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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 2, 2023 9:39:46 GMT 1
Finished Season 1 of House of the Dragon on Blu-ray (which I received for Christmas). I was surprised when this was released on DVD/Blu-ray here so soon after it had finished airing in America/on Pay TV (which I don’t have). I thought I’d be waiting about a year to see it like I had to with each season of GoT...but no, they released it only a couple of months after it had aired, I think - which was good news for me! However, I had read about each episode when the show originally aired, so I was fairly spoiled (by my own choice). Still, watching it play out onscreen was different to what I’d read (and I hadn’t spoiled myself for everything - just most of the main/important stuff, more or less). Episode 1: 'Heirs of the Dragon'{Spoiler}My memory’s not great (even when it comes to things I only watched recently), so I might be mentioning events a bit out of order. Since I’d only read bits and pieces of spoilery stuff, I’d imagined some things occurring quite differently. I’d thought that we were going to get text onscreen with older Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) voiceovering, but instead we actually got to see what was being described play out (with the old King naming Viserys Targaryen as the new one) and only after that was there text onscreen about how long before Daenerys this show was taking place (with the amount of years and her name being the last words left onscreen as it went to black). The sweeping shot following along with the dragon flying over the city (NOT burning the people below - like certain other Targaryens would - as they watched it, unconcerned) was a good way to reintroduce us to this world after the opening voiceover. Turns out this was the dragon of young Rhaenyra (Aussie actress Milly Alcock), called Syrax. I liked seeing how affectionate she was towards her dragon, showing a clear bond between them. I also liked seeing Graham McTavish from Outlander as Ser Harrold Westerling, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, who appears to be a protector of Rhaenyra watching over her. We also meet young Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey). I thought both young actresses did a really good job of immediately establishing their friendship/dynamic (though I saw that some people felt there was ‘more’ between them...which I can understand, as the actresses had great chemistry, after all), they felt natural in their performances and I especially liked the scene with them together under the tree, which made for a nice visual. Apparently some people hated Rhaenyra for tearing a page out of the book (which she showed she had studied properly, even though Alicent thought she wasn’t paying attention, which demonstrated that Rhaenyra was smart among other things). I was amused by hearing Rhaenyra’s goals in life/all she really wanted - she’s got her priorities straight! We also saw that Rhaenyra got the ‘privilege’ of being allowed into the small council with her father, King Viserys (Paddy Considine, who I’d previously seen in a show called Informer - which I didn’t think much of, nor did his performance in it really stand out to me. I later discovered I’d seen him in other things like the third Bourne film and just hadn’t really taken much notice of/remembered him from them), and his advisors - albeit just serving them wine - and one of them is Alicent’s father, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans, who I’ve seen in a number of things), who is Hand of the King. At one point we were treated to the sight of Viserys with a pus-filled lump on his back...which, of course, the show felt the need to give us a good CLOSE-UP LOOK AT IN DETAIL complete with someone scraping the pus out of it with some tool/instrument (because the GoT world never skimps on the gruesomeness) and whatever sickness/disease he had seemingly started from him cutting himself on the Iron Throne, which may LOOK like the coolest chair ever, but clearly it’s impractical and dangerous (at least this was finally acknowledged within the show itself rather than just being an observation made by viewers). I was surprised to see that it had grown out to create a carpet of swords leading up to it (which weren’t present in the GoT era). I appreciated the effort that went into making Daemon Targaryen's (Matt Smith) introduction feel ‘epic’, involving Rhaenyra walking in on him sitting atop the Iron Throne and us not even seeing him clearly to start with. It goes without saying that Matt Smith instantly made an impact with his performance (which was not only completely different to his Doctor from Doctor Who, but unlike some of his unfortunate movie appearances, it wasn't CUT), I thought both he and Milly Alcock had major chemistry (which would be totally fine...if they weren’t RELATED, but they are Targaryens after all, so this sort of thing is to be expected) and they worked well off each other, making the scene a standout in the episode. Them both speaking High Valyrian also added a lot to the scene. It soon became clear what sort of person Daemon was with his comments he made about how doing sheep would be preferable to doing his own wife (who we didn’t see) and taking men out to punish criminals by cutting off the hands of thieves and the junk of rapists among other things. He also enjoyed unleashing violence during a jousting tournament and this was the scene which introduced not only the audience, but also Rhaenyra & Alicent, to the character of Ser Criston Cole - who the young ladies were apparently surprised to discover was Dornish, but nevertheless they still thought him dreamy. Reading descriptions of the violence during the tournament was enough for me, as I wasn’t watching this show (or GoT for that matter) FOR the violence, but rather in spite of it. One person who obviously wasn’t a fan of Criston was Daemon, who looked to have beaten him (dang it, Daemon! If only you'd offed the dreamboat, so many bad things in the future might’ve been avoided!) until he turned the tables and defeated Daemon, who obviously wasn't too happy about that. It’s good that Rhaenyra got that one scene with her mum in this episode, given what happened to her during the scene. While it wasn’t exactly subtle, the cutting