Beast Beneath the Boards! | House of the Dragon Episode 1x09 Reaction & Commentary 

I just want to say that I appreciate that you guys acknowledged that Alicent is human and just using the cards (dew that are given to her) to survive. Like I totally agree the blatant hate towards her is ridiculous.

I do love how when Alicent is trying to get Rhaenys on the side of the greens, Rhaenys in turn challenges Alicent to act like a Queen in her own right, a Westeros version of Elizabeth 1st as it were. 👍👍

I'm not usually someone who comments a lot but i just wanted to say i really loved the way you both were blind-reacting this episode! looking forward for the finale and i hope you do the blind-reacting again cause next episode is gonna be so shocking!! :)

Dearest Jacqui, when possible, might I implore you to come in blind to these reactions? The two of you both not seeing the piece previously is quite entertaining!! Maybe it's just HotD :)

I was blown away by the details in the coronation. It felt like watching Nicholas II being crowned in an Orthodox ceremony with all the hollow pomp & circumstance of a rotting system. It's what I'd always envisioned from a GoT coronation. Tom Glynn-Carney was terrific in bringing out Aegon's fear, hesitation, pride & euphoria all at once. I'm glad they kept the much despised Criston putting the Conqueror's crown on Aegon II's head. The Kingmaker is born! What the show's doing really well is the details, down to splitting the treasury or locking up servants. Usually the passionate debates, the treachery, the heartbreak are glossed over & we only see the regime change as "fait accompli". This bring to life the mechanism that historically goes behind a coup, which I assume is as emotionally taxing for the people seizing power. That's why I like agonized & conflicted Alicent more than her steadfast source counterpart. It feels more flesh & blood. She vacillates but her messianic fear for her children fates her to make a cursed gamble. *Tfw u only support our Green Lives Matter King for extermination of Strong Boys cause ur pro Valeryian blood supremacy jk.*

Beesbury was only voicing what many people in the realm will also believe. Due to the way the greens went about things I believe many among even their supposed allies will think they killed the king. And all of nobody believes Alicent's claim that Viserys wanted Aegon on the throne. Not even those on her side.

What Badass Queen Rhaenys decided to do or rather decided not to do was not out of her character. She is not a murderer, just yet. Think about it. Princess Rhaenys Targaryen has no reason to kill the Greens, she is also smart and we all know she would not want to give Hightower allies a reason to attack Driftmark. She is being level-headed and not being reckless here.

Beast beneath the boards is referring to much more than Meleys me thinks. It's basically referring to everything this episode and I think that's the point. It's referring to Aemond's ambitions for the throne. It's referring to Otto's brutal machinations behind his calm exterior. It's referring to Aegon's hidden depravity -- did you see the way Helaena recoiled when bowing to Aegon? It's referring to the White Worm's warning to Otto about how it's the people who ultimately enable them. As Larys said, Otto knew about the White Worm but allowed her to exist and essentially grow in the shadows. That was great writing. Our newly anointed king Aegon II was hiding beneath the "boards" too. Maybe we were looking at the wrong beast this whole time.

I would watch a full 10 hours of just Graham McTavish sitting on a stool while reading an old copy of a telephone book!

I think Alicent's misunderstanding of King Viserys' final words wouldn't have made a big difference because Otto's plan from the get-go was for his grandson Aegon to usurp Rhaenyra. This is why he installed his loyalist in the small council in the absence of The King.

Good job Paying attention to Helena. As I said before she is a “Dreamer”. Regarding the last scene and why she didn’t burn them all. This scene was a deviation from the book (in the book she returned to Driftmark before the Kings death) so it’s pure speculation but I believe she’s a mother and feels sorry for the Queen. She made her statement without killing them but unfortunately did kill a lot on common people. Some people believe she didn’t want to be a Kinslayer as she is a distant relative of the Hightowers.

