Neat implication about Cheese’s fate from the main series: when Cersei is tearing apart the tower of the hand after Tywin’s death they mention that they found a pile of yellow bones in a pit of rats with a bag of coins from the era of the first king Viserys. A lot of fans have speculated those bones were cheese who either fell into some secret trap while trying to escape the tower or was killed by Blood to try and tie up loose ends.
@@zombiekungfumaster not an unreasonable assumption since Blood is mentioned to be one of the gold cloaks devoted to Daemon while Cheese may have just been in it for the money.
Slashing the budget of your flagship show, the show that JUST lifted you back into the forefront of the streaming world, the show that was called rushed in season 1 is one of the dumbest things a studio/streaming service has ever done.
@gamebawesome under new management and different situation both culturally , hotd is not the phenomenon got was , and financially , the economy is not what is used to be , and hbo is not doing as well at is used to
At the time, they thought their other shows would drive people to their platform but Gossip Girl was widely panned and Pretty Little Liars didn’t get as much attention. They gambled on the wrong shows and are scrambling.
My theory about why the red sowing was made into a one time slaughter is that it was too hard to not make it an unintentional funny montage if they had them walk in one at a time.
@@theloverlyladylo9158 Personally I imagined a montage to Hall of the mountain king, timing fire breaths to the music but I might like your idea better.
Unironically, I think it's part of the show's whitewashing of Rhaenyra. It's easier to pass off one big massacre as a mistake that got out of hand. It would be much harder to reconcile her desire to save lives and protect the common people with her watching some poor commoner get cooked alive and eaten and then just saying "Whatever, send in the next one" fifty+ times.
@@Tyr_Archalionfunny enough I thought this was a great scene showing her edge that she has in the books. She needs dragonriders and she’s getting one until they’re all dead. That was ice cold of her to lock them in there and have her own guards block them.
23:47 Not to mention that Aegon II didn’t want the crown either. As we saw last season, he was basically trying to run away after hearing his father was dead and begged Aemond to let him flee to Essos. He sulked while on the way to his coronation because he knew he was never meant for the crown as Viserys always said Rhaenyra was the heir. So technically, by the show’s own logic, Aegon is just as good of a ruler as Viserys and Rhaenyra are because none of them wanted to rule
And here our girl wants to act like he just snipped his collar and took him home. You can argue with Seasmoke about it, but you won't like it. You try taking him away, lady!
I’d just like to add that the writer’s guild was freaking RIGHT to strike. It’s okay to be frustrated that our favorite shows get jostled, but production companies have been screwing writers and making things worse for years. Especially given the broad dumb ways that companies wanted to start using AI, we’re actually lucky the writers and actors strikes worked as well as they did.
@@robertrappaport3610 If AI shows are trash, then writers will get valued more anyway. This kind of luddite mindset has been seen across human history, and you can't stop the advance of technology.
Scene: Kermit The Frog sits on a rock in one of his many swamps, plucking on a lyre. He begins to sing: "Why are there so many songs about Westeros..."
Given how universally despised Game of Thrones Season 8 was...the least they could do was cut back on the references and connections to the original GOT. It's hard to take the Daenerys prophecy seriously knowing that stupid things like Arya taking out the Night King and Rhaegal getting merked for shock value are actual things that happened, or rather will happen.
I find cutting Nettles the only “unforgivable” change the show could make. Thematically, she is definitely needed within the story and Rhaena has an entirely different character arc that I feel potentially didn’t appeal to the Writers due to how much it is based on soft power so maybe they did not want what would seem like a repeat or a duplicate of Alicent’s arc. Still though, I’m hoping that Nettles shows up.
@@TaeSunWooNebula doesn't get it early, Nebula gets the full video whereas TH-cam gets the edited version Combined with the 22hr "Fake Jon Snow" supercut with commentary, and the other content totallong over 60+hrs of Dragon-show adjacent content, it's worth the $7 for a single month then drop it until next year.
@@sillylilly714 They've let themselves down. They've let everyone down. As Gandalf (played by Charlie Hopkinson) would say, it's unwise to study the arts of The GRRM even to critique him.
Queer woman here. Gaydar would not have stopped that kiss from feeling like it came out of nowhere. I love seeing myself represented on screen, but not at the cost of immersion and good storytelling.
@@ShadeStormXDDidn’t like that scene for that very reason lol it wasn’t even intimate and it had no lead up. If they were going to do it at all, it should’ve been saved for another, more fitting time.
i didn’t see it as hyper romantic. People do come together for all kinds of weird reasons, especially feeling understood and like they’ve found a sole confidant who “gets” them. It was maybe a little trauma bonding, but there are way worse things then that between GoT and house of the dragon. These aren’t characters with high morals in general and honestly (I am a queer woman) the kiss made total sense to me for these characters as presented on screen. We haven’t seen them show much deeper interest since that interrupted moment if I recall. I find it interesting this seems to bother some folks more than all the incest and other inappropriate relationships. What was any more or less inappropriate in this scene then any other questionable relationship in the series. An uncle taking his underage niece out of the castle for questionable reasons is fine, but two isolated women finding solace in a trauma bonding kiss doesn’t work? As the characters exist in the HBO series, it made total sense to me. Also it was the actresses themselves who felt like this is what there characters would do, it wasn’t in the original script. And the team agreed so they shot the kiss. It wasn’t some representation virtue signal.
Agreed. What was called for in that moment was a demonstration of sincerity. Something that suggests, "I am here for you because I care". Simples. Putting in the unscripted kiss in there just got everyone talking about the show...seems a bit cheap xxx
And a relationship between them is implied in the books, they should've just wrote it in and kept it in.. It also feels strange because it's never addressed again
As much as I like Alicent having more nuance than wicked stepmother. However, i feel stripping away all agency and becomeing more passive made her feel more bland. Hopefully future seasons will show some tragic conflict between Alicent and Rhaenyra.
I feel you and mostly agree, but I think the scene this season where she realized exactly how little power and influence she has on the council (and circumstances) she helped create was a very nice way to show this Edit: "this" being her lack of agency and the consequences of trying to inhibit someone else's agency
At first I liked the changes to her character, but honestly after S2 I'd rather Alicent be a stereotype of wicked stepmother than a stereotype of passive, weak willed, incompetent woman easilly swayed by her emotions.
I mean, if it wasnt for the golden dragon on green, Alicents hearaldry should have a face eating leopard, seeing as she spends this season getting her faced gnawed off by the ones she put in power. She only had as much power as the ones around her, and especially her now dead husband, allowed her to have. And since she didnt have it in her (or ispart of the culture with midwives and such) to actually bond with babies she had after (possibly) sex with less than enthusiastic concent, she didnt see what they were growing up to be. She was more focused on her jelousy of the "free" and unchaste heir to the thrown. At the end shes on her rock bottom, starting to find it in her to climb up and build something for the future again with her childhood friend. She'll get back to a kings landing without Aegon tho, the one thing she promised Rhynaera to end the war, so when she turns up next season to Alicent claiming to have "lost" her son, thats not gonna go down well.
They seem chronically incapable of holding the female character to account. I’m not even being sexist, if you track the male characters and their actions they almost always get their comeuppance or have to acknowledge their faults in some way. This ironically makes them more interesting. I would probably not even have this opinion if it weren’t for Rhaenys. No one ever brings up the fact that she killed all those civilians in season 1 episode 9. Yet she constantly acts like she is atop the moral high horse and chastises those around her for being callous, with much of her dialog in the first season dedicated to pointing out how men are violent and seek conflict when in power. Her callous murder of likely hundreds of innocent civilians while also proclaiming the war “wasn’t hers to start” and that she “did not want to harm a mother” (in reference to Alicent) come off as tone deaf and hypocritical and indicate a lack of awareness on the writers part. This lack of accountability extends to enough of the other female characters to be noticeable and irritating. Towards the end of the season Alicent essentially has all power and accountability removed from her and she contradicts one of her only consistent character traits at the last minute for pretty much no reason other than she was angry that she didn’t have more power. She betrays her children, who while she was a poor mother too she clearly loved them and did a lot in order to advance them. She just abandons that because the big mean men around her wouldn’t listen to her and make her regent (which as they point out would be a blunder as it undermines their positions and jeopardizes their standings with their allies). All of this serves to make her less interesting, less motivated, and contradictory. Rhaenera was almost incessantly slow to act, dismissive, and way too soft this season. She has suffered through the death of two children, both effectively at the hands of the Greens, yet she is seeking peace to the point of absurdity. This especially contrasts with season one where she was clearly being set up to be furious at the death of Luke and was consistently shown to be brash, somewhat callous, and confident in her position as rightful queen. This season she seems to entirely mellow out, forgets the slights against her, and constantly sues for peace to the point of inaction and absurdity. This is in contrast to the power hungry and ruthless Greens under Aemond and Aegon. I would forgive this if it was set up a little better, but she has none of the cruel qualities as described in the book which made her more interesting and involved. Every decision which can be considered morally bad in any way is almost always the fault of someone else or was done behind her back. The only real exception was the red sowing which felt more in line with her character in season one. All of this serves to make the female character less interesting as they are less involved with the intrigues and changes occurring around them. They are almost always reacting to the actions of others and chastising them for not seeking peace, even if they have as much reason as the men around them to be angry and seeking conflict. This contrasts heavily to the men as their bad qualities have often been increased compared to their book counterparts and their are held to task appropriately either through facing the consequences for their actions or having to develop to overcome their flaws. This makes the men ironically more interesting to watch as they feel more consistent and engaging as they actually move the plot forward and make big decisions which will change the course of the entire war.