between the violence of the tournament and the violent birthing scene with Viserys’ wife upped the tension, as he was given a difficult choice between either trying to save the child and letting his wife die or letting both die. It was hard not to feel sorry for poor Aemma, who hadn’t a clue what was being done to her until too late (the actress did a fine job portraying her pain, fear and desperation to not die, as did Paddy Considine in showing that he wasn’t a King without heart/feelings). It was all for naught in the end anyway, since both she and her child died. I’d read people’s comments about how nasty this birthing scene was, but I’m fairly certain I’ve seen much worse. Maybe it was just the circumstances surrounding it that made it seem so bad? Anyway, it’s reported to the King that Daemon was making an ass of himself in public, getting drunk and toasting to the dead child as ‘heir for a day’, which understandably pissed Viserys off, leading to a yelling match between the two, with Daemon pointing out how the King made Otto Hightower his Hand instead of his own brother, warning him of Otto’s untrustworthiness, etc (him pimping out his daughter, Alicent, to cosy up to the King being just one example). I thought Milly Alcock’s performance during the funeral scene for Rhaenyra's mother was her standout one of the episode, as she couldn’t quite get the word ‘Dracarys’ out to begin with, fighting back tears, but then recomposed herself and said what needed to be said (with some nudging from Daemon) so Syrax would light up her deceased mother's funeral pyre (I appreciated the small detail of the dragon seeming hesitant to do the deed at first). For someone who I hadn’t even heard of (I discovered after she was cast in this show that she'd already starred in an Aussie TV series here, but because it wasn't on free-to-air TV, I hadn’t gotten to see it), nor had I seen her in anything before this series, Milly Alcock certainly established herself as an actress with real talent just in this first episode alone. I liked seeing Daemon being affectionate towards his dragon, Caraxes (who he flew off on with his prostitute, Mysaria - the Frenchiest of French ho ever), and how much effort went into making the dragons we’d seen so far have their own unique look/appearance (and not just be different colours), thus setting them apart from Dany’s dragons. I also liked the visual of the giant dragon skull as Viserys informed Rhaenyra of the prophecy he’d learned (though when he said that Winter would be coming, I thought to myself “Yeah, but it’ll be a while.” ). I got chills at the end when the music (which usually accompanied any scene with Dany’s dragons in GoT) started playing and then we went into the end credits with the GoT theme being played as Rhaenyra turned around and was named heir. Once again, Milly Alcock managed to make one hell of an impression - and this time with just a look. I remember when the first trailers for the show were released, I saw a few actors I recognised and a bunch who I didn’t, but hers was the one that stood out to me as it was ‘unique’ and I didn’t have any previous performances to associate her with, and unlike some of the other unfamiliar faces, she looked like one that actually belonged in the GoT world just as Emilia Clarke (who I didn’t know when I first watched GoT) had. Anyway, it was a hell of an opening episode, which showed much promise, being different to the original series but not *too* different.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 5, 2023 6:40:19 GMT 1
Episode 2: 'The Rogue Prince'{Spoiler}So, after having no opening credits sequence during the first episode (which I can understand the reasoning behind), we got them starting with this second episode of the series. Not long after the episode aired, I saw people arguing for and against the show theme music for HotD remaining the same as GoT’s. Some were happy it didn't change from the iconic GoT theme music, while others wished it had changed and been something different. I personally can see both sides of the argument, as having a familiarity with a theme evokes fond memories of the original show (back in its heyday). By the same token, they had the chance to create something new/equally iconic...but there was always the danger that it wouldn't live up to the GoT theme. I think that either way, whatever they chose to do for this show's theme wasn't going to please everybody. Can they be accused of 'playing it safe' with the theme music? Maybe, but at least the credits themselves offer something different (the Targaryen family tree) whilst not straying too far from GoT's opening credits. If I have one quibble with the sequence, it’s the order that the cast’s names appear. While I can understand Paddy Considine’s name being first, followed by Matt Smith’s...given how important to the story the characters of Rhaenyra & Alicent are, I thought Milly Alcock and Emily Carey’s names should’ve been slotted in after the first two actors and *before* Rhys Ifans’ name (that receives the special ‘and’ treatment). Instead, the names of the two young actresses who play Rhaenyra and Alicent are behind the names of the actors who play Corlys Velaryon, Rhaenys Targaryen, Criston Cole and even Criston’s ho - WTF? Milly and Emily’s name should’ve at least been ahead of those last two! Are they so far back in the sequence of names simply because they’re ‘unknown’ actors? I’d think the ones playing Criston and Mysaria weren’t that widely known either. Or is it because Milly and Emily were the youngest members of the main cast at this point? Either way, I felt offended on their behalf that they weren’t among the first few names listed in the cast given that they play crucial roles to the story. Anyway, moving on, apparently half a year has passed between last episode and this one, Rhaenyra is *still* only allowed to serve wine during small council meetings...but she also has IDEAS, and while her father appears willing to listen (and Corlys Velaryon, also known as ‘The Sea Snake’, appears impressed), Otto Hightower’s clearly of the opinion "Women having ideas? What absurdity!" and dismissive of her, steering the King away from listening to his daughter's good advice, thus showing that Daemon was right about him last episode that he sucks as Hand of the King. Rhaenyra’s sent off to pick a new