DJariya

csant

I'm loving it so far. I like how the King makes his own mind on stuff and doesnt follow suit. The political stuff is so damn intriguing.

MrX

Milly Alcock looks like she’s 15 so those sex scenes are uncomfortable to watch,

Viserys is going to be one giant scab pretty soon.

In the book Ser Criston rejects Rhaenyra so that’s a pretty big change from the book.

Why So Blu?

Oof, this was a slog to get through. So no more explanation needed or even addressed as to what happened to the CrabEaters, etc. It was an awkward segue there at the beginning.

Eric F

I have one of the brightest LCD TVs available Vizio P85QX-H1 (up to 3200 lumens) and I was having problems viewing HBO’s night scenes. I couldn’t make out much of the brothel scenes at all, and I don’t really want to kick my TV into “bright” mode every time there are scenes like this. My TV is pretty bright as it is.

Did anyone else have problems?

Decker

I don’t think I did, it was dark but not The Long Night episode dark. That said, I was left confused — was I supposed to think Rheanyra actually fucked Daemon in the brothel or just made out with him?

ben12

I think she just made out with him. But because she actually slept with Sir Handsome, it could be harder for her to prove she isn't an Uncle Fucka. (I was kind of surprised they didn't have someone try to do a virginity check on her or something.) Like does she take the mifepristone tea just in case she got pregnant from Sir Handsome? If she drinks it, it'll look like she is an Uncle Fucka. But if she ends up pregnant, that'll look even worse. And if she were to actually have a baby, and it's not blonde, Sir Handsome is fucked (in the bad way).

fujishig

I love the actors, I love the scenes, but if I think too hard about the plot all I have are questions. This does live up to the HoTD monicker though.

The behind the scenes discussion afterwards seems to indicate that Daemon came back under the guise of change but really wanting to stick it to his brother and seeing Rhaenyra as a way to do so. And I... didn't get that at all. I thought while he was obviously attracted to Rhaenyra from the beginning (ew) that he was trying to just get show her some freedom (hence the juxtaposition of what Rhaenyra was doing and what Alicent was... ugh again) and things got out of hand but he stopped it before it went too far.

So why not, I dunno, deny deny deny to his brother since really nothing happened? I thought he would deny and then they would have some medieval virginity test or something. But nope, he just makes it worse, for no reason.

And then that last scene... if it's really from Viserys, does he not believe her even after all that? Is that a just in case?

Also I thought it was funny that Otto really didn't set anything up this time, he was just being a good Hand and it backfired on him big time. Anyway, the previews for the next episode seem to indicate stuff really hits the fan next, so looking forward to that.

DJariya

It was a slower episode and made me a little uncomfortable in spots, but I thought in all it was well told.

The tease of incest between Rhaenyra and Daemon did make me squirm. No they didn’t fuck as the behind the scenes feature said. She got excited by it, but when he realized he wasn’t in control, it scared him off.

I didn’t think Rhaenyra having sex with Ser Criston Cole was as gratuitous as someone alluded to earlier. I would have been more grossed out if she did go through with it with Daemon.

She’s been attracted to Ser Criston since the Pilot. I think that scenario the excitement of her now being in control was awoken by that incident with Daemon and Cole gave in.

This episode was really all about fucking, mind games and being in power. The thought of his young daughter banging his brother repulsed Viserys so much and also scared him because it would ruin her prospects of a legitimate royal marriage.

JTH182

TBH while I was watching the episode I thought Daemon blew his load early and then just left her. So then when she did it with Criston there would be some kind of Maury "You are....... NOT the father" scene. Guess I totally misread that since they said Daemon couldn't get it up in the post-episode.

Josh-da-man

I don't think the problem is that it was too dark as such, but I find the colors on this series tend to be desaturated, and that made a lot of the dark or night scenes in this episode difficult to make out. It's kind of like crushed blacks without the blacks. Crushed sepias?

fujishig

methinks you were concentrating too hard to "lighten" some of those Rhaenyra scenes... j/k

Giantrobo

I love how Uncle ManHo was about to do the deed...but couldn't get it up because she was actually aggressively into it.

