Cast and crew, including Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra) and Matt Smith (Daemon), examine how Rhaenyra’s lies are starting to catch up with her, and the slow unraveling of Daemon’s marriage while living in Pentos.
I'm not Team Green or Team Black, but any woman who "requests" another women who has just given birth to get up and present her baby to her is cruel and manipulative.
@@ICavalcadeI she doesnt know what alicent might have done to the baby as well, shes JUST given birth, anything could be slipped to her son and made seen as an accident or the baby wasnt healthy as they thought after birth like her brother who died soon after birth. Alicent is fully acceptant that Rhaenyra is going to kill her son for the throne, Rhaenyra might be in acceptance as well.
I loved that Vhagar hesitated to follow Laena's order. It's one of the few times we've witnessed an emotional intelligence from a dragon thus far and I love it!
@@wisterio3757 just don’t say things that are not true like it’s a fact. People won’t like it regardless of them being “toxic fans” or not. I’m pretty chill and even I cringed a little at your comment. Anyone who watched GoT can remember a lot of emotional scenes between Dany and her dragons, there’s even an emotional scene between Tyrion and the dragons... How is that “one of the few”.
You can see Laena’s death really shook daemon. I think he really understood laena is a perfect woman for him. Fierce, loyal and constantly lifting him up cuz i really see daemon having self esteem issues in this episode. Her death was so emotional.
I pointed out in a thread that maybe Daemon did have feeling, no matter how small, for Laena. That he isn't just a cold, grey, ambitious person. Surely he must have felt some compassion for her. Someone refuted it saying all Daemon cares is position and power, that he could never feel anything for anyone outside Rhaenyra, making an example of how he killed Rhea Royce. Now that scene where he tries to stop Laena and the worry in his voice, that just proved that person wrong, I think
It's really sad because you can see Allicent helping create the situation she fears. She is conniving and treating Rhaenerya like shit, ensuring enmity between them. If she tried to make peace instead of dwelling on childhood drama it could help avoid war. She's so caught up in her own mania. She's putting her children in more danger by acting so hostile. It seems she cares more about propriety than her own family.
I know right, all this war to come because a teenager was manipulated by her father and her bff lied to her about getting laid. When you think about it’s kind of silly
Both actresses played Allicent beautifully and both brought their own distinct personalities to their roles, dare I say this could be superior than GoT?
@@sillythingsme186 I don't get why Alicent was so hurt by Rhaenyra not telling her her business. That situation had nothing to do with her. And she's just a hypocrite if Rhae should have told her about having sex she should have told her her father sent her to seduce Viserys she has no moral highground on Rhae. And deep down she resent Rhae for getting away with stuff just because of her status.
@@petuliaakue3638 I think what she's more angry about is that her father had to leave her on her own because Rhae decided to wonder off and lie about it which led to her father being exiled and Rhae got away with no repercussions. The worse part is that Rhae didn't just lose her virginity and lied about it but, lost it to someone Alicent liked romantically even though Rhae knew about it. Still petty in my book, it's not like Rhae got Alicent's father killed or something.
A couple of things I want them to explain is why they made Daemon out to be ignoring one of his kids because she isn’t a dragon rider when they established in show and the books that his family means everything to him, why they deleted the scenes of Daemon comforting and talking to his daughter after Laena death, why Harwin was banish but Cole who for no reason attacked and killed a guest of the king at a wedding celebration has nothing happened to him. Changing Laena death for me isn’t as bad as some of the other changes I disagree with but I think it was pointless as her death in the books has exactly the same emotional weight if not more than the show. The scene of Daemon probably crying like he does in this ep carrying her lifeless body down the stairs would have been poignant and further characterise not only Daemon but his relationship with her as been loving both ways.
