Enjoyed the episode, but the final ten minutes was a little hard to follow along with what was happening through the editing and camera angles, maybe on purpose to show how chaotic the whole fight was...
House of the Dragon (TV)
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Princess raped her kingsguard.
MeToo movement was about powerful, typically older men coercing women in junior positions to have sex with them. This was exact thing with genders reversed. She even picked him by for duty with an attraction bias and she was more than willing to keep exploiting him after her marriage.
Apes here will celebrate her greed for throne and sexual exploits. They also approve, in an evergreen manner, her lying to her father, her friend and everyone else.
MeToo movement was about powerful, typically older men coercing women in junior positions to have sex with them. This was exact thing with genders reversed. She even picked him by for duty with an attraction bias and she was more than willing to keep exploiting him after her marriage.
Apes here will celebrate her greed for throne and sexual exploits. They also approve, in an evergreen manner, her lying to her father, her friend and everyone else.
Posts: 4794
Joined:
January 2012
I find that there is a good in-depth discussion of that scene from episode 4 on the Ringer-Verse podcast deepdive for episode 4 between 1h35 and 1h42: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir ... ce=w_shareblackColumn wrote: ↑September 20th, 2022, 6:55 amPrincess raped her kingsguard.
MeToo movement was about powerful, typically older men coercing women in junior positions to have sex with them. This was exact thing with genders reversed. She even picked him by for duty with an attraction bias and she was more than willing to keep exploiting him after her marriage.
Apes here will celebrate her greed for throne and sexual exploits. They also approve, in an evergreen manner, her lying to her father, her friend and everyone else.
Noone supports Rhaenyra lying to her father or to anyone. It's just that, by comparison to whatever horrendous war crimes get committed during the Dance of the Dragons, this pales in comaprison. I'm tired of having to repeat this: every main character in this story does something awful at one point or another. It's up to you as audience members to say where you draw the line.
I'm team smallfolk because they're the ones who are going to suffer the most.
The man seemed in despair and indeed was driven to suicide days later.
Imagine a man hires a female bodyguard. And he calls her in, closes the door behind her and straight up begins to undress her with a smile on his face while the woman stands there lifelessly.
Because the kingsguard was under an oath, that's like a priest selecting a nun supppsed to be chaste and then taking her virginity. Did you think it like that?
Imagine a man hires a female bodyguard. And he calls her in, closes the door behind her and straight up begins to undress her with a smile on his face while the woman stands there lifelessly.
Because the kingsguard was under an oath, that's like a priest selecting a nun supppsed to be chaste and then taking her virginity. Did you think it like that?
Posts: 4794
Joined:
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I mean,
Posts: 87
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October 2019
Didn’t like that episode. It was cheesy all around.
Posts: 4794
Joined:
January 2012
Episode 6 was awesome for a number of reasons imo.
First, it cements the fact that this is an intergenerational conflict we're heading into. We get to see all the Targaryen(?) kids running around, which is important because they'll have a lot to do in this story later on. All the kid actors are doing a great job, especially the actors for Aegon, Aemond, Helaena and Jacaerys. You also get a sense that these kids would be fine and be friends if the grown-ups didn't project their hatred onto them.
We also finally we get to see the original actors (yes, they were cast first) for Rhaenyra and Alicent and both are doing a wonderful job portraying people who changed over the course of this decade, Olivia Cooke portraying Alicent as an anxious, bitter and severe person whose rationalisation seems to be that she stands for decency and virtue in the face of what she deems queer Targaryen customs (note how the tapestries in her room have changed to something rather more conservative) and positioning herself in opposition to the once freedom-loving Rhaenyra in particular. Speaking of which, I actually prefer adult Rhaenyra to her previous incarnation on the show so far (and I thought the previous actress did an excellent job), mainly because she is dealing with a different set of issues and seems a bit more world weary and more conscious of her own responsibilities, though of course one should not forget that the main conflict of this particular episode is mainly one of her own making, due to some questionable decisions she made that put everyone else in a difficult spot.
