House of the Dragon - Season 1 Eps 1 Reaction 

It’s rare you guys miss the point! The birth scene was uncomfortable on purpose. They knew we’d want it off screen. That was the point tho - men shedding blood is celebrated and have parties/tournies around it, while women are expected to bleed and die quietly offscreen because their sacrifice is considered less important and not glorious

Welcome back to Game of Thrones everyone, with scenes so graphic you're relieved that they cut back to knights murdering each other.

To me Otto was talking about himself more than Daemon in that moment “the gods have yet to make a man who lacks the patience for absolute power”

Honestly, the most graphic part of it for me was that tiny moment between when the king says "I love you" and she, not knowing WTF is about to happen, goes from confused to terrified as they pull her down. The SOUND. The SOUND of her clothing sliding on the bed is what got me.

She says it in the episode, "We're women, our battlefield is the birthing bed"

“Hope we don’t change shirts out of nowhere!” *cut to Jay wearing the same shirt*

I appreciate Adam doing the “mom seatbelt with the arm, when you’re in the front seat” move to help cover Jay’s eyes during THOSE parts. Nicely done!

Yes, we absolutely 100% come here because we know you guys are vulnerable and genuine people, we don't expect you to make jokes at every point, and we are on this ride with you. I'm *so* sorry this was a brutal thing to go through for you, but it absolutely is a fact that childbirth was and still is a dangerous thing for a woman to go through, and the United States is the only developed country where the maternal mortality has gone up. It is a difficult thing for anyone to talk about, but it sincerely NEEDS to be talked about. It absolutely IS upsetting, and it should be upsetting to see a woman have to die in order to give birth, and personally I am glad to see it isn't something that you shrugged off without thinking twice about it unlike some of the other reactors. **BIG HUGS FOR JAY** we are here for you, man. And big props to Adam for being there to let you know when you need to look away and even take out the earbuds to keep from being even more upset.

When the actress who plays Allicent first read the script for S01E01, she said she totally thought that a ROMANTIC relationship would be developing between Allicent and Rhaenyra, and you can tell from their joint interviews of the main press junket that they got along REALLY well, so I think they did play up that possibility.

I think as horrible as I was, Rhaenyra's mothers death scene being a horror show and us not getting the relief of cutting away was a really good choice. It does a good job of showing us why she's so scared of getting married and having children, and the reality of being a women in westeros at the time.

i honestly love how empathetic you are. i've seen other reactors make comments like ''just slice her open lol'' during the c-section scene. it's really nice to see people feel for these characters, it certainly was a very impactful and well acted scene.

The thing that I appreciated most about the birth scene was that it was handled with far more emotional maturity and nuance than any really violent scenes in GoT was for me.

Happy to see you decided to bring these to RU-vid.

I'm very excited for this show, but as someone who had a traumatic birth with my son, I was not okay after this. Still, I'm glad they made people pay attention. Birth can be a battlefield that very few care to acknowledge or talk about.

“So they’re gay right?” THANK YOU like I really thought they were a couple from the first scene alone

Rhaegar knew of the prophecy. He believed initially it spoke of him. He later presumed it spoke of his offspring

I just messaged my pregnant sister and BEGGED her to let me give her a spoiler just so she has been warned and can choose to watch or not. Also offered to send time stamps if she decides to skip… Brutal, and heart wrenching in its realism. Thank heavens for feminism and modern medicine.

If you remember back to season 2, Arya was with Tywin talking about Aegon the Conqueror and his sister wives. Visenya, wielded Dark Sister. And Arya mentioned the sword. Wanted to be her. Rhaenyra just asked to name the baby Visenya if it was a girl. Also, Daemon didn’t say Heir for a Day like Otto said he did. The point was to show Otto sucks and is out to get Daemon. Glad you are reacting!

When the king was discussing Aegon's dream, he had his hand on the dagger, that Arya killed the night king with.

Jay was partly right, a king actually died ON the iron throne. It is implied that he was impaled by sitting on it wrong.