I reckon Harwin wouldn't be expelled for his behavior, but what it represented in the midst of the rumors made Lyonel encourage him to leave for Harrenhal in order to preserve both of them. It was more Lyonel wanting to get Harwin away from KL than a punishment for beating Cole
Definitely wanna see how the emotional layers removed from Daemon are explained. I hope that the show doesn't just make him an oversimplified and one dimensional villain by deviating from his core values from books. His character is literally make or break for show
True. I was really disappointed with making thigs happen so fast and inconsistent. When it comes to adapting a novel and you change circumstances of acts this is where mistakes happen all the time. From novels we know that Cole harmed Joffrey during the knight tournament. But in the series he is attacking him on the wedding, which lead us to inconsistency with Harwin Strong. Such a pity. I hoped we would look into relationship between Rheanyra and Laena (as we know they were quite close and enjoyed dragonriding together). As from the perspective of everything happening now we see both Leana died wed to Daemon, Velaryon (spoiler alert) will die wed to Rheanyra and then both Deamon and Rheanyra will be married. If I was Velaryon I would be super suspicious 😅 And deleting the scene with Deamon comforting his daughters was really disappointing 😞
Couldn’t connect to harwin or sir cristan cannot even remember the name of daemons wife for instance!!! People liked Got bcz they used todevelop characaters…watching ep/6 was like watching a whole recap of got!!like you can watch but you dont Understand any character or feel them!!
The time jump in episode 6 was a bit jarring to me to be honest. As it honestly felt like the series didn't really truely have enough world building and context shown before that time jump was made.
The writing was weaker this episode I felt. how did laena reach the dragon? The clubfoot's assassins also seem to teleport? No explanation for crispen getting away with murder? Viserys suddenly in reasonably good health? You can infer some of these things but still.... That said, still a pretty good show overall
Hello, HBO, please make a series of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. Shahnameh is an epic book that was written nearly a thousand years ago by the great Iranian poet Ferdowsi, and it took nearly thirty years to write it.
I feel like they're taking way too much time to set things up, the firs four-five episodes had this meandering feeling problem too. Oh well, too late to fix it now.
I like how they showed the young boys oblivious to the family's quarrels. The ones you'd think are against each other get on quite well, but their families have to remind them they should not be so friendly.
it was nice seeing them get along. I thought aegon came across as a pos during the preview. But he wasnt that bad in this episode. Alicent will change that unfortunately
Like the look of Vhagar they have; not only is she absolutely massive, she looks old and, well, gnarled. She shows how dragons in this world keep growing until they get so big that physics can't maintain them and then they die.
@@ahmarcamacho8404 go back and watch the scene where Jon pets drogon and compare it to the scene where Vhagar burns laena. You’ll see a huge difference
@@ahmarcamacho8404 in the first 10 minutes they emphasised the size of Vhagar when Laena was riding Vhagar next to Dameon his dragon Caraxes. I think you need to get your eyes tested.
@@ahmarcamacho8404 look at her in flight with Laena on her back and compare to what Danaerys looked like atop Drogon. She's WAY bigger than Drogon ever was. In fact, Vhagar was second largest only to Balerion the Black Dread.
I don't particularly have any sympathy for Rhaneyra either. She's trying to get her bastard to become the king after her. That's exactly what Cersei tried to do with Joffrey.
I love how Aegon is actually a really chill dude and the relationship he has with his nephews. They're just kids and the parents are the ones who ruin everything, just shows how hatred is thought
I love how they designed Vhagar. Not what I expected her to look like but it works. She is so old and haggard but still mighty. She looks like a sea monster more than a dragon.
I love how in the earlier part of the episode they showed how even if the dragon isn’t completely bonded and under the control of the rider, it will always follow the command of dracarys in one go. Vhagar hesitating and refusing to follow the command initially shows how much Vhagar was emotionally bonded with Laena and the intensity of the bond between a rider and their dragon. Great writing.
