TV: House of the Dragon (HBO) - Season 2 - Summer 2024, please use spoil tags where it makes sense

[Sad People]

It’s funny the whole reason why Ser Cristin Cole started resenting Rhaenyra was because he wanted to be more than a her “sex slave” and he’s become exactly that with Alicent. Dude oozes bitch boy energy. How long until Alicent becomes pregnant? lol.

I think Aegon will start to become Joeffery Esque now with Otto gone. You can already see it with the hangings.

Sucks I liked Ser Eryk. Does anyone know which one actually won the battle? I thought Eryks twin won but the ending doesn’t support that thought.

Overall I loved the episode. Wish it didn’t stop.

 

[Tuggy]

I thought for sure the kid's head was going to fall off when they got stuck in the hole in the road.

Another solid episode.

 

[GKJ]

Trying to decide who I want to kill Criston Cole

I thought for sure the kid's head was going to fall off when they got stuck in the hole in the road.

Another solid episode.

So did I

 

[MadDevil]

Criston Cole may be my most hated character in both this and GOT.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Such a good episode. Truly felt like vintage, early seasons GOT. No big spectacle battle or major plot points, but a lot of character development, important dialog, and setting up major plots for later on.


Impressive stuff.

 

[Sad People]

This was probably my favorite Otto episode and I can’t stand him. The scene between him and the king was fantastic.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

It's disgusting how good TV can be when you have good writers

I loved this episode so much.

 

[Emperoreddy]

This episode had me liking Otto for moments, feeling sorry for Aegon, but f***ing Cole man.

This series has presented us far more evil characters, but Cole is a unique kind of detestable because he is so f***ing bitch made. Just a whiney piece of shit.

 

[Sombastate]

I’ve never liked Otto but god damn did I love that scene

This show f***ing rules. When you have good writing, tv can be just fantastic

 

[Emperoreddy]

Rhys Ifans really was fantastic this episode. A head roll that will go down in history, just next levels of "I'm so done with this shit"

 

[Osprey]

I really enjoyed the episode, but think that it could've been shortened to under an hour without losing anything important. A number of scenes in the middle felt like they didn't have much purpose other than to remind us that other characters exist. That's my only critique, though, and it was really engaging the rest of the time.

 

[Kiwi]

You have to give it to the writers of this series and the earlier GOT series

They know how to write that character of magnetic manipulative old prick unbelievably well

Honestly I could watch scenes of Otto Hightower and tywin Lannister all day and not grow tired

No fancy fights or battles, just extremely cunning, intelligent men manipulating the people around them for there own ends

It's riveting television

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Powerful ep, like others said, that Otto/King scene was awesome.

Aliecent is so weak though. I guess it’s only a matter of time till she has a kid with Cole? Unless i missed a reason why they haven’t already.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Powerful ep, like others said, that Otto/King scene was awesome.

Aliecent is so weak though. I guess it’s only a matter of time till she has a kid with Cole? Unless i missed a reason why they haven’t already.

Probably the biggest reason why is that she doesn't love Cole, IMO.

I think the Cole stuff stems back to 1) Cole being Rhaenyra's first, so that rivalry is kind of a part of the appeal I think to him. 2) I think Alicent wants to enjoy a boy toy after years of being under Viserys. 3) Sees Cole as a protector during these times of chaos and stress.

But I don't thinks he takes Criston very seriously. He really is just her hoe.

 

[LarKing]

Powerful ep, like others said, that Otto/King scene was awesome.

Aliecent is so weak though. I guess it’s only a matter of time till she has a kid with Cole? Unless i missed a reason why they haven’t already.

I'm guessing she's taking that morning after solution like Rhaneayra did. Cole blaming things on Erik when it's his f*** up makes you hate him even more. That actor does a great job of making you believe the character has severe mental problems. He just looks psychotic. Can't wait to see the f***ed up shit he's going to do as the Hand.

 

[LarKing]

Another thought - I know this show is about the Targaryens but I really wish there was an Essos or a non Targ perspective. The world just feels really small compared to GOT. Probably because they've only been in two locations for 95% of the show so far. I'm loving this season so far but it's still missing an additional perspective or two in a different location/climate imo.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Another thought - I know this show is about the Targaryens but I really wish there was an Essos or a non Targ perspective. The world just feels really small compared to GOT. Probably because they've only been in two locations for 95% of the show so far. I'm loving this season so far but it's still missing an additional perspective or two in a different location/climate imo.

It's a show specifically about the Targaryens bro. What did you expect? Hah.

 

[LarKing]

It's a show specifically about the Targaryens bro. What did you expect? Hah.

I literally said that lol. I think you could've easily had a perspective from a prominent house such as the Lannisters or Starks and show how they want one side to win or maybe how they don't care who wins so long as they end up on the winning side.

I'm re-watching game of thrones currently and while both are excellent shows, the difference is obvious. HOTD feels very confined. I get that it's about the Targaryens but you can still show how it's impacting the rest of the world, or better yet, how other characters/families are impacting this soon to be war.

I think that's a big part of what made GOT so great. It really felt like such a big and exciting world. I worry HOTD's lack of this might eventually lead to some fatigue with the same settings and/or hold the show from really being as good as it could be.

 

[CupofOil]

It’s funny the whole reason why Ser Cristin Cole started resenting Rhaenyra was because he wanted to be more than a her “sex slave” and he’s become exactly that with Alicent. Dude oozes bitch boy energy. How long until Alicent becomes pregnant? lol.

