It's funny, I've been extremely critical of Viserys and even I felt sorry for him in this episode. What did it for me was that he demonstrated a great degree of self awareness. He sees he's made mistakes and a mess of some things. I loved the scene with the stag as a glimpse at Viserys. Paddy Considine played it so well. You could tell he was reluctant to kill the stag, because he could see the whole thing as the farce that it was. But like most things during his reign, he just went through the motions, and then botched it too. Then we even got all the fake applause. Was really impressed with that scene.

It's interesting how they've made parallels between Rhaenyra and Daemon. Viserys doesn't know how to handle either one, and yet those are the two he should be working most closely with. Yet, if they had some of the same patience and savvy as Alicent, I think they could really influence Viserys. It's not in their nature though. Rhaenyra is not to blame much because she's young, and she could evolve. Daemon is just a one way street and hasn't learned to use a different approach with his brother.

The scene where Viserys offered his reassurance to Rhaenyra while touching on its surface, had a lot of foreboding to it for me. He admitted that he had doubts at one point about her, but now he was fully committed. My immediate thought was, well if her own father wavered, how is the realm going to accept her? The actress is doing a great job of portraying the isolation and frustration Rhaenyra feels with her current position.

We got our first battle sequence and it was well done. Although Miguel Sapochnik didn't direct the episode, as co-showrunner you could still see his hand in it. Matt Smith does work as an action hero too, which was good to see. Although I wouldn't call Daemon a hero here since it was really a suicide mission. It's telling that he'd rather risk dying than not winning the war on his own terms.

Two small things that I thought they could've done in the episode. They should've introduced Laenor on Seasmoke earlier. Many were confused that it was Caraxes. It would've been simple too. Just have him land his dragon at the same time Daemon did in that one scene. The other thing is that I wanted was to see Daemon kill the Crabfeeder. Sure it wouldn't be a real fight or anything, but it felt like something was missing when he just emerged from the cave.

What I'm most impressed by is that the quality has remained consistent through the first three episodes. We didn't just have one "wow episode" and then mediocre ones around it. There is also a good narrative where the tension and stakes are slowly mounting. Well done.

 

Some of the best of Youtube are the Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon channels. There are so many people into the lore, and their videos can be very interesting. The two I watch regularly are Talking Thrones and Gray Area. There's a lot of spoilerish material that they cover though, because they're really into the books.

 

One other thing from the last episode that I've been thinking about. The Crabfeeder had greyscale. It looked like an active case, like the one Jorah had on the TV show. It was advanced too, which might've impacted some of his more bizarre behavior. People with greyscale begin to lose their minds.

But what's interesting here is that Daemon dragged his body out without anything on his hand, and he was drenched in the guy's blood when he emerged from the cave. Now I don't think they're going to give Daemon greyscale, but Ryan Condal is very adept with Martin's lore. While a mistake is always possible, I just don't see him doing that with Daemon unless something else is involved.

For those that read the books, Dany believe that since she had the "blood of the dragon" she was immune to pestilences that affected the average person. She ended up passing out food to the sick people in Mereen even though Ser Barristan tried to sway her against it.

So I was just wondering if they were trying to work this type of "immunity" into the story for some future purpose.

 

It’s possible that this early in the Targaryen bloodline, the genetics of Old Valyria are still strong with this generation due to interbreeding. They may indeed have immunity to greyscale which would explain why Daemon wasn’t worried about catching anything. Perhaps this also serves to remind others this is another way that sets the Targs and perhaps the Velaryons apart from those who originate in Westeros. Interesting thought.

 

Epi 4 was interesting in the way they used the book material.
While not entirely true to the text, the writers managed to get the the ideas of Martin’s plot across. Concentrating on what we were presented with, I feel that they’ve made show Daemon a little less nasty than his book counterpart, but even so, you have to wonder what his purpose was in bringing his niece down to the streets of Fleabottom(?) ending up in a brothel where he certainly compromised her reputation. He never disavowed the accusation that he had deflowered Rhaenyra when his brother confronted him. Was his offer to take the “ruined” Princess to wife an attempt to keep Visary’s from slitting his throat or was it part of his master plan to put himself back into power by becoming the future Queen’s consort?