VinVega

I just don't get Daemon's play. He just comes off as weak and desperate. Not very dangerous at all. I was fairly impressed with the King. Rhaenyra will always be a pain in the ass for him and while things remain unresolved between them, his loyalty to her remains strong. He finally had enough of the Hand and booted him. He also told Daemon where to go, so at the end of the episode he really took charge of things. He was coming off as pretty weak early on in the series, but he stepped his game up in Ep. 4.

fujishig

I don't think Viserys is weak necessarily, he's just not really "born to rule." He's too considerate, and he doesn't crush his enemies or take command the way he really needs to, especially when it comes to his brother. The only reason he booted Otto is because Rhaenyra had that as a condition of accepting the marriage. He told Daemon where to go because Daemon basically (and stupidly) refused to back down, he would've folded like a deck of cards if Daemon apologized yet again or swore it didn't happen (and it didn't). Yes, he draws the line at his brother being with his daughter but, uh, that doesn't strike me as taking much courage?

I don't think there's like some super mastermind here, it's all flawed people doing flawed things. Viserys is king but he's made some terrible decisions that will create the very war he tries so hard to avoid. Daemon is the guy who kind of wants to change but just can't... he's a loose cannon but he's no evil mastermind (and he'd make a terrible ruler). Rhaenyra is basically a spoiled brat who wants to inherit the throne but would similarly be a terrible terrible ruler because she's too impulsive. Otto is probably the closest to being a mastermind but he's basically undone by doing his job of informing the King of what he needs to know: it's not like he planted that evidence. Yeah he wants his line to be tied to the crown but he's not overtly evil about it like say a Littlefinger. Alicent is basically stuck playing her part as a daughter and now a wife/mom but you can feel how trapped she is.

OldBoy

I think I’m done with this show. Too bad. But it did egg me to start GoT again. That I’m gonna enjoy very very much.

Josh-da-man

Speaking of kings being weak, needing to crush their enemies, and making bad decisions, it's interesting how, in Game of Thrones' first season when Robert tried to have Daenerys assassinated, it turned out that he made the right call.

Of course, with that "Song of Ice and Fire" prophecy they're pushing hard in House of the Dragon, not having Dany around could have fucked that up. I suppose it depends on what the "Ice" and "Fire" parts of the prophecy mean. Was "Fire" Dany and "Ice" Jon Snow? Or was Jon Snow "Ice and Fire" because of his Stark and Targaryen heritage? And since Arya was the one who took out the Night King, would that make her the Prince that was Promised? Or would that, again, be Jon because he led the battle against the White Walkers? It's all vague as fuck.

hdtv00

Yea that's your actual problem you have brightness not contrast. Should've bought an OLED lol. I looked up your model try local dimming setting to 'Medium' that's the preferred setting for max contrast ratio.

Gunde

But she's not, so no they really aren't. It was super tame and tastefully done.

Bandoman

While Otto didn't set up the encounter between Rhaenyra and Danaerys, he was obviously spying on her and was thrilled to have info to destroy her claim to the throne so that his grandson would be named the heir, or so he thought.

I probably missed something in the first couple of episodes, but the hunting scene where Criston faced down the white stag led me to believe that he will be the first Lord Baratheon (I didn't see anyone from House Baratheon in the Court prior or since, but as I said, I could have missed it). I'm betting he ends up distinguishing himself in battle to get his Lordship, and at some point he kills the stag and takes it as his house sigil.

MrX

I don't think they said his name but she was sitting next to Lord Boremund Baratheon at the start of the episode

GatorDeb

Yep, the close captions identified him. He's the one holding his head through the courting.

Bandoman

Oh well, it made sense to me. Thanks for clearing that up.

chowderhead

he was also at the jousting tournament and asked his cousin the queen who never was for her favor at the beginning. They showed the stag sigil and Cole defeated both of the Baratheons

fujishig

See, that's what I don't see... he had a spy in the pleasure house or whatever but I didn't see evidence that he was following her, just that he had spies everywhere like a good Hand should. This is complicated by the reveal of who the White Worm is but even then it seems more likely that's to keep an eye on Daemon.

Others have already talked about Baratheon (and it's funny because he's in the picture in the OP of this thread) but I thought the white stag was more significant as showing that Rhaenyra was destined to rule or whatever. While her father killed a basically already captured regular stag, she's the one who sees the mythical white stag everyone was looking for.