@@CyrilNarayan Firstly, valyrians aren't immune to fire at all it's a D&D bullshit from Game of Thrones, secondly you need to get your eyes tested because in that scene she doesn't go through the fire of Vhagar but Daemon does. Thirdly, that fire blast couldn't be as hot as one on ground, it's at high altitude and there are no support for fire to gain in heat, simple physics
This was an amazing episode. And my heart is breaking about Harwin, and especially Laena. I sooo wish we'd had more time with them both. I wanted to see/hear about how Laena came to be Vhagar's rider; and see more of her relationships with both Rhaenyra & Daemon. But that last scene with her & Vhagar...the most powerful in the series. It was a cathartic contrast to the first episode, with Aemma’s life decided for her by men. Laena went out on her terms, with her she-dragon. And Vhagar’s reluctance to follow her command (the closed captions called her noises “wailing) thoroughly gutted me. It’s hours later and I still feel bummed. 😭
There was a scene they apparently shot showing how Laena claimed Vhagar but they ended up cutting it out of the show. It may come out as one of the deleted scenes later though
Everything about this episode was way to rushed imo. They did a huge leap forward, but failed to show or explain how most of these events happened. How did Harwin father 3 kids with the princess, Daemon/Laena, and the things you mentioned. So much potential just skipped in the 10-15 years passed since the last episode, for what? Why this big jump in time? I think they should have added a couple of episodes between this and the previous one, to let the characters develop, build the relationships and give us time to get to know them before they get killed off. Oh well
@@Mrlonefighter I agree. If you haven't read the relevant book chapters in Fire and Blood a lot of its terribly confusing. However I do understand they had to do the time jump as in the book nothing of significance really happens for a whole ten years (no one very important dies) aside from the secret affair and the birth of her three sons which wasn't worth having a whole episode for. The main event they are setting up for at the end of the season is the focus and if they were to include all these scenes the show would probably only start at season 2 with the "time jump".
Yea Older Rhaenyra is great, especially the walk after the birth scene. She walk in pain dripping blood like a boss, holding her baby. She didn't want to give Alicent the benefit of a doubt.
Protect Olivia Cook at all costs, any scene with Alicent is so filled with repression so close to explode I need moreeee, rhaenyra continues to be a multilayered mess and I love it
@@kristoffsamm10 I don't particularly have any sympathy for Rhaneyra either. She's trying to get her bastard to become the king after her. That's exactly what Cersei tried to do with Joffrey.
Thanks for the breakdown. That was intense, especially Leana. I didn’t see THAT coming. Both Emma and Olivia were fantastic. I never read any of the books and the series is not meant to follow it exactly. Martin is behind the scenes so I’m sure these changes are approved by him
The events in Fire and Blood are not 100% accurate because it's a historical book written by an archmaester with several sources, sometimes he's not sure of what really happened and the show is supposed to be what really happened and as you said GRRM works on the show so it's definitely canon.
@@dv9239 , lol. this is not GRRM's work. they just gave him producer credits. look at who directed and wrote the episodes. its not GRRM. i dont remember GRRM's books showing black people in white dreadlocks. i dont remember the books depicting nearly every marriage as an interracial marriage. bad writing is the least of this show's problems. totally unrealistic politicized casting is its biggest problem. people can take that comment whatever way but they know deep down its true what im saying. ancient history ruling class is not what they are showing in house of dragon. GRRM did not write house velaryon that way.... its disappointing to see hbo play racial politics with this show.
@@blqest125 All they did was make the Velaryons black and somehow this "totally unrealistic politicized casting" is the show's "biggest problem". What on Earth? The casting is insignificant and doesn't really change anything. In fact, I would argue it makes the Velaryons more unique and identifiable to the casual audience. If everyone had white hair and pale skin, then a lot of new fans will likely get confused as to who belongs to which family. By having the Velaryons be black, it creates a clear discernable separation between the Targaryens and the Velaryons, and allows the dynamics between these two houses to be picked up more readily by the casual fan. How is this possibly the show's biggest problem?
@@blqest125 you are aware that this is fictional right? Even in the fictional book, Grrm states the history is written by a maester so not so accurate.. you are either stupid or an outright. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's the later.
