House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 6: "The Princess and the Queen"

[Weather Witch]

Anyone? Anyone?

He is the second oldest and according to how Viserys puts it, Aegon has been picking on him a lot. He wasn't denied a dragon's egg. His just didn't hatch. Like Daemon's daughter.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I liked her from the get go because it was clear she was something of a rebel when it came to fitting the female stereotype of a princess and stood in stark (so to speak) contrast to Sansa.

Still, I don't quite see why people need to have a fully likable (ie predictable) character in the mix. That may or may not come, but it's not necessary for a good story.

I guess it depends on what keeps you engaged in the show. Maybe if the story was really engaging, then I wouldn’t mind. But so far, it just been a lot of arguing over who will take the crown, a few murders, some birthing scenes, and your periodic dragon flyover sequence. I don’t know. I guess I’m waiting for something to really grab me - either a character or plotline - and I’m not really getting it.

Separately, I really want to know how the code of justice works in Westeros. Apparently breaking your Kingsguard oath is punishable by castration or dismemberment but you can literally beat a knight to death in front of a room full of people (or slaughter one in a tournament) and face NO repercussions? Maybe Alicent spared Criston’s life but it almost seemed like nothing was going to happen to him after the wedding. Barely anyone even tried to stop him.

 

[Weather Witch]

I guess it depends on what keeps you engaged in the show.

I guess that's fair. It depends on what kind of show you'd like this to be.

(...) arguing over who will take the crown, a few murders, some birthing scenes, and your periodic dragon flyover sequence.

All of these are admittedly exactly what I'm here for. Though I wouldn't mind a bit more magic and spending time with regular people like in Episode 4. But they have been giving me everything I wanted out of this show and more than I expected.

 

[blackdragon6]

I personally thought Jon Snow was a kinda bland character tbh. You can tell he was meant to be the generic conventional "good guy". I mean I didn't hate him, he just wasn't as interesting as the other characters.

 

[InCali]

I guess that's fair. It depends on what kind of show you'd like this to be.

All of these are admittedly exactly what I'm here for. Though I wouldn't mind a bit more magic and spending time with regular people like in Episode 4. But they have been giving me everything I wanted out of this show and more than I expected.

It's a show about political intrigue. If you don't like that sort of thing, then don't watch it, but don't expect it to be what it isn't. Whether someone likes it or not, it's very well written IMO and that, in and of itself, draws me in.

I personally thought Jon Snow was a kinda bland character tbh. You can tell he was meant to be the generic conventional "good guy". I mean I didn't hate him, he just wasn't as interesting as the other characters.

Yeah. I liked Jon just fine, but, as he was written, he was a very uni-dimensional character and, generally, very predictable. I'm not saying you can't have a great story with characters like that, but I find the nuanced, complicated characters in HotD more interesting. It also makes the character development more believable. You find out which trait is a stronger part of the personality.

 

[Art Vandelay]

He is the second oldest and according to how Viserys puts it, Aegon has been picking on him a lot. He wasn't denied a dragon's egg. His just didn't hatch. Like Daemon's daughter.

Okay, thanks. I was just confused as to why he was being picked on being, I assume, the second oldest. Normally it's the youngest who gets picked on by his siblings.

 

[Weather Witch]

Noticed there was a particular character absent here (and also not included in the casting for S1).

Spoiler

Daeron Targaryen. In the books, he is off-screen for early chunks of it, but there wasn't really an indication here of Alicent having a third kid. However, the timeline has moved in general, so he might be aged down a bit and born between episodes. If so, he would have to be born before the last time jump and then send away off-screen, I guess?

Edit: admittedly there are a lot of kids to keep track of as is.

Do we suspect there is still any way they could show up or will they just not be included in the show? I did see an article wondering if they were cut as well.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Okay, thanks. I was just confused as to why he was being picked on being, I assume, the second oldest. Normally it's the youngest who gets picked on by his siblings.

Only Aegon is his sibling though. Rhaenyra's sons would be his nephews (as Aegon and Aemond are brothers to Rhaenyra). It may play into things that they are more direct heirs to the throne but I'd guess that it's just been Aegon picking on his younger brother and the nephews have just gone along with their cooler uncle.

