House of the Dragon Season 1 Episode 3 "Second of His Name"

[squeekness]

I loved that bit. she's got the shiz!

 

[misjuevos]

I really liked the House Velaryon armour.

 

[Sithborg]

Ooops.

 

[Drizzle]

I am not enjoying the time jumps. 6 months is one thing. 2 years is a big ****ing problem. It is one thing to have a time skip, but to have one every episode is a big problem. 2 years, a new Targaryen is born, with another soon to be born. 2 years of a war that just was hinted at at the end of the last episode. So much story potential just flushed down in their goal to get to the Dance.

We are just supposed to think Rhaenyra has been skulking for 2 years. No amount of dialogue explainers they tossed in makes it make sense. I am generally enjoying these characters, and the actors portraying them, but the time skips are making things frustrating in actually telling a coherent story. This isn't a damn clipshow. And the time skips are absolutely going to bite them in the ass when they lose Milly Alcock and Emily Carey.

The showrunners are treating time like Benioff and Weiss treated distance.

Oh well, purple dragon was cool. And the Velaryon wig remains great. 5 Woody Harrelsons out of 5.

I'm a little torn on the time jumping because on the one hand I'm a fan of Olivia Cooke and can't wait to see her come in as Allicent even though Emily Carey's been great but on the flip side of that I'm not ready for the show to leave Milly Alcock behind when we get older Rhaenyra.

What's interesting is that we've still got younger Rhaenyra and Allicent while Laenor Velaryon has already gone through the aging process since he's portrayed by an older actor in episode 3 while his brief appearance in the first episode was with a younger actor.

Either way, I'm getting used to it because it's clear that the series is covering a much wider period of time than GOT did.

 

[squeekness]

I really liked the House Velaryon armour.View attachment 58496 View attachment 58497 View attachment 58498 View attachment 58499 View attachment 58500

Actually all the amour looks fantastic. They really spent some time on the designs.

 

[misjuevos]

The book this is based on highlights key moments in the life of the Targaryans. It is also told from an archmaestors point of view and has lots of here say and conjecture. So just think of this story as the important things that stand out in the life of the characters. If you saw game of thrones season 8, the part with Brienne of Tarth writing in the kingsguard book. Imagine just reading what she wrote about Jaime and turning only those key moments into a series. There are lots of time jumps between his deeds.

This show is jumping to the key moments and building to something. But I think binge watching the whole season will make it more tolerable if you don't care for the time jumps.

 

[misjuevos]

Actually all the amour looks fantastic. They really spent some time on the designs.

I think the only one I don't like is the kingsguard armor. Just can't get used to the style of the chestplate and vambraces

 

[Weather Witch]

I personally don't mind the time jumps. This show doesn't waste any time, but it also knows how which scenes to include to make future beats land.

After some thinking, aging up Laenor here is pretty effective storytelling. It fits the theme of the episode of "leaving childhood behind". And now the main team I'm rooting for has a badass young dragon rider.

Overall, I think it was another really strong episode. As for the Crabfeeder, I didn't expect him to be a developed character. It's about what this war means to others.

 

[Persona]

This was a clunky episode for me. Writing/performances were not as good as in the first two. The action had its moments.

 

[CB Fan]

Yeah this ep was just alright to me. I was actually as bored at times. I don’t know…

 

[Lip]

3 episodes in and... I don't know, I don't think it's on the same level as GoT/ASOIAF.

It feels like it's missing something. The characters in GoT had more flavor, and they were drastically different from each other: Cersei, Sansa, Dany, Arya, Jaime, Jon, Tyrion, Theon... it's such a explosive clash of personalities. I don't feel that here.

The two most interesting characters to me are Daemon and Rhaenerys, but the letter reminds me too much of Dany.

Also, one of the best things of the ASOIAF saga (and I'm here speaking as a fan of the books) it's that most of the characters (if not all) had some sort of "origin story". They had a past. Traumas. Dreams. Ambitions. Even the secondary ones. 3 episodes in and I feel like I know nothing about the hand of the king. Or the guy who is married to the woman who was almost the queen.

Anyway... I'm glad everybody is enjoying. I am too. I'm just no loving it and I feel it's not as good as GoT.

 

[Art Vandelay]

The show just feels a bit...small to me, in a way the original series didn't. Anyone else getting that feeling?

 

[Lip]

The show just feels a bit...small to me, in a way the original series didn't. Anyone else getting that feeling?

It's not bothering me as much... so far. The first episodes of GOT was very focused on the Starks.

Now, I forgot to mention the time jumps. Yes, it bothered me a bit.

