House of the Dragon S1E06 Explained

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Published 2022-10-01
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This video has no spoilers for House of the Dragon beyond Episode 6. It does have spoilers for the original Game of Thrones show.

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Weekly Alt Shift X HOTD livestreams every Sunday at ~10:15pm Eastern Time, right after each episode -- then an Explained video later in the week!

Images and video from Game of Thrones used under fair use.
Images from The World of Ice and Fire used with permission from Random House.
Map from The Lands of Ice and Fire.
Jocelyn by u/fkaluis: www.reddit.com/user/fkaluis/
Mushroom by Rossy Does Drawings: twitter.com/rossysculpts
Pentos by Marc Simonetti: art.marcsimonetti.com/
Baelon by riotarttherite: riotarttherite.tumblr.com/
Dorne by Tomasz Jedruszek: www.artstation.com/morano
Visenya by ProKriK: www.deviantart.com/prokrik
Vhagar by Ertaç Altınöz: ertacaltinoz.deviantart.com/
Dunk & Egg by Gary Gianni

Special thanks to Patrons Cameron Weiss, Michael Appell, Ryan Steele, Harry, Shane Veglia, Jason Rattray, NotGac, Tim Cunniff, T. Ledoux, Tessa Campbell-Kelly, Ilhuilkamina Urdiana, Ord X, Doctor Folter, MaxPal.

0:00 Rhaenyra’s family
04:27 Dragon lessons
06:28 Helaena Targaryen
07:28 Alicent Hightower
11:57 Training
13:58 Small council
17:49 Larys Strong
22:26 Harrenhal
23:25 Pentos
25:39 Vhagar
27:39 Rhaena Targaryen
28:06 Laena Velaryon

#HotD

All Comments (21)
  • It's kind of heartbreaking to watching the kids interact because they're... doing kid stuff. Aegon clearly likes his nephews. Their parents have failed them
  • Gotta give props to Rhaenyra for actually bringing some fresh genes into the Targaryen bloodline.
  • @hypewills8762
    I straight up did not notice, until this video, that Viserys lost an arm between episodes 😂
  • Vhagar and Caraxes having their first "Dance" in this episode, just flying and having a great time together is so poetic and ironic at it's very essence.
  • I think there's an important detail in this episode When Viserys was suggested a C-section, he asked "can the child survive?" When Daemon is asked the same, he asks "will the mother survive?"
  • @olenickel6013
    I feel Alicent is being eased into murdering people to achieve her goals. First protecting a murdering kingsguard, now having a straight up Kinslayer as ally. It would be a point to stop and go "am I the baddy?" and seeing that, so far, only her faction has straight up caused people to get killed. Instead she is learning to rationalize things she still feels shock and moral outrage towards.
  • @thehumanity0
    I'm sure George thought naming extremely minor historical figures after Muppets (Elmo, Kermit, Oscar) would just get lost in the endless amounts of history, but it'd be hilarious if they had to introduce the characters now that they're expanding on Fire and Blood.
  • I feel for Alicent a little bit when Larys basically blackmails her by including her in the guilt of his scheme, but realistically what did she expect would happen if “justice” was done and Rhaenyra’s children were publicly acknowledged as bastards? Harwin would have been killed, and maybe the kids, and maybe even Lyonel. She’s actively sewing the seeds of war in this episode while also feeling very sanctimonious about herself. A character greyer than she even realizes herself 10/10 writing
  • I like that Alt Shift never directly spoils the show for the non-readers, but he drops little bits of wording that serve as winks for us who have have read the books.
  • Alicent: "honor and decency will prevail" Also Alicent: "keeps a murderer from facing justice and makes him her kingsguard/gossip buddy"
  • For a brief second, I thought he said Helaena is deeply fascinated with incest. Then my brain turned off Targaryen mode and realized he said "insects" lol
  • Alicent: marries a Targareyn. Also Alient: wonders why her children are acting weird.
  • @kyle857
    Viserys just loves his family and wants them to all get along and get what they want, but what they want is mutually exclusive.
  • Ngl, I bursted out laughing when they showed Rhaenyra’s kids and how they were acting like they were actually Laenor’s kids.
  • 17:54 scene reminds of the historical "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" ("What miserable drones and traitors have I nurtured and promoted in my household who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric!") by king Henry II that led to the assassination of the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket. Alicent wants them dead, but retains plausible deniability. The fact that Larys is the son and the brother of those assassinated and possibly wants it even more than the monarch is a brilliant twist of the historical event, Martin is the best with these things.
  • @batgurrl
    I love the perspective you have in your analysis. The Dragons ‘dancing together ‘was so poetic and lovely. Pregnant Leana, knowing she will lose her life and baby and wanting to go out on her own terms and commanding Vhagar to burn her and the hesitance was so powerful and heartbreaking to watch. The pleading was the thing that got to Vhagar
  • @sofiaa1616
    I think Viserys refusal to even acknowledge the allegations about his grandkid's parentage is the right move. It could have much bigger consequences that simply their claim being challenged. At best, it could lead to exile for all parties involved (Rhaenyra, her kids, Harwen, Laenor, etc). At worst, execution for some or all of them. Which could lead to armed conflict with houses Strong and Velaryon. Plus, they are still family.
  • @jmchez
    Did anyone notice the look that the midwife behind Rhaenyra made when saw the baby? As if saying, "Oh, no! Not another brown haired baby!" That's a great piece of direction that most would not even notice.
  • @QuinnTheGM
    When I was first watching the episode, I thought that the fireflies Larys put on the cloaks of the prisoners were real bugs. If that were the case, maybe Larys is able to skin-change them, literally bugging his minions.