Amph Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon — Fire & Blood book spoilers must be TAGGED

Assuming the history is mostly similar to the book-verse, this isn't the first time a dragon's killed another dragon, while being ridden by a dragonrider, in-universe. During Maegor the Cruel's reign, Maegor and Balerion killed Prince Aegon the Uncrowned and Quicksilver.

 

That’s the only other recorded case since the Doom of Valyria, right?

There were a few recorded dragon riders and dragons who survived in Essos too, the most famous being the self-declared new Emperor of Valyria, Aurion. Though he and his massive army disappeared when it marched into the remnants of Valyria. Could have been other dying Valyrian dragons, or something else.
There were also Valyrian dragons with dragon riders in Lys and Tyrosh, but they apparently all died without heirs or dragon eggs. But I don’t think it’s ever confirmed they fought each other on their dragons. Although that’s a likely explanation.
I’m sure it happened in Valyria before the doom too, but I don’t think it’s ever mentioned.

So that would make this the second recorded case of dragon killing dragon, and Targaryen killing Targaryen, with Maegor the Cruel seen as an abomination and kinslayer and cursed exception before the Dance.

 

I need to go back reread that book. I really enjoyed it, but I have retained only bits and pieces.

 

As far as I know. Plenty of cases of dragons used against on-the-ground adversaries though - and if some of those got out of hand and the dragon did more damage than its rider intended it to do, and the rider recorded it in the family histories, then those could be the basis of a fear that dragons are not 100% reliable in war.

 

Because Alicent says so, in the episode, and everyone nods as if it's conventional wisdom. They are all cautious because they believe once the dragons are unleashed in war, they are uncontrollable. I don't know if this fear comes from an event in history, myth, or their own personal experience with dragons in limited situations (such as Vhagar last season), but whatever it is, they believe there is a real potential for total catastrophe if they take the dragons into a hot war. So yes, the nuclear weapons exchange dynamic is very much a parallel here. I don't know exactly why they believe that's the nature of the dragons, but they most certainly do. That was spelled out by Alicent in this episode. And that's all we need to go on.

 

https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2024/06/house-of-dragon-2x1-son-for-son-review.html

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 2×1 “A Son for A Son” is the season premiere of the second season of House of the Dragon. While a big supporter of this series and a believer that it has done a lot to wipe the sour taste of Game of Thrones’ season eight from viewers’ mouths, I have a lot of criticisms of season one. Simply put, the ten episodes jumped around one way too much and at least two seasons of story were crammed into one season in hopes of getting to the “good stuff” faster. Unfortunately, this severely impacted the pacing of the show as well as its characterization, which are the things that GOT fans love most.

The season begins with a new opening as we replace the dripping blood down a stone family tree of the Targaryens to, instead, be a tapestry that is woven with the stories of the Dance of the Dragon. I think this works very well as a visually distinct metaphor for the setting and better than the previous season. Still, it’s a surprising change and I wonder why they decided to make it given the stone family tree and blood one wasn’t bad.

The previous season ended with the death of Lucerys, one of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s children. Killed in an accident by Aemond Targaryen and his dragon, the result is that the Blacks and Greens are going to have a war no matter what. Kinslaying is the vilest taboo in Westeros, and no one would believe that he didn’t do it deliberately. I was waiting to see how Alicent and Otto Hightower would react to this stunning development. Well, I will have to keep waiting because it skips right past that.

We get a glimpse of the North that so far has played little role in the conflict. Still, we get some nice backstory about the past relationship between the Sarks and Targaryens. Also, a plot hole about how the dragons refuse to cross the Wall comes up because they didn’t make this a thing in Game of Thrones and the opposite being an actual plot point. Still, it’s nice to see the Wall again and a reminder of the importance of the struggle against the White Walkers.

