Television House of the Dragon: Season 2 (HBO | June 16) - Official Trailer

[sblfilms]

My head-cannon take on the fight or flight question is that she came to accept the inevitable conclusion, that she had missed her opportunity to put an end to this in season one, and it’s all going to end badly.

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, skillzdadirecta said:

She could have ended the war last season before it even started when she escaped with Melyse from the Dragon Pit. 

 

Yeah, I agree with this, this was a moment they shouldn't have written. That being said, I doubt Rhaenys wanted to bloody her hands and scar her soul by assassinating most of the Greens (most of whom are family by blood) who were unarmed at the time by dragon fire. She'd have to live with that for the rest of her life, justified or not, and maybe she couldn't do that so intimidation and aggression are what she resorted to in that moment.

 

1 hour ago, skillzdadirecta said:

At the end of the day, it's minor complaint. It was still a good episode, but this bit of plotting felt forced to me because they were trying to subvert book readers expectations while staying true to the narrative at the same time. Her motivations for turning around and going back to fight a losing battle half heartedly (Which you haven't addressed) make very little sense to me. If you're going to fight against a stronger foe, go all out. You almost get the sense she WANTED to die in battle which makes ZERO sense if that's the case.

 

Look, you never change your mind so again we come to a standstill. I mean, let me ask you honestly: can anything anyone says change your mind? Can you be convinced that what Rhaneys did wasn't dumb? I don't think so and you decided that the moment you made your original post, regardless of what anyone might say to respond and rebut that. You just believe it's a certain way and any reasons we give you about Rhaenys's motivations you've already decided will be thrown out. You could have missed something visually. Misinterpreted something. Not thought of something. But that's almost never the case with you. You, miss something? Not possible in your mind. It doesn't matter that she attacked somewhat half-heartedly, that could very well be because a part of her felt she may not win and so you go in with less confidence, especially when you're also thinking that you're killing your blood nephews. And now you're saying based on extrapolating on interviews that maybe she wanted to die. If you're just going to stick to your very first determination of what happened, that what she did was dumb, then me taking the time to explain things from a different POV fruitlessly (as usual) is a waste of both of our time. I wish you weren't always so recalcitrant, obstinate and stubborn 100% of the time, but you are. I debated with myself whether I should get into this with yours and TwinIon's posts or not because I knew you'd just say, which you did: "those reasons aren't good enough reasons in context" without explaining why. They are good enough reasons (see GeneticBlueprint's post, which agreed with mine), you are just choosing to not even try to see it that way without explaining to me why the reasons aren't good. 

 

For instance, you say: "how is it a bad look?" For the queen's main weapon/envoy who is leading the battle to retreat without attempting to save the castle and its people from Vhagar and what's left of Cole's army to run away would demoralize the queen's army as word got around, as well as shake the already shaky loyalties of Rhaenyra's lords. It's a bad move politically. What's not to understand? But I'm sure you'll just say I'm wrong and agree to disagree like you always have done for years now. Discussing stuff with you is like talking to a wall. Of course people wouldn't begrudge Rhaenys from leaving, they'd begrudge the queen, Rhaenyra. Why wouldn't they? The Blacks have done nothing, just lost another battle and then to tuck tail and run without even putting up a fight against Vhagar even a little, leaving Rook's Rest to ruin would make Rhaenyra lose followers (don't forget one of Rhaenyra's council is connected to Rook's Rest). No one is saying this forces Rhaenys to fight, but it is a bad look and worth considering. 

 

And you also keep mentioning that Rhaenys is sacrificing herself. I don't think she went into it thinking she'd sacrifice herself or she wouldn't have fought back and then tried to escape when that didn't work (someone looking to die doesn't usually actively attempt to escape). I'm not sure where you're getting such a definitive view that Rhaenys believed she could not win. She turned around and tried to fight, ergo, she thinks she had a chance. You don't, but she thought she did, and that's what matters. Half-hearted or not, worried about her nephews or not, the reasons I gave earlier are still applicable regardless of all of that. Potential to end the war. Make a real attempt to save your bannermen. Etc. She took a somewhat reasonable and considered gamble and it didn't pay off. You find this gamble she took hard to believe even though the reasons stated would be true of many people in similar situations in real life (in terms of life and death/fight or flight on the battlefield as a commander). 