But apparently there will be a time jump big enough to change the cast. Is that correct? I'm not a big fan of that. =/

 

[CB Fan]

3 episodes in and... I don't know, I don't think it's on the same level as GoT/ASOIAF.

It feels like it's missing something. The characters in GoT had more flavor, and they were drastically different from each other: Cersei, Sansa, Dany, Arya, Jaime, Jon, Tyrion, Theon... it's such a explosive clash of personalities. I don't feel that here.

The two most interesting characters to me are Daemon and Rhaenerys, but the letter reminds me too much of Dany.

Also, one of the best things of the ASOIAF saga (and I'm here speaking as a fan of the books) it's that most of the characters (if not all) had some sort of "origin story". They had a past. Traumas. Dreams. Ambitions. Even the secondary ones. 3 episodes in and I feel like I know nothing about the hand of the king. Or the guy who is married to the woman who was almost the queen.

Anyway... I'm glad everybody is enjoying. I am too. I'm just no loving it and I feel it's not as good as GoT.

Yes the characters in GOT had different personalities. The main characters here are bland in comparison.

 

[lespaul59]

The show just feels a bit...small to me, in a way the original series didn't. Anyone else getting that feeling?

Well it kinda is. While it's still about who is gonna end up on the Iron Throne the big difference is HOTD is about the Targaryens while Game of Thrones is about multiple families and Westeros as a whole.

 

[Weather Witch]

Also one of the best things of the ASOIAF saga (and I'm here speaking as a fan of the books) it's that most of the characters (if not all) had some sort of "origin story". They had a past. Traumas. Dreams. Ambitions. Even the secondary ones. 3 episodes in and I feel like I know nothing about the hand of the king. Or the guy who is married to the woman who was almost the queen.

I'd argue we're watching the origin stories growing ambitions, and traumas unfold right now, rather than being told about it later on. Game of Thrones started in medias res, which is what this show could've done with Dance of the Dragons. Instead, they're carefully putting all the pieces in place. It might require a bit of patience, but personally I love the approach.

Apparently there will be a time jump big enough to change the cast. Is that correct? I'm not a big fan of that. =/

Including the 9 year time jump after the prologue, the show will cover about 30 years of history. Most of the story takes place in the second half and particularly the last few years. The older actors will just be aged up through makeup. The actors who had kid and teen versions, will have different actors when they're adults.

 

[misjuevos]

But apparently there will be a time jump big enough to change the cast. Is that correct? I'm not a big fan of that. =/

The two big changes to what we have been following so far you can see on IMDB they have Rhaenyra and Alicent Hightower's two casting choices. Emma D'arcy takes over for Milly Alcock, and Olivia Cooke takes over for Emily Carey.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

The show just keeps being great and I love the focus on character driven scenes over action, while the ending of this episode showed that the action will also be very good. The cast just draws me in.

While I do know some things of this era from having read ASOIAF I'm glad that I decided to postpone my reading of Fire and Blood until after this show since it's fun to see a Westeros show where I don't know all that much of what will happen. I'll see if I can keep myself from it until the show is done though, or if I'm just going to wait for the October edition release of the book and dig into that as this season ends.

 

[Marvolo]

Vfx blunder:



I somehow entirely missed the fact that Viserys is supposed to be missing 2 fingers.

 

[godisawesome]

Anybody else see the one dude at the hunting camp who smiles when Rhaenyra comes back with the boar? The other one of Lionel Strong’s sons?

 

[squeekness]

Vfx blunder:



I somehow entirely missed the fact that Viserys is supposed to be missing 2 fingers.

I did too.

 

[Weather Witch]

Vfx blunder:



I somehow entirely missed the fact that Viserys is supposed to be missing 2 fingers.

Didn't notice it on my TV either.

 

[Deck Rickard]

This episode was fun; I enjoyed watching Daemon go all Geralt and take out an army almost single-handedly (though I can only imagine the resulting online vitriol if a female character had done the same on this or any show).

But who was riding the dragon during that scene? and was it Daemon’s dragon? I honestly couldn’t tell.

Also, did the Crabfeeder have grayscale? That’s what it looked like to me but if so, doesn’t it eventually just turn you into a zombie? Though maybe that takes years; I’m not sure.

 

[misjuevos]

But who was riding the dragon during that scene? and was it Daemon’s dragon? I honestly couldn’t tell.

Laenor Velaryon, son of Coryls Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen he was riding Seasmoke. I think I have him in the 3rd picture up top where I posted about the armor.

 

[Drizzle]

Seeing him on the dragon at the end confused the hell out of me until I realized, "Oh yeah, he's half Targaryen."