Considering the upcoming presidential election, it hit right on the nose. Also love the two Tully's just playing cards and doing their best to pretend they can't hear him.
That's the perfect example of beating a dead horse. Yeah we got it the first time writers, there's no need to keep repeating the same characterization for 7 episodes. You tell it once, or even twice for emphasis and we the audience already get it.
I was in the "Leave George alone" camp for the first decade. Now that we are in the second decade you still shouldn't harass him, but he's obviously not putting full focus on it.
@@bece00 I think that was that commenter's point- he shouldn't be producing TV shows vs instead sitting down & actually finishing the first thing he started. Like how my parents used to make sure I'd finished dinner before I got dessert.
You really feel the two missing episodes. There was a REASON ten episodes was chosen for each season. They could have split season two into two parts to deal with the strike issues. That opening scene at the ice wall felt like a purposfully done slap in the face given how HBO ended that entire plotline with a giant wedontcare.
Yeah, the sequence at the Wall, Daemon's visions of the White Walkers and Dany all just managed to piss me off because of how they ended in GoT. And them using Jon's music everytime they show the Starks on screen. Like you already did my boy dirty, why are you hellbent on reminding us of it again?
@@sushmitaraodesaraju6330 That’s the Winterfell and Ned’s theme. In GoT, it plays for the first time when we see the castle. It later became the Stark theme, not Jon’s theme.
It's sad because the season was clearly setting up some kind of big one-two end of season climax for the last couple episodes, like how GOT S6 had Battle of the Bastards & Winds of Winter at the ending. That season was also criticized for being somewhat meandering while having an acclaimed episode in the middle of the season (The Door for S6, The Red Dragon and the Gold for HOTD), but the last two episodes really won everyone over. I was actually enjoying the show, even all the parts people were having problems with, so it sucks that we have to wait another two years to have the climax. But also, Breaking Bad S1 suffered the same thing (the first 2 episodes of S2 were meant to be part of season 1, but then the writer's strike of 2008 happened), so it's not like this hasn't happened before, this just has the unfortunate circumstance of being the second season of an already-acclaimed show with high expectations in place.
10 years 😲 seriously you should be extremely proud of yourself, this channel is a goldmine of everything i love and as long as your able and willing? I hope it never ends 💕
Congrats on your ten year anniversary. I've been following since the beginning and your lovely voice and content has helped me get through this apocalyptic decade.
I wouldn't call the naming practices "unimaginative", but an attempt to be symbolic. After all Great Britain/UK had six different King Georges in only a 200 year period, and nearly one third of those years were ruled by Queen Victoria.
It doesn't help that the witch was a really terrible actress. I roll my eyes every time she delivers her dialogue. Same with Mysaria. I think the acting quality of this show across the board is several tiers below the acting in GoT.
it's trying to be a tragedy, where ultimately no one is good or bad and no one wins. which makes sense with what is about to come in the following seasons.
Look, I'm Team Black but they've been very deliberate about trying to balance the sides as much as possible. They had Daemon outright murder his first wife, which he likely didn't actually do in the books, and made Luc's murder instead into a schoolyard bullying-esque accident. Rhaenyra's betrothal of Jace and Luc to Baela and Rhaena happened in the books when they were all toddlers, showing right away that she intending to marry Velaryon blood back into the line of both the heir to Driftmark and the Iron Throne (likely to make it up to the Velaryons for the lack of Velaryon blood in her eldest sons) but in the show it came much later, making it look like she intended to fully steal away at least Driftmark from the Velaryon bloodline. Alicent, instead of being a power-hungry evil adult stepmother, is both brainwashed by her father from the time she's a 15 year old bride into thinking her children's lives are forfeit if Rhaenyra inherits and also as an adult trying to do what she (convinced herself to) thinks was what Viserys wanted. However, nothing they introduce into the narrative can make up for the fact that the only reason there is a succession crisis at all is because Rhaenyra is a woman and Westeros is a sexist place, which is always going to bias a modern audience to her side. The entire conflict is centered around an injustice being done to Rhaenyra because of her gender & even those who otherwise sympathize with the greens usually recognize that.
@@vadalia3860the balance feels a little too late especially if you’ve read Fire and Blood. Rhaneyra is so much more flawed and interesting in the book. It’s also why Aegon became a clear fan favorite, they are doing his character arc from the book, warts and all on full display.
21:15 Well, killing common people wasn't always without consequence in medieval time. Between 1275 and 1280, the two now Belgian cities of Namur and Liege fought a five years war that was started because of the unfair killing of a non-noble guy who had stolen a single cow and was hanged while returning it while he was peomised he would be pardoned... This war is now know as "The war of the cow" 😅
I actually like that they made Hugh a more noble person here since it would explain why Vermithor chose him to be his rider considering who his previous rider was.
Eh, Jae's a piece of shit so not sure that actually tracks. Then again, that was mostly towards his female relatives & Hugh's already got one dead daughter & a wife he seems constantly in conflict with so... par for the course, I guess...
That is somehow assuming that a dragon could pick up who a person is, when in the show it looks to be that Hugh was the only one who stood up to him. Akin to Dany on the books to Drogon.
@@Ashbrash1998 Not only did he stand up to him, but he willingly sacrificed himself to save a total stranger. It is said that dragons are intelligent and just how Dogs can judge character It isn't a far stretch to assume dragons are capable of the same. If you read the book, it always struck me as odd that the Dragon of the Conciliator would choose someone like Hugh.
Safe to assume the way Hugh was presented in the book is because of anti-commoner bias combined with hindsight bias given some of the...well...incoming warcrimes.
I actually found the scene where Daemon mentions the prophecy and Rhaenyra's answer of "you sound like Viserys" rather than acknowledging he's right, to mean that they had essentially switched roles. Daemon is now fighting for something more than the throne, and Rhaenyra has come too far that attaining the throne becomes her sole ambition, not for the prophecy but for the power.
As someone that started watching around the time of the... marathon that shall not be named was starting, its mind blowing to me how far you've come dom
Me too. That marathon was what brought me to this channel. Also, I was just pleased that someone felt the same way about those films (uuuuuuggggghhhhhhh)
My biggest gripe with this season is that, for most of it, Lucerys's, Visenya's and Jaehaerys's deaths seem to have been for absolutely damn nothing. No one even mentions poor Visenya, Luke is mostly forgotten save for a literal couple of times, and Jaehaerys is mourned for a grand total of one episode before everyone forgets about him. I'm sorry, it's an absolute character assassination for Rhaenyra to not be trying to chew Team Green's heads off over her children.
I'm certain they'll have Rhaenyra seeing red after the Gullet, it's the only thing that makes sense after putting so much emphasis on Rhaenyra's restraint this season. In the book, she was completely indisposed because of her grief and Jace had to take over, so I understand why they'd want to change that (if you think Daemon's storyline was bad, imagine Rhaenyra just laying in bed all day crying for the entire season), but in order for the war to not be over in an episode they needed Rhaenyra to not want to use her dragons.
Honestly it doesn’t surprise me that history wrote Daemon as being immune to Alys’ charms because the history wrote her as a generic sexy witch whose only REAL power was her ability to seduce men into giving her what she wanted. The idea that Alys might have power over a man without sleeping with him just didn’t compute to the misogynistic Westerosi mind.
The changes/expansion to the characters: Alys Rivers, Ser Simon Strong, Ulf the White, Hugh Hammer, Alyn & Addam of Hull & Helena Targaryen were all fantastic. It elevated the story to meet/get better acquainted with them. I'm NOT happy about the erasure of Nettles, was really looking forward to seeing her & learning her story. Overall I liked this season, but it definitely felt unfinished. I believe the entire series can be brilliant, and I too am willing to wait. Happy Anniversary Dom! May you continue to be pleasantly surprised by good fortune 🎉
Who's to say that Nettles wasn't Rhaena all along? fire and blood was written as a history book by someone who lived afterwards and based on a septon, a Maester and a hypers*xual fool on their accounts.
@@ShannonCarter55 That makes about as much sense as the maesters getting Alicent's age wrong, or that they made up an entire royal prince, Maelor... There are some definite changes to the source material. People would recognize Rhaena... Plus, in the book Rhaena is not brown, she's white, so unless Rhaena was doing black face (???) to disguise herself, Nettles would have clearly not been the princess. _Also_ Rhaena was with Lady Jeyne Arryn the entire time in the Vale, making plenty of public appearances. Knights jousted for her favor, singers sang songs for her... And, crucially, her dragon Morning hatched for her. So unless this was a Padme's handmaid situation (and her handmaid happened to have a dragon hatch for her, and Rhaena's sister Baela never realized she was an impostor?) Rhaena could not have been Nettles. Unless... Rhaena is secretly a skinchanger and Hodored a poor peasant girl so she could claim a dragon without risking herself, but once her own dragon hatched for her she had no further need of the girl... and so she discreetly disposed of her in the Vale, everyone none the wiser. Rhaena the Three Eyed Dragon!
I do not understand how we only spent 1 episode in the North. There were so many theories - Jace and Cregan hooking up, Jace secretly marrying Sara Snow, Jace leaving behind a pregnant half sister to Cregan, Jace leaving dragon eggs in Winterfell - and we saw none of it. I was so disappointed I don't think I'll ever get it
In fairness, a lot of the theories surrounding that dynamic were basically invented by the fans. Like, they didn't set most of that up, people just got carried away with their own imaginings.
