I still want to know what Rhaenyra's servants did when they realized Rhaena ditched them. Do they wait around?

deer corn said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Was hoping we'd at least get Rhaena claiming the dragon. Talk about blue balls.

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After all the damn dreaming by Daemon we had to endure, they could have AT LEAST given us the wild dragon taking Rhaena.

Corlys got TOLD.

Creepy unisex Lohar.

Has Jace gotten laid? His wife is his cousin, but I feel he should be. He's wound too tight.

Ulf is going to get someone else besides himself killed.

I was almost sure Aemond was gonna throw Haleana off the balcony.

Did Daemon bang the witch?

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Jace and Baela got married? When did that happen?

He was not benched. His character arc this season was probably the best story telling of season two.

I meant benched in the sense that he wasn't impacting the main story for most of it. He was mostly off on his own. But that's exactly what I'm talking about, if this show was good overall and had the character depth of GOT, then nobody would be complaining about his arc this season. To be clear I also thought it was mostly good, but since he's one of the only actually interesting characters on this show it was a bit of a grind to have him off on his own for so long.

I'm responding to people suggesting we "needed a big battle to save this". Other responses are saying how boring it was otherwise. Two different things.

It definitely drug on but that's because they didn't want to commit to multiple storylines. It's like they were on the fence about 5 seasons or 2 and stuck on 3/4.

Trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in the opening credits on MAX. That should hopefully be fun.

Am I the only one that sees this as a GOT rewrite?

Rhaenyra (danarys in GOT) is fighting to claim the crown and she allies with the starks of the north and the tullys, and is on good terms with the vale.

Aegon / Aemond (lanisters in GoT) are allied with the lanisters and have acquired a fleet of ships from pirates (acquired ships from the greyjoys in GOT).

It's like redoing GOT to me except Rhaenyra has more dragons now than dany had, and the lannisters have a couple to.

Yeah even our main protagonist is a pretty flat character. About the only halfway interesting thing she did this season was make out with the other girl for a second. That was at least almost some character development.

For me Daemon, Mysaria and Helaena are interesting characters with some depth. Though Helaena's character is mostly just weird, not sure if it that's really character depth or not.

The worst character of this season was Jacaerys. No clue what we're even doing with that character.

Speaking of Aemond he was more "likeable" when he was just the brother. Now he's an asshat.

LB12Diamond said:

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Agree on Jace, I almost added him as well but wanted to focus on the Queens bad acting. Not sure if it's his acting or bad writing with him though. Heck he basically just stayed in the war room after the first episode.

Helaena had very few scenes and I thought killed them. Starting with the first episode when she watched a kid of hers die and ending last night with her confronting Aemond.

loved her last line, "killing me would not change anything"

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feels like they are setting him up to lose his **** on ulf at some point

redline248 said:

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Speaking of Aemond he was more "likeable" when he was just the brother. Now he's an asshat.

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Aemond might be the most annoying character for me because they've tried to give his character some depth and have only made it more confusing. Like, on one hand he's this hyper-logical strategist but then he's also known to just completely fly off the handle, which could work if we saw that internal struggle more, but it's like he's either completely one way or the completely the other just depending on what scene it is. And they've given that character plenty of reasons to have some hidden emotional depth but we just don't see it happen. He's basically the same half-smirking character in every scene.

I wonder if there is some intentional parallels going on in the show for Aemond and Daemon. They've always been kind of the same person, but now one has the power and is kind of unraveling and the other just turned down a chance to take the power and is focused on a higher purpose.

ChoppinDs40 said:

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canadiaggie said:

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DonHenley said:

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Season 2 was such a snoozefest. Daemon stuck at the run down castle having visions the whole season, what a waste of a great character. I could tolerate this season knowing that the build up was for an amazing battle in the finale, but nope, didn't get that either. This show is no where near Game of Thrones.

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I think we have had one more big epic battle than Game of Thrones had at this point (end of season 2) in both series.

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even blackwater wasn't that big of an ordeal besides the shot to the ship with the wildfyre.

Every forgets we didn't really get a "big battle" until... watchers on the wall maybe? Season 4 or 5?