I love the fact that you both came in blind … GREAT reactions!! The season is almost over … I have a reaction request: LUCIFER. It’s on Netflix. Would love to see your commentaries on Lucifer.

Ser Harrold Westerling taking off his white cloak reminds me of Ser Barristan being forced to retire in GoT, right before he walked away from the throne room, when Joffery became King and said "EVEN NOW I COULD CARVE THROUGH 5 OF YOU LIKE CARVING A CAKE" THA! BEAST was beneath the boards for real!!!.....Rhaenys is my fav character, as I admired and liked Jon Snow in GoT, because Jon stood for everything good. Jon never lied or cheated and only killed in battle or otherwise, when necessary. Then it all changed for me, when she broke in through the floor on her dragon and killed innocent people, while on her dragon. She had all the greens on that stage should have just roasted them all, DRACARYS! but show must go on LOL!

Rhaenys dragon is called Meleys aka The Red Queen. Quite fitting.

Rhaenys hasn't read Fire & Blood to know of horrors to come. So her pre-emptively nuking half her own family would've been OP. Having said that, the Rhaenys bit was to give audience a 'send home happy' moment which wasn't necessary. The coronation was fantastic in itself. But gawd forbid the ''bad guys' are on top in one episode. Those who thought lowborns of KL have any obligation to support Rhaenyra are in for big disappointments. Aegon claims his birthright from popular King Jaehaerys' Great Council stating king's firstborn male son is next king. Viserys himself won it over Rhaenys like that. Best part of this was the politics, less dragons the better. Despairing mom version of alicent does highlight her humanity more than the colder iteration of the actual green council. A well needed adjustment imo but also a continuation of her Harrenhall or knife scene mistake. They've constantly shown subtleties in her character which audience wilfully ignores since we're watching this as a team sport and gotta cheer team lovable manipulative dad. Her being more humanized shouldn't be an issue unless one wants the show to remain grotesquely tilted towards Black (Laenor death,Rhae-Vaemond)

Love your videos, Sam’s reactions are the best 😂

the foot scene always gets me, the wildest shit XD

Loved it thanks guys. Subscribed.

The dragons name: Meleys the red queen spiky horns like a crown around her neck and by the way if Rhaenys burn em all down right there she would be brand as a kin slayer and also there wouldn't be anymore house of dragon season two.

the queen and Marys... they have been having this deal for years. she is the one that wants to play the game and there is LITERALLY no reason for Lord Larys to give her this information for free. she only finds it gross because of her strict ideology but she can't force larys to be subservient to her she accepted the payment for his services willingly

I like yalls dynamic, super cute, good commentary ❤

I'm dying off of the nicknames you two give the characters.." Petty Hands", " Littlefinger 2.0", " Demon" "Dwarf"...🤣🤣🤣 my question is, why is Graham McTavish " dwarf"? He's HUGE in real life! And if you both have ever seen Outlander, he plays Dougal MacKenzie, and Lord Beesbury was also in Outlander, he played the lawyer Ned Gowan. I HATE that Sir Krispy Creme killed him...AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!! 😡😡 but GREAT reaction, you both are so funny!!💕💕

Y’all the best reactors on the block hands down

Loved your reaction but guys, please keep in mind that Targaryens are not immune to fire. Daenerys only survived the fire because it involved a blood ritual where death payed for life.

Yupppp ! Let’s talk bout it Cersei would never sell her toes for info 🙃

Why they didn't show Alicent's third son prince Daeron. He's a cool character.