Kingsguard knight since the old one passed (I was amused by the focus on the little set of stairs she had to stand on to see over the railing properly at the knights below) and after being unimpressed with most of them, she ends up choosing Ser Criston Cole because he’s dreamy he’s the only one with actual battle experience. Rhaenyra & Alicent have a good scene between them that’s set at a big candlelit table where Rhaenyra says she wishes her father would see her as more than just a ‘little girl’ and Alicent offers some advice, being a good friend...if it weren’t for the fact that she’s still doing her own father’s bidding by charming her way into Viserys’ favour while he shows her his extravagant model city of Old Valyria made by stonemasons. He accidentally drops one of the dragon models, breaking it, which she later has fixed for him (I see you, Alicent!). When he’s not busy using his models to impress girls his daughter’s age, he’s sticking his hand into maggot-filled bowls (seemingly totally unfazed by it) so they can feed on the dead flesh of his fingers which have turned black. Meanwhile, there’s a bad guy named the Crabfeeder who unsurprisingly feeds his victims to crabs (it’s right there in the name!) and Daemon’s off causing problems, stealing the dragon egg that was intended for the child that died in birth along with Viserys’ wife last episode. Rhaenyra has more advice for her father, but is again dismissed. Otto goes to confront Daemon, who announces that he’s going to marry his ho (who’s still super-French), and his red dragon appears - I noticed it makes different dragony sounds to what we’ve typically heard dragons make previously, such as Rhaenyra’s dragon...which she shows up on like a badass (do dragons have brakes on them?), dismounting and basically daring her uncle to off her since she’s the one who was made heir and thus is standing in his way (not just literally, but figuratively). After she's called his bluff, Daemon carelessly tosses her the dragon egg he stole and it gets put in a portable oven before she flies off on her dragon, actually having GOT SHIT DONE (unlike Otto). When she gets back home, her father gives her a stern talking to about what she did (they’d had a quiet dinner scene earlier - which he’d mentioned to Alicent during their scene, saying his daughter barely said two words to him - so he was making an effort to talk to her more). Corlys had been urging the King to marry his 12 year old daughter (who looks even younger than that, and I imagine the actor playing Viserys must’ve felt weird about his walk-and-talk with the child actor as they characters got to know each other and she says she’s on board with marrying him since she was told she wouldn’t have to actually do him until she was 14). Rather than wed a child, he ends up announcing that he’s going to wed someone slightly older - Alicent. Once again I must praise Milly’s Alcock’s performance when we see Rhaenyra’s reaction to this totally shocking/devastating news. Her emotion feels *real* and you can see all the thoughts she must be having written all over her face at this WTF-worthy news that her BFF will become her step-mother (you broke the sister code, Alicent!). She, along with Corlys (who's pissed about having had his daughter be rejected by the King), leave the room and Corlys is now apparently on Team Daemon.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 6, 2023 6:54:16 GMT 1
Episode 3: 'Second of His Name'{Spoiler}Crabfeeder’s living up to his name by feeding some tied-up dude who’s trash-talking him to his crabs, Daemon’s seen flying on his dragon overhead and the dude thinks he's his salvation, calling out to Daemon to save him...but Daemon don’t care and, hilariously, the dude gets his whole body crushed by the dragon’s giant foot (bad luck, dude). Speaking of Caraxes, what stands out to me most about him is how spindly he looks (and his hind legs stick out in a funny way when he’s flying). He’s also apparently known as ‘the Blood Wyrm’, which is an apt description, and he reminds me of Smaug from The Hobbit films. It would appear two years have passed; Alicent’s married to the King, had his first kid and is pregnant with the next one. Rhaenyra’s still pissed at her BFF her ex-BFF for marrying her father and she’s not at the celebration of the second nameday or whatever it’s called for their first-born son, Aegon II. Instead, she’s off underneath what was formerly her tree she hung out with Alicent, but now by herself reading a book and listening to a guy playing a tune which she likes to hear on repeat (which I totally understand, as there's certain songs I feel that way about). When he suggests something else, she exerts her authority over him, saying to play it again, but then Alicent shows up (having been sent by Viserys to retrieve his daughter) and exerts HER authority, telling the guy to leave whilst Rhaenyra orders him to stay...but, unfortunately, being the Queen trumps being a Princess, so Alicent wins this round and the guy vamooses, not wishing to get in the middle of whatever is going on between these two. I can understand Rhaenyra holding a grudge, but the time jump doesn’t actually feel like two years have passed, instead feeling like it’s taking place not long after the last episode’s events. I did like Rhaenyra’s outfit she was wearing, as parts of it look like armour that resembled dragon scales. Once she joins everyone else, Jason Lannister who chats her up (they oddly don't bond over being part of incesty families), she argues with her father about it, Viserys tells her to choose who she wants and she’ll never be supplanted as heir after they have words (meanwhile, Otto’s adamant about Alicent’s son being heir since he still doesn’t like Rhaenyra - so she’s not the only one who can hold a grudge for two years) and Rhaenyra rides off in a huff with Criston Cole following. Turns out he's not the only wild bore she has to deal with, as a big hairy pig attacks, it’s on stop of Rhaenyra, Criston stabs it once (making it mostly dead), then she proceeds to stabs it MANY times (making it really dead), working out some of her issues/venting her anger at all the shit she’s dealing with, getting covered in blood as a result. There’s a white hart out there who is supposed to get killed to ‘celebrate’ this second nameday BS which no one can seem to