Tag: HBO Max

A Historically Accurate Royal Hunt

One of the biggest plot points in this episode was Viserys’ royal hunt, where he and about half of the Red Keep went into the Kingswood to hunt down a rare white hart in celebration of his son Aegon’s second nameday. This is actually pretty accurate to what medieval royal hunts looked like, where the monarch would wait for his huntsmen to find their prey and the king would deliver the killing blow. So while this may be more in line with how it actually may have happened, we’ve already seen a king in Game of Thrones go hunting through the Kingswood, with nobody but a Kingsguard, his brother, and a cupbearer. Robert Baratheon has no time to sit in a tent when a boar the size of an elephant is waiting to gut him to pieces!

Viserys chose to spend his time waiting for his prize drinking and getting into whisper shouting matches with his daughter, Otto Hightower, and a Lannister about the war in the Stepstones. Paddy Considine is really nailing the role of Viserys, trying to please everyone while drinking himself into a stupor, and in doing so, making things so much worse. And did anyone catch those missing fingers from the Iron Throne cut? Bad omen. Another note is that the hunters couldn’t track the white hart, they only found a brown one, and Viserys could not even cleanly kill the poor replacement. The rare white hart did appear for Rhaenyra, but she chose to let it go. Something to remember moving forward.

A lot of time was spent this episode with Viserys combating different people (Hightower and Lannister) for questioning his line of succession. Viserys finally made a stand and cemented his daughter as heir, even confirming it to her. He did have a moment of weakness with Alicent in wondering if he had the made wrong choice in Rhaenyra, but then doubled down on his choice afterwards. This confirmation of Rhaenyra as heir should make her more interactive in court and around her family, but the lingering question remains: what happens between Rhaenyra and Aegon when Viserys is gone?

Rhaenyra and Company

The episode provided some quality one-on-one time with Criston and Rhaenyra, after Rhaenyra ran off and Cole had to go after her. A callback to King Robert showed up when a (much smaller) boar attacked Rhaenyra and Criston, but the Kingsguard knight made short work of it. It did make quite a striking visual with them arriving back at camp dragging the carcass and Rhaenyra being soaked in blood.

Another significant dynamic to keep an eye on is the rivalry between Alicent and Rhaenyra. So far, Alicent has seemed very sympathetic towards Rhaenyra who is giving her the cold shoulder. How long will Alicent continue to play nice, especially with her father in her ear whispering that her own son Aegon should be heir and not her stepdaughter?

War in the Stepstones

A big difference between the show and the book is that Viserys was not supporting the Stepstones throughout the war. In Fire and Blood, Viserys was happy to pay for Corlys and Daemon’s war in order to keep him out of trouble. In the show, Corlys and Daemon are struggling, and were on their last legs before Viserys chose to send a small force. This minimal help drove Daemon into a rage and one last assault, basically soloing the Crab’s forces before Corlys’s army along with his son, Laenor, and his Dragon Seasmoke came to save the day. Laenor isn’t a warrior in Fire and Blood, he doesn’t even get knighted until he’s required to for marriage, so it’s quite a change from the books and something that probably should have been set up a little better to have a bigger impact.

One major complaint about this episode is that Daemon’s duel with the Crabfeeder took place entirely offscreen. I was really looking forward to that, especially with the Crab looking like Jason Voorhees incarnate. Oh well. We’ll see how Viserys handles Daemon being the self-proclaimed King in the Narrow Sea next week.

House of the Dragon is back for it’s third week with one hummdinger of an episode, and Murphy’s Multiverse is back to tackle the best and worst moments it had to offer. Second of His Name continues to play with the series’ standing theme of succession and the royal bloodline, pitting Milly Alcock‘s Princess Rhaenyra against her infant half-brother Aegon and causing Paddy Considine‘s King Viserys to question every decision he’s ever made. Meanwhile, Matt Smith‘s ever-enigmatic Prince Daemon wages war against the vile Crabfeeder and his army in an ownership conflict over the Stepstones. Both plotlines get rather intense surprisingly fast, and together make for a memorable few days in the history of Westeros. Let’s get to dissecting.

Best – The Decline of King Viserys & Daemon’s Last Stand

Second of His Name was perhaps the most action-packed installment of House of the Dragon yet, and somehow, none of the violence managed to rank as the definitive best part of the episode. That honor belongs instead to King Viserys and his slow descent into madness, or at the very least, severe depression. Between all the steamy love scenes and insane bloodshed, viewers tend to forget that the true heart of George R.R. Martin‘s universe is mental gymnastics. Whether it be political rivalries or personal vendettas, House of the Dragon and its kin are typically at their most entertaining when the show is focused on big decision making. Second of His Name is no different, and shines the brightest when it opens the curtain on Viserys’ inner-mind.

The King is being forced to choose between duty and family, which wouldn’t normally be so hard if it wasn’t for the fact that this time his duty is his family. After everything, he has finally welcomed a son into his life, a development that directly harms his relationship with his beloved daughter. On top of that, the mother of his son is his daughter’s former best friend, and the child of his own Hand, further complicating things in both his home and his court. Now, everyone wants to know who his true successor will be, and everyone thinks the lineage should somehow involve their own offspring. All Viserys wants to do is drink wine and go on a hunt, and the sudden pressures of his job all coming down upon him at once cause the mental break that’s seemed inevitable since the beginning.