The Kool-Aid Man: ✅Big ✅Red ✅Bursts into the room when you least expect it Meleys the Red Queen: ✅Big ✅Red ✅Bursts into the room when you least expect it Coincidence? Maybe. _But maybe not._ ☝👁👄👁

Team Black🖤🖤🖤of course!🐲🔥

"everything you feel for me….as your queen." I can't handle that level of palpable sexual tension lol. Ironic cause in a way they are the cersei and jaime of this show lol. the last 3 mins aside,i thought this was an excellent episode. it felt like a white house political thriller with a "race against time" feel from start to finish suspense.I love nothing more than the political aspects of the series. When Otto was moving the chess pieces, Beesbury yelling..I was on the edge of my seat. I knew how good it was when it had reactors already coping for compeuppance lol. Tom Glynn-Carney showed excellent range as Aegon. But it got overshadowed by 3 mins of a Rhaenys "happy ending" smh. The crowning ceremony was a visual historygasm, finally befitting a king in got verse. The actors for Otto, Alicent, Aegon did a great job. And that "window in the wall of your prison" line is one of the best lines of the series.

The end made no sense. How does the dragon get through the stone floor and rock roof of the cave? How does the rider survive it? Why even try it instead of just flying away, if youre not going to do anything but fly away.

Whre is episode 8!? :)

No Targaryen is immune to fire. Not. A. Single. One. Including Daenerys. That was blood magic. But burning them would still be stupid. The youngest, Daeron, is off in Oldtown. Out of all the Greens he's the best suited to be king.

Not sure if u have heard this rumour but apparently they are doing a jon snow show and its most likely being revealed in December

Rhaenys would go straight to Rhyaneira and told what happen, since her dragon is the fastest no one dare try to catch her. 😁 Technically the war hasn't started yet, even though Otto already killing everyone who opposed them. So Rhaenys couldn't kill them right there, it's Rhyaneira as the heir to the thrones sould make the decision what to do next. And you might be happy that both Alicen and Rhyaneira doesn't wanted a war. One tragic even and follow by another led to full blown war, every side would do horrible thing to each other and their dragons will "dance" in the blood & fire 😬

I suspect that Targaryen's not burning is an illusion as Viserys hinted in Episode 1 - a magic trick no different from the laws that Melisandre followed & Arya was taught by the faceless men. For instance, Jon would not have returned if not for Shireen. It's the law of nature being manipulated (life/death) - the devil is in the Details which these series are of.

Also, the HighTowers have no Valyrian blood so the kids would have died too.. Let's not forget that Daenerys mother and father were both Targaryen Brother and Sister..

Exit strategy!! 🤣🤣 Love it!!

Larys sits back in his seat, "But i want to know more" no, you didn't. none of us did. and separately, Aegon just wants to feel loved. he never got it from his father. unfortunately he's a disgusting psycho, so it's hard to feel that bad for him.

the beast is still to come I think

What happened to episode 8 reaction?

Gonna need you 2 to stop calling that psychopath Baby Strong. That is a cute nickname and there is absolutely nothing cute about that weasel kthx :P I have not seen so much towards Alicent most of team black (book readers) admit they find her show character much more nuanced. The hate is for team Green (mostly Otto, Aegon, Larys) edit: So glad both of you understood that Rhaenys was only trying to escape. It was not her intention to murder anybody. Love that after Dadgaryen you are team Rhaenys. Add Ser Erryk and Bug-girl and you will become my fav reactors :p xD Her dragon is Meleys aka the Red Queen because of those horns that look like a crown

Great reaction but is your next reaction the finale of Stranger Things season 1

Probably my favorite episode🔥🔥🔥

Who, like me, is waiting for Helaena to say "there is a beast beneath the boards" one more time at least? Meleys didn't come up through no boards. Just sayin'

I 💘 you guys💖🔥

I get fairly annoyed by the final scene, why not have one (or more) of the green's many dragons there so Rhaenys has a reason to retrat without burning all the green leadership to the ground

black and green, not red and green

Pushed around????... Alicent doesn't have a gun up to her head. She put her feet up to get information. Let's drop the alicent petty party.

