House of the Dragon Season 2 REVIEW | Episode 5 Regent 

Can we just give it up for a moment, for House Bracken and their sheer unfiltered defiance, balls and pure hatred for their neighbors? Daemon is literally threatening them with his dragon and the head of House Bracken is like: "Get bent with ya stupid dragon, we choose fire! Oh and f*ck the Blackwoods!"

The actress who plays Mysaria is just bad. It's not the directing. She starred in Alex Garland's Devs and she was awful.

The chick that plays mysaria cannot act

Skull on dragonstone is definitely NOT Balerion's. His skull is in the Red Keep, where Viserys first told Rhaenyra the prophecy. We also see the the same room with Balerion's skull still in it when Ser Erryk helps Rhaenys escape the Red Keep in S1 Ep9. The skull on Dragonstone is more than likely Meraxes. She was killed in Dorne and they probably had the skull moved to Dragonstone.

Alicent's line - "You what Aemond is. What he has somehow become." Somehow? Somehow!?

The skull on Dragonstone is Meraxes. You can see the hole where the scorpions arrow went through her face

HotD is starting to lose me. A lot of it is starting to feel repetitive and just characters in rooms discussing there feelings. Its always been there but I can really feel the feminist angle coming through in the writing. The show wants to portray characters like Mysaria and Rhaenys as being moral and the voices of reason when there not good people (especially Rhaenys) who is responsible for hundreds of innocent people dying. She would've been a terrible queen yet the series seems to want us to think she did nothing wrong with how no one reacted positively when they saw Meleys' head. At least some of the smallfolk would've cheered because of what she did in the sept. Look at how they reacted to Aegon killing the ratcatchers which was far less deaths. They were horrified by it. I've noticed HotD really seems to be going out of there way to soften the edges of the female characters actions and either giving it to the male characters (like Aemond locking the gates instead of Alicent) or if they do something bad its handwaved as reactionary to being part of a patriarchal society. When one of them looks bad its usually unintentional on the writers part. Rhaenys killing the smallfolk was intended as a girl power moment. It wasn't meant to make her look bad. This whole show I guarantee you is going to boil down to "Two women who were best friends became enemies and were torn apart because of the patriarchy". I don't want it to be the case because there's a lot of good elements to this show which is why its even more frustrating when they fumble stuff but I get the feeling there gonna botch the series and its not gonna be as good as it could've been by the ending. They already screwed up with Blood & Cheese which should've been the most insane and talked about moment in GoT history since The Red Wedding but its only been a few weeks and practically no one is mentioning it. I can see why George is unhappy with the changes they're making. There taking a lot of the nuances away from his source material to conform to modern day Hollywood standards. No Mushroom because apparently having a little person whose goofy would be deemed offensive, Making the Velaryons black whose acting is actually pretty good but we know why they cast them that way. Its not because the actors were the most talented but we can't have a show in this day and age with all white people, softening the violence and nudity particularly with women. A lot of the show feels like Game of Thrones the PG-13 edition.

I think Cole is traumatized and possibly fears Aemond (if he saw him doing that to Aegon). That's why there was no conversation between them.

Imagine being some smallfolk person, you've probably seen a dragon flying in the sky. You know only that they breathe fire and fly and are huge. Next thing you know, a princess' dragon's head is being rolled through the street. First time seeing one, how big it is, how they can actually die. The only thought in your head is "those fucking things are gonna be flying over this city now arent they?"

Kind of wish that scene where Rhaenyra expresses her frustration with not being trained for war was with Jace instead of Mysaria. Then Jace could say that he was trained for it, and he will be her sword. Perhaps she wouldn't have expressed those feelings to her son, but it makes more sense than expressing them to a total stranger.

man that old dude in harrenhal is the best so funny and just entertaining DDDD

Jace gives me heavy Robb Stark vibes, he would by all accounts be a decent ruler but already he has made some minor lapses in judgement that might be his undoing

I will say the change to not melt the armor to Aegon is better in my opinion because if the fire was hot enough to melt valerian steel then Aegon would be ashes

I really thought that Meleys head being paraded through the streets was going to be the payoff to the dragonpit disaster. But nope. People of KL forgot this dragon stomped on them

This works much better with moobler in control of finding scenes so Gary doesn't have to squint and seek the next one while dealing with everything else.

But Baela being made heir to Driftmark doesn't make sense because she's the future queen of Westeros since she's bethrothed to Jace.

Destiny: Looks down at Boogie. At least I’m not as bad as him. Boogie: Looks down at Hasan. At least I’m not as bad as him. Hasan: Look at all the people looking at me.

Alys could be real, but everyone including Ser Simon sees her as an old woman but Daemon sees her as this young attractive witch.