I was disappointed too. Given how padded the season was I think we should have spent a bit more time oop North. I would have been happy to spend less time in Dragonstone, Driftmark and The Vale.
I’m hoping given the battle of the gullets consequences, they will have a flashback of jaces time at winterfell. Cause it’s kind of important that cregan makes this bond with Jace.
@@alexanderforbes1452I mean the dynamic did have set up from the books. Fans carried ot farther sure, but the Sara Snow stuff and Eggs in Winterfell came from the books.
Here’s the thing, the conflict is not over whether women are included equal in succession, because Team Black had made it obvious that Rhaenyra is a one generation exception. She herself said Jace and Baela’s first born son will rule after her. The real question is whether the King’s word supersedes law. If the King can go against laws because he is the law. And honestly, rulers with absolute power who aren’t beholden to the law they expect their subjects to follow are always terrible.
It's also not just a king thing, it's a Westeros thing. As Grrm stated: Westeros isn't ruled by laws it's by men. The lord's prefer it that way and even some have chosen an heir or laid rules for their wills. So for the Dance they had no law requiring male first no matter what, just a preference/tradition. Which for the Targaryen dynasty is unique, since they aren't Andals so they aren't beholden to their traditions. Jahaerys already set a standard that Targaryens are not like other men as dragonriders and were from Valyria. So they had different laws and traditions they are allowed to follow. As well as Jahaerys formally chose his heir when his first born son died, which was the second son instead of Aemon's child Rhaenys, who was next in line. Plus the main reason Jahaerys won the throne over his sister Rhaena and her daughters was because he had gathered more support while they were Maegor's hostages. And they weren't keen on women getting the crown either as well as Rhaena disliked King's Landing so she suggested Jahaerys. So both times wasn't based on an actual law like Queen's Alysanne's laws, but a blend of noble support and a person with more sway influencing it.
there *are* no laws. westeros doesn't have a constitution or a justinian code. it's a divine-right absolute monarchy, the king's word is not just law, it's infallible and sacred. there are no succession laws. they would not have held something like 4 great councils in 300 years to pick the next monarch if there were succession laws. there aren't even guidelines, or rules. it's borderline a divinity-cult given targaryen exceptionalism. the literal only time laws constrain a monarch are in a constitution. something which isn't even a theoretical concept to the world of asoiaf.
@@iMajoraGamingYou are completely wrong in a medieval society what amounts to law is an amalgamation of tradition, custom and precedence. You also have to take into account that the Targaryens are not ancient royalty who has ruled for thousands of years but, foreign invaders who rule by fear and force. That means there decisions will never be infallible because of what they are and how they came to power. The only thing that will allow them to do as they please is the force and violence they apply.
@@iMajoraGaming Truth be told, the series tends to go back and forth on whether Kings have absolute power and not. This is kind of my main critisism of the series as a whole, though I do understand it's fiction. Mind you, most of everything else is clear. Also, irl, fealty went both ways: Lords swore fealty to their King, but the King also swore fealty to the law, which was very clear that both parties were sworn to uphold their duties. It's actually a fascinating subject to look into.
Dom, thank you for bringing up how much they actually covered in season 1 vs season 2. I made a reddit post about a week ago pointing this out. I wanted to find out how much plot was actually portrayed in Season 2, so I listened to the audiobook and started from when Luke dies and when the sowing was complete. It took them 2 years and 8 episodes to turn 50 minutes of Fire and Blood into a whole season... For comparison to Season 1, at the start of the Great Council to when Luke dies, it took them 10 episodes for 173 minutes of content.
Honestly, at this point I think if Winds of Winter/Dream of Spring do come out then it will be after GRRM has passed. I think he is scared (rightfully so) of the backlash that will inevitably come from his creative choices. D&D had an outline from GRRM for post finished books so at least a few things from the later seasons of GoT will probably be in the books.
I generally agree with your takes, with two caveats: 1. I actually enjoyed most of the Daemon stuff. 2. I read Rhaenyra's arc as being more complex than your description - while her motivation being influenced by the prophecy makes her seem a bit better than pure greed. As the season goes, her rethoric becomes more and more fanatic - "it was ordained," etc. I feel like this fanatisism is what's going to shape her future arc in line with some of the stuff that happens later in the book.
She was painted as good and saintly all season; even the prophecy is meant to make us side with Rhaenyra over everyone else and give her an excuse for morally indefensible actions. Meanwhile the Greens are just "woMEn baD!"
That's a great suggestion - it's broad strokes are faithful and there's a lot that can be said about where it's season/book splits are offset, but you have some occasional stuff that looks bizarre on paper like a bunch of different characters becoming Camina Drummer just because Cara Gee is *that* good
Agreed, it's a great book and TV series and has the rare case where the book writers used the show to improve on some elements from the source material.
Thx for defending GRRM. People really need to chill. And even if those 2 books NEVER get published... it's HIS book series. he can do whatever the heck he wants with it AND HIS LIFE :D
Yeah. And just as its his life that he can do whatever he want, its everyone else's right to also harass him for it. That's what it means to live in a free society. He can shut off the internet if he wants, because none of ya'll can stop people from reminding him 24/7 about it.
He only has the life he does now because we bought those books and supported the shows. If he had told us back in 1996 that he’d never finish the series and the shows would turn to shit nobody would have bought them. He owes us
@idawg7332 That's not how it works, you buy the books and watch the shows FOR the stuff. It's not a layaway plan or contract saying you are entitled to more stuff if tou stamp your feet hard enough.
@@stephenjenkins7971Not really since harassment can be punishable by law. And harassing somebody because they aren't making something for you without a contract or explicit agreement isn't a good stance.
@@Ashbrash1998 copout response typically if you make someone rich, and that someone insists that they're going to make something for the people that gave them the ability to live so lavishly, for a decade, one would expect it to be obvious that when that person fails to deliver, over and over again, that the people who were told they would get something *for a decade* would be less than thrilled by your repeated failure to speak the truth. people act like GRRM is too special and delicate to be held at his *own* word lmao
I have never read/watched Game of Thrones or House of Dragon but my grandmother lived in Snowdonia, the region of Wales where most of the hilly landscape scenes were shot. My family was there last year when we were barred from entering certain parts of the park because they were filming something. We finally got one person working on it to admit that is was House of Dragon. I don’t have HBO so I was very excited when Dom released this video so I could see some of the beloved scenery from my child hood (with added dragons).
I absolutely loathe the revelation of the white walkers and daenarys to daemon. The apparent importance that rhaenyra take the throne eliminates all the gray morality of both sides presented in the original book. Just like that stupid scene in season 1 where the white hart just happens upon rhaenyra, an endorsement by the gods that she is the rightful heir.
Wasn't Criston "the Kingmaker" Cole there to spot the white hart at the same time as Rhaenyra? And it all did happen on Aegon's name day, so I guess the gods are as undecided as westerosi nobility.
the writers have said in interviews that the prophecies and signs in the show are meant to be manipulated and taken advantage of by those who know them so idk…….
The writers missed the point of war. War is where rich people send poor people to die. This is supposed to be a selfish power grab from aristocratic families that drag the entire country into death and destruction. Making the leads more sympathetic and hesitant about war completely defeats the purpose of the story. I don't think the writers are aware of the historical events that GRRM is pulling from. It's a war of succession and a blood feud, that's all we need to be a great show.
I really like to think that Seasmoke picked up Addam because he smelled/looked so much like Laenor and had a similar personality to him as well. And Laenor may not be dead, but he's dead to Seasmoke and this little guy is close enough.
Happy 10 year anniversary, Dom! I haven't been here for the whole journey, but I have been highly entertained the whole time I've been here. Here's to many more years!
I freaking loved the season ! With all the time jumps in S1 it was necessary to focus more on characters to really care about them. I mean, we barely knew Aegon, Aemond, Jace, Baela, etc. Yes I would have prefered having all the episodes but it was still very good
Congrats on 10 years!! Your channel has been one of my favorites for years, and I appreciate how much detail you put into making your videos. Keep up the great work!
Warner Brothers is like the cat laying in the glass box. They don't even know if they have any money for your show until they either do or do not pay up.
It's bizarre how season one and season two suffer from polar opposite pacing issues - season one speedran through 25 years worth of plot while season two had a lot of wheel-spinning and not enough plot. My personal conspiracy theory as to why the heck it was written that way is that there was a mandate from HBO that season one had to have a dragon battle, so they had to skip ahead to Vhagar eating Luke to get it greenlit.
A problem also is that they wanted the show to be 4 seasons, when it clearly should've been 3. Or maybe if they had paced season 1 way better the 4 seasons could've worked.
While I recognize there were studio and other outside issues involved with this season, there is also a fundamental misunderstanding of its own characters by the writers going on. What was done to Alicent this season was just awful and thats on no one but the showrunners.
Thank goodness! A commentator who both acknowledges the 'history book' device in the original book, AND realises and fully understands what that means for comparing book/show canon!! I had to give up my usual pop culture commentators for HOTD 'cos their lack of understanding was so infuriating. Thankyou Dom! ❤️
I found Daemon's Harrenhal adventures to be pretty dang entertaining. To take a guy that is absolutely a nonbeliever in magic and force him to experience it firsthand was hilarious. Every time the show would go to Harrenhal I would end up giggling.
