HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

[houseofthedragon]

Extended trainer here:

I am so excited for this!!! Anyone else???!!!

HOTD will be premiering on the 21st Aug (22nd Aug for U.K.)

Would have been great tho! 😝😂

Why didn’t she just get the dragon to burn them all ?!

I completely agree with this. And the responses above.

The only reason for her not to just burn them all there and then was because that would have put an end to the story and the next however many seasons of shows. But that's not a good reason. That's Season 8 Game of Thrones logic. There needs to be a character-based reason and I can't think of one.

Had this been a Season 1, 2, 3... Game of Thrones episode she totally would have. That's what Episode 9 of proper GoT would have brought - something that at the end makes you go "woah!! That just turned everything I thought I knew on its head. Where the hell will this show go from here?" etc

Also, I know the main reason she couldn't just burn them all is because GRRM didn't write it that way. But the show creators shouldn't have set it up to show her being able to end the civil war before it starts without having a really good reason in place for her not to!

Rhaenys bursting out on her dragon makes no sense, it’s not in the book.
Stuff that IS in the book like Heleana getting crowned alongside Aegon was left out.
Even Beesbury getting offed by Criston Cole wasn’t right, it should have been a slashed throat or thrown from a window .

Was Alicent getting Larys to speak by flashing her feet at him ? 🤢

Yes, it was a definite no. Rhaenys has decided to be on Team Black.

Yes, it was the twin who left his brother with Aemond and Criston who freed Rhaenys.

Ok, these are my random thought about the whole thing.

I think House of the Dragon is like a chess game, two sides, two queens, various other pieces and a lot of strategy. I don't think either side is good or evil, they are just doing what they need to do to survive and win.

For many years Alicent was protected by the king but now he is gone she is stuck in the middle. She knows if Rhaenyra becomes Queen, then Alicent's children will be killed. I think she felt that she could somehow bring the whole situation to a peaceful resolution, so this week she finally made her power play.

Did she really believe that the king wanted to make Aegon his heir or did she just really need to believe that he said that? I think she heard what she wanted to hear because she was scared of what was going to happen and has now convinced herself more and more that it's the truth. I also think she thought that if she could capture Prince Aegon (another chess move) and she had Rhaenys' dragon then she could control the situation and bring it to a peaceful resolution, but she was wrong. Ultimately, she realised that Aegon can't be controled and that Rhaenys escape means that war is now inevitable.

So, I think, the search for Prince Aegon was fruitless and that it was meant to be fruitless. She ultimately did exactly what her father wanted her to do.

It's funny that no one really wanted Aegon to be king, but they needed him to be king to protect themselves. I loved watching Aemond and Helaena's faces during the coronation.

Why didn't they crown Helaena? I think being crowned was a huge moment for Aegon. Until now no one has respected him but suddenly he has the love of the people and you could see how it changed him and that change is scary. That moment was all about Aegon.

Why didn't Rhaenys roast the Greens? That would have been a huge mistake. Everyone knows she wanted the throne and by killing the new king she would be seen as taking over and taking power from Rhaenyra. I don't think that is what she wants. She will fly to Dragonstone and pledge her support Rhaenyra.

At least that is my interpretation of events.

Aemond would have been a much better partner to Helaena. Alicent protected Aegon from the dragon and Aemond protected Helaena.

Having just caught up with this now, my understanding of the fighting pit scenes is that Aegon fathers illegitimate children around flea bottom and then forces them to become child warriors. He’s obviously a complete sociopath.

I don’t buy that Alicent really believes that Rhaenyra would murder her half siblings / Alicent’s children. Arguably it’s propaganda from Otto Hightower.

I hope there is going to be a season 2!!

There is a season 2. The Dance of dragons goes on for years. It gets even more brutal, more so than GoT.

I'm pretty certain that anyone taking even a brief look at English history will tell you that anyone with even a brief claim to the throne can cause an uprising.

So they are normally taken out or go on to cause chaos.

Otto isn't stirring the pot. He's just stating facts.

I don’t really agree in this case - Viserys chose Rhaenyra because he thought she would be the same kind of ruler as him - ie not executing perceived threats. Which is what made him a different king.

More brutal than GOT, is that possible?!

I thought that targaryeans couldn’t burn to death? Thats why she didn’t get the dragon to burn them all?
is that not right?

Would be grateful to hear from anyone who has read the books on this one.

Not all Targeryans are ‘unburnt’
In GOT, Danys brother was burnt by the ‘golden crown’
Daemons first wife was part Targeryan due to her mother and she was burnt by her dragon.

Yep, loads of Targaryens have died by fire over the years. Danaerys was, if not unique, then highly unusual. They're said to be immune to normal sickness: this may or may not be true.

@8misskitty8 Thank you.

Oh there will be a LOT more burnt Targs 😉
Maybe not Ramsey Bolton levels of sadistic brutality but some events are heartbreakingly cruel (and tit for tat).

I’ve just come across someone saying that Helaena talking about ‘beast beneath the boards’ refers to something that we won’t see or understand until next season.

The book-nerdy podcast I listen to is split in its opinion on whether Beast Beneath The Boards refers to Rhaenys' dragon or something horrible that is expected to happen in the next series. Helena's premonitions aren't mentioned in the book, so this is all new, which is fun.

What podcast are you listening to @WinterIsComingKnitFaster ?

History of Westeros. It's astonishingly nerdy and quite annoying in parts (male host has irritating laugh and the hosts, being American, are a bit flaky on UK medieval history) so I'm not sure I'd recommend it unreservedly, but I listened to it all the way through a chapter by chapter read along of the books so I've got into the habit to it now.

Radio Westeros/Game of Owns might be worth a try based on the reviews.

Thank you.

Yes most targaryens are not fire proof - a whole bunch of them die in the tragedy of summerhall, ironically trying to bring back the dragons that die due to the events in HOTD (hope that's not too big a spoiler as it's fairly self obvious...!)

actually in the books so far it's not even confirmed dany is really fireproof - it's suggested she survived due to doing blood magic the first time when she hatches the 3 eggs, but after that she does burn her hands flying on drogon and the books are so far behind they haven't got to the second time she walks through fire unscathed in series 5 (when she burns the khals) so it might not go the same way...

Apparently, one of the writers has said that the reason Rhaenys didn't kill the Greens is because "It's not her war". I kind of like the idea that she'd be all like fuck this shit. I'm off on my holibobs with me dragon.

I also heard there is a pretty big spoiler about the twins in the books.It's kind of amazing the George RR has linked all this up. He must have a mind like an encyclopaedia!

Rhaenys is understandably pissed off that they imprisoned her and took her dragon. But her character just isn’t the type to unleash fire on the greens at this point. So yeah, I agree.