find, but Rhaenyra and Criston stumble upon it - he wants to kill it (the bastard!), but she thankfully stops him – which is good news for the white hart. But it’s NOT such good news for the innocent stag who’s serving as a substitute in the white hart’s absence elsewhere, as it’s been captured, tied up, and as if further proof is needed that Viserys is rather lame at hunting/killing, he’s not even able to kill it with his first stab and we have to hear it crying out it agony as he tries again, it makes a horrible anguished sound before eventually dying...and he’s applauded for his pathetic effort (damn you, show! I see you’re keeping up the tradition from GoT of having poor defenseless animals getting killed and making us have to watch them suffer. This is one thing I would’ve been happy to see not carry over from the original series into this one!). While Viserys sucks, Rhaenyra’s doing her badass blood-soaked walk past fire with the boar whilst everyone watches. As to where Daemon’s been all this time, he’s off miraculously dodging many arrows and taking out many bad guys before eventually getting hit with a couple of arrows which he breaks off the ends of and then continues on like it’s no big thing (I find it rather hypocritical how certain people seemed to have a problem with Rhaenyra getting to be a badass in the episode, but had no problem accepting Daemon’s ‘badassedness’ despite the improbability of his survival). Thanks to a small army attacking the cave where Crabfeeder’s guys are hiding (and with more than a little help from Caraxes), they are defeated and Daemon ends up dragging out the upper torso of Crabfeeder (I guess, ironically, he’ll now be feed for his crabs). All I could think was that it seemed very odd to have the violence (ie. Crabfeeder being cut in half) *not* shown onscreen, since this show, like GoT before it, seem to never miss an opportunity to show gratuitous violence in all its gory glory...but I guess they didn't show the actual act simply so they could have the surprise reveal.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 6, 2023 8:08:53 GMT 1
Episode 4: ‘King of the Narrow Sea’{Spoiler}Rhaenyra’s interviewing potential suiters to marry...starting with an old guy, she makes some crack about how it was an eternity ago (that he was born? That he started talking?), then next up it’s a kid younger than her...though, oddly, his voice sounds older than he looks (there’s NO appropriately-aged suiters available, apparently) and he says he’ll protect her, then some mucho dude calls the kid a dumb C-bomb, pointing she has a dragon, everyone laughs...but the kid gets his revenge by fatally (?) stabbing the jerk (NOW who's laughing, bitch?!), and I found it amusing how Rhaenyra just nonchalantly walks away from this. I also found it funny how Criston told her not to look at the violence going on behind her when A) she didn’t seem to give two figs about it, and B) She soaked herself in the blood of the boar she stabbed eleven billionty times last episode...I don't think she's the squeamish sort. Daemon returns (sporting a new short haircut and crown), making with the nice-nice to the King, bending the knee and everything! At whatever celebration thing that’s going on, Alicent suggests Daemon check out tapestries with her and Viserys laughs her off, saying he’d have no interest in such things, then Rhaenyra says she’d like to and goes off to do so alone. Alicent goes to talk to her, even though Rhaenyra’s still probably mad about the whole marrying-her-dad thing, but after a chat, they’re friends again! Rhaenyra also chats with Daemon in High Velaryon (which is so hot right now). Later, she finds Daemon’s left her street clothes, which she gets dressed in before sneaking out, then he takes her on a stroll through the great unwashed...which she for some reason enjoys despite all the unsavory stuff going on, as well as passersby shoving her/calling her a boy (which just seems to amuse her...though she's less amused by a mummer's play performance). She enjoys some rat, then runs off without paying for her food and bumps into a soldier (I forget who), he recognises her but lets her go, Daemon eventually catches up with her and proving what a great uncle he is, he takes her to a pleasure den where ALL the depravity happens, they start getting hot n’ heavy, but he can’t go through with it (apparently Daemon *does* draw the line at incest...so I guess he’s not a very good Targaryen) and abandons her. After Daemon dumps her, she’s still horny and so she tries to get it on with Criston Cole who’s hesitant to start with, but he's warm for her form and eventually caves. I saw some accusations from people saying that Rhaenyra ‘forced’ herself on him...but, really, he’s SO much bigger than her - and she’s so tiny - that he could’ve easily just moved her out of the way of the door by grabbing her shoulders, lifting her up and shifting her aside or he could’ve just left when she stepped away from the door. He made his own choices and clearly wasn’t thinking with his upstairs brain. Plus, she's a teenager...what's his excuse? Otto rats out Rhaenyra/Daemon to the King, relaying what he was told by witnesses happened between them, Viserys doesn’t believe him and is mad, making him actually SAY it instead of pussyfooting around what he’s accusing the King’s daughter and brother of getting up to together, Alicent overhears and confronts Rhaenyra, who denies she did the deed (technically she’s right - at least regarding Daemon, anyway) and Alicent claims to just be looking out for her BFF. Daemon gets drunk, begging the King to let him wed his own niece (so it wasn't so much that he wasn't willing to do the deed with his niece, it's just that he just wanted to marry her first, I guess), Viserys gets understandably mad, telling him off and kicking him whilst he lays on the floor (that's right, show how tough you are against tied-up deer and inebriated brothers, Viserys!). It’s then time for a most awkward father/daughter talk, Rhaenyra points out how Otto just wants to ruin her...so Viserys fires his arse (thus his plan backfires on him spectacularly). Instead of marrying her uncle, Rhaenyra will be marrying Corlys’ son as part of her ‘duty to the King’ and she’s brought a tea to take care of any unwanted accidents (though whether she drinks it or not is unclear).