I’m SO glad somebody else felt sapphic vibes from Alicent and Rhaenyra because I thought I was reading too much into it when I watched for the first time. Spoilers for Episode 2… . . . . . . . I have been wondering if that’s part of the reason that she feels so betrayed by Alicent in episode 2. She keeps mentioning how a man won’t make her happy and I can’t help but think there’s a possibility that there’s more to that

Yep, and as graphic as this c-section scene was... still less graphic than what it really is like. I feel like in 2022 even it's important to have people question these kinds of things, childbirth is dangerous, it is risky, it is graphic. To this day, a lot of women still die in childbirth. In a world where abortion rights are questioned or even erased completely, it makes you think.

King’s Landing had a godswood during “Game of Thrones”, too. It was where Ned spoke with Cersei because, as he put it, “the gods are watching”

34:35 Rhaegar knew about the prophecy I believe. That was one of the reasons he got together with Lyanna, to bring to song of Ice and Fire together.

It is hinted that Valyrias Doom was caused by the Faceless Men when they assassinated the wizards who kept the giant vulcanos there at bay with blood and fire magic. Thats likely why they captured so many slaves, they used them for blood magic to tame the vulcanos. They also supposedly created a bunch of monsters by twisting humans and animals alike with blood magic. Thats how dragons supposedly came to be which is why there are no other beasts in nature that are on the same level as dragons. Though we know that the Valyrians themselves did not create dragons, not in Valyria, because in the far east there were dragons long before the Long Night, which was before the rise of the Valyrian Empire. But the forefathers of the Valyrians likely created the dragons, and they used them to build Asshai and the Five Fortresses in the far east. Dany sees a vision of these forefathers, four of them who look like Targaryens, like all Valyrians, but only one of them has purple eyes, they all have eye colors that match the associated gem colors dedicated to each far eastern Emperor, showing that these are indeed the forefathers of the Valyrians. Game of Thrones could have included these deep running ancient conspiracies and prophecies. They should have added three more seasons with 10 episodes each where they actually went and explored this like the books seems to be doing. In the books Dany is not going to Westeros, shes going to Asshai where all the secrets will be revealed as foretold by Quaithe. Imagine how cool that would have been, to go deep into the mythology of this world. But instead we get bland assassin Arya stabs the Night King and then everything is over. No prophecies of the Last Hero, Azor Ahai, the Bloodstone Emperor, Jon the Night King, none of it. It's a damn shame. I can't wait for the last 2 books to finally be done, by George or his trusted companions. Then maybe someone can pick up the show again to redo the whole thing fully planned to the end where no major characters and plotlines will be cut just to remove the fantasy from the early seasons. And give the Valyrians their purple to blue-ish eyes damnit.

Adam. "The hand is now trying to pimp his daughter to the King... hes single." Jay: "Textbook."

It helps that GRRM is directly involved in producing/helping with this show. It was he that told the producers about "Aegon's dream and approved the dialogue for it between the King and his daughter.

"I think people come to our show because we are authentic and genuine people." THIS. TEA. Yes. Please don't change.

I think you guys took Aegon’s vision too literal. It doesn’t say “hey, a Targ has to literally be the one to defeat them.” It simply says a Targ has to unite the realm to defeat them. Which is exactly what happened. Jon, a Targ, got the North, Wildlings, and Dany to help. Arya would not have been able to kill him without all of them.

I’m so glad you guys are posting these not for my sake but for yours. I think it’s an incredible opportunity for more people to find you and how funny you are. I’ll keep my Patreon account just to support you guys because you honestly deserve it. But I’m happy these will be on RU-vid.

I've had an emergency C-section and was woken up with no pain meds given to me 😬 got an infection because they had no time to prep before cutting me open. I definitely cringed and felt ill watching this.

The giggle that escaped me when Jay said “so they’re gay right?” Because its truly all I want in this world

"We're operating out of fear alone."

“i don’t like it when they kill the dragons.” oh boy… oh boy oh boy

The thing to know about what happened with Queen Aemma…THAT is what our own ancestors went through, and women are still going through it today.

