House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 9: "The Green Council"

[Deck Rickard]

That final scene WOULD have been awesome except… in true (Season 8) Daenerys fashion, she uses her dragon to kill a bunch of innocent people but NOT any of the ones who wronged her because they’re main characters, I guess. But hey. She let them know that she’ll kill them NEXT time, when they most expect it. God, I hate when shows do this kind of stuff.

 

[Kane52630]

This was honestly the first episode that felt like Game of Thrones proper, loved that opening.

A bit meh on not letting her dragon kill them but oh well.

 

[Kane52630]

Also I didn't know Quentin Tarantino was directing tv shows.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Thanks for the insight. I don't know the show did enough within itself to convince me that she'd hold back, but I will acknowledge that I don't know a ton about this world and all its workings.

It bothers me that the show treats these peasant people like they don't matter, either, but I get that's part of the thematic point. It really immerses itself in all the selfishness of the royals and their carelessness towards the people they rule.

Yeah, hopefully this will become more more thematically overt once the war starts and we get more characters who aren't from the royal family. GOT dropped the ball on that, hopefully HOTD won't make the same mistakes.

 

[Drizzle]

Also I didn't know Quentin Tarantino was directing tv shows.

Also, Lord Larys Strong is no Strong at all, that dude is clearly from House Tarantino.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[misjuevos]

Not sure why they added that part with Rhaenys, makes no sense. You could've just had her escape. Seemed like a forced moment. Also I didn't like that the Greens were fighting over who gets to Aegon first. Did the show forget it is the Greens vs the Blacks. One side against the other, not some of the Greens.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Great episode yet again, and a bit surprising that it was mostly a slow, tense one.

I'm glad my prediction from last episode, that the king's misinterpreted words won't be the reason why they try to put Aegon on the throne as some thought, came true. I found it obvious that Otto wouldn't just rely on Viserys' wishes since then he would have backed off long ago, and as it should be he had long plotted behind the backs of the royal family.

It was also nice to see a powerful moment from Rhaenys as she's otherwise mostly been in the background, but her presence has always been strong so she's been a favorite when she's on screen.

 

[Iceman]

She let them go, no!!

 

[Weather Witch]

I realized a few minutes in that they were going to do separate episodes for the Greens and Blacks, which I thought was a great idea. Five episodes with the initial cast, two episodes with the young kids, one episode with the older kids, and now we get to see how each camp prepares for the war in the seasons to come.

I honestly don't agree that they made the Greens overtly evil. Their decisions in this episode tracked. Allicent was a voice of reason, and it clearly showed that some of them have different goals. I'm still not really team Green or Black, but I'm here for the ride with both of them.

Clare Kilner also once again does an amazing job making the look and feel of this show very distinct from Game of Thrones. This entire season has given me a lot of faith in the show as a whole.

 

[Albright]

So who’s on everybody’s hate list:
For me Otto Hightower, Larys Strong but Ser Criston has reached the top spot for me now. That dude has become such an *******.
Hope he dies a painful and dishonourable death

 

[Weather Witch]

So who’s on everybody’s hate list:
For me Otto Hightower, Larys Strong but Ser Criston has reached the top spot for me now.
Hope he dies a painful death

Admittedly Larys is still a character, disturbing as he is, that I will love to hate. He's a great character. Criston I feel needs a bit more screen time so we can dig deeper, though the scenes with Aemond were a good start.

 

[Kane52630]

I think everyone is terrible but that's usually the case with GoT.

 

[Persona]

Yeah, everyone is pretty awful but tops for me has to be Larys, Ser Criston, and Aegon.

 

[Drizzle]

So who’s on everybody’s hate list:
For me Otto Hightower, Larys Strong but Ser Criston has reached the top spot for me now. That dude has become such an *******.
Hope he dies a painful and dishonourable death

Pretty much everyone on Team Green except Alicent, of all people (can't bring myself to hate Olivia Cooke lol) and I guess Helaena Targaryen since she seems pretty harmless for now at least. I really hate Criston Cole and Larys Strong but I kind of view Otto and Aemond in the same way that I did Tywin Lannister. They're both evil bastards but they're so much fun to watch.

