House of the Dragon (Game of Thrones) Thread

[gunnar hendershow]

It's not a bad thing at all, I really want the show to diverge/showcase different characters and regions than the books. My only issue with the divergence is when certain arcs/characters are rewritten since it's a telltale sign they're not too pivotal to the endgame.

[TCO]

It's great that they're diverging, but that's assuming the books even get written. I was just really excited about the Kingsmoot and Euron being a dangerous power drunk maniac rather than whatever the hell he is in the show.

Stuff has inevitably been spoiled for the books already anyway. There's no way that Hodor reveal wasn't always intended from the start and straight from GRRM's fucked up imagination!

[Hellraiser]

1 hour ago, Cymbols said:

To be fair there's no reason why they couldn't bring the horn story in a bit later than in the books. Like someone questions his judgement/position, and he goes "bitch please check this out", and bam, everyone starts taking him even more seriously. 

They will probably do it that way. But I think that it would've been better to bring it up during the kingsmoot since it gives the ironborn a legitimate reason to rally behind Euron and legitimize his plans. The way they played it made Euron look like a complete idiot for thinking that his plan would work and that Dany would fall for him and made the ironborn look like complete idiots for siding with him.

[Bobfoc]

I know it's hard, but it's probably best at this point to stop expecting characters from the books to appear in the show. That doesn't mean that the show should get a free pass for bad writing decisions or poor logistics, but it's inevitable that some of the characters introduced in the last couple of books aren't likely to turn up now.

[Alex.]

It is good they are diverging because I thought the last 2 books (AFFC and ADWD) were the weaker books. They drag out hardcore and if they were following the books by heart, Tyrion would not have met Dany, Stannis would be going around talking to all of the mountain clans, Dany would still be doing nothing in Mereen (at least now she got her Dothraki horde in the show), Sansa would still be in the Vale, etc. 

But I do agree that they made Euron look like a complete chump in the show thus far. Hes edging closer and closer to being Dorned.

[Hellraiser]

When you y'all think they're going to bring back Dorne? I'd be happy to never see the sandsnakes and Ellaria again but I doubt that the makers of the show will do us that favor. My guess is that they will play some role in whatever is about to go down in King's Landing.

[Alex.]

Spoiler

So that episode was all around pretty weak. The only thing I liked was seeing Benjen, that was awesome to see. Everything else was just...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh and the trailer for next week looks very good. BLACKFISH! THE NORTH! 

 

[GoGo Yubari]

Spoiler

Daario: "Hey Dany, this is all good and all but what are you actually gonna do when you have to rule?"

Dany: "huh?"

Daario: "I mean, like, you're more about the conquering and destroying and so on. The hell are you gonna do after that?"

Dany: "brb"

Daario: "uh okay, but --"

Dany: "ok back WHEEEEEE I HAVE A DRAGON WHO NEEDS PLANS"

 

[Alex.]

Spoiler

I hate Dany and her redundant speeches we have been hearing for 5 years. 

However, another bright spot on this episode were the quick clip flashbacks of the Mad King yelling "burn them all!" Wildfire is being heavily foreshadowed...perhaps Bran just found out how to defeat the White Walkers? We have already seen wildfire once for a reason.

 

[Benji]

Currently watching...

Spoiler

Gilly is going to get assassinated whilst Sam is away isn't she?

Oh Sam came back. Sam is going to die isn't he?

 

[Benji]

Spoiler

So sick of Dany and her dragons. The fact they haven't even touched on the idea of people following her because they fear her dragons rather than being inspired by the same heartless speech every time annoys the shit out of me. Fuck Dany.

 

[Bobfoc]

Spoiler

There seems to be a lot of negativity around the internet about this episode, but I liked it. Seeing Benjen again was nice, and the dinner scene with the Tarly family was a suitably tense affair. James Faulkner plays Randyll more or less just as I imagined him to be.

Yes, Dany's speech at the end was a bit of an eye-roller, given how many times we've seen it already, but at least she's getting a move on and preparing to do the thing she's supposedly been going to do since Viserys died. I wonder if Daario's claim that she's a conqueror, rather than a ruler, will be a sign of things to come, especially as I've been convinced for a while that she's too headstrong and stubborn to make a good queen.

We also got to see The Mad King's death, albeit in a very quick montage of flashbacks. I know we didn't exactly need to see it, but it was something I was hoping they'd show at some point, so I'm happy about it. Here's a collection of screenshots for those who didn't catch everything, i.e. everyone.

 

[Mick]

So, a slight thought I had: 

Jamie wants to stay with Cersie for her trial, but Cersie states "I have the Mountain". About that....

 

Remember what Qyburn said? That bit about how (The Mountain) has "sworn a holy oath not to speak until His Grace's enemies are destroyed"? 

 

Well, I'd say anybody acting out against Tommen has a serious problem at this point  . 

 

I believe this will probably pave the way for some kind of alliance/mutual understanding between Cersei, Kevan and Olena to undermine the Sparrow. 

 

[Nerf]

I thought he said "Her Grace," not His.