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Post by Merv on Jan 6, 2023 8:56:09 GMT 1
Episode 4: ‘King of the Narrow Sea’{Spoiler}Rhaenyra’s interviewing potential suiters to marry...starting with an old guy, she makes some crack about how it was an eternity ago (that he was born? That he started talking?), then next up it’s a kid younger than her...though, oddly, his voice sounds older than he looks (there’s NO appropriately-aged suiters available, apparently) and he says he’ll protect her, then some mucho dude calls the kid a dumb C-bomb, pointing she has a dragon, everyone laughs...but the kid gets his revenge by fatally (?) stabbing the jerk (NOW who's laughing, bitch?!), and I found it amusing how Rhaenyra just nonchalantly walks away from this. I also found it funny how Criston told her not to look at the violence going on behind her when A) she didn’t seem to give two figs about it, and B) She soaked herself in the blood of the boar she stabbed eleven billionty times last episode...I don't think she's the squeamish sort. Daemon returns (sporting a new short haircut and crown), making with the nice-nice to the King, bending the knee and everything! At whatever celebration thing that’s going on, Alicent suggests Daemon check out tapestries with her and Viserys laughs her off, saying he’d have no interest in such things, then Rhaenyra says she’d like to and goes off to do so alone. Alicent goes to talk to her, even though Rhaenyra’s still probably mad about the whole marrying-her-dad thing, but after a chat, they’re friends again! Rhaenyra also chats with Daemon in High Velaryon (which is so hot right now). Later, she finds Daemon’s left her street clothes, which she gets dressed in before sneaking out, then he takes her on a stroll through the great unwashed...which she for some reason enjoys despite all the unsavory stuff going on, as well as passersby shoving her/calling her a boy (which just seems to amuse her...though she's less amused by a mummer's play performance). She enjoys some rat, then runs off without paying for her food and bumps into a soldier (I forget who), he recognises her but lets her go, Daemon eventually catches up with her and proving what a great uncle he is, he takes her to a pleasure den where ALL the depravity happens, they start getting hot n’ heavy, but he can’t go through with it (apparently Daemon *does* draw the line at incest...so I guess he’s not a very good Targaryen) and abandons her. After Daemon dumps her, she’s still horny and so she tries to get it on with Criston Cole who’s hesitant to start with, but he's warm for her form and eventually caves. I saw some accusations from people saying that Rhaenyra ‘forced’ herself on him...but, really, he’s SO much bigger than her - and she’s so tiny - that he could’ve easily just moved her out of the way of the door by grabbing her shoulders, lifting her up and shifting her aside or he could’ve just left when she stepped away from the door. He made his own choices and clearly wasn’t thinking with his upstairs brain. Plus, she's a teenager...what's his excuse? Otto rats out Rhaenyra/Daemon to the King, relaying what he was told by witnesses happened between them, Viserys doesn’t believe him and is mad, making him actually SAY it instead of pussyfooting around what he’s accusing the King’s daughter and brother of getting up to together, Alicent overhears and confronts Rhaenyra, who denies she did the deed (technically she’s right - at least regarding Daemon, anyway) and Alicent claims to just be looking out for her BFF. Daemon gets drunk, begging the King to let him wed his own niece (so it wasn't so much that he wasn't willing to do the deed with his niece, it's just that he just wanted to marry her first, I guess), Viserys gets understandably mad, telling him off and kicking him whilst he lays on the floor (that's right, show how tough you are against tied-up deer and inebriated brothers, Viserys!). It’s then time for a most awkward father/daughter talk, Rhaenyra points out how Otto just wants to ruin her...so Viserys fires his arse (thus his plan backfires on him spectacularly). Instead of marrying her uncle, Rhaenyra will be marrying Corlys’ son as part of her ‘duty to the King’ and she’s brought a tea to take care of any unwanted accidents (though whether she drinks it or not is unclear). I haven’t watched the show yet but I do know that the kid and the man he dueled were a Bracken and a Blackwood. In the history of Westeros these two houses are always fighting one another. They’re like the Hatfields and McCoys.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 6, 2023 11:18:58 GMT 1
Episode 5: ‘We Light the Way’{Spoiler}We meet Daemon’s wife (Rhea Royce, played by Rachel Redford - that's a lot of R's), the same one who he said makes sheep look like a decent sex partner by comparison...and evidently she got wind of these kind words from her loving husband since she throws them back in his face. She’s not nearly as bad appearance-wise as he’d made her out to be (then again, these Targaryens are all about incest, so their idea of ‘beauty’ might be a bit skewed). Anyway, while it’s nice to see her stand up to her jerk of a hubby and tell him off...it’s also not too bright to do this when you’re by yourself and the guy you’re insulting is clearly shady, complete with sinister-looking hooded cloak and just menacingly standing there at a distance. He moves towards her, freaks the horse out (see? Even the HORSE knows he has murderous intentions! Should've listened to it and just rode it straight out of there!) and consequently it rears up, falling backwards onto Daemon’s wifey. Thank goodness the horse is okay (as evidenced by the fact that it just gets right back up and trots off). No such luck for wifey, though, who is pretty much paralysed after having a horse dropped on her. Daemon puts his foot on her arm to make doubly sure she ain’t goin’ nowhere, he starts to walk off, but then she throws one more insult his way about not being able to finish. On the one hand, if you know you’re pretty much screwed and going to die, might as well hurl a final insult at your murderer. On the other hand, Daemon coming