Considine‘s acting is superb as he portrays a ruler with so many emotions, he can’t decipher which is anger and which is sadness. His fireside soliloquy to Emily Carey‘s Alicent Hightower is a highlight of the season thus far, and the moment he begins to lose it in the tent – with everything fading to black around him – is peak television storytelling. Even his cathartic, disturbing kill on the hunt was able to speak a thousand words without Viserys even opening his mouth. This is exactly the kind of thing fans cling to this world for, and it was great to see it back at the forefront of the franchise.

That being said, it would be remiss not to mention all the very cool action that does take place during this episode. Desperate to win his war on his own, without the help of the Crown, Daemon plays dirty and uses a white flag as a ploy to gain the upper hand on his opponent – the Crabfeeder. His last stand, which is pretty much mostly just Daemon cleaning house all by his lonesome, is exhilarating to watch, and the visuals as the battle comes to an end are stunning. It’s also a great example of using action as a device to comment on the nature of a character. Daemon will not be outdone, and he will not be tricked, but he is fine pulling some tricks of his own.

Worst – Otto Hightower

Rhys Ifans is doing a wonderful job as Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, and maybe that’s why he’s so convincingly unlikable week in and week out. As per usual, the worst part of Second of His Name comes in the form of Hightower manipulating both his boss and his family into giving him more power. The schemer is already glib about his daughter’s betrothal to the King, yet still finds a way to suggest the horrific idea that his grandson – also the King’s son – be wed to Rheanyra. That’s right, he would like a sister to marry her much-younger brother so that his blood is tied even closer to the Crown. Very Game of Thrones, but also pretty disgusting.

House of the Dragon is back for another round of violent mayhem and questionable decision making! The series’ second episode, titled The Rogue Prince, was all about succession and the disdain that comes with being rebuffed. In fact, it was so much about succession, it might as well be called Succession With Dragons, because it feels an awful lot like Succession, but with very cool dragons instead of Brian Cox. Anyway, the episode continues the show’s strong start with a heavily political outing – replacing last week’s jousting duels with a series of Small Court shouting matches. Everyone either wants King Viserys to marry their kid, or name them the direct heir to the Iron Throne. Events play out as chaotically as one might expect. Let’s get into it.

The Best – The Women of King’s Landing

There was a lot to love in The Rogue Prince. When it comes to the very best part of the episode, however, it becomes a little harder to narrow things down. The obvious resolution to this would be the moment Milly Alcock‘s Princess Rhaenyra came swooping through the clouds to put a stop to unnecessary bloodshed and reclaim what was hers. Yet, the true answer is actually a bit finer and lies deep within that very sequence of events. Throughout this entire episode, the women of King’s Landing absolutely run circles around their male counterparts.

Rhaenyra and her best friend, Emily Carey‘s Alicent Hightower, are the heart and soul of this entry. This may turn out to be true of the series as a whole, but it’s especially on display here. The moments they are on screen are consistently the most interesting of the episode. Alcock and Carey‘s characters also mirror each other perfectly, as both are forced to confront their unknown futures via awkward conversations with their respective fathers. There’s a moment specifically early on when Alicent seems to realize she may one day wed Viserys, and the look of quiet disturbance that crosses her face puts every other performance in The Rogue Prince to shame. An honorable mention must also go to Eve Best‘s Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, who finally gets some chewable dialogue in a pivotal scene with her cousin’s daughter.

The Worst – King Viserys’ Wife Sweepstakes

Similar to last week, this episode’s worst moment is less of a storytelling critique and more of an uncomfortable, cringe-filled sigh. Now six months after the death of his wife and newborn son, King Viserys is pressured to select a new bride. It matters not if the man is still grieving, as the kingdom and his family’s reign must continue to persevere. Only, there’s one massive problem. As is customary in the culture presented in the Game of Thrones franchise, all of Viserys’ potential suitors are either literal children or very young women who don’t want to be involved – and honestly, it’s really gross. Yes, this is part of the show, but that doesn’t mean it’s enjoyable to watch a grown man flirt with a girl who is, at most, a few years older than his teenage daughter.

Ultimately, Viserys chooses Alicent as his future bride. This is weird because, again, she is basically a teenager and very close with his own child. However, the episode makes it seem like the more noble choice by setting up the King’s decision with a truly terrible conversation. Before he decides on Alicent, his Grace must consider the pros of wedding Rhaenys and Lord Corlys’ 12-year-old daughter instead. This culminates in a shockingly uncomfortable scene where Viserys essentially goes on a date with the aforementioned Lady Laena, who tells him her mother said she “won’t have to bed him until she’s 14.” It’s something worth gagging over. Luckily, this is as far as that relationship goes, but it doesn’t make the fact Alicent will likely have to birth her friend’s half-brother much of an easier pill to swallow.