This was a really sad but also REALLY GOOD episode, Vhagar's look is just on point, how an ancient massive Wyvern should look. I personally liked the change on SPOILERS.................. the death of Laena, you could see that even grandma Vhagar was hesitating to do it. Also since Larys was introduced I was waiting to see how he got developed (i know how he's like in the books so was waiting to see what's up in the show) and maaaaaaaaan it didn't disappoint, can already see he's just going to get better and better. Also also, someone give Alicunt a chill pill 😂 so stupid.
this was probably the worst episode of the season. i dont get all the praise this show is getting. its getting worse and worse. its nowhere near the greatness of the first season of thrones. the ridiculous politicized casting just further damages the show's quality. i mean nearly every relationship is an interracial relationship? what's going on here? ancient history tells us its nothing like that....
@@chaotictattoo , GRRM created this vast, varied supernatural world full of interesting storylines and characters from ice zombies, dragons, forrest elves, great warriors all with their own vast varied histories and none of that is conveyed.....dragons are barely shown. they finally show dragons in this last episode for more than 30 seconds. how's a couple minutes? but the show made sure to distort history with the house velaryon recasting and nearly all the relationships interracial. they made sure to convey that.
Gotta say, was not a huge fan of the pacing of this episode. Felt like 2 episodes compressed into a one. Not to mention the new characters didn't get a chance to breathe. As a result, I felt nothing during the deaths. It would have been nice to see some interaction between Larrys and his father and the dynamic there to know where he was coming from. Also, the events of last episode were completely unexplained, asking us to fill in the blanks for the logical inconsistencies.
It is sad to see Daemon in this calm, not manipulative mood..He is born to make the chaos and to rule it. Can’t wait to see him in action in upcoming series. Matt Smith is so good in acting the Daemon. He’s surely the most charismatic actors in GOT universe.
he's GRRM's favorite character in the entire throne's universe. yet the show has made him somehow muted. from the deviation of house velaryon from GRRM's books to the adult rheanys and alicent, the casting has been downright awful. daemon's casting is also a bit underwhelming as he's more handsome in the books while matt smith looks kinda weird.
@@rubababagirova5851 , lol no he's not. i wouldnt brag about thousands of people. most people are not smart and cannot think for themselves hence the media's power. matt smith as daemon even though he doesnt match the looks of book daemon has been fine. he's won me over. that's not even the biggest problem with the show. its the casting of house velaryon which has thrown everything off base. its ruining viewer immersion because its totally unrealistic. in GRRM's fantasy world, and in our real life world.
I love how Daemon was given the same choice regarding Laena as Viserys was Aemma and he refused to make the choice because he valued her. For all the shitty crap Daemon has done, I will say he values the women in his life ironically more than his brother does.
@@targaryen7029 there is something wrong with your moral compass if ceasar's cut is the same as smashing your wife's head with stone. The first one was to save baby the other for pure opportunity or rather vanity
"When Viserys names her heir, that comes with an understanding that she'll have to change . But that piece of information is never received." Thank you Emma D'arcy for saying so eloquently that Rhaenyra doesn't give a fuck. 😅
I was so yearning for seeing Daemon's love for Leana. Him grieving for her, crying for her. They didn't even show him shedding a tear. In the books he did all he could to save her, flying maesters on his dragon, carried her body inside, sat vigil on her for days. But here he's almost cold with her. You can't live 8 10 years with her, fly around, have two children, and not love them
The time jump was so seamless and transitioned very well, the actresses Emma D'Arcy and Oliva Cooke were brilliant. The showrunners have done an incredible job so far.
I was kinda hoping they would explore how the relationship between Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin developed. Afterall, them having 3 children together is a huge plot point right? I just didn't feel THAT devastated for Ser Harwin's death as we barely explored his character. I was more sad about Lyonel, he really was a good hand for Viserys. And ofcourse, Laena... 😭
I don't think she much cared for him. Probably just used him as the side piece after ser criston refused. Even with ser criston it didn't seem like she cared much. She seems to just wants a mistress to bed to fulfill her desires.
@@alexandercrush Mm I don't know, they were some pretty intimate and loving looks between them. Rhaenyra might not have loved him, but I think she cared for him.