at her with a rock really shouldn’t have come as that much of a surprise. Speaking of surprises, I was shocked that the show - which usually revels in violence - actually demonstrated restraint here, NOT showing what he did to her in grisly detail. After Otto’s Worst Plan Ever, Alicent’s saying byeee to her dope of a father who got his fool self fired as Hand of the King and she says she believed Rhaenyra about nothing happening with Daemon and dear ol’ dad’s informant was mistaken, he says she *wanted* to believe Rhaenyra, who’s totally bad news and going to have her kids killed, etc. Meanwhile, Kingy’s sick on boat...or just plain sick in general, his new Hand is one of the Strongs (whose first name I didn't bother to learn). Really, seemed to me like he should’ve been Hand from the beginning, since he'd offered the King some sound advice previously. Viserys pays a visit to Corlys (whose driftwood throne is no match for the Iron Throne, it must be said...though at least the worst thing he gets from sitting on it is probably splinters in his arse rather than some deadly disease slowly killing him after scratching himself on it), whose daughter has now aged up (while no others have, it would appear), and the King wants to have Rhaenyra marry the Sea Snake’s son, but is stuck on the whole last name thing, saying they can take the Velaryon last name until they’re on throne...but then it’s Targaryen (gotta keep the name of the incestiest family going, after all). Corlys son is gay, but Rhaenyra is totally understanding (she even uses a duck and goose analogy), proposing that once they do their duty and have an heir, they can do what they want with whomever they wish. Of course this plan doesn’t involve Criston Cole, who wants Rhaenyra to run away with him, but she ain’t dumb enough to give up everything for Ser Dreamy...who obviously doesn't handle rejection well. So when Alicent questions him about what really went on between Rhaenyra and Daemon, he confesses to being the one who boned the Princess - which is all the information Alicent needed (Criston, you a-hole!) to lead her to wearing the colour of SUPER PISSED-OFFNESS...and also war: GREEN (two guys expositioning about what this meant was so clunky and clearly just included for those of us who had no clue about the significance of the colour). Her entrance - which was LATE (something that wanker, Jason Lannister, was remarking on, making a crack about why men go to war being because women are never ready. I enjoyed Rhaenyra’s epic eyeroll at him and her thinly-veiled snarky comments about the ‘pleasure of his company’) - manages to steal all the focus off of Rhaenyra on her wedding day (and also Daemon, who just casually sauntered in at one point, shocking everyone and causing his bro to look pissed). Some Grima Wormtongue-like figure named Larys was in Alicent’s ear earlier, I think, so that probably didn’t help matters. Daemon’s wife’s cousin is pissed at Daemon who calls him a C-word and will get her inheritance, Rhaenyra’s future hubby’s involved with someone who has the unfortunate name of Joffrey (my god...there was two of them?! Amusingly, his last name’s Lonmouth - more like LOUDmouth!) who mouths off to Criston about Rhaenyra, who's currently with Daemon and they're doing their chatting in Velaryon thing, getting close (which Viserys takes notice of), she has no time for him after he dumped her in Crackton last episode, but they’re rudely interrupted by sudden screaming...then chaos ensues. Loudmouth mouthed off one too many times, it would seem, as Criston’s pummeling him, Rhaenyra’s caught up in the crowd of people (what exactly are they all stampeding out of there for, it’s not like anyone’s on Criston’s ‘To Kill List’ besides Loudmouth, yet they’re reacting like he’s randomly killing everyone), Viserys demands to know where his daughter's at (seriously, if I was Rhaenyra I’d be majorly pissed that nobody cared about their Princess, damn it!), then Harwin Strong finds her/slings her over his shoulder as she amusingly tells him to put her down (I think this is just a thing Princesses say whenever they’re thrown over someone’s shoulder, even if doing so seems very unwise), the King has a sudden nosebleed, Criston works out his issues in much the same way as Rhaenyra worked hers out on that boar in episode 3...only in this instance, since Joffrey refused to listen when Criston told him “SHADDAP YOUR FACE!”, Criston shuts it up *for* him. Permanently (I admit I did NOT look at the resulting mushed face. I read about it and that was enough for me). Somehow Criston manages to just leave this murder he’s committed without being arrested (not so dreamy NOW is he? Who am I kidding, there are probably those who found him even more 'hot' after unleashed his inner rage monster), he goes off by his lonesome, strips off his armour and is preparing to commit suicide (feeling guilty about breaks his vows or whatever) when Alicent interrupts him (damn it, Alicent! You should’ve just allowed him to stab himself!). Clearly, she has use for him - also, they can bond over their shared dislike for Rhaenyra now. Speaking of, her shotgun wedding to someone who just witnessed their lover's face be reduced to lasagna with teeth is being held in the same room where it happened (with rats licking up the blood that’s still on the floor, no less!), she’s looking somewhat disheveled as she is wed, and the episode ends with the King collapsing. As far as weddings in Westeros go...this one had a surprisingly low body count. Will there EVER be a wedding taking place in this world where it doesn’t all go to hell and people die? I think at this point they’re just having death and weddings be synonymous to maintain the ongoing joke. I haven’t watched the show yet but I do know that the kid and the man he dueled were a Bracken and a Blackwood. In the history of Westeros these two houses are always fighting one another. They’re like the Hatfields and McCoys. Thanks for that^. And thanks also for reading my review (I honestly wasn't expecting that anyone would, as I usually just post my reviews for me, and if anyone else reads/likes them...then that's just a nice bonus).