Whatever one may believe, the incident served to kick Otto out of favor with the king, losing his position as Hand and sealed Rhaenyra’s planned marriage to Laenor Velaryon. No doubt it was for her own good as we see that she seduced Ser Cole who sullied his white cape, as well as probably committing treason against the crown. Visarys had his maester give his daughter a drought of tansy tea as an abortifacient because he believed what his brother told him but it also would have unwittingly taken care of an unintended pregnancy by Ser Cole. Somewhere along the line, “ Breakbones” Strong should be making a more prominent appearance which I hope will occur in the next episode.

 

Great episode again. I believe Daemon's plan was to come to King's Landing for Rhaenyra. They hinted he had ulterior motives early on in the episode when Rhaenyra kept pressing him as to why he had come to King's Landing. He deflected her questions though.

What I found most interesting is that once he had her in the brothel he couldn't fully go through with it and just left her behind. It's the second time he's squandered his own plans, desires and ambitions for her. The first was with the egg at Dragonstone. So then he just went off and got himself drunk.

Once Viserys though called him on it all he decided to go back to Plan A and said he could just marry Rhaenyra, which of course wasn't going to fly with his brother. Daemon just has the most reckless and ill thought out plans.

Unlike her uncle though, Rhaenyra is maturing a bit and learning to wield political power. She accepted what her father said about marrying Laenor but used the opportunity to push Otto out.

My favorite thing though about this episode was the arc they had Viserys on. It was hinted a bit in the last episode when he tore apart Jason Lannister, was disgusted with the "hunt" and then laughed in Otto's face when he suggested that Rhaenyra marry Aegon who was two.

He's finally fully, and appropriately wielding his power even though it's coming a bit too late. But the backbone he showed was good to see.

Again they made a reference to "A Song of Ice and Fire," and Aegon's prophecy. I strongly feel this is the hand of George RR Martin in the series, both in the first episode and now. He's reclaiming the lore as his own and placing a flag in the sand. And I think it opens the door for many fascinating spinoffs in the future.

I always wanted to see Aegon's Conquest first, but now the seeds they've dropped about the prophecy makes it even more interesting now. And the whole period of Robert's Rebellion and Rhaegar will need to be done justice too.

And yes, eventually, many years from now they will make Game of Thrones, and do it right.

I'm really loving this series and I'm excited about the entire franchise.

One other thing I've been meaning to say is they've done such an amazing job designing Caraxes. So far he's the best dragon they've shown in either series. Just such a great look, along with the mannerisms etc. The dragons are so much better and unique than in Game of Thrones.

 

If he had a contagious disease why would he have any followers? Nobody would want to be near him. That's what I was wondering. It would be interesting if Daemon was immune.

 

You were right. I watched third episode and he was a badassed fighter. Quite opposite of his brother who had trouble killing an animal that was already captured and immobilized.

 

I watched 3rd episode yesterday. We were surprised with big time jump from last episode. I didnt read books and dont know a lot about whats in it. I am not sure how many major time jumps they will keep doing if they are planning five seasons or more. Oh well wait and see I guess.

 

Yeah, Viserys couldn’t have greyscale due to it’s highly contagious nature which is why those who get it are usually ostracized. Alicent is up close and personal with her husband and she hasn’t contracted anything of the sort. Shireen Barantheon was thought to have contracted the disease from playing with a doll which was contaminated by the virus(?), that dad brought home from Dorne. Too risky to have Visarys possibly giving something of that nature to everyone he came into contact with through skin to skin contact or things that he touched.

I think the writers gave us a clue when we saw Viserys nicked by the blades when he sits the Iron throne. It was created from a thousand swords Aegon the Conqueror took from his enemies.
Legend has it that if one is cut while sitting on the throne, it symbolizes the unworthiness of that monarch.

Viserys wasn’t the only king to be injured on the throne but why his injuries won’t heal is perplexing. It may lie with some malady within Visarys such as an immune system deficiency that can’t fight, let’s say, a staph infection, that most people’s bodies would be able to heal from. Daemon OTOH seemed to have bounced back rather quickly from his various deep puncture arrow wounds received in that last battle.

 

If they want for more material there’s the whole Blackfyre rebellion to mine as well, long before they return to the time period immediately preceding where we picked up GoTs. I think it’s best to leave that alone for a while if they ever return to it….and only if Martin finishes the books first.

