scene felt messy to me. I know Rhaenys doesn’t care about the smallfolk, but she does seriously damage the Dragonpit, a significant architectural landmark in King’s Landing, just to send a non-lethal warning before flying off through a very narrow door … it just didn’t work for me. It felt like spectacle over substance.
Luka: On that we can agree. I’m fine with the decision she makes; my problems with the scene stem from how it was all framed and executed. To start with, I honestly believe they went too far with the visual effects of Meleys bursting from the closed arena gates. It’s a large dragon, but not that large. So much destruction wasn’t necessary, and I don’t mean morally; I mean I don’t think that would’ve happened and the producers decided to go so big just because it’d be shocking and spectacular. Which it was! Although, funnily enough, we don’t actually see that many people die, because of all of that smoke. Meleys strikes two people with her tail, and later when the smoke dissipates we see a few dozen corpses on the floor. But that initial explosion made it seem like hundreds or even thousands may have died, which I’m not sure was on purpose, you know? The messiness of it was more about the execution than character motivations, to me.
Petra: As with so many things, I think I’ll be alright with the scene if it has consequences later. It certainly gives the smallfolk of King’s Landing a reason to dislike team Black and dragons in general. It’s similar to how Alicent and Larys’ decision to burn Mysaria’s house down likely drives her over to team Black. Underestimating the power of the smallfolk is a mistake, as Mysaria tells Otto.
Luka: For sure. I’ve seen a ton of people angry at the writers for answering questions about Rhaneys killing civilians with a joke, but honestly, I don’t know what else they can do except jovially avoid the question. They’re not gonna spoil what’s coming, are they? Who knows, maybe there’s a certain shepherd who lost an arm in this attack. We’ll have to wait and see!
Petra: I haven’t put much stock in the behind the scenes interviews since Ryan Condal and Claire Kilner gave contradicting explanations for why Daemon opted out of having sex with Rhaenyra in episode 4 “King of the Narrow Sea.” I enjoy Inside the Episode featurettes, but I don’t look to them as a source of canonical truth. Although, speaking of canonical truth, I would be delighted if Aemond got confirmed as Jahaerys and Jahaera’s father.
Luka: My new favorite theory! Obviously he seems to like and respect Helaena much more than his older brother does; he was willing to marry her because Aegon didn’t want to in “Driftmark.” So I can totally see it. And this episode offered a few good clues in this direction, too. It’s a “let’s wait and see,” for future seasons if it’s gonna happen at all, but I’d like it, especially knowing some of the things that are coming.
Petra: Coming as soon as next episode. No spoilers, but I absolutely cannot wait for this scene.
Luka: It’s all very exciting, although we can’t really tease much without spoiling. I’d like to ask you something about the future that none of us can know about because it’s not from the source material, in which at this point Ser Harrold Westerling is long dead: is he doing a Barristan, or what? I didn’t expect him to survive. I thought he’d be victim number two right after Beesbury (oh, Brave Beesbury!) Do you think we’ll see Ser Harrold in the finale? Will we have to wait for future seasons? Is it possible he’s just out and won’t appear again? That’d be crazy, right?
Petra: Surely they’ve kept him alive for a reason. I don’t remember from Fire and Blood, so this is genuine speculation, not a veiled spoiler, but I wonder if he’ll pop back up to help the Blacks infiltrate the Red Keep, or something.
Luka: It feels nice not to know, sometimes. Sadly, we know some of what’s coming next week. I’m as excited for it as I’m dreading it!
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