One detail I liked was that Orwell has experience with skin/rotting skin from his time with Viserys. That directly applies to how he was handling Aegon’s injuries. I don’t think it matters, but a cool detail.

Alicent missed out on many council meetings because she was sick with moon tea, and the councils where she was present she never said anything but just sulked while others talked. Not a great record, if you want to convince people to let you rule now.

This was one of those take a shot for every time "being a woman" is brought up in conversation and you'll be dead before the credits

I found it annoying how the writers seem to think Alicent is the main character when pretty much everyone agrees she’s a supporting role at best. I just rolled my eyes when she claimed she’d make the best regent in a war. Yeah cause there’s not a proven military strategist sitting at the table or anything. You go girl.

1:48:25 I didn't like it, but slowness has nothing to do with it The smallfolk not caring about meleys having slaughtered them, daemon having sex fantasies with his mother (?), acting like the problem of the black council is rahenyra being a woman and not the fact that she has not acted yet and they are rapidly losing ground, even making Alfred Broome (whose criticism was on point in the other episodes) just flat out say that he kinda doesn't like women. Everything Mysaria is also just awful, she is the only actor in this show who is not doing a good job, watching her in the same scene as Rahenyra who is played very well is painful The episode was overall still decent, but I can't keep overlooking the weird direction the show is taking, it feels like got season 5 where the source material started being just a loose inspiration and the writers headcanon is growing more annoying by the episode. The dance is badly written in the book (infinetely respawning riverlanders lol), so I am willing to forgive and even appreciate a lot of changes, but this feels like a warning for things to come.

I'm not liking Season 2 as much. just not flowing as well.

Bad news, from the looks of it(and from George's comments in his blog). Nettles is omitted as a character. History repeating itself and we know what this leads to. They are going to fuck this up...

I LOVED the visual of the Bracken turning his back on the dragon.. terrifying

This maester might be the most purely good character we've seen in this franchise. Just a dude doing his job, seems to have no interest in power.

A show where actions have consequences... unbelievable this day and age...

I wish I shared your optimism that we've seen the last of this trash. Renewing this for season two would be insane, so I fully expect Disney to do it.

Ewan Mitchell, Aemond Targaryen, would make a fantastic Elric of Melnibone, shame we'll probably never see it.

The smell of radical feminism is growing stronger episode by episode.

I’m not sure the River Lords were ever even at the castle. Remember that Alys wanted Daemon to start thinking about the smallfolk, and suddenly in the middle of the night when he’s already dreaming, he’s ripped out of bed to go talk to four uncanny River Lords who directly address Alys’ concerns and then turn and walk out?

Daemon reaping what he did was so satisfying. But gosh the episode beginning with the small folk reaction was so cringe cus the writers don’t want to admit or acknowledge the massive fuck up of episode 9 in season 1

I think the skull in the crypt is supposed to be Meraxes because it kinda looks like it's taken some damage around the eye. Meraxes was shot through the eye in Dorne.

This episode was kinda boring. Nothing egregious but wasted potential for sure. The scene of Baela and Corlys was amazing though

The Black Council is tedious and repetitive. I skip those sections.

Gary and the guys seem to have such rose tinted glasses on for House of the Dragon. It's average at best with some terrible characters and storylines. The white worm spy woman is terribly written and acted badly at the same time. Daemon bumbling about in harrenhal in some dream, whilst some witch talks to him like crap is all getting silly. Hope Gary and the guys can start poking some fun at some of this ridiculousness.

Anyone else feel like this season is underwhelming? Was super disappointed in the blood & cheese intro.

Best dragon is Ancalagon! 😅

Every Frame Night Tights

I really enjoyed the comparison between Daemon and Jace's choices in trying to sway the Riverlands in the absence of orders.

You forget the Vale Knights can cross thousands of miles and never be seen.

sorry mates It is getting pretty boring episode 5 was a bust and there doesnt seem to be any hope for the next episodes the pacing is slow we have seen damon in harrenall for too long now we have seen raenyra in dragonstone for too long now we have seen alicent in the kings landing for too long now the main focus seem to be on the FEMALE cast WOKE ANYONE?

On the note of "there should be a bunch of dragons here", we do have to remember the dragons are insane on the CGI budget. I'd rather they use the budgets wisely on the sets and costumes, and only save the CGI for when it's really needed, like the dragon battle last episode. They have been very prudent with their spending thus far.

Viserys didn't ride Balerion very often, because the dragon was to weak. Most likely infected with firewryms, after that little unauthorised trip to Valyria😅

HotD is not a good show. It will not age well. It has more in common with late series GoT than early GoT.

Otto knew Aemond and Cole plotting. Maybe he will do something soon?