@@williamnissen5083 am I only one who finds the idea of the guy who idolizes valyrian history, knows in its magical origins AND RIDES A FUCKING DRAGON is a none believer in magic its dumb to me like seeing fire and saying fire doesnt exist, or even the prince that was promised prophecy daemon should know that, not aegons version but the general gist since he SPENT YEARS IN ESSOS
@durrangodsgrief6503 You're definitely not alone. It's my husband's favorite complaint about the GoT universe in general. 😂 Maybe because I grew up in a backasswords city where cognitive dissonance is the status quo for a lot of people, it just doesn't bug me much.
@@durrangodsgrief6503 Actually I found that made it more interesting, it showed how much the dragons had been normalized and how distant the Targaryens had become from their mystical heritage that the guy with arguably the strongest dragon bond in the show is like “psychic dreams? Pffft. The Valyrians just made that up for propaganda”.
To be honest even without the strike this season would suck, the writers obviously want to give a message that the black side is good and they will deconstruct one side into warped degenerates and strip the other of agency to send that message.
18:19 for the first time, I’m wishing I didn’t watch this because now I feel bad that Matt Smith’s haunting was my second-favorite aspect of this season. It’s not your fault.
Exactly. 5 years? Sure, fine, but 13? If it was a stand alone book or the first in a series, I'd be okay with it... but the next installment of an ongoing series is completely unacceptable.
congrats on a decade of being professionally pedantic Dom! I don't know how long I've been watching, a few years at least, but I always find your commentary to be very interesting, and sometimes have then found things that I wouldn't otherwise watch through your videos.
George sounds like a really great person especially with him hosting a dinner for all of the disqualified nominees from the 2023 Worldcon at this year's Worldon.
Congratulations on your Anniversary! It's well deserved I say, You have always been an outstanding pedantic, I've always appreciated your openness and honesty, and have enjoyed every episode I have seen! :D To many more years, if you feel like it, ofcourse.
Hell yes another dom video. Even though I have never read any grrm book, love these. I don't have it in me to commit to the length of the books or the shows but I really appreciate these videos. Also, love the tie
I think them making a “correct” answer to the dance really defeats one of the points of asoiaf in general which is that monarchies are a stupid way of governing.
What i am really afriad now is how Rhaenyra's future is going to look like. Lets just if they want to avoid another Dany fiasco every evil act the black commit in the future will be bent to make Rhaenyra less complicit.
Bravo on 10 years Dominic! I must say I was super tickled pink when I found your channel. I really enjoy your content, the video that drew me in was the adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. Great quality, keep up the fantastic work! Have you considered covering Flowers in the Attic?
Daemons arc was great till they showed him the white walkers, at least before bending the knee. Showing him the white walkers before bending the knee, daemon is no longer picking rhaenyra bc he realizes he’s messed up with his actions and need to be a better person and put aside his ambitions, and choose his brothers air and be the brother Viserys was to him
Right? We spent all that time in Harrenhal seeing all those (pretty repetetive) dreams of Daemon being a bad brother and husband, only for him not to learn from his mistakes and deciding to support Rhaenyra because Alys showed him 'Game of Thrones'.
The chain mail necktie fire! 🤩. Congrats on 10 years Dom. I think I have been watching you for 6ish of those years and I look forward to as many more as you like ♥
The show Blood and Cheese decision of Helaena having to tell which one is her son doesn't sound like it makes sense. If they really didn't know they could just check.
the prophecy stuff definitely reads more as something rhaenyra can use to justify all her actions (and so many viewers are falling for it). first she used the prophecy to defend pushing for peace, then she used the prophecy as a reason to send the dragons to war, and now she believes she was specifically chosen by the gods to rule simply because commoner addam claimed seasmoke and is willing to sacrifice dozens of smallfolk for the possibility of 2 dragons having riders. as alicent loses her faith and righteousness, rhaenyra gains faith and righteousness
Happy 10 year anniversary! I discovered you with your HP videos. Despite everything I'm sad I can't go back to them although I understand why you did unlist them. I've been following you ever since. As always I love your take on the subject of your videos and your sense of humour
Damn, I didn't realize it has been 10 years that you've been doing this Dom. I've been watching since the beginning, or at least very early on in your TH-cam journey. Congrats on 10 years! The growth of this channel and your reviews has been a pleasure to watch year after year.
Neat implication about Cheese’s fate from the main series: when Cersei is tearing apart the tower of the hand after Tywin’s death they mention that they found a pile of yellow bones in a pit of rats with a bag of coins from the era of the first king Viserys. A lot of fans have speculated those bones were cheese who either fell into some secret trap while trying to escape the tower or was killed by Blood to try and tie up loose ends.
Yellow bones as in, Cheese had nacho cheese bones?
@@RussellB bones can turn yellow over time, but some people use the color as thematic evidence to support the theory.
yeah, my bet was always that they never found Cheese because Blood killed him, exactly like he threatened to do in the show
@@zombiekungfumaster not an unreasonable assumption since Blood is mentioned to be one of the gold cloaks devoted to Daemon while Cheese may have just been in it for the money.
My guess would be the former rather than the latter. If Blood killed him for the money and tie up loose ends, why leave the gold behind?
Slashing the budget of your flagship show, the show that JUST lifted you back into the forefront of the streaming world, the show that was called rushed in season 1 is one of the dumbest things a studio/streaming service has ever done.
Smartest move by executives be like
They’re wealthy, not smart 😞
Which is weird, since HBO offered Dumb & Dumber more episodes, which they refused because they wanted to rush it
@gamebawesome under new management and different situation both culturally , hotd is not the phenomenon got was , and financially , the economy is not what is used to be , and hbo is not doing as well at is used to
At the time, they thought their other shows would drive people to their platform but Gossip Girl was widely panned and Pretty Little Liars didn’t get as much attention. They gambled on the wrong shows and are scrambling.
My theory about why the red sowing was made into a one time slaughter is that it was too hard to not make it an unintentional funny montage if they had them walk in one at a time.
They should have leaned in and made it a black comedy bit on purpose. Like, the blacks start off horrified and end up making bets.
@@theloverlyladylo9158 Personally I imagined a montage to Hall of the mountain king, timing fire breaths to the music but I might like your idea better.
Unironically, I think it's part of the show's whitewashing of Rhaenyra. It's easier to pass off one big massacre as a mistake that got out of hand.
It would be much harder to reconcile her desire to save lives and protect the common people with her watching some poor commoner get cooked alive and eaten and then just saying "Whatever, send in the next one" fifty+ times.
@@Tyr_Archalionfunny enough I thought this was a great scene showing her edge that she has in the books. She needs dragonriders and she’s getting one until they’re all dead. That was ice cold of her to lock them in there and have her own guards block them.
It was! It was hilarious! I didn’t want to laugh as much as I did…. 😅🤣😭
23:47 Not to mention that Aegon II didn’t want the crown either. As we saw last season, he was basically trying to run away after hearing his father was dead and begged Aemond to let him flee to Essos. He sulked while on the way to his coronation because he knew he was never meant for the crown as Viserys always said Rhaenyra was the heir. So technically, by the show’s own logic, Aegon is just as good of a ruler as Viserys and Rhaenyra are because none of them wanted to rule
I hate that concept so much too and its part of why this is the only way i consume got
"You're mah king!"
"I dunt want it!"
Seasmoke asking to keep the stray human was HILARIOUS.
Seasmoke: if not friend, why friend-colored?
The absolute best
Seasmoke calling dibs 😂
Seasmoke is a giant golden retriever confirmed 😂😂😂
And here our girl wants to act like he just snipped his collar and took him home. You can argue with Seasmoke about it, but you won't like it. You try taking him away, lady!
So amazing that George got to meet THE Dominic Noble! I hope I’m that lucky one day!🐉 (Also the chainmail neck tie is amazing!)
Your comment made me notice the tie lol
I wonder if George got his autograph?!! So exciting!!
`:O lucky george
I’d just like to add that the writer’s guild was freaking RIGHT to strike. It’s okay to be frustrated that our favorite shows get jostled, but production companies have been screwing writers and making things worse for years.
Especially given the broad dumb ways that companies wanted to start using AI, we’re actually lucky the writers and actors strikes worked as well as they did.
Nah they shouldn’t it’s just a skill issue.
@@AerysIIFirstofhisname What an appropriate name you have considering an opinion indicating either a shitpost or a mouth breather.
@@robertrappaport3610I don't think they're breathing at all. They're practically brainless.
@@robertrappaport3610 If AI shows are trash, then writers will get valued more anyway. This kind of luddite mindset has been seen across human history, and you can't stop the advance of technology.
@@robertrappaport3610 Writers like David and Dan should be fined though.
Scene: Kermit The Frog sits on a rock in one of his many swamps, plucking on a lyre. He begins to sing: "Why are there so many songs about Westeros..."
"And whose on the IRON THRONE."
As long as Dom DeLuise rows through screaming help! help! I'm there.
@@DJSockmonkeyMusicRIP Dom
Well, Kermit’s got to do something after killing a Baratheon
34:49 you missed the “this meeting could have been a raven” joke.
14:05 Mysaria: Champion of the common people, doesn't speak out against Rhaenyra during the mass murder of commoners in the Sowing.
Given how universally despised Game of Thrones Season 8 was...the least they could do was cut back on the references and connections to the original GOT.