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jan 7, 2023 10:18:11 GMT 1
Episodes 6 - 10{Spoiler}I’m sad to say I didn’t enjoy episodes 6 - 10 nearly as much as I did the first five episodes. I knew the time jump/s were coming and that Milly Alcock & Emily Carey would be replaced by episode 6...but it still felt like the show was in a rush to get to certain plot points/characters, and as a result we missed out stuff. Are we supposed to believe that NOTHING really of note/importance happened in all those years that passed? I sure would’ve liked to have spent at least the rest of this first season with the younger actresses still playing their roles, and then Season 2 could’ve started with the older ones. But nope, we fast-forward through 10 years of the characters’ lives and boom, they’re adults now. I will say that Emma D’Arcy’s onscreen debut as ‘older’ Rhaenyra (after having previously only been heard voiceovering in the first episode), going through one hell of a birth, and then having to make the long arduous trek up to show off her newborn to Queen Alicent after she demanded to see it (dick move, Alicent!) was a pretty effective way of showing just how tough Rhaenyra’s resolve was to let Alicent know who the TRUE badass out of the two of them was, and D’Arcy totally pulled it off (I was amused by Rhaenyra’s reactions to her hubby comparing childbirth to him getting a shoulder injury and asking if the birthing hurt - as if he wasn't already in the doghouse enough for naming their child after his mush-faced lover without her permission. Seriously, ANOTHER Joffrey?! That name should've died with Mushface! I was also amused later when she confessed to the King that she may have called the midwife a C-word). While I definitely preferred Milly Alcock in the role of Rhaenyra and the characterization from the earlier episodes, I thought that out of all the recastings, Emma D’Arcy was probably the ‘best’ and was believable as the younger badass Rhaenyra all grown up. While I’d known Olivia Cooke from other things (mainly the TV series Bates Motel) and had liked her in them, I can’t say I was really ‘wowed’ by her as Alicent. Yes, they gave her some pretty dramatic scenes to play (probably the most memorable one being when she let her true colours be seen by everyone, coming at Rhaenyra with a knife after wanting to take the eye of her son for reasons I'll get into shortly), and she certainly pulled them off when the occasion called for it, but I thought the ninth episode was THE MOST BORING episode of the season - which also happened to be the most Alicent-focused episode of the series, as she dealt with the King's passing. I'm afraid to say that she wasn’t enough to keep me enthralled in what was going on, and I was disappointed to see Emma D’Arcy & Matt Smith absent from the episode (though, thankfully, the tenth episode/season final featured them both and Alicent was the one who was absent). I was once again annoyed by the order of the names in the opening credits (though pleased to see they altered/changed them as the family tree grew, just like the opening credits used to change in GoT). I expected the cast names to be Paddy, Matt, Emma and then Olivia...but for some reason Olivia was before Emma. Once again I felt the names weren't in the 'correct' order (whereas the the names in GoT's opening credits usually made sense with regards to importance of the characters). I thought it was unintentionally funny how certain characters didn't seem to age while others did. All the kids grew up...but Daemon didn't look any older, and even more ridiculous was Criston Cole (having gotten off scot-free from committing murder in episode 5 - presumably Alicent had something to do with that) not looking like he'd aged a day. Has he been bathing in the blood of virgins or something? I think back to when I first saw the cast for this show and I assumed he'd be the 'Jon Snow' character (ie. the 'hot' guy who all the female audience members - and probably a few male ones too - swooned over, as he was the dashing hero type), but he actually ended up being the opposite of that and turned out to be a petty, backstabbing, rat bastard of a character who held a grudge for TEN YEARS against Rhaenyra for rejecting his laughable fantasy he'd imagined where she ran away with him. Even worse, he called her a C-word (which, thankfully, Alicent shot him look which clearly told him that while SHE could say all manner of things about her former BFF, she wouldn't tolerate someone like him saying such things) and he took his grudge against Rhaenyra out on her kids as well, basically being a bully towards them during sword training and egging Alicent's kids on to kick their arses. Too bad Graham McTavish's character handed in his resignation as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard (after Criston bashed an old dude's skull onto one of those little ball thingies each member of the small council has, killing the guy for daring to challenge Alicent), as now Ser Arsehole's in charge of the Kingsguard. He really is THE WORST and I hope he dies a slow/painful death next season. I also have to say I didn’t like ANY of the main characters' kids. They ALL annoyed me to varying degrees, with Alicent’s spawn easily being the worst. The oldest one (Aegon II) turned out to be nothing but a cocky drunk who pulled a Homelander out a window (presumably the same one that Tommen will take a nosedive out of in the future), and the actor who took over the role from the teenager version didn’t look anything like the previous actor to play the role - not even CLOSE! He also didn’t feel as though he’d be able to carry scenes by himself and was a very unimpressive actor, I thought. However, Alicent's second son (Aemond) was at least somewhat interesting, with him having been bullied by the other kids when he was younger, but also having the balls to claim the BIGGEST & OLDEST dragon (I was impressed with not only the size of it, but also how they showed its age) and losing an eye from fighting the combined efforts of Rhaenyra’s and Daemon’s spawn (I saw arguments for and against who was in the ‘wrong', but personally I think they *all* were to different degrees and no one was really ‘innocent’). The kid playing young Aemond was easily the