I don't get why everyone blames Aemond for Aegon's burns. Sure he deliberately attacked him with dragonfire, but Aegon wasn't even supposed to be there. He was not part of the plan. Alicent bullied him into a rash action of trying to earn fame and glory in battle. Such lack of consideration compared with lack of battle experience can more often than not lead to injury or death. Rhaenyra's council always kept her from going into battle herself, while Aegon's council didn't care when their king flew away alone on his dragon. That's on them.

Really glad Ryan is here so he can text, yawn, and sleep during the entire stream

Season 2 SUCKS. Full of feminism even more intersectional diversity box checking, pointless conversations, and other garbage and the writing has greatly worsened

it was BORING needs more Aegon and Aemond

The crowd shots were hilarious. No one was even pretending to look at the dragon

Ryan Condal said Melys is a beloved dragon by the smallfolk. LOL!

I don't like the Riverlands plot at all. So Daemon promises to burn Brackens if they don't surrender. They call his bluff. He doesn't burn them. That's weird. Why wouldn't Daemon burn their castle to ensure that the next lord he makes the same offer to knows Daemon isn't bluffing? Daemon looks like the kind of guy who wouldn't hesitate. Then for some reason Brackens surrender because Blackwoods kill a bunch of their peasants and burn a church? That's weird. Why would they surrender? Why wouldn't they organize counter raids against Blackwood lands? The Bracken castle isn't besieged as far as I can tell. And church-burning is an excellent reason to gather a bunch of allies - people in the middle ages are serious about their religion. And we do see it play out - we see a bunch of lords angry at Daemon. But the scene where they come in person to tell Daemon that seems nightmarish in a sense that it makes no sense. Why wouldn't they send a declaration by letter and go fight Blackwoods instead of shouting at Daemon (and risking their lives and freedom! He could significantly reduce the number of Green-aligned riverlords by killing or imprisoning all those guys!). I was genuinely thinking that it was a dream when all those assholes just barged in at night. Really not a fan of that development.

I recently noticed that there is a problem. Sam called his book A Song of Ice and Fire and according to the series, he came up with it himself. Funny coincidence that he calls the story exactly what aegon called his prophecy in the dream^^

I thought episode 5 was terrible. The showrunners tried to make us feel bad about the old lady dying, even though she murdered dozens of innocent people. The entire episode was just a feminist wet dream of women talking about themselves being women and how all the men around them are incompetent.

So far the season was weak

Ffs Gary yes we know you've read the book, so don't do speculation and stop trying to drop hints!

Lord Nick Cave as a rat warg is my favorite theory so far

Discord discord... Sow the seeds discord. Discourse means conversation

Balerion was old and weary by the time Viserys got to ride him. That’s why he didn’t ride after that once.

Are we supposed to believe that Daemon - most worldly of the people at court in King's Landing suddenly doesn't know how the world functions? Show seems to really be knocking him down hard. He's gone from ruthless and cunning to dim and one-dimensional. "BOW TO MY DRAGON, WHY THAT NO WORK duhhhhhh".

The morality in this show is weird. The give Aegon that scene with his bastards in the fighting pits, which as far as I know wasn't in the books but then make him relatable and sad. And then they are so obsessed with championing the smallfolk, which isn't bad in itself, but make the weirdest characters do that. Why would Misaria, Lady Misery and Alys Rivers give a shit about the smallfolk? They should be scary, secretive and powerful women, not superman. Edit: I am aware they are smallfolk themselves, but that doesn't mean they are selfless and charitable characters. Just like Alicent doesn't fight for women's rights why should a witch and mistress of whispers fight for peasants?

no one has said anything about Aegon mumbling "Mummy" in his bed. If Alicent talked to him he wouldve heard. But yet again she doesnt say anything. Feel bad for the kid! F*** Alicent

Love the inclusion of all the lesser lords and smallfolk so far this season. Adds so much to making the kingdoms feel real

Skyrim dragons are much more powerfull than from GoT, their language is magic, literally casting spells through words and can only be granted true death by Dragonborn that consume their souls, otherwise they respawn, Alduin being basically god of time he's immortal and needs to be under Dragonrend shout effect to be killed, which forces the concept of mortality on his soul.

Currently sitting here, this might be my least favourite episode of all house of the dragon.

"It just feels like opportunities to poison are everywhere, ya know?" Indeed they are Longman, indeed they are 😏

uuhh The Gary parts & Technicolor Mauler toy store Lore DDDDD great Writing

That last scene witj aegon and alicent "Mummy" as she walks away uncaringly. That's just sad.

Daemon, the best thing in Season 1 has had a very disappointing story arc this season.