I think Aegon will start to become Joeffery Esque now with Otto gone. You can already see it with the hangings.

Sucks I liked Ser Eryk. Does anyone know which one actually won the battle? I thought Eryks twin won but the ending doesn’t support that thought.

Overall I loved the episode. Wish it didn’t stop.

He's the absolute worst. There's always at least one character in a show like this that you wish a horrible death upon and he's at the top of that list for me.
Also, man are they ramming the point (pun intended) home that Alicent really likes to have sex with Cole.

The Otto/Aegon scene was fantastic, as others have said I haven't cared much about Otto thus far even though I respected the ambition but he really shined in that scene.

 

[GKJ]

I literally said that lol. I think you could've easily had a perspective from a prominent house such as the Lannisters or Starks and show how they want one side to win or maybe how they don't care who wins so long as they end up on the winning side.

I'm re-watching game of thrones currently and while both are excellent shows, the difference is obvious. HOTD feels very confined. I get that it's about the Targaryens but you can still show how it's impacting the rest of the world, or better yet, how other characters/families are impacting this soon to be war.

I think that's a big part of what made GOT so great. It really felt like such a big and exciting world. I worry HOTD's lack of this might eventually lead to some fatigue with the same settings and/or hold the show from really being as good as it could be.

Aren’t they showing that Corelys dude? And those guys on the boat?

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Aren’t they showing that Corelys dude? And those guys on the boat?

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. They went out of their way to start including more POVs this year, it just seems an odd criticism.

The blacksmith guy who Aegon promised money to (is that Corelys, character names on this show!), I'm not sure where that storyline is going. But it's clearly an attempt to show the little guy.

The guys on the boats i think your referring to (one of whom apparently saved Lord Valayron) are going to be super important characters. It's been years since I read Fire and Blood, but I remember the name Alyn of Hull, he plays a big part IIRC. But again another shot of the "peasant life" from his eyes in that POV.

Seems an odd time to be complaining about lack of POVs. And if they follow the books, there's not going to be any expanding, they've already expanded more than the book did.

This one always had a limited shelf life. This is a contained civil war. It's not the epoch of the overall story like Game of Thrones. I'm thinking they might wrap this series up after 3 seasons, maybe stretch it to 4 at most. They are limited by the lore. That's why they have so many other spinoff in the works.

 

[GKJ]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. They went out of their way to start including more POVs this year, it just seems an odd criticism.

The blacksmith guy who Aegon promised money to (is that Corelys, character names on this show!), I'm not sure where that storyline is going. But it's clearly an attempt to show the little guy.

The guys on the boats i think your referring to (one of whom apparently saved Lord Valayron) are going to be super important characters. It's been years since I read Fire and Blood, but I remember the name Alyn of Hull, he plays a big part IIRC. But again another shot of the "peasant life" from his eyes in that POV.

Seems an odd time to be complaining about lack of POVs. And if they follow the books, there's not going to be any expanding, they've already expanded more than the book did.

This one always had a limited shelf life. This is a contained civil war. It's not the epoch of the overall story like Game of Thrones. I'm thinking they might wrap this series up after 3 seasons, maybe stretch it to 4 at most. They are limited by the lore. That's why they have so many other spinoff in the works.

The blacksmith is to show that Aegon is gonna lose the confidence of his people when they spend all the coin on the war instead.

 

[Sad People]

One thing i havent noticed others mention thats ive been thinking about and find really interesting is Aemonds scene with the lady from the House of Silk. Maybe im just reading too much into but the whole scene was really interesting and maybe foreshadowing something or could maybe come back to bite him or the greens later on. Seems like she knows a lot or will know a lot about them. Maybe its a weakness or something of Aemonds.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

One thing i havent noticed others mention thats ive been thinking about and find really interesting is Aemonds scene with the lady from the House of Silk. Maybe im just reading too much into but the whole scene was really interesting and maybe foreshadowing something or could maybe come back to bite him or the greens later on. Seems like she knows a lot or will know a lot about them. Maybe its a weakness or something of Aemonds.

I don't think it's foreshadowing. I think it's just that Aemond not having a mother figure growing up, so his way of dealing with emotions (instead of acting like a killer all the time) that would normally go to his mom is to instead cry naked to an older woman in a brothel. Alicent is his mom, but not a good one.

Same thing for Aegon II. At the end of the episode, he's crying alone by the fire and Alicent could comfort him, but decides to leave and smash Criston Cole instead.

It's just that Alicent is a terrible mother to her boys, so they must cope in their own ways.

The blacksmith guy who Aegon promised money to (is that Corelys, character names on this show!), I'm not sure where that storyline is going. But it's clearly an attempt to show the little guy.

He's got a significant part to play in what's to come, that I can assure you. I won't say what because of spoilers, but they're giving him screentime for a purpose FWIW.

 

[Sad People]

I don't think it's foreshadowing. I think it's just that Aemond not having a mother figure growing up, so his way of dealing with emotions (instead of acting like a killer all the time) that would normally go to his mom is to instead cry naked to an older woman in a brothel. Alicent is his mom, but not a good one.

Same thing for Aegon II. At the end of the episode, he's crying alone by the fire and Alicent could comfort him, but decides to leave and smash Criston Cole instead.

It's just that Alicent is a terrible mother to her boys, so they must cope in their own ways.

Yeah these are fair points. Alicent has shown she in this episode isnt a good mother and cant connect or whatever with them.

Also humanizes him a little bit as well.