House of the Dragon S1E01 Explained

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WE’RE BACK, BABY

I don't think Baratheon was mad about a female heir. I think he was angry that he was swearing fealty to a female heir while the female heir he wanted, Rhaenys, was passed over for Viserys who was now picking a girl as his heir. A real slap in the face

The actress for Aemma did such a fantastic job, it's a shame she was only in the show for one episode

I wonder if holding the council in Harrenhal is an implicit threat to the nobles to not rebel. Historically, succession is always the most dangerous period for a dynasty. Especially a contested one.

I like to think, probably for my own preference more than anything else, that Aegon's prophecy wasn't misinterpreted, but that George and the showrunners of HOTD are just ignoring the events in the later seasons of GOT. There's no way the war against the others will go down that way in the books (if they ever come out). So I think they're going by book-cannon for this particular detail.

It's never a good sign when an Arryn dies right out the gate is it

Something I like about the design of the Dragonkeepers in the show is that they look like shepherds, harkening back to the ancient Valyrians who’s original culture was based on sheep herding.

After the tragedy of season 8, I didn't look at a single GoT related thing for 3 years, but they've managed to rope me back in within seconds

23:11 “Maybe this dream was misinterpreted” it sure was. By David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

I missed these "explained" videos since the end of season 8. I'm glad these are back :)

I think it's worth noting that when Daemon speaks about Otto Hightower, he refers to him as "A second son, who stands to inherit nothing he doesn't seize for himself." But Daemon himself is a second son, in fact a second son of a second son. He is only in his position because his brother was chosen as heir. And now he stands to inherit only what he seizes for himself.

Correction. The prophecy strongly alludes to Jon Snow destroying the white walkers. This is most likely the case. D&D kinda forgot what story they were writing when they got Ayra killed the Night King

Aemma Arryn’s death was horrifying. Just seeing her be so scared while Viserys couldn’t do anything because he ordered it. In our real world today, they’re much safer, but back then a fantasy world with limited medicine, a Caesarean Section was a death sentence.

I wish you'd mention that a big part of the reason the council doesn't want daemon as heir is because they know he would get rid of them for new people not just because he would be violent

The "heir for a day" story just reeks of hit piece journalism. Daemon doesn't seem like the most sentimental guy in the world but he does seem genuinely choked up at the funeral. I think he said the words as part of a mostly respectful eulogy at the brothel. It makes sense in the context of his speech but out of context it looks like he's laughing about it. He doesn't fight Viserys about it because he knows Otto Hightower has him outfoxed on this issue and it's not worth further antagonizing his grieving brother.

Paddy Considine is genuinely such a hugely underrated actor. He can do furious and terrifying roles and quickly switch to comedy. Few actors can do that with such ease

I like to think that they included Nymeria's story in the 1st episode to explain quickly to non-book viewers who the Rhoynar are because they are FINALLY using the correct title of "King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men" compared to GoT.

One cool thing I noticed in the scene with swearing filety to Rhyneara is design of her diadem, jewelry and robes - these felt a lot like inspired by Byzantium to me, so more "Greek" and eastern-inspired then strictly western-European inspired stuff traditionally associated with medieval fantasy. Which is so cool on so many levels - Targaryens are shown as still little bit distinct and foreign culturally compared to Westeros, the descendants of different culture, a foreign empire from far away in the east. Parallel to the Byzantium itself could be drawn, as Targaryen rule is kind of the last prominent remnant of the Valyrian empire and culture and it thrives despite the "main" empire has long fallen. Which is similar to Byzantine Empire, which still thrived for many centuries after the Western Roman Empire had fallen. And this is sooo cool - this small detail already shows that the creators seem to care. Maybe just a coincident, but feels like more thought and attention went into this one costume than the entirety of season 8.

The way Aemma pleads and mumbles that she's scared was so deeply disturbing and at the same time fascinating, that I couldn't help but rewatch the scene while my toes curled. Technically, Sian Brooke wasn't even in an entire episode, but she made an unforgettable impression.