It's hard to take the Daenerys prophecy seriously knowing that stupid things like Arya taking out the Night King and Rhaegal getting merked for shock value are actual things that happened, or rather will happen.
spittin facts
I find cutting Nettles the only “unforgivable” change the show could make. Thematically, she is definitely needed within the story and Rhaena has an entirely different character arc that I feel potentially didn’t appeal to the Writers due to how much it is based on soft power so maybe they did not want what would seem like a repeat or a duplicate of Alicent’s arc.
Still though, I’m hoping that Nettles shows up.
We got S2 Lost in Adaptation before we got Ep8 of Dragontime. 😂
they probably are still talking about it
@@sillylilly714 Probably discussing yoghurt😊
And I’m not getting nebula to watch it early 😂
@@TaeSunWooNebula doesn't get it early, Nebula gets the full video whereas TH-cam gets the edited version
Combined with the 22hr "Fake Jon Snow" supercut with commentary, and the other content totallong over 60+hrs of Dragon-show adjacent content, it's worth the $7 for a single month then drop it until next year.
@@sillylilly714
They've let themselves down.
They've let everyone down.
As Gandalf (played by Charlie Hopkinson) would say, it's unwise to study the arts of The GRRM even to critique him.
Queer woman here. Gaydar would not have stopped that kiss from feeling like it came out of nowhere. I love seeing myself represented on screen, but not at the cost of immersion and good storytelling.
wouldve been more fitting and even understandable had it not been preceded by trauma dumping about getting raped and impregnated by her father
@@ShadeStormXDDidn’t like that scene for that very reason lol it wasn’t even intimate and it had no lead up. If they were going to do it at all, it should’ve been saved for another, more fitting time.
i didn’t see it as hyper romantic. People do come together for all kinds of weird reasons, especially feeling understood and like they’ve found a sole confidant who “gets” them.
It was maybe a little trauma bonding, but there are way worse things then that between GoT and house of the dragon. These aren’t characters with high morals in general and honestly (I am a queer woman) the kiss made total sense to me for these characters as presented on screen. We haven’t seen them show much deeper interest since that interrupted moment if I recall.
I find it interesting this seems to bother some folks more than all the incest and other inappropriate relationships. What was any more or less inappropriate in this scene then any other questionable relationship in the series. An uncle taking his underage niece out of the castle for questionable reasons is fine, but two isolated women finding solace in a trauma bonding kiss doesn’t work? As the characters exist in the HBO series, it made total sense to me.
Also it was the actresses themselves who felt like this is what there characters would do, it wasn’t in the original script. And the team agreed so they shot the kiss. It wasn’t some representation virtue signal.
Agreed. What was called for in that moment was a demonstration of sincerity. Something that suggests, "I am here for you because I care". Simples.
Putting in the unscripted kiss in there just got everyone talking about the show...seems a bit cheap xxx
And a relationship between them is implied in the books, they should've just wrote it in and kept it in.. It also feels strange because it's never addressed again
As much as I like Alicent having more nuance than wicked stepmother. However, i feel stripping away all agency and becomeing more passive made her feel more bland. Hopefully future seasons will show some tragic conflict between Alicent and Rhaenyra.
I feel you and mostly agree, but I think the scene this season where she realized exactly how little power and influence she has on the council (and circumstances) she helped create was a very nice way to show this
Edit: "this" being her lack of agency and the consequences of trying to inhibit someone else's agency
At first I liked the changes to her character, but honestly after S2 I'd rather Alicent be a stereotype of wicked stepmother than a stereotype of passive, weak willed, incompetent woman easilly swayed by her emotions.
@@elektraeriserosso you still like her character after the final episode?
I mean, if it wasnt for the golden dragon on green, Alicents hearaldry should have a face eating leopard, seeing as she spends this season getting her faced gnawed off by the ones she put in power. She only had as much power as the ones around her, and especially her now dead husband, allowed her to have. And since she didnt have it in her (or ispart of the culture with midwives and such) to actually bond with babies she had after (possibly) sex with less than enthusiastic concent, she didnt see what they were growing up to be. She was more focused on her jelousy of the "free" and unchaste heir to the thrown. At the end shes on her rock bottom, starting to find it in her to climb up and build something for the future again with her childhood friend.
She'll get back to a kings landing without Aegon tho, the one thing she promised Rhynaera to end the war, so when she turns up next season to Alicent claiming to have "lost" her son, thats not gonna go down well.
They seem chronically incapable of holding the female character to account. I’m not even being sexist, if you track the male characters and their actions they almost always get their comeuppance or have to acknowledge their faults in some way. This ironically makes them more interesting.
I would probably not even have this opinion if it weren’t for Rhaenys. No one ever brings up the fact that she killed all those civilians in season 1 episode 9. Yet she constantly acts like she is atop the moral high horse and chastises those around her for being callous, with much of her dialog in the first season dedicated to pointing out how men are violent and seek conflict when in power. Her callous murder of likely hundreds of innocent civilians while also proclaiming the war “wasn’t hers to start” and that she “did not want to harm a mother” (in reference to Alicent) come off as tone deaf and hypocritical and indicate a lack of awareness on the writers part.
This lack of accountability extends to enough of the other female characters to be noticeable and irritating. Towards the end of the season Alicent essentially has all power and accountability removed from her and she contradicts one of her only consistent character traits at the last minute for pretty much no reason other than she was angry that she didn’t have more power. She betrays her children, who while she was a poor mother too she clearly loved them and did a lot in order to advance them. She just abandons that because the big mean men around her wouldn’t listen to her and make her regent (which as they point out would be a blunder as it undermines their positions and jeopardizes their standings with their allies). All of this serves to make her less interesting, less motivated, and contradictory.
Rhaenera was almost incessantly slow to act, dismissive, and way too soft this season. She has suffered through the death of two children, both effectively at the hands of the Greens, yet she is seeking peace to the point of absurdity. This especially contrasts with season one where she was clearly being set up to be furious at the death of Luke and was consistently shown to be brash, somewhat callous, and confident in her position as rightful queen. This season she seems to entirely mellow out, forgets the slights against her, and constantly sues for peace to the point of inaction and absurdity. This is in contrast to the power hungry and ruthless Greens under Aemond and Aegon. I would forgive this if it was set up a little better, but she has none of the cruel qualities as described in the book which made her more interesting and involved. Every decision which can be considered morally bad in any way is almost always the fault of someone else or was done behind her back. The only real exception was the red sowing which felt more in line with her character in season one.
All of this serves to make the female character less interesting as they are less involved with the intrigues and changes occurring around them. They are almost always reacting to the actions of others and chastising them for not seeking peace, even if they have as much reason as the men around them to be angry and seeking conflict. This contrasts heavily to the men as their bad qualities have often been increased compared to their book counterparts and their are held to task appropriately either through facing the consequences for their actions or having to develop to overcome their flaws. This makes the men ironically more interesting to watch as they feel more consistent and engaging as they actually move the plot forward and make big decisions which will change the course of the entire war.
The Tully scene with them playing cards while he bangs on the door and screams about women being in charge had me in stitches.
I love Ser Simon and his hobbits.
Considering the upcoming presidential election, it hit right on the nose. Also love the two Tully's just playing cards and doing their best to pretend they can't hear him.
Realistic depiction of Angry Virgins.
Everyone: war, drama, murder, dragons
Daemon: the haunting at Harrenhall
he got an army tho
That's the perfect example of beating a dead horse. Yeah we got it the first time writers, there's no need to keep repeating the same characterization for 7 episodes. You tell it once, or even twice for emphasis and we the audience already get it.
I was in the "Leave George alone" camp for the first decade. Now that we are in the second decade you still shouldn't harass him, but he's obviously not putting full focus on it.
Man he is helping produce TV shows and he's more popular than he's ever been. Give the guy a break he doesn't owe yall anything
@@bece00
Absolutely.
The only one who'll suffer if he doesn't finish his magnum opus is him.
@@bece00 I think that was that commenter's point- he shouldn't be producing TV shows vs instead sitting down & actually finishing the first thing he started. Like how my parents used to make sure I'd finished dinner before I got dessert.
I'm more in the camp of 'someone else already figured it out please let us know how it ends. I don't care about spoilers anymore.'
@@vadalia3860 it's crazy to me that his FANS are the ones talking about him like this. Speaking as like he's a petulant child.
You really feel the two missing episodes. There was a REASON ten episodes was chosen for each season. They could have split season two into two parts to deal with the strike issues. That opening scene at the ice wall felt like a purposfully done slap in the face given how HBO ended that entire plotline with a giant wedontcare.
Yeah, the sequence at the Wall, Daemon's visions of the White Walkers and Dany all just managed to piss me off because of how they ended in GoT. And them using Jon's music everytime they show the Starks on screen. Like you already did my boy dirty, why are you hellbent on reminding us of it again?
@@sushmitaraodesaraju6330 That’s the Winterfell and Ned’s theme. In GoT, it plays for the first time when we see the castle. It later became the Stark theme, not Jon’s theme.
It's sad because the season was clearly setting up some kind of big one-two end of season climax for the last couple episodes, like how GOT S6 had Battle of the Bastards & Winds of Winter at the ending. That season was also criticized for being somewhat meandering while having an acclaimed episode in the middle of the season (The Door for S6, The Red Dragon and the Gold for HOTD), but the last two episodes really won everyone over. I was actually enjoying the show, even all the parts people were having problems with, so it sucks that we have to wait another two years to have the climax. But also, Breaking Bad S1 suffered the same thing (the first 2 episodes of S2 were meant to be part of season 1, but then the writer's strike of 2008 happened), so it's not like this hasn't happened before, this just has the unfortunate circumstance of being the second season of an already-acclaimed show with high expectations in place.