I blame Otto for all of this , Alicent could of married anyone else & still had her best friend , & b4 he left after getting fired he set her on a war path against Rhae ANDD he’s coming back !! “Chaos is a latter”
i love to see the children fooling around and teasing each other. but they see each other as friends and family. it is only through the wills of the parents that they become enemies.
The character development is bad!!! You introduce a character in one episode…give them one line then the next episode, they’re pregnant and die….were we supposed to feel something?
I so much loved Harwin for how he loved and is caring for his children . He was looking SO proud after seeing his newborn. His death made me cry :( Really wish we could have seen more of him - yes, i don´t care if it´s relevant for the story xD- . Laenor you just can love him, so supportive, he even gave harwin the time with his son
Alicent, Criston and larys are vile. They question rhaenyra's honour yet they have none. Why doesn't Criston admit that he broke his oath? Alicent speaks of decency but cole has none and is a coward. This whole episode was heartbreaking.
First thing. I understand the social construct of race doesn't exist in this lore. But people have eyes and can recognize a difference in skin tone and hair texture. There is NO WAY it's believable that Rhaenyra's kids are fathered by Laenor. How in the world does the king just let her behavior slide not one but three times? Also, did Laenor even try to get his wife pregnant? Or did he refuse to lay with her at all because he's gay? I thought he would at least do his husbandry duties for court. That was part of the deal wasn't it? Now, unless people in GRRM's world don't even acknowledge the differences in complexions and hair, then they're all fucking stupid. Second thing. The HoD casting director (who is likely white) needs to do better when casting mixed-race characters. Daemon's daughters look full black. They are literally 1/4 black so they should look damn-near white. Think Halsey or Rashida Jones. The casting director must think that when a white and black person have a child together, the child looks like the black parent. I've seen this so many times. The Lucifer series is another prime example.
"How in the world does the king just let her behavior slide not one but three times?" Have you learned nothing of Viserys so far, he wants to brush things under the rug. If the truth comes out it's an absolute shit storm.
Although the children are 1/4 black they can still have darker skin. Light skin isn't guaranteed to anyone with black in their genes. Laenors sister was darker than him. If you watch shows like The Cosby Show before the drama you'd see that all his kids were different skin tones. The lighter children took after his father which was light although he himself was light skin. It really is the roll of the dice. Not tryna argue just open your mind to the fact that black can't be defined even when mixed with other races.
@@SAVINMEEKZ on the Cosby show….neither of the parents were biracial and one parent didn’t have a Snow White complexion with white hair so that comparison doesn’t make sense.
@Rohan Chatterjee Literally though. Nothing so far has been her fault. She called to see Prince Joffrey but Rhaenyra chose to walk there immediately after giving birth. That's literally Rhaenyras choice
@@aleemizcool3654 Obviously a mother doesn't want to be parted from her newborn the second he's born, don't be dumb, you know that was an intentionally shitty move from Alicent and could have waited.
The older Alicent played by Olivia Cooke is the worst character portrayal on the show. Terrible speech pattern and mannerism totally brought audiences out of the show. Alicent went from an adamant yet vulnerable moral pillar to a complaining Karen with zero characteristics. They might just as well gave Viserys a different wife. Emily did a phenomenal job as Alicent, and Emma did alright as Rhaenyra. But Olivia might have just ruined the show. At this rate HotD is going to end like GoT season 8.
It's time jumping toooo much....kinda dumb...sorry but I was liking the characters that are now gone after 4 ep.... I'm confused on ep 6 ...jumping all around
"Daemon is faced with the same decision that Viserys was in the pilot, and Daemon made a joke of it." Can somebody explain how he made a joke of it? It looked to me like he refused to order the death of his wife to save the child. She chose to go out on her own terms.
I'm not sure if I've missed it but why wern't there any consequences for Cole when he beat a man to death infront of all those people? Did Alicent somehow get him pardoned or.. Also wondering why Queen Alicent is present for council meetings, or maybe thats just how it was done then? Seems weird for her to be there. Anyway, just small things. Love the show! It's been a while since I've been actively looking forward to each new episode.