I don't at all think the disdain towards Alicent is irrational. I felt terrible for her as her father manipulated her as a young girl and the stress she constantly felt to do her duty and what was expected of her. She felt the pressure of cultural/societal expectations and had to deal with her father who is awful. I absolutely empathize and sympathize with that...but that quickly fades once she confronts Rhaenyra with anger, disgust, and pettiness. She harbored these feelings for years and decades...and tossed her friendship away entirely because she was jealous her friend dared to experience carnal pleasures outside of patriarchal cultural expectations...and lied to her I guess. I completely understand Alicent being bitter and hurt and even jealous. It's the intensity and persistence of her vindictiveness over decades that gets me. It's the fact that she didn't once even seem to consider it was not Rhaenyra she should be truly angry and bitter with...but her father and the patriarchal culture/society that forced her to repress her desires and do what she was told by the powerful men in her life. Instead of realizing that and working to change it at all, she put all her intensity of resentment and anger into making Rhaenyra's life awful, raising horrible children (that she instilled her same awful resentments and hatefulness within), and worked to actively reinforce the screwed up patriarchal/class-based system that she has always been a victim of herself. That's why I very much dislike her as a person...as a character, she is very interesting however. I can see she might sometimes feel conflicted...but it's far too little, too late now for her to realize the error of her ways.

Rhaenys had one job…she could’ve ended the whole mess. I have no other choice but to support Rhaenyra and the war crimes she is about to commit in the finale after what Aeomond does to her family. 💀 to The Greens (except Haelena because she’s my precious insect whisperer who’s been right this whole time). Everyone who swore allegiance to Rhaenyra and bent the knee to her, who then did the same thing in cowardice to Aeogon are traitors and deserved to be burned.

So incest is cool , but foot fetish is where we draw the line!? Lol jk he's hella creepy

Actually probably my least fav episode. It’s a hot mess. They are using a different format this time. The finale is the big one. Love your reactions!