Aemond's actor needs to be an elf in the next lord of the rings show
He can play both the sons of Elrond.
He needs to be an elf in a new lotr show cause rings of power is a hot mess.
Fëanor had seven sons, so any would be a great pick, though my personal preference is Celegorm, the silver hair really suits him ;-)
Guy has talent.
Feanor, the naughty Elf
10 years 😲 seriously you should be extremely proud of yourself, this channel is a goldmine of everything i love and as long as your able and willing? I hope it never ends 💕
I love the channel. But I despair of ever getting used to the nail polish.
@@joelnotsure2871 What an astronomically insignificant thing to be bothered by.
Congrats on your ten year anniversary. I've been following since the beginning and your lovely voice and content has helped me get through this apocalyptic decade.
I wouldn't call the naming practices "unimaginative", but an attempt to be symbolic. After all Great Britain/UK had six different King Georges in only a 200 year period, and nearly one third of those years were ruled by Queen Victoria.
He was being coy
France had like 20 Louises and 10 Charleses
@@Al4___ Sweden is on its 16:th Carl. lol
I think OP is entirely correct.
Don't forget all the Henrys from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Okay, that just means the British royal family very unimaginative with their naming conventions.
On Winds I moved straight from "patiently waiting" to "stopped caring".
I for one, loved the saga of daemon tripping on shrooms supplied by a Scottish goth girl in a haunted hotel for 6 episodes. Very relatable.
lol I get you. But should GOT stories be relatable?
It doesn't help that the witch was a really terrible actress. I roll my eyes every time she delivers her dialogue. Same with Mysaria. I think the acting quality of this show across the board is several tiers below the acting in GoT.
I hate how the marketing for the show was like Green vs blacks, pick a side and then said, nah the blacks are the good guys.
it's trying to be a tragedy, where ultimately no one is good or bad and no one wins. which makes sense with what is about to come in the following seasons.
Look, I'm Team Black but they've been very deliberate about trying to balance the sides as much as possible. They had Daemon outright murder his first wife, which he likely didn't actually do in the books, and made Luc's murder instead into a schoolyard bullying-esque accident. Rhaenyra's betrothal of Jace and Luc to Baela and Rhaena happened in the books when they were all toddlers, showing right away that she intending to marry Velaryon blood back into the line of both the heir to Driftmark and the Iron Throne (likely to make it up to the Velaryons for the lack of Velaryon blood in her eldest sons) but in the show it came much later, making it look like she intended to fully steal away at least Driftmark from the Velaryon bloodline. Alicent, instead of being a power-hungry evil adult stepmother, is both brainwashed by her father from the time she's a 15 year old bride into thinking her children's lives are forfeit if Rhaenyra inherits and also as an adult trying to do what she (convinced herself to) thinks was what Viserys wanted. However, nothing they introduce into the narrative can make up for the fact that the only reason there is a succession crisis at all is because Rhaenyra is a woman and Westeros is a sexist place, which is always going to bias a modern audience to her side. The entire conflict is centered around an injustice being done to Rhaenyra because of her gender & even those who otherwise sympathize with the greens usually recognize that.
@@vadalia3860the balance feels a little too late especially if you’ve read Fire and Blood. Rhaneyra is so much more flawed and interesting in the book. It’s also why Aegon became a clear fan favorite, they are doing his character arc from the book, warts and all on full display.
@@berserk4soulsNot so much, they didn't show him sleeping with a 12 year old but they did add some stuff than they did last season.
@@berserk4souls people like aegon because he's such a hot-mess and does things like call himself the draconic phallus lmao
21:15 Well, killing common people wasn't always without consequence in medieval time. Between 1275 and 1280, the two now Belgian cities of Namur and Liege fought a five years war that was started because of the unfair killing of a non-noble guy who had stolen a single cow and was hanged while returning it while he was peomised he would be pardoned... This war is now know as "The war of the cow" 😅
I actually like that they made Hugh a more noble person here since it would explain why Vermithor chose him to be his rider considering who his previous rider was.
Eh, Jae's a piece of shit so not sure that actually tracks. Then again, that was mostly towards his female relatives & Hugh's already got one dead daughter & a wife he seems constantly in conflict with so... par for the course, I guess...
That is somehow assuming that a dragon could pick up who a person is, when in the show it looks to be that Hugh was the only one who stood up to him. Akin to Dany on the books to Drogon.
@@Ashbrash1998 Not only did he stand up to him, but he willingly sacrificed himself to save a total stranger. It is said that dragons are intelligent and just how Dogs can judge character It isn't a far stretch to assume dragons are capable of the same. If you read the book, it always struck me as odd that the Dragon of the Conciliator would choose someone like Hugh.
So uh this is going to be awkward when his eventual spoiler plot point comes up
Safe to assume the way Hugh was presented in the book is because of anti-commoner bias combined with hindsight bias given some of the...well...incoming warcrimes.
I actually found the scene where Daemon mentions the prophecy and Rhaenyra's answer of "you sound like Viserys" rather than acknowledging he's right, to mean that they had essentially switched roles. Daemon is now fighting for something more than the throne, and Rhaenyra has come too far that attaining the throne becomes her sole ambition, not for the prophecy but for the power.
As someone that started watching around the time of the... marathon that shall not be named was starting, its mind blowing to me how far you've come dom
Me too. That marathon was what brought me to this channel. Also, I was just pleased that someone felt the same way about those films (uuuuuuggggghhhhhhh)
My biggest gripe with this season is that, for most of it, Lucerys's, Visenya's and Jaehaerys's deaths seem to have been for absolutely damn nothing.
No one even mentions poor Visenya, Luke is mostly forgotten save for a literal couple of times, and Jaehaerys is mourned for a grand total of one episode before everyone forgets about him.
I'm sorry, it's an absolute character assassination for Rhaenyra to not be trying to chew Team Green's heads off over her children.
THIS!!! So much THIS!!!!
THIS!!! THANK YOU!!
Fr what a mess!!! 🤦♂️
I'm certain they'll have Rhaenyra seeing red after the Gullet, it's the only thing that makes sense after putting so much emphasis on Rhaenyra's restraint this season. In the book, she was completely indisposed because of her grief and Jace had to take over, so I understand why they'd want to change that (if you think Daemon's storyline was bad, imagine Rhaenyra just laying in bed all day crying for the entire season), but in order for the war to not be over in an episode they needed Rhaenyra to not want to use her dragons.
@@michaelhenry3234She also could be indisposed because of the fact she JUST had a traumatic labor amd birth if a stillborn dragon like baby.
That GEORGE killed me CANT I GUY HAVE FUN WITH HIS WORLD BUILDING DOM
Honestly it doesn’t surprise me that history wrote Daemon as being immune to Alys’ charms because the history wrote her as a generic sexy witch whose only REAL power was her ability to seduce men into giving her what she wanted. The idea that Alys might have power over a man without sleeping with him just didn’t compute to the misogynistic Westerosi mind.
Or Sara Hess knew Daemon was to popular and wanted to neuter him in the next season.
@@thezerowulf2046 Character development and maturing as a person is “neutering” now?
Chainmail...necktie?! Neat
Do you think Will Ferrell invented that one too?
Hey man that's mean
@@tylershadlow5792 Huh? No sarcasm intended, I really like it
The changes/expansion to the characters: Alys Rivers, Ser Simon Strong, Ulf the White, Hugh Hammer, Alyn & Addam of Hull & Helena Targaryen were all fantastic. It elevated the story to meet/get better acquainted with them. I'm NOT happy about the erasure of Nettles, was really looking forward to seeing her & learning her story. Overall I liked this season, but it definitely felt unfinished. I believe the entire series can be brilliant, and I too am willing to wait.
Happy Anniversary Dom! May you continue to be pleasantly surprised by good fortune 🎉
Who's to say that Nettles wasn't Rhaena all along? fire and blood was written as a history book by someone who lived afterwards and based on a septon, a Maester and a hypers*xual fool on their accounts.
@@ShannonCarter55 That makes about as much sense as the maesters getting Alicent's age wrong, or that they made up an entire royal prince, Maelor... There are some definite changes to the source material. People would recognize Rhaena... Plus, in the book Rhaena is not brown, she's white, so unless Rhaena was doing black face (???) to disguise herself, Nettles would have clearly not been the princess. _Also_ Rhaena was with Lady Jeyne Arryn the entire time in the Vale, making plenty of public appearances. Knights jousted for her favor, singers sang songs for her... And, crucially, her dragon Morning hatched for her. So unless this was a Padme's handmaid situation (and her handmaid happened to have a dragon hatch for her, and Rhaena's sister Baela never realized she was an impostor?) Rhaena could not have been Nettles.
Unless... Rhaena is secretly a skinchanger and Hodored a poor peasant girl so she could claim a dragon without risking herself, but once her own dragon hatched for her she had no further need of the girl... and so she discreetly disposed of her in the Vale, everyone none the wiser. Rhaena the Three Eyed Dragon!
The way those dragons talked to eachother is now canon
I do not understand how we only spent 1 episode in the North. There were so many theories - Jace and Cregan hooking up, Jace secretly marrying Sara Snow, Jace leaving behind a pregnant half sister to Cregan, Jace leaving dragon eggs in Winterfell - and we saw none of it. I was so disappointed I don't think I'll ever get it
In fairness, a lot of the theories surrounding that dynamic were basically invented by the fans. Like, they didn't set most of that up, people just got carried away with their own imaginings.