34:00 I'm with you, Jay. I had something very similar happen (as far as watching somthing like that) years ago when my wife was pregnant with our first child. I was working evening shifts at a hotel at the time, and when there weren't customers you could hust watch TV or whatever. I was flipping through and came across an episode of ER where a mother was giving birth. Baby was born. Father left with the baby thinking everything was fine. Mother took a turn and didn't make it. Last shot was the doctor hesistantly walking into the nursery to tell the father, holding his new baby, that his wife didn't make it. Even though that was 20 years ago and both of my children were born healthy, that still haunts me sometimes. Scared the shit out of me.

I definitely come for the authentic reactions. My heart broke for Jay and Adam protecting him instinctively was great.

I appreciate y’all’s honesty in why you almost didn’t post this. I check this channel first when I want to see a reaction to something I care about, but that is an extremely valid reason and I know your community supports you either way! ❤️

"....and he's right behind me, isn't he?" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

“We’re going to need another Timmy!” You sent back to my early childhood with that one, Adam. That was a deep cut. 🤣🤣🤣

I think Adam has the right idea when he suggested tetanus as the cause of King Viserys' wound given that we see him prick himself on the arm rest of the Iron Throne at the very end of the episode. The birth scene was very uncomfortable for me especially as I am married to a nurse that knows a lot about midwifery who has birthed three children of our own. I think they chose to show the scene fully for two reasons, first to highlight the very real perils of childbirth that are still very much happening today and second, to shed a harsh light on the consequences of men taking away women's bodily autonomy by making decisions like this for them.

If you guys wanna go to a Renn Faire, the New York Renn Faire is still open until the weekend of October. It's in Tuxedo Park, just over the NJ/NY border, maybe an hour from Manhattan? Possibly?

King Robert Baratheon came from the humble beginnings of A Knight's Tale! Man, what a fantastic movie. Ledger was perfection.

Two things. First: hugs. Your capacity to feel is my favourite thing about you guys. But second, I feel really strongly they HAD to include the visceral nature of the birthing scene. It’s brutal, and horrid, and too true to even imagine. I never want to see it again, but I think it was deeply, painfully moving in its depiction. The juxtaposition with “playing” (that seems like a…. shot game? 😳) at war, and the traumatic reality of womanhood in feudal times is still a little closer to home than I’d like.

Oh you poor sweet summer children 🤣it’s hilarious watching some of your takes knowing where this goes. I can’t wait to see what you think going forward! Rhaenyra & Daemon are the absolute best, I’m anxiously awaiting the third episode!

"If you've played the Doctor, you'll be a terrifying villain." Oh God, how scary would Jodie Whittaker be in a villainous role?

Huh, fun fact. I actually had a conversation just last week whether a lightsaber could kill Whitewalkers.

You know, I was really craving a little Paul Bettany grade Chauceresque Heralding in this. Would have been amazing!

Had to crack up a little in that extended intro of Adam pleading that you're trying to make the best possible choices in difficult circumstances with life or death stakes (for the channel). That is....very thematically appropriate for this show. 😂

"I hope we don't suddenly change shirts!" *Jay is wearing the exact same shirt*

Ay bois just wanted to say keep up the good work. I watch about ever reacter on RU-vid and you guys are in my top 3 but yall have the best reactions and responses on RU-vid. You deserve the world and don't be afraid of the internet

I just want to give Jay some hugs. *huggles*

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BRINGING THIS TO RU-vid!!!

Gives me the creeps that Daemon( Matt Smith) sounds like Ramsey Bolton at times😳

Love the energy you guys have. Shall definitely sign up to watch the full watch alongs. Keep up the great work.