 

Because he was originally an admiral for the Triarchy, and now had this condition. It's like Viserys who is slowly rotting away, but at least he's not contagious.. Besides, every time we saw the Crabfeeder he was standing far away from others. lol

 

Basically what they've been doing is telling the backstory before we get to the main conflict. Once we have the older version of Rhaenyra played by Emma D'Arcy there will be no big time jump. So just past midseason we'll settle in.

 

Oh yeah, I agree completely. I'm talking about far in the future. I think we might get Aegon's Conquest next. They keep discussing him and his prophecy. The Blackfyre rebellion would precede it too. This would all take many years since House of the Dragon has just started. You also have to let memory of the original fade.

On second thought, maybe the Blackfyre rebellion coming next would be best. Aegon's Conquest preceding Robert's Rebellion period would work better, because then you'd have Rhaegar rediscovering his prophecy etc.

Personally one of my favorite parts of Fire and Blood was the reign of Jaehaerys and Allysane. It wouldn't make for good TV though because there isn't a lot of conflict. I'd hate to see them force something into that period too for the sake of drama. Maybe if they did an anthology style series though they could build something for one season.

We're also going to get some other spinoffs too that have nothing to do with the main story. There's one in the works about Nymeria. With the high ratings for House of the Dragon it's going to become like the Marvel universe for HBO.

I feel bad for Kit Harrington and how devastated he was by the terrible ending of GOT, but I think it's in the best interest of the franchise that they shelve his series. It has not been green lit yet. Reminding the fans of all of that would be a bad, bad move. And the success of the new show I think hurts his chances. His show I feel was their Hail Mary pass in the event that House of the Dragon fell short. They would then try to go with something more familiar to the fans to revive the franchise.

 

Thanks, that's good to know.

 

My sister and her husband thought Viserys would die like Robert Baretheon, something in drink and stuck by stag. I said no way would they copy that. After coming attractions for 4th episode I predicted the rumor would be that the kings guard and Rhaenrya would be accused of sleeping together. I backed out quickly when they said there probably be a couple year time jump. I am never right on predictions anyhow. I've tried not to read the reviews from you all until I catch up to that episode. I cant get the spelling of these names . I have to look at others posts and then still cant recall when I start typing my post.

 

It just keeps getting better too. I think the 4th episode is the best of the series so far.

 

We are still liking the show. I like the characters ,actors and dialogue. I also like( I dont know if the right term is) cinematography,the detail of the surroundings or setting in which the scene is playing out. The only thing that is lacking ,compared to the first season of game of thrones, is a variety of plots and subplots going on at the same time which is not necessarily a bad thing if they keep quality up and dont start dragging things out to get extra seasons.

 

The reason for fewer plots etc is that they're primarily focusing on the Targaryens. In GOT we had the machinations of so many other different Houses. They do all play a role here though, and we'll see a bit more as we go on, but it's all how it impacts the ruling family.

Not sure if I mentioned it here before but I'm really impressed with what they've done with the dragons, making each one different. Daemon's dragon, Caraxes, I think is the best one we've had in the entire franchise. The design is amazing.

 

It was another great episode as we reach the halfway mark. They also lived up to the tradition of weddings in the franchise. I'm glad too that they're showing Cristin Cole for the bastard that he was in the books. I was somewhat wondering what way they would go after his earlier portrayal suggested he wouldn't be too bad. No gray areas now.

What excited me most about the series prior to the first episode was Emma D'Arcy taking on the role of Rhaenyra. She looked perfect in the trailers. So it says a lot about the younger version played by Milly Alcock, that I'll miss her portrayal. She was great, particularly selling the unique relationship between her and Daemon. If that had been played wrong, and we were given a more creepy vibe when it came to Daemon, I think it could've messed up the story going forward.

So much went on in this episode too. I thought they could've held the wedding back until next week. It was more than enough to have the marriage agreement, Daemon killing his wife and then Cristin Cole betraying Rhaenyra. But I guess they wanted to divide the season in half between the younger and older Rhaenyra and Alicent.

I like the Rhaenys and Corlys scenes. They have a rarity in George's world, a good relationship between husband and wife. So it's interesting to see them discuss the events going on. Rhaenys knows the whole situation is doomed and headed for war.

My only nitpick is that they're showing Viserys as being a bit too sick for someone that is going to live for years after the wedding.

I wonder how people who didn't read the books feel about Alicent. I see how they're crafting the story to give her reasons for what she does. So there is a two sides feel to it all. But I'm so predisposed against her, and on the side of Rhaenyra, that none of it really matters to me.