[Greatoneshere]

That was another solid episode of House of the Dragon though it felt a little anti-climactic given the events of the previous episode. It's clearly a table setting episode though it's weird at this point that while things should be building to a head (and they are) that this episode didn't feel like it had that urgency to it that it should have if things are building. With only three episodes left in the season I imagine that will happen but as a result this episode was dulled a bit. A lot of good character work though and the kids Baela and Jace are showing really strong signs of good leadership, which is promising, which probably means they'll get killed at some point.  

[johnny]

On 7/9/2024 at 1:44 PM, sblfilms said:

My head-cannon take on the fight or flight question is that she came to accept the inevitable conclusion, that she had missed her opportunity to put an end to this in season one, and it’s all going to end badly.

i think you’re spot on and these guys are overthinking things lmao 

[GeneticBlueprint]

Good, solid episode. The big climactic episodes wouldn't have the impact that they do without episodes like this one.

 

I will say that I am getting bored of the Daemon vision quest. And it would appear we're only in the middle of it.

[TwinIon]

53 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Good, solid episode. The big climactic episodes wouldn't have the impact that they do without episodes like this one.

 

I will say that I am getting bored of the Daemon vision quest. And it would appear we're only in the middle of it.

Yeah, that plot line has kind of been spinning its wheels a bit, but that is kind of the point. We see everyone else becoming similarly frustrated at his slow progress, so it's definitely not an oversight that he's taking so long to do anything. I was kind of surprised that he vocalized so directly his plan to take the throne. I think it's been pretty well established that he felt he should be king, but it really seems he's getting ahead of himself planning his own coronation when he hasn't been able to raise much of an army.

 

On the other side, I was a little bit surprised that no one was willing to back Alicent as regent. It doesn't seem like there is any misconception as to what Aemond is, and there wasn't a lot of love for the chaos of Aegon's rule. It shouldn't be a surprise that Aemond was the consensus pick; he's a dude and he has the biggest dragon. Still, I thought there might be some desire to have an adult in charge again. It makes me wonder if Alicent would have gotten any votes if Aemond wasn't in the room with them. Aemond seems likely to end up as king eventually, and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to vote against him in his presence.

[GeneticBlueprint]

20 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

Yeah, that plot line has kind of been spinning its wheels a bit, but that is kind of the point. We see everyone else becoming similarly frustrated at his slow progress, so it's definitely not an oversight that he's taking so long to do anything. I was kind of surprised that he vocalized so directly his plan to take the throne. I think it's been pretty well established that he felt he should be king, but it really seems he's getting ahead of himself planning his own coronation when he hasn't been able to raise much of an army.

 

On the other side, I was a little bit surprised that no one was willing to back Alicent as regent. It doesn't seem like there is any misconception as to what Aemond is, and there wasn't a lot of love for the chaos of Aegon's rule. It shouldn't be a surprise that Aemond was the consensus pick; he's a dude and he has the biggest dragon. Still, I thought there might be some desire to have an adult in charge again. It makes me wonder if Alicent would have gotten any votes if Aemond wasn't in the room with them. Aemond seems likely to end up as king eventually, and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to vote against him in his presence.

 

I don't mind him spinning his wheels when he's politicking. That's all well and good and interesting to me. The becoming a literal motherfucker? Not so much after three, four episodes of similar stuff. I am glad they did vocalize his intentions since four episodes deep on this storyline is a little bit long to still be wondering. Of course, that could be only part of a typical GoT/GRRM-esque multi stage reveal. But we needed some of that reveal already IMO.

 

The Alicent scene was so good. After all the compromises and support she's made and given for everybody else on that council, for her to get smacked with the reality of the situation felt like some sort of comeuppance for her hypocrisy (religious and otherwise) and I liked that. And that slow zoom-in on Olivia Cooke losing it internally as Aemond is giving decrees was well done. Larys made the strongest, best, and correct point: Part of team green's claim to legitimacy is that Aegon is male and their competition Rhaenyra is female. So they can't go putting a female on the throne now, can they? When they have another legitimate male heir in the room? I think Aemond was pretty adult. He takes the charge seriously and immediately gets down to business with "boring" details that frustrated Aegon.