Im so glad you are doing these on here now because now you will get included in those multi edits like J2O and it really isn’t the same without you guys in those

"I love a good spread" Bruh 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

The Gold Cloak memes will never get old for me! 😂😆

Totally understnd yalls concerns but I will say this reaction was some of yalls best content imo. Really emotional but also funny at the same time

I'm so happy you guys decided to put this up! Love you guys :D

So glad you guys are doing reactions for this show! Love the show and your channel 👏

I loved your reaction and especially how sensitive you guys are with regard to the birth scene. I had the luxury of a c section with a functioning epidural and full knowledge and consent as to what was happening. The queen did not. I understand not having modern pain medicine in Westeros, but couldn't they have just knocked her out? And at the very least explained the situation to her? Her confusion followed by fear and panic feels like a violation. Given that Jay is looking to start a family, I completely understand why it's so difficult to watch. Overall I've enjoyed both episodes a lot. I think the show benefits from GRRM's direct involvement, as well as being able to take from a story that is fully complete at this point. Looking forward to your reaction to episode 2!

Bout muthufukin time! Let's go boys 🔥🔥🔥 Glad you made the decision to put this on YT

I first watched your reactions to ST episode 4, dear Billy and absolutely back tracked and subscribed to watch all of your reactions to it. Im so glad you are watching this, and oh dear gawd I fell in love with your reaction, especially the birth scene. You are now, one of my favourite reactor teams and I adore you both. Thank you.

So glad you decided to add these to the channel. Thank you

You're a good friend Adam, kudos to you

I'm not even watching the show but I'm here to support the boys. You guys are the best. ❤

"Podrick the Dragonslayer." Dragons weren't the only thing he was slaying if you know what I mean.

Yes!! I’ve been waiting for this! I wasn’t totally sure you guys would react to it

Jay, in reference to the 'silver-hair' line in the brothel: "No, that's a Lannister thing." Me, looking sideways: "You know the Targaryens are like the Habsburgs, right?

Love that Jay's shirt didn't change from the intro

Yay! So happy you’re putting these on RU-vid!

"We can't lose this." -Jay "We can't lose you. ❤️" -me and the peaches

Adams facial expressions this episode killed me 😂 I’m so glad you guys are doing this

Glad you are going to put these on RU-vid

Yes the two main Targaryen Valyrian Steel swords are Blackfyre and Dark Sister. Blackfyre was the sword of Aegon the Conqueror and is wielded either by the King or his heir if he chooses to pass it on early. Dark Sister was the sword of Queen Viscenya (Aegon’s elder sister-wife) as is passed generally to a second son. The NEXT Targaryen succession war (not the one being set up here) happens in part because King Aegon IV gives Blackfyre to his bastard son instead of his official heir.

They way I laughed when Jay had on the same shirt LMFAO🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

we know how Rhaenyra is going to die, it was spoken about in GoT (I forgot which season) but joffrey says how she dies.

Mace vs sword. In reality, after the advent of plate armour, swords were little more than status symbols and little used in actual battle. A sword is next to useless agains plate steel. Knights much preferred hammers, maces or axes with spikes that have a chance of denting the plate armour, especially the chest plate, which would restrict an opponent's breathing. The mace is actually a great advantage over the sword in that scene.

SO happy that you're uploading these reaction videos to RU-vid. I enjoy your reaction videos so much and have been really looking forward to this series reactions, and I appreciate your initial apprehension to upload due to fear of potential copyright strikes. Really hope you have no issues going forward. Love these vids, keep up the great work you two.

I definitely subscribed because you are genuine and vulnerable people

Hopefully it will all work out. I know Omni put out a post yesterday asking his viewers to check out some of his other outlets in case his You Tube channel disappeared overnight. Fingers crossed WB realizes someday that all of this only helps them in the long run.

I just discovered you guys and I REALLY love this reaction. I've watched quite a few reactions to this show already and yours is one of the best. I really hope you continue to react to this show. I'll watch every one.

SOOOO glad to see you guys doing this!!

I'm glad you guys uploaded this reaction

I love you guys, keep the good stuff coming!

So so so so so happy you guys have managed to get this on here, thank you guys for trying so hard to work around the copyright lords 🤣🙏🙏 Love your reactions as always

A Targaeyan did unite the people against the white walkers... Jon Snow

Thank you for bringing these reactions to RU-vid!!!