WAY BETTER, With Mauler on the 1s & 2s this time, BEKUZ he can move thru scenes without bringing everything to a screeching halt, js

I'm not seeing any of the "Daemon influence" on Jace that Mauler and Ryan talk about TBH. Characters seem pretty far removed from each other.

That is Meraxes' skull, Balerion's is in the red keep, Rhaenys sees it when she escapes in episode 9, it would make sense since after the first Dornish war when princess Deria came to offer Aegon the deal she brought the skull of Meraxes with her and then handed Aegon a letter from her father that made him angry and he left for Dragonstone immediately after maybe to see Rhaenys before she died, so Aegon may have moved the skull of Meraxes to Dragonstone since he spent most of his time there and left Visenya in charge of King's Landing.

Season 2 has been so fucking boring, and the message is starting to get too obvious..

Was not a great episode, but oh well. It was nice seeing Alicent get put in her damn place though. Like, you’re not a leader sweetheart… You were selected as a political marriage to produce heirs… Your job is done.

This is the only Nerdrotic stream I purposefully avoid watching Live, and then watch the full video attentively after I've watched the episode. Great stuff guys, keep 'em coming.

If no one said it during live. The dragon skull is Meraxes. If you look really close you see one of the eye sockets is gaping hole from the scorpion bolt.

This season is so disappointing so far, boring!!!

Is he doing a live stream of the episode 6 review? Surprised it's not up yet.

The skull that appears in the background when Rhaneyra tells her son the prophecy is Meraxes. He died from a scorpion's spear in his eye. It is possible to see the hole caused by the injury to the skull. I don't understand why they say the dragon exploded when it fell. If you look at his body, it remained intact in the middle of the castle wall. Yes, there was some fire when he hit the ground, but there could be other explanations for that. For example, the impact made him release some flame or he fell into an area with flammable material or there simply is no reason... the fire was added by the producers just to "look cool". But when you comment that the dragon exploded, it gives me the impression that it exploded like the shark at the end of Jaws kkkk. Congratulations on the videos. It's always really fun (and educational) to see your content.

I love how the blue collar dude said "its just meat" then when the commoners were locked in the city they started chanting they wanted meat.

I would name this episode "Alicents reality check"

Allicent was immediately suspicious of Aemond because……… she read the script?? She watched last week’s episode??? Seriously, why would she suspect him of doing anything wrong? He would have been the first one to return from battle and the first one to report to her what happened. He would have told her his version of the story- that Aegon flew in unexpectedly and would have been killed by Rhaenys if he, Aemond, hadn’t intervened- and she wouldn’t have any reason to doubt him until word (or whispers) reached the capital from soldiers or Criston or other witnesses. And as for Criston, he seems terrified of Aemond, but not too terrified to stop himself dropping hints that feed Allicent’s suspicions, which just makes him seem like a moron. Terrible subplot, should have been reworked, or just scrapped and had Allicent sidelined for an episode.

Elder Scrolls dragons vs GoT/HotD dragons: panel failed, but the chat stepped up. As someone who watches a lot of content around Elder Scrolls and similar content, it was odd to be watching something on YT and no one could talk about it.

Each 2 minutes the f.... Women vs men narrative is annoying.

Could just be trauma from the recent years of shows but I'm getting the impression that they are going to couple Mysaria and Rhaenyra which would be a big downer

Wake Up

A lot of scenes in the episode where women good men bad conversations. Always a little cringe. Alicent was shaking she was so triggered at the table

I appreciate your guys effort to keeping this show strictly about game of thrones. When all the real life drama dies down, we will still need these episodes to rewatch.

1:13:41 No, Ryan, Dave Filoni is in the dog!

Thanks for the wrap up gents

Am I the only one who misses the USA Network's late 2000s TV shows? Sh*t like 'Burn Notice', 'Blue Collar', and 'Royal Pains'. Sure, it was mass-manufactured media. But it was broadly entertaining with actual characters to follow. A show like HOTD doesn't happen all that often, and stuff like ^that would make the 2-year waits more tolerable.

I wonder how it looked like with all Tagaryans white ans white worm too. With all looking the same, might had a cool effect.

Hugh? More like who 😎

bro this show sucks now lol. it’s like these writers just refuse to follow the lore and writing george laid out for them. its incredibly boring, it’s no wonder people are tuning out and they are losing viewers.

This show, DEI all over the place, girl boss is coming soon and its gonna turn into all other shit that we hate

The last was Aegor the Cruel vs. his nephew, Aegon the Uncrowned.

When they showed the lemon in the salt right after they showed Aegon's charred body, I winced so hard!

They probably changed the person who ordered the closing of the gate from alicent to aemond to push the agenda of "men make all the bad decisions and women could've done better". Lmao gary said "unreliable narrator"... the willful blindness is now embarrassing and i can no longer depend on gary's takes for this show