 

[Weather Witch]

Milly Alcock did an amazing job, but I'm already completely over people praising her specifically to bring Emma D'Arcy down. Just the sheer amount of comments like that genuinely makes me want to avoid talking about the show in most places.

 

[blackdragon6]

I think people are missing the alleged reason that Alicent wants her son on the throne is to prevent Rhaenyra from having to kill all of her children in the event of a succession crisis. If Alicent accepted Rhaenyra’s offer to unite their houses, that risk practically vanishes.

By strengthening Rhaenyra’s claim and uniting their children, she would have greatly lessened both the risk of a succession crisis at all, and the risk that Rhaenyra would feel any desire to kill her own kin.

Rhaenyra was practically guaranteeing the safety of Alicent’s children.

 

[kvz5]

Noticed there was a particular character absent here (and also not included in the casting for S1).

Spoiler

Daeron Targaryen. In the books, he is off-screen for early chunks of it, but there wasn't really an indication here of Alicent having a third kid. However, the timeline has moved in general, so he might be aged down a bit and born between episodes. If so, he would have to be born before the last time jump and then send away off-screen, I guess?

Edit: admittedly there are a lot of kids to keep track of as is.

Do we suspect there is still any way they could show up or will they just not be included in the show? I did see an article wondering if they were cut as well.

Spoiler

 

[Weather Witch]

Spoiler

Perfect, thank you!

 

[Iceman]

Outside of the Starks, Tyrion and Jaime were complicated characters you could root for in a way as the seasons went on. Brienne too maybe.

 

[Kane52630]

This soap opera is insane.

 

[Dr.]

Nerdy question: could Criston Cole be the father of Rhaenyra's first child? Or does the plot/timing not line up for this possibility?

 

[Drizzle]

Nerdy question: could Criston Cole be the father of Rhaenyra's first child? Or does the plot/timing not line up for this possibility?

The thought crossed my mind but I think Rhaenyra's tryst with Ser Criston ended after her wedding when he turned Leanor's lover's face into hamburger meat. It seemed to be implied that all of her kids were Ser Harwin's.

 

[antsman41]

It's not the acting overtly, its the lack of face carry over in the new actress;

Look at DARK - they were doing 2, if not 3 different actors for one character. The based it on noses, chins, and brows.

The utter difference in the nose between Milly and the new actress is disappointing. She doesn't convey an older version of Milly's Rhaenyra at all; the body language is also off.

 

[Dr.]

...The utter difference in the nose between Milly and the new actress is disappointing. She doesn't convey an older version of Milly's Rhaenyra at all; the body language is also off.

Seems like the recasting might take some getting used to — Rhaenyra more so than Alicent. Some of us wondered whether the switch should have happened one episode earlier...

BTW, Emma D’Arcy prefers they/them pronouns. Of course, Rhaenyra (the character) is definitely she/her.

 

[antsman41]

Oh sorry... have never heard of them, before this weekend.

 

[P Supreme]

Outside of the Starks, Tyrion and Jaime were complicated characters you could root for in a way as the seasons went on. Brienne too maybe.

I rooted for the Tyrells yeah they did dirt but at least Margery tried to help the lower income people but was always undermined by Cercei and Joffrey

also the Viper Prince Oberyn

 

[CaptainWagner]

Noticed there was a particular character absent here (and also not included in the casting for S1).

Spoiler

Daeron Targaryen. In the books, he is off-screen for early chunks of it, but there wasn't really an indication here of Alicent having a third kid. However, the timeline has moved in general, so he might be aged down a bit and born between episodes. If so, he would have to be born before the last time jump and then send away off-screen, I guess?

Edit: admittedly there are a lot of kids to keep track of as is.

Do we suspect there is still any way they could show up or will they just not be included in the show? I did see an article wondering if they were cut as well.

Others elaborated better but

Spoiler

The 4 bloodlines in the credits is the only solid hint we've gotten so far. But even without that, I'd be confident in him showing up. Condal is on the record as fighting to make sure they don't do stuff GOT did like changing similar names. I can't imagine him agreeing to cut someone as significant as Daeron.