I also appreciate the subtle acting from the actors for minor roles like Laena (that particular scene between her and her dragon Vhaegar, the largest living dragon in the world at this point, is particularly heartwrenching) and Ser Harwin Strong (the scenes where he meets Joffrey and where he observes the training of the kids in the yard especially showcase the actor's range), neither of which have an expanded role in the original story (though Rhaenyra and Laena are good friends in the book) but whose presence is necessary for the story regardless.
You really get a sense of how much time has passed and how much resentment has built up over the course of 10 years. Of course there are some questions like how Ser Criston Cole could turn out to be such an asshole who still has his job (though I suppose if the Queen saves you from getting fired and executed I guess a dirtbag like him you would hold a grudge for this long) but then again his combat experience was razing a tower, hence not especially honourable so red flags were kind of there for those who pick up on fine details. An interesting visualisation of the conflict emerges in the training scene where Alicent's sons (all in green) and Rhaenyra's kids (all in red) are being pushed by the adults in their lives to be as vicious as possible to each other when there are indicators that they would not be this antagonistic otherwise (the Pink Dread seems to have been a collective effort on their part). Another scene feeding into this is Alicent walking in on Aegon as he tries to imitate Homelander from The Boys. Not only does she sound like her father but she's ten times as aggressive about it. If she's still wondering why Aegon is not as responsible as she'd hoped maybe she should try being a more responsible parent and see to his education. he also at this stage does not seem to want the throne and might be happy leaving these things to people who are interested in this sort of thing like Rhaenyra.
From a filmmaking perspective, I especially appreciate the 2 successive long takes in the episode, as they capture the reactions of people to Rhaenyra and her child in real-time quite well and we get much more of a sense of time and space just in general. It also provides Laenor with an opportunity to showcase how supportive he is, whilst still underestimating Rhaenyra's struggles (I have no doubt a lance through the shoulder is painful but giving birth is something he does not experience), struggles which we know she had hoped not to have to face ever. Also, if you think these are the last births in the story you are mistaken LOL.
Bonding with dragons is a big theme of the episode as well and permeates all the different storylines, whith Aemond and Rhaena discovering how certain members of their families feel about the fact that they have not yet bonded with a dragon and how that makes them feel about themselves. This will come into play soon.
The writing was also especially strong (heh) in this episode, in particular because we don't usually get speeches with montages that often and that particular one at the end was deliciously creepy and nihilistic. I appreciate also how Alicent's fraction is currently composed of men without scruples, which makes it harder for her to maintain her facade of decency and righteousness, adding to her psychological stress in the process.
Which brings me to the necessity of having the 5 previous episodes in the first place. Had we not had a deeper look into all these characters beforehand, it would be difficult to get a grasp on them and to get people to see things from their perspectives at this point in time because Rhaenyra is having to pretend even in discussions with her husband that things are different from the way they actually are, while Alicent comes off as obsessed and antagonistic to the extreme, making her less sympathetic than she was previously. Daemon is not behaving like the rogue we know him to be and Viserys is not really making any big decisions as king so having all that background enrichens the characters immensely.
I could say more about all the thematic underpinnings and details but I'll keep it short. It's no easy thing jumping ahead that much in time in a story like this and the episode acquitted itself admirably, making our current main characters (Daemon, Viserys, Alicent, Rhaenyra) into more nuanced and multilayered creations that are fascinating and intriguing to discuss and think about.
First, it cements the fact that this is an intergenerational conflict we're heading into. We get to see all the Targaryen(?) kids running around, which is important because they'll have a lot to do in this story later on. All the kid actors are doing a great job, especially the actors for Aegon, Aemond, Helaena and Jacaerys. You also get a sense that these kids would be fine and be friends if the grown-ups didn't project their hatred onto them.