[Hellraiser]

 

2 hours ago, Benji said:

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So sick of Dany and her dragons. The fact they haven't even touched on the idea of people following her because they fear her dragons rather than being inspired by the same heartless speech every time annoys the shit out of me. Fuck Dany.

 

Spoiler

 

I disagree. I think they did touch on the idea in this very episode. To me it looked like they cheered here because they were scared that they'll be burned to a crisp by the Dragon in front of them if they don't. It worked for me.

 

 

 

9 hours ago, GoGo Yubari said:

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Daario: "Hey Dany, this is all good and all but what are you actually gonna do when you have to rule?"

Dany: "huh?"

Daario: "I mean, like, you're more about the conquering and destroying and so on. The hell are you gonna do after that?"

Dany: "brb"

Daario: "uh okay, but --"

Dany: "ok back WHEEEEEE I HAVE A DRAGON WHO NEEDS PLANS"

 

Spoiler

I think this is what we are supposed to take away from that scene. As Daario said, she is a conqueror not a ruler.

I have to say I don't understand the negativity towards this episode.

The twist in King's Landing was great. I didn't see it coming. I totalyl expected there to be bloodshed and I'm exited to see what will happen next. The High Sparrow is one magnificent bastard.

I knew that Arya wasn't going to poisen the actress. Now I'm anxious to see how they'll get her out of the mess she made. She'll better have a good exit strategy because I doubt that the faceless girl will be impressed by her tiny sword.

AND BENJEN MOTHERFUCKING STARK IS BACK!

I'm happy that Sam decided to leave his home with Gilly and the baby. For a minute there I thought he was stupid enough to leave her with his father because that would've spelled certain death for her and the Baby. But he is an idiot for taking his father's sword. He is going to regret that.

 

[Bobfoc]

Spoiler

I've read a prediction that probably won't happen, but would be very interesting if it did. It suggests that Cersei, as expected, puts forwards The Mountain as her champion during her trial by combat, and The Faith Militant counters by nominating Tommen and really throwing a spanner in the works. Tommen dies to fulfil the prophecy and Cersei goes free whilst watching helplessly as her last child is taken away. It's probably a little too wacky an idea to actually take place, but I do think the end result of this whole affair will be Tommen's death.

 

[MalaCloudy Black]

My takeaway from the stuff at King's Landing was less about the High Sparrow, and more..

Spoiler

I'm pretty convinced Margaery is playing the High Sparrow like a fiddle. With a united Crown and Faith, she can push Cersei and Jaime and the rest of the Lannisters out and secure more power for herself and her family. There's no way she went from "we're gonna get revenge on this bastard, stay strong Loras" an episode ago to "haha, yup, I'm 100% convinced that the High Sparrow is right, The Faith, yaaaay!" this episode. She's always been a very cunning schemer on par with Cersei or anyone else for that matter, and this is all a part of her plan. She's got Tommen convinced, the High Sparrow convinced, and now the people of King's Landing see her in an even better light than they did before. 

Sam deciding to stand up for himself and stealing Heartsbane is pretty great. I was initially pretty worried that he'd leave Gilly and Little Sam behind and we'd be forced to see more "watch this asshole make this character suffer" stuff, which we have enough of already with Ramsay. I imagine Randyll isn't going to take the theft of Heartsbane lightly, though, and he'll probably send troops out after Sam and Gilly, but it'll be a good chance to see Sam wield their ancestral sword and test his mettle, show how much he's grown from a meek bookworm into someone with more confidence, strength and bravery.

I'm guessing next episode The Waif tries to murder Arya, Arya murders her instead and manages to find her way onto a ship back to Westeros. No complaints there, it's the most obvious direction for the story to go: throughout the whole thing we've seen that she can't let go of "Arya Stark", despite how much she says she has No Name. Now she's better equipped, more well-trained, and can go back to Westeros to avenge her family.

Dany's stuff was disappointing, the only glimmer of hope in it was Daario asserting that she's a conqueror, not a ruler. That could be a new wrinkle. 

Overall, yeah, it's a table-setting episode, but you're bound to get a few of those and I don't think it was bad at all. 

BOOK STUFF / THEORIES, YO:

Spoiler

Benjen is Coldhands, then, that confirms one prevailing book theory. I had kind of assumed he (Coldhands, anyway) would be written out, but with the way the last episode ended/this episode opened, obviously I was wrong. I'm glad to be wrong. The AVClub's expert review for this episode also brought up a decent point that the show doubling back to Coldhands could mean that they might double back to Lady Stoneheart as well. You have Jaime and Brienne going to the Riverlands, Walder mentioning the Brotherhood Without Banners, and now Edmure is on his way to the Riverlands with a Frey escort. That's all more than enough to set the table for Lady Stoneheart's reveal.

 

[Hellraiser]

11 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

My takeaway from the stuff at King's Landing was less about the High Sparrow, and more..