I was disappointed too.
Given how padded the season was I think we should have spent a bit more time oop North.
I would have been happy to spend less time in Dragonstone, Driftmark and The Vale.
I’m hoping given the battle of the gullets consequences, they will have a flashback of jaces time at winterfell. Cause it’s kind of important that cregan makes this bond with Jace.
@@alexanderforbes1452I mean the dynamic did have set up from the books. Fans carried ot farther sure, but the Sara Snow stuff and Eggs in Winterfell came from the books.
12:59 everyone sucked is the style of GRRM and I love his work for it.
Here’s the thing, the conflict is not over whether women are included equal in succession, because Team Black had made it obvious that Rhaenyra is a one generation exception. She herself said Jace and Baela’s first born son will rule after her. The real question is whether the King’s word supersedes law. If the King can go against laws because he is the law. And honestly, rulers with absolute power who aren’t beholden to the law they expect their subjects to follow are always terrible.
It's also not just a king thing, it's a Westeros thing. As Grrm stated: Westeros isn't ruled by laws it's by men. The lord's prefer it that way and even some have chosen an heir or laid rules for their wills. So for the Dance they had no law requiring male first no matter what, just a preference/tradition. Which for the Targaryen dynasty is unique, since they aren't Andals so they aren't beholden to their traditions. Jahaerys already set a standard that Targaryens are not like other men as dragonriders and were from Valyria. So they had different laws and traditions they are allowed to follow. As well as Jahaerys formally chose his heir when his first born son died, which was the second son instead of Aemon's child Rhaenys, who was next in line. Plus the main reason Jahaerys won the throne over his sister Rhaena and her daughters was because he had gathered more support while they were Maegor's hostages. And they weren't keen on women getting the crown either as well as Rhaena disliked King's Landing so she suggested Jahaerys. So both times wasn't based on an actual law like Queen's Alysanne's laws, but a blend of noble support and a person with more sway influencing it.
there *are* no laws. westeros doesn't have a constitution or a justinian code.
it's a divine-right absolute monarchy, the king's word is not just law, it's infallible and sacred.
there are no succession laws.
they would not have held something like 4 great councils in 300 years to pick the next monarch if there were succession laws.
there aren't even guidelines, or rules.
it's borderline a divinity-cult given targaryen exceptionalism.
the literal only time laws constrain a monarch are in a constitution.
something which isn't even a theoretical concept to the world of asoiaf.
@@iMajoraGamingYou are completely wrong in a medieval society what amounts to law is an amalgamation of tradition, custom and precedence. You also have to take into account that the Targaryens are not ancient royalty who has ruled for thousands of years but, foreign invaders who rule by fear and force. That means there decisions will never be infallible because of what they are and how they came to power. The only thing that will allow them to do as they please is the force and violence they apply.
@@Ashbrash1998 Your argument can also be used in the reverse.
@@iMajoraGaming Truth be told, the series tends to go back and forth on whether Kings have absolute power and not. This is kind of my main critisism of the series as a whole, though I do understand it's fiction. Mind you, most of everything else is clear.
Also, irl, fealty went both ways: Lords swore fealty to their King, but the King also swore fealty to the law, which was very clear that both parties were sworn to uphold their duties. It's actually a fascinating subject to look into.
Dom, thank you for bringing up how much they actually covered in season 1 vs season 2. I made a reddit post about a week ago pointing this out. I wanted to find out how much plot was actually portrayed in Season 2, so I listened to the audiobook and started from when Luke dies and when the sowing was complete.
It took them 2 years and 8 episodes to turn 50 minutes of Fire and Blood into a whole season...
For comparison to Season 1, at the start of the Great Council to when Luke dies, it took them 10 episodes for 173 minutes of content.
They've shifted from sprint to amble in telling this story.
I prefer amble.
@@alanpennie8013 The time for amble was during Season 1, not after the murder of children.
@@ncblock87 true.
@@alanpennie8013and now they've only got what? 16 episodes to tell the whole story.
@@everburn
If viewer numbers hold up they'll probably give us a Cregan miniseries as a pendant.
Thank you for putting doubt on the whole "Laenor has to be dead" argument. I've been pointing this stuff out on various comment pages.
I’ve somehow never noticed that Aemond and Daemon are spelled using the same letters in almost the same order.
I was gonna say they're never in the same scene but I don't think that's *quite* true.
Super glad I wasn't the only one to not have noticed this! Being so caught off guard did make seeing Dom put it on screen funnier though
I just facepalmed. How did I not see that 😂
Wait till you realize that Aemond has Viseynas dragon while Daemon has her sword.
Honestly, at this point I think if Winds of Winter/Dream of Spring do come out then it will be after GRRM has passed. I think he is scared (rightfully so) of the backlash that will inevitably come from his creative choices. D&D had an outline from GRRM for post finished books so at least a few things from the later seasons of GoT will probably be in the books.
14:38 DREAMFYRE! thats heleanas dragon, Aegons good boy is Sunfyre. I revoke your nerd card
Thank you. Heard him say Dreamfyre and I was like "wait a tic"
I generally agree with your takes, with two caveats:
1. I actually enjoyed most of the Daemon stuff.
2. I read Rhaenyra's arc as being more complex than your description - while her motivation being influenced by the prophecy makes her seem a bit better than pure greed. As the season goes, her rethoric becomes more and more fanatic - "it was ordained," etc.
I feel like this fanatisism is what's going to shape her future arc in line with some of the stuff that happens later in the book.
I don't share your optimism
@@sammykent5752 Ok, have fun I guess
She was painted as good and saintly all season; even the prophecy is meant to make us side with Rhaenyra over everyone else and give her an excuse for morally indefensible actions.
Meanwhile the Greens are just "woMEn baD!"
@@Brandon210-q4n Aegon is also portrayed very sympathetically this season.
@@Brandon210-q4n I think that’s entirely the point, she herself has clearly warped the prophecy
Mr Noble, you should consider a Lost in Adaptation for The Expanse/Leviathan Wakes
That's a great suggestion - it's broad strokes are faithful and there's a lot that can be said about where it's season/book splits are offset, but you have some occasional stuff that looks bizarre on paper like a bunch of different characters becoming Camina Drummer just because Cara Gee is *that* good
YESSSS
Agreed, it's a great book and TV series and has the rare case where the book writers used the show to improve on some elements from the source material.
Yes! I was just checking if The Dom had already covered them
Thx for defending GRRM. People really need to chill. And even if those 2 books NEVER get published... it's HIS book series. he can do whatever the heck he wants with it AND HIS LIFE :D
Yeah. And just as its his life that he can do whatever he want, its everyone else's right to also harass him for it. That's what it means to live in a free society. He can shut off the internet if he wants, because none of ya'll can stop people from reminding him 24/7 about it.
He only has the life he does now because we bought those books and supported the shows. If he had told us back in 1996 that he’d never finish the series and the shows would turn to shit nobody would have bought them. He owes us
@idawg7332 That's not how it works, you buy the books and watch the shows FOR the stuff. It's not a layaway plan or contract saying you are entitled to more stuff if tou stamp your feet hard enough.
@@stephenjenkins7971Not really since harassment can be punishable by law. And harassing somebody because they aren't making something for you without a contract or explicit agreement isn't a good stance.
@@Ashbrash1998 copout response
typically if you make someone rich, and that someone insists that they're going to make something for the people that gave them the ability to live so lavishly, for a decade, one would expect it to be obvious that when that person fails to deliver, over and over again, that the people who were told they would get something *for a decade* would be less than thrilled by your repeated failure to speak the truth.
people act like GRRM is too special and delicate to be held at his *own* word lmao
I have never read/watched Game of Thrones or House of Dragon but my grandmother lived in Snowdonia, the region of Wales where most of the hilly landscape scenes were shot. My family was there last year when we were barred from entering certain parts of the park because they were filming something. We finally got one person working on it to admit that is was House of Dragon. I don’t have HBO so I was very excited when Dom released this video so I could see some of the beloved scenery from my child hood (with added dragons).
Wow, congratulations on ten years! Thank you for all the laughs, book recommendations, and entertainment! 🎉🎉🎉
Seasmoke: Can I keep him?
Syrax: We have humans at home.
Seasmoke: I don't like those! I want this one!
Thanks for providing us with content for ten years.
I absolutely loathe the revelation of the white walkers and daenarys to daemon. The apparent importance that rhaenyra take the throne eliminates all the gray morality of both sides presented in the original book. Just like that stupid scene in season 1 where the white hart just happens upon rhaenyra, an endorsement by the gods that she is the rightful heir.
Exactly. Both sides were fighting for selfish reasons, but the show is making the Greens complete villains and Rhaenyra a saint.
Wasn't Criston "the Kingmaker" Cole there to spot the white hart at the same time as Rhaenyra? And it all did happen on Aegon's name day, so I guess the gods are as undecided as westerosi nobility.
@@ciamciaramcia99 You're flailing. The scene was stupid and clearly thrown in to make people pick a side.
the writers have said in interviews that the prophecies and signs in the show are meant to be manipulated and taken advantage of by those who know them so idk…….
The writers missed the point of war. War is where rich people send poor people to die. This is supposed to be a selfish power grab from aristocratic families that drag the entire country into death and destruction. Making the leads more sympathetic and hesitant about war completely defeats the purpose of the story. I don't think the writers are aware of the historical events that GRRM is pulling from. It's a war of succession and a blood feud, that's all we need to be a great show.