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Yep Watchers on the Wall was the biggest set piece in GOT until Hardhome.

GOT big set pieces:

1. Battle of the Blackwater - S2
2. Watchers on the Wall - S4
3. Hardhome - S5
4. Siege of Meereen - S6
5. Battle of the *******s - S6
6. Wight Hunt - S7
7. The Long Night - S8
8. Fall of King's Landing - S8

That's literally it. 8 big battles over 8 seasons, with 6 of the 8 coming in the 2nd half of the show, which is also generally considered to be the weakest half.

HOTD:

1. Battle of the Stepstones - S1
2. Battle of Rook's Rest - S2

2 big battles over 2 seasons. I didn't throw in the Fight above Shipbreaker Bay (Lucerys vs Aemond) because it's not really a big battle even though it's a big budget scene.

redline248 said:

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I wonder if there is some intentional parallels going on in the show for Aemond and Daemon. They've always been kind of the same person, but now one has the power and is kind of unraveling and the other just turned down a chance to take the power and is focused on a higher purpose.

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Aemond does have some sort of admitted fascination or grudge with Daemon. But I couldn't remember why that would be. Anyone recall any run-ins between Daemon and Aemond when Aemond was younger?

So many redos from GOT.

Ramsey slicing off Theo's Sausage and then eating sausage in front of him.

Aemond burning Aegon and Aegon describing his sausage bursting during the battle.

Aggie_2463 said:

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Am I the only one that sees this as a GOT rewrite?

Rhaenyra (danarys in GOT) is fighting to claim the crown and she allies with the starks of the north and the tullys, and is on good terms with the vale.

Aegon / Aemond (lanisters in GoT) are allied with the lanisters and have acquired a fleet of ships from pirates (acquired ships from the greyjoys in GOT).

It's like redoing GOT to me except Rhaenyra has more dragons now than dany had, and the lannisters have a couple to.

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Not just those, here's a few off the top of my head:

Larys smuggled Aegon out of Kings Landing to avoid being killed just like Varys smuggled out Tyrion.
Mysaria's advising of Rhaenyra feels a lot like Littlefinger providing advice to any character in GOT that he believes will help him get what he wants. Secret Targaryen Jon Snow rides a dragon, secret Targaryen Ulf rides a dragon as does secret Valyrian Addam of Hull. Otto Hightower as Hand of the King to his grandson Aegon like Tywin Lannister served as Hand of the King to his grandson Joffrey.

I'm sure there's plenty more if you dug into each episode. House of the Dragon to me is just Game of Thrones light. There's not nearly as much going on, which can make it easier to follow, but less interesting.

HummingbirdSaltalamacchia said:

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I guess I don't get all the teeth gnashing over this season. I thought it was solid and don't agree that we needed this action packed episode to feel like it accomplished something.

I hesitate to even mention this bc I know how TA treats book readers on show threads, but without spoilers, I truly don't know how they could have done this season to yalls satisfaction without completely changing the book material, short changing character development, and have it feel like a complete seasons narrative.

The reason the last couple seasons of GOT sucked so hard was they focused more on the spectacle of dragons/white walkers/battles, and focused less on what made the show great, which was the "quiet scenes" with the small council, or 1:1 convos filled with subtext and the threat of violence. Honestly, the people *****ing about this season feel like the same people that *****ed on TLOS thread calling the show boring bc they "wanted to see a show about zombies and guns".

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I mentioned earlier in this thread that one of the biggest issues IMO is that the settings aren't changing much. You could do a lot of the same things but with the illusion of movement. A few good examples from this episode.

• Rhaenyra is at Harrenhal for a second and then straight back to Dragonstone.
• Alicent shows up....at Dragonstone.
• Corlys and Allyn talk...at the dock (again)
• Daemon talks to almost anyone...in the godswood (again)

I know we're still at the point where they are trying to plan and rally armies, but they could try to give us a bit more variety.