It is odd that he wasn't mentioned this episode, but it makes sense that he's already been warded to the Hightower. I expect we'll get a namedrop when Otto returns next week.

I think people are missing the alleged reason that Alicent wants her son on the throne is to prevent Rhaenyra from having to kill all of her children in the event of a succession crisis. If Alicent accepted Rhaenyra’s offer to unite their houses, that risk practically vanishes.

By strengthening Rhaenyra’s claim and uniting their children, she would have greatly lessened both the risk of a succession crisis at all, and the risk that Rhaenyra would feel any desire to kill her own kin.

Rhaenyra was practically guaranteeing the safety of Alicent’s children.

Alicent is ultimately too proud to marry her daughter to an obvious bastard. In her eyes, that would be legitimizing them.

Is anyone else having trouble rooting for or connecting with anyone in this show? I liked Alicent and Criston for the most part (even after he went full psycho last week) but this episode changed that. I get that Westeros is full of unsavory people but I don’t know… at least the original series had people who TRIED not to be total ****s most of the time. Everyone in this show is just kind of an awful human being and the ones that aren’t tend to get killed off rather quickly.

I can happily watch shows of terrible people screwing each other over all day (i.e. Succession, Always Sunny) but I get why people are frustrated by this. But thankfully there will be a good number of much more sympathetic characters introduced as the story really starts going.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Cregan Stark will be an icon.

 

[#root]

My reaction to this episode was more eh than before. I’m not loving the new cast yet but I also don’t mind them but some of the stuff that’s happening is just so… eh. I don’t care for Cristen Cole’s motivation and character at all now. I had been feeling sorry for Alicent for a while now but this episode made it seem like she was disagreeing with Rhaenyra for the sake of it. Her motivation for her actions was supposed to be the safety of her children which Rhaenyra offered her on a platter with a very good, strategic proposal but she refused it even though it would’ve all but secured her children’s safety. Yeah, she thinks those children are bastards and she’s probably sick of Rhaenyra by now but refusing does ultimately lead to risk of war and I don’t think she realises how bad of an outcome that would be. She’s also clearly favouring her children too much because Aegon is clearly a punk and wayyy older than Jacaerys yet she claims that his younger nephews basically manipulated him into pranking her other son. She says Viserys is being willfully blind to his daughter’s actions but so is she. Not to mention she’s been letting Larys Strong mess with her for a decade now apparently. Rhaenyra also is acting way too recklessly. Like fine **** whoever you want but to risk having bastard children? When she knows the realm already isn’t cool with her becoming the Queen? She seemed like a much less arrogant and more competent player in the beginning.

I was also disappointed with what happened to Laena. The young actress portraying her last episode made a great impression only to be recast immediately in the next episode and then to have this happen to her character. Vhagar looked great though and it was sad to see her hesitate in that moment.

Ultimately I think the problem isn’t that these are morally ambiguous characters but that the execution isn’t really well done. A little bummed that I haven’t enjoyed the past few episodes as much as I enjoyed the first few.

 

[blackdragon6]

]

Alicent is ultimately too proud to marry her daughter to an obvious bastard. In her eyes, that would be legitimizing them.

Allicent has good probable deniability but that's not why she's doing the **** she's doing.

I had been feeling sorry for Alicent for a while now but this episode made it seem like she was disagreeing with Rhaenyra for the sake of it. Her motivation for her actions was supposed to be the safety of her children which Rhaenyra offered her on a platter with a very good, strategic proposal but she refused it even though it would’ve all but secured her children’s safety.

Exactly, she's just being a spiteful *****, this isn't even about politics anymore.

 

[Madam-Shogun]

I personally thought Jon Snow was a kinda bland character tbh. You can tell he was meant to be the generic conventional "good guy". I mean I didn't hate him, he just wasn't as interesting as the other characters.

Not to mention Kit is kinda bland too as a actor. Which is I why I'm apprehensive about a sequel show centered around him. He better have a strong supporting cast of characters and a interesting plot. If anything, I hope they make the White Walkers a threat again so they can get a better send off or something. I want the overt fantasy back too.