 

I think there might be some misconception among the council--or at least not full knowledge--of what Aemond is. The mishap with Lucerys was a mishap (in some sense) because even Aemond seemed shocked in that moment. And only Cole seems to comprehend what happened between Aegon, Rhaenys, and Aemond at Rook's Rest. And he's not spilling the beans so far.

[skillzdadirecta]

5 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

And only Cole seems to comprehend what happened between Aegon, Rhaenys, and Aemond at Rook's Rest. And he's not spilling the beans so far.

That's because after seeing what Dragon on Dragon combat looks like up close, he soiled his greaves... literally.

[Moa]

I really liked the scene of Alicent making her case and her support crumbling. Aemond took the regency without having to say a word.

 

I also agree that Cole's reticence is because he's absolutely shook from the battle, the dragons, and suddenly seeing the pit of vipers he's placed himself in the middle of.

 

I would be tired of Luigi's Mansion if it weren't for how hilariously Matt Smith plays it.

[Greatoneshere]

Well that felt like a time killing waste of an episode. It was well made, etc. and some key things happened but for a season that was supposed to be the start of the war . . . it still feels like it hasn't started yet. I expect we'll get a fair bit of that in the final two episodes of the season but this episode definitely felt like it was spinning its wheels, covering the same things we've covered about the characters for most of the season now.

[TwinIon]

Just now, Greatoneshere said:

Well that felt like a time killing waste of an episode. It was well made, etc. and some key things happened but for a season that was supposed to be the start of the war . . . it still feels like it hasn't started yet. I expect we'll get a fair bit of that in the final two episodes of the season but this episode definitely felt like it was spinning its wheels, covering the same things we've covered about the characters for most of the season now.

It was a table setting episode for sure, but I think a necessary one. We needed to have Aemond take over and start making bad decisions. Yeah, everyone knew that's what he would do, but you still need at least one episode of him doing that to set the stage. I don't entirely love how the whole dragon rider plot was worked out, a bit too dragon ex machina, but we did need an episode to set that up.

 

I will admit though that Daemon's slow spiral remains a low point. He's such an interesting character and I love Matt Smith in that role, but he's just wasting away by himself in threads that aren't very exciting to watch.

[Greatoneshere]

Just now, TwinIon said:

It was a table setting episode for sure, but I think a necessary one. We needed to have Aemond take over and start making bad decisions. Yeah, everyone knew that's what he would do, but you still need at least one episode of him doing that to set the stage. I don't entirely love how the whole dragon rider plot was worked out, a bit too dragon ex machina, but we did need an episode to set that up.

 

I will admit though that Daemon's slow spiral remains a low point. He's such an interesting character and I love Matt Smith in that role, but he's just wasting away by himself in threads that aren't very exciting to watch.

 

Definitely some key things happened, but it felt like it could have fit the most important bits into other episodes. It just feels like we're waiting in place when, excepting one battle, the war still feels like its gearing up. Daemon's stuff is the real problem though, I agree.

[GeneticBlueprint]

Last week I was tired of Daemon's vision quest. But this week it felt like there was some movement on it finally. I wish it didn't take five episodes for Daemon to start feeling and coming to terms with these things instead of just treating them like a mostly minor annoyance for over half the season. It also doesn't hurt when you've got Paddy Considine paddy consadining the fuck out of those scenes.

 

Shocked at Aemond's turn into extremely incompetent leader. We had a hint of it last episode for sure. But "People are starving." So what? Fuck 'em. Not my problem. was basically his response. Any halfway competent person could see that it's their problem.

 

That being said, Rhaenyra sends aid but I don't buy that she's doing it for any humanitarian reasons. She is also an aloof Targaryen.

 

Speaking of Rhaenyra, that scene with Mysaria at the end was... weird. We're given no indication that there's any sort of romantic interest brewing between them at any point. Then suddenly sparks are flying right after Mysaria is like "I was raped by my father for a really long time"? Okay.

[skillzdadirecta]

1 hour ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

That being said, Rhaenyra sends aid but I don't buy that she's doing it for any humanitarian reasons.