Your season 1 video gets a rewatch from me like once a month dude. Needless to say, I am very excited for this.
10 YEARS!!! That's amazing!!! Congratulations! 🎉🎉
The joke you with the dragon wanting to keep a human he found on the beach 😂 hilarious
I'm kinda sad they didn't leave in elmo/Kermit. Be a nice bit of levity 😂
Ya cause while yes they are named after muppets those names were actually pretty common before they were known as muppets
@@Ironcorgi2GRRM absolutely named the family after Muppets as an Easter egg, probably never thinking he’d have to make any of them serious characters
I really like to think that Seasmoke picked up Addam because he smelled/looked so much like Laenor and had a similar personality to him as well. And Laenor may not be dead, but he's dead to Seasmoke and this little guy is close enough.
Oscar and Simon are unironically my favorite characters in this show😂
Cheers, Dominic. You deserve some praise for doing this for a decade.
Happy 10 year anniversary, Dom! I haven't been here for the whole journey, but I have been highly entertained the whole time I've been here. Here's to many more years!
I freaking loved the season ! With all the time jumps in S1 it was necessary to focus more on characters to really care about them. I mean, we barely knew Aegon, Aemond, Jace, Baela, etc.
Yes I would have prefered having all the episodes but it was still very good
Me too.
It was nice to get to know these guys.
Not to mention , Addam, Alyn, Helaena, Hugh, and Ulf.
Congrats on 10 years!! Your channel has been one of my favorites for years, and I appreciate how much detail you put into making your videos. Keep up the great work!
Warner Brothers is like the cat laying in the glass box. They don't even know if they have any money for your show until they either do or do not pay up.
It's bizarre how season one and season two suffer from polar opposite pacing issues - season one speedran through 25 years worth of plot while season two had a lot of wheel-spinning and not enough plot. My personal conspiracy theory as to why the heck it was written that way is that there was a mandate from HBO that season one had to have a dragon battle, so they had to skip ahead to Vhagar eating Luke to get it greenlit.
Season one should so obviously have been two seasons.
A problem also is that they wanted the show to be 4 seasons, when it clearly should've been 3. Or maybe if they had paced season 1 way better the 4 seasons could've worked.
While I recognize there were studio and other outside issues involved with this season, there is also a fundamental misunderstanding of its own characters by the writers going on. What was done to Alicent this season was just awful and thats on no one but the showrunners.
I loved the bit with the dragon asking to keep the homan he found T.T
Thank goodness! A commentator who both acknowledges the 'history book' device in the original book, AND realises and fully understands what that means for comparing book/show canon!! I had to give up my usual pop culture commentators for HOTD 'cos their lack of understanding was so infuriating. Thankyou Dom! ❤️
I found Daemon's Harrenhal adventures to be pretty dang entertaining. To take a guy that is absolutely a nonbeliever in magic and force him to experience it firsthand was hilarious. Every time the show would go to Harrenhal I would end up giggling.
@@Ravuun same plus watching Alys drag his arse was hilarious
Yeah except the ending with the Azor Ahai business is so forced and pretty cringey by this point.
@@williamnissen5083 am I only one who finds the idea of the guy who idolizes valyrian history, knows in its magical origins AND RIDES A FUCKING DRAGON is a none believer in magic its dumb to me like seeing fire and saying fire doesnt exist, or even the prince that was promised prophecy daemon should know that, not aegons version but the general gist since he SPENT YEARS IN ESSOS
@durrangodsgrief6503 You're definitely not alone. It's my husband's favorite complaint about the GoT universe in general. 😂 Maybe because I grew up in a backasswords city where cognitive dissonance is the status quo for a lot of people, it just doesn't bug me much.
@@durrangodsgrief6503 Actually I found that made it more interesting, it showed how much the dragons had been normalized and how distant the Targaryens had become from their mystical heritage that the guy with arguably the strongest dragon bond in the show is like “psychic dreams? Pffft. The Valyrians just made that up for propaganda”.
To be honest even without the strike this season would suck, the writers obviously want to give a message that the black side is good and they will deconstruct one side into warped degenerates and strip the other of agency to send that message.
18:19 for the first time, I’m wishing I didn’t watch this because now I feel bad that Matt Smith’s haunting was my second-favorite aspect of this season. It’s not your fault.
My absolute favourite was the Aegon/Larys scenes.
But this was a strong second.
He's writing....Dom, it's been 13 YEARS.
Exactly. 5 years? Sure, fine, but 13? If it was a stand alone book or the first in a series, I'd be okay with it... but the next installment of an ongoing series is completely unacceptable.
3:29 episode 9 was always the crazy episode of the season in GOT. So that tracks.
Sheepstealer is the definition of "skrunkly".
congrats on a decade of being professionally pedantic Dom! I don't know how long I've been watching, a few years at least, but I always find your commentary to be very interesting, and sometimes have then found things that I wouldn't otherwise watch through your videos.
The Otto being in a cage thing was by far the weirdest part of the season.
It's presumably intended to be relevant to the next season.
Perhaps Aemond will track him down.
Congratulations!! Happy tenth anniversary Dom!!
George sounds like a really great person especially with him hosting a dinner for all of the disqualified nominees from the 2023 Worldcon at this year's Worldon.
Congratulations on your Anniversary! It's well deserved I say, You have always been an outstanding pedantic, I've always appreciated your openness and honesty, and have enjoyed every episode I have seen! :D To many more years, if you feel like it, ofcourse.
8:23 seems like cregan thinks the white walkers are coming at any time, just like rhaenyra & daemon. so he probably was just chilling there lol
Hell yes another dom video. Even though I have never read any grrm book, love these. I don't have it in me to commit to the length of the books or the shows but I really appreciate these videos. Also, love the tie
24:40 I heard "It's ok to want to be king." to the tune of "I just can't wait to be king" from the lion king
Congrats on making it 10 years and looking forward to / hoping you keep up the good work.
lmao "...named Elmo and Kermit...*sigh* GEORGE!" 🤣
10 years! 🎉 Watching, sometimes rewatching, your videos has been a pleasure. Your content is informative and entertaining, and the accent helps too. 😊
I believe in Muppet Tully Supermacy.
To the point I match the Tully Lads with fanon wives: Bernys "Big Birdie" Erenford and Megaine "Peggy" Hogg.
Perfect timing! I just finished the season today and actually rewatched your video on the first season as well.
God I love that you keep that CGI dragon around for these things. I love him so much.
I think them making a “correct” answer to the dance really defeats one of the points of asoiaf in general which is that monarchies are a stupid way of governing.
What i am really afriad now is how Rhaenyra's future is going to look like. Lets just if they want to avoid another Dany fiasco every evil act the black commit in the future will be bent to make Rhaenyra less complicit.
I'm not sure about that.
In the finale she was declaring that she intended to kill a disabled boy.
@@alanpennie8013 You mean an adult rapist?
@@alanpennie8013 it's harder to feel bad for the disabled boy when he's a r*pist and made his bastard children compete in fighting rings 😭
Bravo on 10 years Dominic! I must say I was super tickled pink when I found your channel. I really enjoy your content, the video that drew me in was the adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. Great quality, keep up the fantastic work! Have you considered covering Flowers in the Attic?
Daemons arc was great till they showed him the white walkers, at least before bending the knee. Showing him the white walkers before bending the knee, daemon is no longer picking rhaenyra bc he realizes he’s messed up with his actions and need to be a better person and put aside his ambitions, and choose his brothers air and be the brother Viserys was to him
Right? We spent all that time in Harrenhal seeing all those (pretty repetetive) dreams of Daemon being a bad brother and husband, only for him not to learn from his mistakes and deciding to support Rhaenyra because Alys showed him 'Game of Thrones'.
The chain mail necktie fire! 🤩. Congrats on 10 years Dom. I think I have been watching you for 6ish of those years and I look forward to as many more as you like ♥
The show Blood and Cheese decision of Helaena having to tell which one is her son doesn't sound like it makes sense. If they really didn't know they could just check.
The vision rubbed salt in the Daenerys wound - I will never get over how dirty they did Daenerys/Emilia. She deserved so much better.
22:17 Uh oh, grandad has been watching that show again.
Thanks for 10 years of hilarious pedantry, Dominic! I still go back and watch your Dune review whenever I need a good laugh.
the prophecy stuff definitely reads more as something rhaenyra can use to justify all her actions (and so many viewers are falling for it). first she used the prophecy to defend pushing for peace, then she used the prophecy as a reason to send the dragons to war, and now she believes she was specifically chosen by the gods to rule simply because commoner addam claimed seasmoke and is willing to sacrifice dozens of smallfolk for the possibility of 2 dragons having riders. as alicent loses her faith and righteousness, rhaenyra gains faith and righteousness
Happy 10 year anniversary! I discovered you with your HP videos. Despite everything I'm sad I can't go back to them although I understand why you did unlist them. I've been following you ever since. As always I love your take on the subject of your videos and your sense of humour
Dom: I have no gaydar. Rhaenyra being bi was a surprise.
Every Lesbian Who Watched the Show: I SAW GAY! I SAID GAY!
Yeah, as usual, the sapphic lovers were really obnoxious because they want everything to be as sapphic as possible.
Emma yes. Rhaneyra no
Damn, I didn't realize it has been 10 years that you've been doing this Dom. I've been watching since the beginning, or at least very early on in your TH-cam journey. Congrats on 10 years! The growth of this channel and your reviews has been a pleasure to watch year after year.