Much of the episode deals with the aftermath of Aemond killing Lucerys despite the fact that we don’t see everyone’s immediate reaction. Rhaenyra is beside herself with grief and Daemon sees an opportunity to assert his position once more by promising vengeance. Fans of the book, Fire and Blood, will know who “Blood and Cheese” but newcomers will probably be shocked. Sadly, it lacks the power of the scene in the book because we haven’t had the characters developed enough to truly bond with them before things go horribly south.

There are some interesting developments in the characterization that I would have wanted more examination of as well. Like, for instance, Alicent Hightower has begun an affair with Ser Criston Cole despite both citing morality as a reason to oppose Queen Rhaenyra. Aegon II is an utterly inept king and his brother is much better suited, which both brothers know. We also have Mysaria drop her godawful fake accent.

Overall, I think this was a solid episode, but I foresee this season suffering again from the fact that it is going to be an abbreviated season. Perhaps even worse because there will only be eight episodes this season. Really, I think they needed twelve-episode seasons, and it still feels like we’re running ahead past more character seasons. Still, I think it’s the best fantasy currently on television right now.

 

Man if only most of the other drivel that passes for entertainment these days could be this good then maybe Hollywood would regain its magic. Rings of Prime, Wheel of Prime and Disney Wars please take notes and then burn to the ground to make way for better talent and new management.

 

Another brilliant episode of televison. Ryan Condal gets it. And his writing staff is *chefs kiss*

 

Good episode.

 

That was a damn good hour of television. I guess we won’t need to be confused about which one is Arryk and which is Erryk now…

 

I like how they’re handling the idea of legitimacy so far. The cooler heads on each side know that the sense of legitimacy they have from both their Lords and population will inform the strength of their hand and whether they’ll even need to go to war in the first place. Each time the hot heads lash out it has unintended consequences for their own legitimacy and shifts them closer to mutual annihilation to resolve the dispute.

 

Criston Cole is a giant hypocrite but hats off to him that his plan almost works.

 

Ep 2. For a minute there...

Spoiler

I thought that kid's head was gonna pop off during the funeral. Happily they did not go that far.

Even if they had killed the older son what other response could Queen Rhaenyra expect? Would the other side just go, "Oh well, we did it too so."

 

I was hoping that when the cart got stuck on a rock, the kid’s body would spill onto the ground. Yeah, I like it when things get dark.

 

To be clear, it didn't really "almost work." It was a dumb plan precisely because he didn't have any support. It was a wild gamble that could have been a lot better if it wasn't done so haphazardly.

 

Two sides of the same coin effect in this episode.

Spoiler

Daemon is chaos where Otto is order. Both denounced by their ruler. I guess you could say the same for the twins.

 

What was that one scene where the lady was complaining about the trek to get chicken and milk? Who were those people.

Anyway I wasn't sure which twin made it out in the end but I guess it didn't matter

 

I think that was the family of the smith who petitioned Aegon for relief in the first episode.

 

Yeah his name is Hugh the Hammer. In the first episode he asked for some money upfront before they start work on more scorpions which the King Aegon said yes to so more to come.

 

https://beforewegoblog.com/television-review-house-of-the-dragon-2x2-rhaenyra-the-cruel/

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 2×2 “Rhaenyra the Cruel” is the second episode of the second season of HBO’s extended apology for the final season of GAME OF THRONES. Ha-ha. Just kidding, except not. Overall, I was a big fan of the first season but I feel like the two year wait on the follow up killed a lot of forward momentum that the series had been accumulating and this is from a guy with a Targaryen wallet. Still, the first episode was gutsy enough to kill a toddler and I was invested enough to be there at 9PM Eastern on a Sunday for the next episode.

The premise for this House of the Dragon episode is that everyone in Kings Landing is stunned by the assassination of Prince Jaehaerys. One of the failures of the previous season was the fact that they didn’t take episodes to follow up the emotional beats to the big epic changes of episodes. Instead, it just lightning shot past these big moments and the story was the lesser for it. Here, we get to see how the death of Jaehaerys has broken his father, Aegon II, and his mother, Helaena. We see how the death has stricken Ser Criston Cole and World’s Youngest Grandmother, Alicent Hightower, with guilt because they were making the beast with two backs when they should have been defending the royal family’s youngest.