She's not. It was a war tactic... I don't think they even pretended it wasn't. I agree about Daemon and Harrenhall... these visions are getting redundant at this point. Thankfully it looks like this storyline is finally moving forward. I also agree with @TwinIon and how the dragin plot was resolved. I mean, how long has Seasmoke been riderless? He just all of a sudden desides to go find a rider conveniently when Rhanerya needs riders? And he finds a guy who had clearly been there the whole time? Ooooookay. Otherwise this has been an enjoyable season and I'm gonna be sad when it's over.

[GeneticBlueprint]

2 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

She's not. It was a war tactic... I don't think they even pretended it wasn't. I agree about Daemon and Harrenhall... these visions are getting redundant at this point. Thankfully it looks like this storyline is finally moving forward. I also agree with @TwinIon and how the dragin plot was resolved. I mean, how long has Seasmoke been riderless? He just all of a sudden desides to go find a rider conveniently when Rhanerya needs riders? And he finds a guy who had clearly been there the whole time? Ooooookay. Otherwise this has been an enjoyable season and I'm gonna be sad when it's over.

 

Yeah I worded that poorly. I just meant to say Rhaenyra isn't exactly a saint the way the she's portrayed a lot of the time. And that's coming from somebody that's 100% team Rhaenyra.

[GeneticBlueprint]

Vermithor putting in work

[Moa]

Fuck yeah, dragons.

[skillzdadirecta]

2 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Vermithor putting in work

Vermithor had his own barbecue buffet... delivered to him.

[SoberChef]

So I'm at work for another hour, but from everything I'm seeing online ... oofta, peeps are NOT digging this finale at all. YIKES!

[Greatoneshere]

Finale was fine, it was just relatively boring. It's been three episodes now and there's still been no real war on screen to speak of except for the Rhaenys battle. A lot of big character moments throughout and the dragon rider stuff was cool but the finale spends a lot of time on Tyland Lannister recruiting the Triarchy to House Green's cause when time could have been better spent elsewhere. It takes three episodes for Rhaena to find Sheepstealer. To me it just felt like these last few episodes dragged when this is a season finale. Show is still good but to me felt like we wasted time here. Next season should be packed with battles as a result because they really avoided it here.

[GeneticBlueprint]

If you’re familiar with what happens next in the book it’s a truly baffling decision by DiscoMax/HBO to go this route. A mostly meandering season capped off by more table setting is… deeply unsatisfying to say the least. I mean, episode five had us saying “these table setting/board shuffling episodes are always necessary and good” and now after three more episodes of that including the finale I’m just kind of like uuugggggghhh.

 

I’m overstating the lack of movement but it’s the way it’s going to be perceived by many. Cost cutting combined with elongation is like some sort of death knell for prestige TV I’m feeling lately. Really didn’t expect it in a money printer like ASOIAF. 

[Greatoneshere]

43 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

If you’re familiar with what happens next in the book it’s a truly baffling decision by DiscoMax/HBO to go this route. A mostly meandering season capped off by more table setting is… deeply unsatisfying to say the least. I mean, episode five had us saying “these table setting/board shuffling episodes are always necessary and good” and now after three more episodes of that including the finale I’m just kind of like uuugggggghhh.

 

I’m overstating the lack of movement but it’s the way it’s going to be perceived by many. Cost cutting combined with elongation is like some sort of death knell for prestige TV I’m feeling lately. Really didn’t expect it in a money printer like ASOIAF. 

 

Yeah, this is exactly how I felt these past three episodes. Apparently the shortened season (8 episodes this season as opposed to 10 like season 1) is due to the strikes from last year as well as budget cuts at parent company Warner Bros. Discovery and so a battle was moved from the end of this season to the beginning of the next. Whatever the reasons were, it definitely hurt the back half of this season. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

1 hour ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Yeah, this is exactly how I felt these past three episodes. Apparently the shortened season (8 episodes this season as opposed to 10 like season 1) is due to the strikes from last year as well as budget cuts at parent company Warner Bros. Discovery and so a battle was moved from the end of this season to the beginning of the next. Whatever the reasons were, it definitely hurt the back half of this season. 

 

 

 

[GeneticBlueprint]

It's even worse knowing we have to wait two. fucking. years. for the next one. Eighteen months at least.