We also finally we get to see the original actors (yes, they were cast first) for Rhaenyra and Alicent and both are doing a wonderful job portraying people who changed over the course of this decade, Olivia Cooke portraying Alicent as an anxious, bitter and severe person whose rationalisation seems to be that she stands for decency and virtue in the face of what she deems queer Targaryen customs (note how the tapestries in her room have changed to something rather more conservative) and positioning herself in opposition to the once freedom-loving Rhaenyra in particular. Speaking of which, I actually prefer adult Rhaenyra to her previous incarnation on the show so far (and I thought the previous actress did an excellent job), mainly because she is dealing with a different set of issues and seems a bit more world weary and more conscious of her own responsibilities, though of course one should not forget that the main conflict of this particular episode is mainly one of her own making, due to some questionable decisions she made that put everyone else in a difficult spot.
I also appreciate the subtle acting from the actors for minor roles like Laena (that particular scene between her and her dragon Vhaegar, the largest living dragon in the world at this point, is particularly heartwrenching) and Ser Harwin Strong (the scenes where he meets Joffrey and where he observes the training of the kids in the yard especially showcase the actor's range), neither of which have an expanded role in the original story (though Rhaenyra and Laena are good friends in the book) but whose presence is necessary for the story regardless.
You really get a sense of how much time has passed and how much resentment has built up over the course of 10 years. Of course there are some questions like how Ser Criston Cole could turn out to be such an asshole who still has his job (though I suppose if the Queen saves you from getting fired and executed I guess a dirtbag like him you would hold a grudge for this long) but then again his combat experience was razing a tower, hence not especially honourable so red flags were kind of there for those who pick up on fine details. An interesting visualisation of the conflict emerges in the training scene where Alicent's sons (all in green) and Rhaenyra's kids (all in red) are being pushed by the adults in their lives to be as vicious as possible to each other when there are indicators that they would not be this antagonistic otherwise (the Pink Dread seems to have been a collective effort on their part). Another scene feeding into this is Alicent walking in on Aegon as he tries to imitate Homelander from The Boys. Not only does she sound like her father but she's ten times as aggressive about it. If she's still wondering why Aegon is not as responsible as she'd hoped maybe she should try being a more responsible parent and see to his education. he also at this stage does not seem to want the throne and might be happy leaving these things to people who are interested in this sort of thing like Rhaenyra.
From a filmmaking perspective, I especially appreciate the 2 successive long takes in the episode, as they capture the reactions of people to Rhaenyra and her child in real-time quite well and we get much more of a sense of time and space just in general. It also provides Laenor with an opportunity to showcase how supportive he is, whilst still underestimating Rhaenyra's struggles (I have no doubt a lance through the shoulder is painful but giving birth is something he does not experience), struggles which we know she had hoped not to have to face ever. Also, if you think these are the last births in the story you are mistaken LOL.
Bonding with dragons is a big theme of the episode as well and permeates all the different storylines, whith Aemond and Rhaena discovering how certain members of their families feel about the fact that they have not yet bonded with a dragon and how that makes them feel about themselves. This will come into play soon.
The writing was also especially strong (heh) in this episode, in particular because we don't usually get speeches with montages that often and that particular one at the end was deliciously creepy and nihilistic. I appreciate also how Alicent's fraction is currently composed of men without scruples, which makes it harder for her to maintain her facade of decency and righteousness, adding to her psychological stress in the process.
Which brings me to the necessity of having the 5 previous episodes in the first place. Had we not had a deeper look into all these characters beforehand, it would be difficult to get a grasp on them and to get people to see things from their perspectives at this point in time because Rhaenyra is having to pretend even in discussions with her husband that things are different from the way they actually are, while Alicent comes off as obsessed and antagonistic to the extreme, making her less sympathetic than she was previously. Daemon is not behaving like the rogue we know him to be and Viserys is not really making any big decisions as king so having all that background enrichens the characters immensely.
I could say more about all the thematic underpinnings and details but I'll keep it short. It's no easy thing jumping ahead that much in time in a story like this and the episode acquitted itself admirably, making our current main characters (Daemon, Viserys, Alicent, Rhaenyra) into more nuanced and multilayered creations that are fascinating and intriguing to discuss and think about.