• Have Rhaenyra go to Harrenhal earlier and stay for at least an episode
• Have Daemon explore more of the riverlands rather than just sitting at Harrenhal the whole time
• Have Jace spend longer than 1 scene treating with other houses (like the Freys) before he heads back to Dragonstone
• Show people in Oldtown gathering the Hightower armies
• Give us the Otto in a cell scene earlier and make it more than a glimpse

To put into perspective with some examples of settings and events from GoT season 1:

• TRAVELING: Traveling from Winterfell to King's Landing (Nymeria attacks Joffrey, and Ned has to kill Lady). Tywin's war camp. Rob at the Twins.....Versus a few scenes with Cole in the woods.
• THE VALE: Catelyn confronts Tyrion in a tavern. They are then attacked by the mountain clans on the way to the Eyrie where the trial by combat occurs.....Versus a few shots of Rhaena in the same room in the Eyrie and then a few glimpses at the surrounding countryside this last episode.
• KING'S LANDING: Ned meeting with multiple people in different areas of the Red Keep and King's Landing. Sansa and Arya also running around in different areas (including Arya in the tunnels at one point). Ned's trial at the Sept.....Versus most scenes in the Council chamber or Aegon's room with the same people.
• OTHER: This doesn't even get into the fact that we have Jon/Sam at the Wall, Dany riding around with the Dothraki in Essos, etc.....Versus the scenes in Tyrosh last night.

The challenge I have with this show, apart from trying to remember anyone's names, is that everyone is having the same conversation with the same motivations over and over again. In GOT there was such a rich depth of characters, different backgrounds and goals and deep histories and hurts and loyalties between them. In this show everyone is Daenerys's petulant brother.

The side characters and battles just feel like worse versions of those in GOT; it's hard not to compare Larys to the better schemers like Varys or Tyrion or Littlefinger. The mud wrestling felt like low budget Brienne v the Bear or Pedro Pascal v the Mountain.

Joan Wilder said:

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…it's hard not to compare Larys to the better schemers like Varys or Tyrion or Littlefinger.

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Larys walked so those three could run

This has occurred to me many times throughout this season but.....

HOTD is the anti GOT

Rhaenyra wants to win the war but not by any means possible ala Daenerys instead she wants to avoid bloodshed if she can. She is the ruler that wants to mend the realm not break it.

Alicent does what Cersei never could and turns against her family basically sacrificing both of her male kids in lieu of the daughter. Cersei's daughter was sort of sacrificed as she was too focused on the boys.

Aemond is the anti Jamie - both are maimed and Jamie becomes more human and has some redemption (if not for Cersei in the end) but not Aemond he is going down full villainy mode.

In GOT you never had any everyman or common folk becoming legendary it was all knights save for maybe Arya but she went through a lot of training to get there and wasn't even common just a young girl really but still a Stark. Now we have common folk becoming dragon riders and saving the realm (in theory). I mean initially Jon Snow was a ******* of course, except in the end even he wasn't actually. He was noble by birth just nobody knew i except Ned apparently.

The wise council whisperer in GOT Varys was all about protecting the realm, whereas Larys is seemingly only out for himself and takes whatever side will benefit him and keep him alive.

The LC of Kingsguard Barristan Selmy was a legendary warrior and was no fan of Jamie or the Lannisters he was only spared by a pardon and abhorred the act of killing Rhaegars children and never forgave it. He also objected to the plan to assassinate Daenerys which earned him the boot. He then protected and saved Daenerys on more than one occasion and died protecting Grey Worm who was under attack from the Sons of the Harpy. He was honorable in all his actions. Criston by comparison was banging the queen regent and is very conflicted a broken man it seems and would rather just die. I'm not even sure he is a great swordsman he can hold his own but doesn't compare to Barristan. He has had some less than honorable actions including sending one twin to kill Rhaenyra disguised as the other.

Alicents brother is very honorable and not banging his sister ala Jamie in fact he comes to her defense and tries to confront Criston for his acts.

The show itself is anticlimactic at the end of seasons whereas GOT was all about the big battle per season.

I'm sure a lot more comparisons could be made it just seems to me they are going out of their way almost to make it not GOT..... and uhhhh... good job I guess.

No. I said the mud wrestling felt like a low budget (and I'll add, low stakes) version of better 1:1 fights we saw in GOT.