[TwinIon]

I didn't realize it was the finale and thought it was a ten episode season like GoT. I thought that was a very exciting place for episode 8 to end. It was a horrible place for a season to end. There was a lot of good stuff in this season and this last episode, but it really feels like the wheels were spinning in place for too long. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

1 hour ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

 

 

 

This reminds me of what @Jason said about the endings of the first two Mass Effect games:

 

Ending of Mass Effect 1: THE REAPERS ARE COMING!

Ending of Mass Effect 2: THE REAPERS ARE STILL COMING!

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

The series will end with its fourth season.

 

‘House of the Dragon’ to End With Season 4, Season 3 to Begin Production in Early 2025

VARIETY.COM

---

Send a raven: It's finally been confirmed how many seasons HBO's "House of the Dragon" will run.

 

Quote

 

During a press conference on Monday discussing the Season 2 finale of “House of the Dragon,” showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal revealed that the “Game of Thrones” prequel will include two more seasons, concluding with Season 4.

 

Condal also confirmed that the third season is currently being written, with the plan to go into production in “earlyish 2025.” When asked whether Season 3 will also be eight episodes, Condal said: “I haven’t had discussions with HBO about it, I would just anticipate the cadence of the show, from dramatic storytelling perspective, will continue to be the same from Season 2 on.”

 

 

[skillzdadirecta]

Given what's left in the book and how this season meandered a bit in the middle episodes, I would have thought it would end after season three. With them trying to draw out two more season, expect more deompressed storytelling.

[SoberChef]

Pretty sure the wait for the final season of The Boys will be harder than the 3rd season of this, considering how much I'm getting out of the respective shows. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

I don’t know. I mean yeah I think the structure and pacing of this season left a lot to be desired. But the drama, acting, and spectacle are all still top notch. I love the world of ice and fire. 

[skillzdadirecta]

20 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

I don’t know. I mean yeah I think the structure and pacing of this season left a lot to be desired. But the drama, acting, and spectacle are all still top notch. I love the world of ice and fire. 

I think HBO wants a certain number of seasons and in THIS case, there isn't enough material to justify it. The Dance of Dragons isn't a whole book. It's a chapter IN a book. That said, i agree, the acting is top notch and the lore and the world is one of the best ever created in fiction.

[cusideabelincoln]

14 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

 

 

HOTD S1: Winter is coming.

HOTD S2: Winter is coming

HOTD S3-4: Winter is coming

*200 years later*

GOT S1-S08E02: Winter is coming

GOT S08E03: Winter came; got stabbed in the gut with a knife.

 

 

Overall this is still entertaining television, despite the strong start leading into a series of blue-ball episodes. Show is so well acted and directed that the flaws are smoothed over. I'm not sure how the book handles it, but my major criticism concerns the writing of the dialogue. This season, and parts of last season, the characters way more often than not speak to each other in a "meta" manner as if not talking to other characters in the show but we the viewers. As if the writers are pre-emptively explaining away fan theories by just having the characters explain their rationale and decision making bluntly in a way to convince us the viewer instead of another character in the show. Sometimes it's fine and necessary, but at times it feels unnatural. One other nagging criticism is they are creating a trope of having our main characters freely sneak into enemy encampments and get out safely - Daemon, Rhaenyra, Alicent each do this.

 

And concerning the bluntness if the dialogue and Nameless [wo]men, doesn't seem like Alicent a Rhaenyra decided on a plan to neutralize Aemond who the show has readily went out of its way to tell us he will do anything to get what he wants.

[Spork3245]

The season finale felt like the ending to a random episode. #changemymind

[TwinIon]

Yesterday I read a very detailed reddit post (that I can't find right now) that went through the timeline production and came to the conclusion that they wrote 10 episodes, were told by WB/D to cut it to 8, and ended up making minimal changes to the season even after it was cut. It's definitely speculation, but it really rings true in the results.

[GeneticBlueprint]

6 hours ago, TwinIon said:

Yesterday I read a very detailed reddit post (that I can't find right now) that went through the timeline production and came to the conclusion that they wrote 10 episodes, were told by WB/D to cut it to 8, and ended up making minimal changes to the season even after it was cut. It's definitely speculation, but it really rings true in the results.

 

I've read that eight episode thing in several places. Even before the season started. So I 100% believe it.