best of the lot (though I was mildly intrigued by Alicent’s daughter, who seemed to have a thing for bugs, was weird and apparently could prophesize things - like Aemond losing an eye and thus becoming Eyepatch). Oh, and hey, good on Rhaenyra & Daemon for finally doing what they'd always wanted to (ie. get married) not long after Daemon's wife committed suicide via her dragon (which is how Eyepatch was able to claim it) and they faked the death of Rhaenyra's hubby (so he could go off with his new lover). Glad those two crazy/incesty kids worked it out! Luckily, the recasting of Eyepatch wasn’t such a fail as the recasting of Aegon II was, since the older actor to take over playing Eyepatch made quite the impression right from his very first appearance in the show...though it was distracting to me how much I thought he resembled Matt Smith (now that would've been a recasting that would've worked, with those two actors playing the same character since they actually *look* alike), and despite him being younger than Aegon II...he actually looked older - what was up with that? I'm also rather disturbed to hear that he already apparently has fanboys/fangirls (there's always those out there who love such types). Still, not even he could make the ninth episode compelling for me. So while he’s easily the ‘best’ of the younger generation of characters, he’s still not up to the same standard as Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy or Paddy Considine, imho. Speaking of the King, Paddy did a great job throughout the season, but especially when Viserys was literally falling apart. Yes, the effects/makeup helped...but his performance was really what sold it (and I liked the part with Daemon helping him/handing him his crown that had fallen off as he made that painful ascent to the Iron Throne, showing he *did* care for his brother despite all their arguments). I felt for Viserys, especially when he wanted his whole family to just get along...which they kind of did for a brief moment (it was nice to see the two former BFFs go from sitting as FAR away from each other as they could get to actually complimenting each other and seeming sincere in their civility towards one another) before he had to leave and then things descended into petty fighting between Rhaenyra’s and Alicent's spawn. Unfortunately, Viserys managed to make the most colossal cock-up of his life just as it finally came to an end, with him uttering the prophecy he’d told Rhaenyra when she was younger, but Alicent (the only one at his bedside) mistakenly thinking this meant he was saying HER oldest son should be King. Dang it, Viserys, you should’ve just kept your gnarly-toothed mouth SHUT and died in silence! Anyway, I can’t say there are very many characters outside of Rhaenyra and Daemon who interest me anymore. Shame those decent members of the Strong family got killed (meanwhile, the suckiest one of them - Larys - continues to draw breath, Grima Wormtonguing his was into Alicent’s favor, and most WTF-worthy of all: he apparently has a FOOT FETISH. That just felt SO out of place...yes, even though this show has dragons and incest, him jerking off to the sight of Alicent’s feet as he gave her information felt like the MOST out-of-place thing in the entire show. I can't express enough how much I LOATHED episode 9). While Rhaenyra’s kids didn’t leave much of an impression on me, at least they seemed a bit more decent than Alicent’s, and I *did* feel sorry for Rhaenyra at the end of the season final when Daemon brought her news that the younger of the two boys she sent out to secure herself allies had died thanks to Eyepatch wanting revenge against him for...well...making him become Eyepatch (when, really, he should've been THANKING him after having inexplicably gained a neat-looking glowy blue eye that makes him look 'cooler' than all the other kids) and his giant monster of a dragon chomping the kid’s much smaller grey dragon into pieces (I HATED watching Dany's dragons die in GoT, and while I wasn't as attached to this one...it still wasn't fun to watch. But the scene as a whole, set during stormy weather, was the standout one from the episode and probably the most exciting thing to happen onscreen since the last time jump). I was somewhat intrigued by both dragons seemingly disobeying their riders’ commands, with the grey one breathing fire at the giant one and then it munching in retaliation (I guess Eyepatch will have plausible deniability when he's accused of murder - "I didn't do it! My dragon did!"). Does this mean we’ll be seeing dragons disobeying their riders next season and turning on them? That’d at least be interesting. Once again Emma D’Arcy excelled at saying so much with just a facial expression, as the episode ended on Rhaenyra turning around after having received this devastating news and her face really said it all (wearing the colour green might mean a declaration of war as far as the Hightowers are concerned, but the look on Rhaenyra's face was when I really BELIEVED war was afoot - so props to Emma D’Arcy's for such a strong final shot to go out on at the end of the season). In what may be an 'unpopular' opinion, I thought the first five episodes showed promise that this series could feel ‘familiar’ and honour the original series whilst at the same time be its own thing, but I must admit my faith in the show was shaken somewhat by the back half of the season. I guess we’ll see what Season 2 is like, but I’m hoping it’ll be more up to the standard of the first five episodes’ quality and less of the next five. I'd also like to convey my annoyance at the lack of cast commentaries and other extra features we used to get with the DVDs/GoT Blu-rays. While the DVD/Blu-ray release for this show *did* have some extras, it seemed like only half of what we got with the GoT releases. I sure hope they weren't holding off including the rest on a future re-release of the season. I HATE re-releases of TV show seasons! Such an obvious cash-grab.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Mar 21, 2024 22:02:07 GMT 1
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Post by ])-Kyle "Wild Child" Gibney-([ on Mar 22, 2024 5:51:33 GMT 1
Cant wait for this to come back on!
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