The Greens have been rightly called out as the “villains” of House of the Dragon and consistently made to be an utterly despicable bunch of scumbags with rare exceptions. Many of their virtues from the books have been washed away and their sins have been made worse. Still, this is an episode that humanizes them a great deal while actually doubling down on their worst traits. After the previous episode showed a softer side of Aegon II, trying to do right by the common people, we see him engage in Joffrey level sadism by hanging a hundred rat catchers in hopes of catching one.

Honestly, this moment kind of fell flat for me because one of House of the Dragon’s flaws is that it someitmes has its characters acting far too modern. Alicent and Rhaenyra acted like teenage girls when they were, well, teenage girls versus adult women as they would have been treated post-sixteenth birthday in Westeros. The hanging of the rat catchers is in Fire and Blood but almost an afterthought as killing a hundred Smallfolk is just not that big of a deal in this society. Here, it’s an atrocity that Otto acts like would live in infamy throughout Westeros history. Come on, people rarely remember that George Washington burned a bunch of villages during the Revolutionary War.

By contrast, I really liked how utterly devastating the charge of infanticide and kinslaying is to Rhaenyra’s cause. Because Rhaenyra is a woman who recently lost her child, everyone assumes she’s the one who sent assassins to kill Aegon’s son. Honestly, I was surprised the show had her react with unequivocal disgust because I’m inclined to think a woman of Westeros would see some small satisfaction in “blood for blood.”

Instead, Rhaenyra is disgusted by Daemon and figures out he was the party responsible very quickly. Daemon also finally confesses his jealousy and petulance regarding his disinheritance for his wife. This would have been an excellent time to introduce Nettles to soothe Daemon’s wounded pride but they still haven’t cast her and may even end up removing her (which would be a mistake, IMHO). We also get a good moment where Rhaenyra realizes her jealousy and distaste for Mysaria is unqueenly before pardoning the woman. It pays dividends because Mysaria then warns Rhaenyra about Aegon’s ill-planned attempt to avenge his son.

The best parts of this episode are probably Prince Jaehaerys’ funeral procession and the Battle of the Cargyll Twins. House of the Dragon does a fantastic job showing Queen Helaena’s grief as she’s forced to become a propaganda point to the common people. She’s clearly agoraphobic and hates crowds yet is moved through crowds of weeping strangers who scare the living hell out of her with her son’s corpse just a few feet away. Arryk and Erryk Cargyll have a fight to the death as the twins find themselves divided by their loyalties. Ser Criston Cole sends Arryk on a suicide mission to soothe his own guilt and this leads to horrible tragedy for the Kingsguard. Almost as good as these two moments is Ser Otto Hightower having the realization that Aegon is uncontrollable and a monster, which means that his efforts to prevent war via crowning him were not only doomed but counterproductive.

In conclusion, House of the Dragon 2×2 “Rhaenyra the Cruel” was an excellent follow up to a strong first episode.There’s a lot of character moments and strong dramatic heft, which is what we’re here for in the first place. As much as I love dragon fights, I’d rather they remain more devoted to getting to know all of these wacky incest royals.

 

I don't know that Queen Helena was freaking out just as is. She may have been having a vision.

 

Representatives of growing discontent in the city and the realm. The discontent that will eventually contribute to people supporting the indigenous revolution against the Targaryens. I like that we got a little of that, as GoT often felt like only cartoon plebs lived in that world. Though I think the husband is a gold cloak.

"If dragons begin fighting dragons, we will invite our own destruction."

More nuclear weapons/ MAD parallels that @Jabba-wocky said couldn't possibly exist in this show.