As for Team Black, I hated, or I guess loved to hate Daemon in the beginning of the season when he killed his wife and was just being kind of an all-around a**hole but his marriage to Laena Velaryon seemed to have softened him up a bit. I definitely like him a lot more now even though he's still morally corrupt.

 

[Albright]

yeah forgot Aegon, supporting children (maybe his own bastards as well) to go kill each other is also awful

 

[Weather Witch]

That final scene WOULD have been awesome except… in true (Season 8) Daenerys fashion, she uses her dragon to kill a bunch of innocent people

Honestly, not caring about the common people is kind of a motif for the Blacks this season. The Greens are way better at playing that game, it seems. Rhaenyra said the opinion of the common people didn't matter. Her son did too. Daemon stepped on that random soldier and now Rhaenys leveled it up.

 

[Drizzle]

That final scene WOULD have been awesome except… in true (Season 8) Daenerys fashion, she uses her dragon to kill a bunch of innocent people but NOT any of the ones who wronged her because they’re main characters, I guess. But hey. She let them know that she’ll kill them NEXT time, when they most expect it. God, I hate when shows do this kind of stuff.

Yet another example of GOT/HOTD treating the common smallfolk like NPCs in Grand Theft Auto.

 

[Prison Mike]

Otto is definitely this show’s Tywin. Larys reminds me of Littlefinger.

 

[Kane52630]

I'll say tho, Criston Cole is a straight up simp.

 

[Prison Mike]

If Alicent had an OnlyFans, Cole would her #1 subscriber. Although he would probably be competing with Larys

 

[Drizzle]

Otto is definitely this show’s Tywin. Larys reminds me of Littlefinger.

For sure, Larys is basically a combination of Littlefinger and Varys if Varys was an evil s***.

Funny enough, Larys's foot scene with Alicent did remind me of Littlefinger's "sexposition" scene where he's explaining his backstory to the two prostitutes back in S1 of Game of Thrones where you find yourself asking if this is really necessary.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

I realized a few minutes in that they were going to do separate episodes for the Greens and Blacks, which I thought was a great idea. Five episodes with the initial cast, two episodes with the young kids, two episodes with the older kids, and now we get to see how each camp prepares for the war in the seasons to come.

I honestly don't agree that they made the Greens overtly evil. Their decisions in this episode tracked. Allicent was a voice of reason, and it clearly showed that some of them have different goals. I'm still not really team Green of Black, but I'm here for the ride with both of them.

Clare Kilner also once again does an amazing job making the look and feel of this show very distinct from Game of Thrones. This entire season has given me a lot of faith in the show as a whole.

While I'm leaning more towards team Black I'm fully with you on enjoying the ride with both sides and I have no trouble enjoying people that do bad things if they are good characters. For example, I love Otto Hightower. He's a great character that's always so well acted by Ifans and he elevates all the scenes he's in. I enjoy watching his schemes and can enjoy his success even if it's to the detriment of the ones I ultimately want to win the war.

The only character I think I really dislike is Ser Criston Cole, although not in the "get off my screen" sense but rather that I actively want him to get his comeuppance every time he's doing anything, and I get upset when he keeps succeeding.

 

[Weather Witch]

While I'm leaning more towards team Black I'm fully with you on enjoying the ride with both sides and I have no trouble enjoying people that do bad things if they are good characters. For example, I love Otto Hightower. He's a great character that's always so well acted by Ifans and he elevates all the scenes he's in. I enjoy watching his schemes and can enjoy his success even if it's to the detriment of the ones I ultimately want to win the war.

Absolutely! They're all doing terrible things, but they are a joy to watch!

The only character I think I really dislike is Ser Criston Cole, although not in the "get off my screen" sense but rather that I actively want him to get his comeuppance every time he's doing anything, and I get upset when he keeps succeeding.

He is the one character I hope they tweak slightly for season 2. I understand where he's coming from, but he needs a slightly deeper motivation. That and reveal that this isn't Mysaria's real accent and she is just putting it on to alter people's expectations.

The most impressive thing about this season though, is that it manages to feel like we've covered an entire show worth of stories before heading into the Dance of the Dragons. They set the stakes perfectly. Some of these characters feel like we've known them for years, but they've only been around for a few episodes and had very little screen time.

 

[Iceman]

Everyone has at least 66% evil parts in their heart in this show, but at least with Viserys I could pretend he meant well sometimes lol.