The cuts and scratches caused by the Throne more often then not, leads to serious infections and sometimes death. This is can be found in the books

Jay & Adam let me honest with y’all… I have been a long time Peach and just recently joined the Orchard on Discord & Twitch… I have wanted to make joining the Patreon work for a while and when HotD was starting I made it work. I was not disappointed with watch along (poor Jay my heart hurt for you). BUT I totally understand why y’all hesitated to put it on the RU-vid & I’m not at all upset about finally joining Patreon and would never think you would bait & switch us Peaches. * I’m a Peach because of how honest & genuine both you guys and your reactions are. Much Love from Canada 🇨🇦 🍑 (CdnPeach/CanadianPeach)

I was hoping you guys weren't skipping over this. Here til the end for this.

I was watching this episode as you guys, covering my eyes the whole time 🙈🙈🙈

the Prophecy was probably an effect on all Targaryen decisions... All they knew was that a bad winter... 1. they didn't know WHO / when the Prince that was promised was arriving 2. They made a lot of bad decisions at the hint of any winter.

Yay! Love that you guys are doing this 😁

It’s so good being back in this world. I also forgot how bloody it was. I almost couldn’t watch the birth scene. I laughed a little too hard at he’s right behind me isn’t he?

The gold cloaks song😂👌

So a game of thrones episode was airing on the day of my birthday and I was so excited that i had like a dinner party and everything with all of my nerdy friends....and it was the episode where the Night King killed the dragon with an ice spear. I was so sad.

"We need a Targaryen on the throne to unite everybody to face this winter. And what happened in the show we saw before? Not that!" Well... yes and no. But it is actually mostly what happened. It didn't happen EXACTLY as prophesied, in that a Targaryen wasn't on the Iron Throne at the time... BUT Jon did unite the people of Westeros to fight against the White Walkers and that's why they successfully averted The Long Night. Jon is a Targaryen. That's the whole point of him being revealed as a Targaryen. He's the one who warned everybody about the Night King, he's the one who brought the wildlings into the fold, he's the one who brought Dany to the North and united her army with the North, he's the one who pushed for unity at the Dragon Pit and ultimately convinced Jaime to come to Winterfell and fight... Jon united the realms. I don't think Westeros was ever more united than they were at Winterfell in season 8, all because of Jon. And they won. They averted The Long Night as prophesied. Yeah, the killing blow was landed by Arya... but Arya's the one who trained the whole show to face-off against "Death" itself, which the Night King/WWs and the "Army of the Dead" represents... Jon is the one who set her on that path by giving her Needle in season 1, AND the entire reason that Arya comes back to Winterfell is because she hears that Jon was there, and they had won it back from the Boltons. Jon is what made Arya come back there. A Targaryen united the realms to avert The Long Night. The part that didn't happen is a Targaryen being on the Iron Throne. Jon WAS the King of the North, so you could interpret it that way. Or you could interpret that part as being misinterpreted by Aegon and the rest of the Targaryen Kings... because they had an interest in interpreting it that way. So they could rationalize their power-hunger. The part about having to be on the throne wasn't actually part of it, it was just that a Targaryen would unite Westeros to avert The Long Night. They assumed "unite Westeros" meant to be ruling it from the Iron Thorne, because that's how Targaryen power-hunger would color their view. But Jon proved to be different, most likely because of his Stark blood. The unification of Ice and Fire ("The Song of Ice and Fire") in him is what made him the right Targaryen for the job. He was able to unite the realms without being a tyrant. That's what's special about Jon. George RR Martin likes to do this with prophecy. It comes true, but not quite in the way that the prophecy was interpreted by the characters, or probably the audience as well. Melisendre's prophecies about Stannis, for instance... they all kinda came true, but not in the way we thought, and the one KEY thing of Stannis sitting the Iron Throne ends up not being true. Turns out the Iron Throne wasn't what was actually important in the end, despite the obsession with it... kinda like that's the whole point of the story.

So glad y'all are doing house of the dragon!!