I love Emma as Rhaenyra, they're such a good actor. Also Olivia Cooke, Nanna Blondell, John Macmillan & Ty Tennant were sooo good too! But I love to see a fellow Non-Binary person in a main role in such a show.
they are not going to completely copy the book, the tv series adaption of a book is always going different just like the main GOT series was, especially when they are trying to cram this story into 10 episodes per season
Thank god for this comment and reply thread for showing me there are still people using their brains and not blindly eating up low quality writing. This show has been very mediocre but this episode is the worst by far when it comes to characterization, continuity, and plot holes.
The back and forth between older Rhynaera and Alicient is magnificent. Also it is so obvious to see where Alicients anger grows from, it just seems like EVERYTHING works in Rhynaera's favor even when it shouldn't and Viscerys playing dumb isn't helping.
I think the hibiscus flower that Larys plucked from the bouquet after he said that Alicent should reward her is from the foreign plant in the God's woods. Such a subtle call back to that scene. I don't know it it actually implies flower as to Alicent's flower/body or a way to signal that Larys will help Alicent bloom as a "foreigner" in the keep.
alicent had the nerve to tell rhaenyra she should be resting which i know was obviously in-genuine. i wish we could have seen more of harwin and rhaenyra’s development because for those not familiar with the books most would find their relationship a complete shock which i know is the point but it’s really unexpected and there wasn’t much that showed the future of them. lyonel was absolute mad killing his own father and brother but i was more surprised at how he had absolutely no remorse. i love love loved this episode this change of actors and time jump has been a win for me i was always curious to see how they would execute that and make it make sense, they’ve done so well. and now rhaenyra is going to dragonstone bro that moment she told laenor her plan i was like OH SH!T bc i know where’s it’s heading from here which is so exciting. also harwins death was so painful solely because he had such an unfair life he couldn’t be a father to his own children he had to act like a stranger to them and then got killed probably the day he got to harrenhall, that hurts i cried. laena’s was sad yes but she went out in a good way and i could tell with vhagar he was hesitant, dragons are so smart i think he realised she was going to die and she wanted to not die painfully and also as a dragon riders death, i think vhagar knew fire was the way she wanted to go and that it was like mercy, god i love him. alicent is so annoying she gets herself involved with rhaenyras affairs which don’t need to be any of her concern yet she places herself in them, understandable though considering she’s heir and alicent knows she shouldn’t have the right to act as she does
I don't really believe adult Alicent. When she was younger she could barely speak. And why is she in the small council? She got really lucky with Viserys with him being very soft in character.
The acting is so spot on! Emma showcased a not morally virtuous yet still loved and loving heir while the Olivia version of Alicent just dives into that harsh evil character filled with bitterness and hate, all the while lacking the resolve to own up to the Larys murder (abid it wasn't her intention but imagine if she just acts as if that is her plan and deals with Larys later). The contrast between birth scenes, how not only have Aemma was powerless and Laena choose her own death; but the fact that Alicent was helpless and tied down with the child in earlier episodes, yet here we see a more mature Rhaenyra walks, schemes, collects intel, and makes strategic moves right after and not "shy away" due to medical complications is really the thing that I think sets this Rhaenyra apart.
How can any of you say anything positive about this, the arrogant writers set the car on fire then drove it off the cliff! The actress playing Rhaenyra was the only bright spot in the whole thing. I'm pretty sure you can use makeup to age her like you did all the other characters, oh but not her bodyguard he looks exactly the same after 10 years except for his a**hole attitude... why do you hollywood people always have to mess things up, you are all so full of yourselves???????????????? Where is all the feminist outrage only the male actors stayed mostly the same but you had to replace to best characters you had that were women! Just such lazy writing, jumping 10 years I guess you guys don't have any original thoughts and you are actually paid for this, shameful. We were hoping for something as good as GOT, not going to happen. It's laughable, the king has leprosy but he made it another 10 years, lololololol what a joke. I guess people are so staved for entertainment they will watch anything.