I didn't like that they did that everything was misunderstood in the book, Viserys never said that his son should sit on the throne when viserys died alicent i arrange everything for his son to be king and send men to kill rhaenyra in the book alicent he envious and ambitious she just thinks of her differently in the series they keep putting her as a poor thing and a son who doesn't know anything and who does bad things are the others even her father and that's all wrong in the book who is villain and alicent already in the series keeps putting him as a poor thing for me a big mistake in this series and the personalities of what she did with Alicent, Rhaenyra and daemon like that and it is not obliged to be like the book more at least similar to the book in the series there are people who like Alicent I'm like what do you like Alicent i'm sure if people had seen the book before the series they wouldn't be liking this snake Alicent she is a hypocrite remember in the fourth episode when she tells Rhaenyra that the Targaryens have strange customs and now she married her son with her own sister like her and a hypocrite and she She is a terrible mother, even the actress herself says that Alicent is a horrible mother and just to see how he treats his children, look at the scene with Helena and Alicent, when Alicent goes to touch Helena, Helena takes her hand away Alicent just shows that Helena doesn't like her own mother and Olivia who plays Alicent I say that Rhaenyra is a great mother that she gives love to her children unlike Alicent,Only person who deserves sits on the throne and Rhaenyra because she sits on the throne alicent , Aegon or Aemond and only destruction Viserys died with leprosy disease plus Alicent and Otto they were giving too much Poppy milk is a medicine that does good it makes you not feel pain but when you give too much poppy milk it will start to hurt So much so that daemon sniffed the glass because he knows the greens are killing his brother they are helping the king die. I didn't like what they did that the reason for the war was all misunderstood and putting that prophecy thing in the book they don't have that, I didn't like what they did with Alicent it's that thing in the Episode 8 at the end in the scene with viserys and alicent and saying that all this is happening because it's a misunderstanding anyone who read the book knows that it wasn't like that I didn't like it at all, I hope to see the real Alicent from the book in the book he is a horrible person but she is very powerful and is not afraid of anything I really hope to see this Alicent in the second season at least Similar to a book because this alicent from the series My God I think Aegon won't listen to his mother, it's also because she only mistreats him (even though he deserves it because he's shit) but look at the scene between the two when he asks if she loves him there She replies that he's an imbecile even the actress who plays Alicent already said that Alicent is a terrible mother and it was the actress herself who said, I don't think Aegon will listen to her but I know what will happen because I read the book fire and blood but don't worry that I I'm not going to give any spoilers, this woman is shit, she even tried to manipulate Rhaenys in the two scene, you can see that in their conversation, I hope the writers show Alicent for real in the second season a strong woman who doesn't let herself be manipulated and me I want to see Alicent in the book, Alicent in the book, she is a strong person and no one manipulates her, unlike the series that keeps putting it like (but she does these things and because of her father) In the book, Alicent is rotten, it's very different from the series that Alicent is weak because she doesn't speak her opinion and only listens to others and she is also very silly, You said that you thought it was cool Alicent's attention that you didn't want them to kill rhaenyra I'm sorry but there's no way it doesn't happen Alicent is being very silly to believe that because what she's already doing is betrayal is betrayal and death so even if she didn't do "I don't want to kill Rhaenyra", but Rhaenyra has every right to kill her because she is a betrayal and Alicent really thinks that Rhaenyra will accept her brother sitting on the throne if it's her right, for God's sake, she's a Targaryen, the heir to the throne, she'll never accept it's going to be war, and she won't likes to know that her brother, the usurper who stole her throne, is that her father died is that no one said anything about her father's death because Alicent said that no one could talk about viserys's death they hid viserys's death from Everybody, This Everything Is A BETRAYAL Viserys would never place one of his sons he always said the only person he wanted to sit on the throne is Rhaenyra the only daughter of the woman he truly loves the only one, in episode 8 rhaenyra was talking to her father about the prophecy but viserys didn't even answer rhaenyra because he had taken poppy milk after the end of the episode in the scene From Alicent is viserys at that moment Alicent gave him poppy milk again then viserys started talking to Alicent thinking it was Rhaenyra because hours ago rhaenyra went to the his room then he thought it was Rhaenyra he started talking he was talking about Aegon's PROPHECY more like Alicent thought viserys was talking about her son Aegon but viserys wasn't talking about him he was talking about the prophecy ( this is mostly talked about in the Game of Thrones series) but since he was unconscious at the time, he thought it was Rhaenyra he was talking to, Viserys would never put a rapist on the throne, and those people at the beginning of the episode in the meeting they said come on start with our plan now And because they were already planning they were just waiting for the viserys to die, they are all traitors, it doesn't matter because he was already planning behind the king they were already betraying the viserys they were just waiting for this old man to die they just they were waiting for this to happen and now it happened they are just going to continue with their plan And no one will question why they want a man and not a woman and if they question they will die like we saw in the episode, I wish it had shown more more unfortunately it didn't show much more in the book shows The scene of Rhaenys with her dragon at the end of episode 9 does not exist in the book, as well as the scene with viserys is Alicent at the end of episode 8 he talking about the prophecy is Alicent getting it all wrong

People when Daemon executes Vaemond for rightfully accusing Rhaenyra of bastardry & treason vs people when Criston executes Beesbury for wrongfully accusing Queen Alicent of regicide.

I strongly dislike people who are self righteous and hypocritical, that is Alicent. She causes most of her issues and puts herself in those situations, then turns around to judge others

Three seconds of sexually depressed star crossed lovers staring at each other's soul moment between Alicent and Criston, aka Mother and Father, blew away any Daemyra sex scene on the beach.

Hail to Aegon II! The rightful king.

nothing wrong people liking feet. love how u people react so strongly over foot fetish. people like you I'm sure happy to let men dress as men act foolish tell children today it fine to dress as women. but got something against men liking women feet..

Targs aren't all fire proof at least spoiler alert Rhaenyra will be burnt and eaten up by Sunfire so!!!!

Pretty sure they consciously subverted the expectations for a spectacular episode 9. I bet they're going for an explosive finale instead.