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I'm pretty convinced Margaery is playing the High Sparrow like a fiddle. With a united Crown and Faith, she can push Cersei and Jaime and the rest of the Lannisters out and secure more power for herself and her family. There's no way she went from "we're gonna get revenge on this bastard, stay strong Loras" an episode ago to "haha, yup, I'm 100% convinced that the High Sparrow is right, The Faith, yaaaay!" this episode. She's always been a very cunning schemer on par with Cersei or anyone else for that matter, and this is all a part of her plan. She's got Tommen convinced, the High Sparrow convinced, and now the people of King's Landing see her in an even better light than they did before.

I'm guessing next episode The Waif tries to murder Arya, Arya murders her instead and manages to find her way onto a ship back to Westeros. No complaints there, it's the most obvious direction for the story to go: throughout the whole thing we've seen that she can't let go of "Arya Stark", despite how much she says she has No Name. Now she's better equipped, more well-trained, and can go back to Westeros to avenge her family.

 

 

Spoiler

I'm sure that Margaera is just pretending as well. But I'm also sure that the High Sparrow knows as well and is just playing along. As you said the endgame seems to be to get rid of the remaining Lannisters and that is something he is interested in as well. The High Sparrow is too cunning not to see right through her.

And I'd be pretty disappointed if Arya managed to kill the Waif just like that.They have established that Arya still can't hold a candle to the Waif when it comes to combat and I having her sword back won't make a difference. I want her to get away but I don't want her to defeat the Waif in combat to do so.

 

[Jimmy]

57 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

My takeaway from the stuff at King's Landing was less about the High Sparrow, and more..

  Hide contents

I'm pretty convinced Margaery is playing the High Sparrow like a fiddle. With a united Crown and Faith, she can push Cersei and Jaime and the rest of the Lannisters out and secure more power for herself and her family. There's no way she went from "we're gonna get revenge on this bastard, stay strong Loras" an episode ago to "haha, yup, I'm 100% convinced that the High Sparrow is right, The Faith, yaaaay!" this episode. She's always been a very cunning schemer on par with Cersei or anyone else for that matter, and this is all a part of her plan. She's got Tommen convinced, the High Sparrow convinced, and now the people of King's Landing see her in an even better light than they did before. 

Sam deciding to stand up for himself and stealing Heartsbane is pretty great. I was initially pretty worried that he'd leave Gilly and Little Sam behind and we'd be forced to see more "watch this asshole make this character suffer" stuff, which we have enough of already with Ramsay. I imagine Randyll isn't going to take the theft of Heartsbane lightly, though, and he'll probably send troops out after Sam and Gilly, but it'll be a good chance to see Sam wield their ancestral sword and test his mettle, show how much he's grown from a meek bookworm into someone with more confidence, strength and bravery.

I'm guessing next episode The Waif tries to murder Arya, Arya murders her instead and manages to find her way onto a ship back to Westeros. No complaints there, it's the most obvious direction for the story to go: throughout the whole thing we've seen that she can't let go of "Arya Stark", despite how much she says she has No Name. Now she's better equipped, more well-trained, and can go back to Westeros to avenge her family.

Dany's stuff was disappointing, the only glimmer of hope in it was Daario asserting that she's a conqueror, not a ruler. That could be a new wrinkle. 

Overall, yeah, it's a table-setting episode, but you're bound to get a few of those and I don't think it was bad at all. 

BOOK STUFF / THEORIES, YO:

  Reveal hidden contents

Benjen is Coldhands, then, that confirms one prevailing book theory. I had kind of assumed he (Coldhands, anyway) would be written out, but with the way the last episode ended/this episode opened, obviously I was wrong. I'm glad to be wrong. The AVClub's expert review for this episode also brought up a decent point that the show doubling back to Coldhands could mean that they might double back to Lady Stoneheart as well. You have Jaime and Brienne going to the Riverlands, Walder mentioning the Brotherhood Without Banners, and now Edmure is on his way to the Riverlands with a Frey escort. That's all more than enough to set the table for Lady Stoneheart's reveal.

 

Quote

Not convinced the Sparrow's fooling for it -- but to have the king on his side plays right into his hands either way. At least we've had more Margery recently, and the story took a super interesting turn. Tbh I'd be satisfied if we just had a whole Kings Landing subplot's endgame was that Margarey and Olenna end up hanging out, plotting, playing politics and generally just making fun of people. 

 

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Freys! Edmure Tully! Benjen Motherfucking Stark! So many returns, and we still get the Blackfish next week too!

I thought the Sam stuff was all great, really makes Randyll look like a massive twat and you can totally understand Sam's character better now. Hype as fuck that he stole the sword too.

Braavos was cool, Arya's got herself into a right mess now. Hope her training's paid off and that she gets back to Westeros already.

Jaime and Brienne are both going to end up in the Riverlands, reunion time!

Cersei's trial is going to be very interesting, all depends on who the Faith choose as their champion. I love Bobfoc's idea of it being Tommen. Who becomes king when Tommen dies now though? I've lost track of the succession now all the other Baratheon's are dead. I guess technically it's Gendry?

Euron last week: "Build me a thousand ships"
Daario: "We need a thousand ships, but no-one has a fleet that size yet."
Hit it on the fucking nose much?

Also Dany's gone back to being shit, less speeches, more burning things and GETTING TO WESTEROS ALREADY.