House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

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Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

I thought I was watching “The Long Night” again with how dark everything was.

Laenor really dies in the book so I wonder if they were worried about a backlash killing off another gay character.

Looks like another time jump next week since Ewan Mitchell, Osferth from The Last Kingdom, is playing Aemond.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Damn, Alicent losing her shit.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Yeah, it was a good episode but they shot most of it through a smog filter or something. Horrible aesthetic.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Interesting episode, surprising ending for sure. Again I think going with a longer initial time jump would've helped... now we have another and I'm assuming all of the kids had to be recast..

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

So many questions...

I think Matt Smith (Daemon?) is the king's brother, but wasn't he married to the king's sister's daughter? Isn't that Daemon's sister too? So he married his cousin? Gross.

What happened to the knight who was the father of the princess' bastard kids?

Why is the queen's father the hand of the king again? I thought the king hated that dude.

I think the two blonde boys are the son of king and queen?

Isn't the princess Daeomon's niece or something? How can he do sex then marry her?

Who was the guy that Daemon killed before the sword fight?

Who were the two guys on the boat at the end?

I'm rooting for the queen...everyone else is pretty bad.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Incest is ok for Targaryons, I think they draw the line at marrying their own kids but uncles are fair game. As gross as that is. Though I was confused because were Alicent's sons talking about wedding their own sister? And Aemond was like "she's going to be queen" or something?

Daemon wasn't married to the King's sister's daughter. Laenor and Laena's mother Raenys is the cousin of King Viserys . Not that that makes the incest any better but it is a bit more removed than first cousins.

The father of Rhaenyra's kids (Harwin Strong) died in the fire in Harrenhall along with his father, the previous Hand of the King (Lyonel Strong). They were murdered by his brother's men, the guy with the limp who looks like Mikey Day (Larys). Obviously that opened up the way for Otto (the queen's father) to come back.

Daemon presumably killed a guard so that Ser Qarl, could get into the hall.

The two guys on the boat... I'll give you a hint, one just "murdered" someone and the other one cut his hair off and they're off to frolic in a place where they don't need names only gold.

People are going to be even more confused when the kids change actors next episode too.

This episode did a fantastic job of making me hate both sides until that ending scene and I was like, ok, I get it. I think it's intentional that one side is the whole "this is tradition, even if we hate it we do our duties and don't go after our desires, until it's time that power be taken then screw our morals." And the other side is basically "we're not good guys either but screw traditions let people do what they like even if it means stuff that's frowned upon like homosexuality." There are certain people that would be drawn more to the Queen's side and some that would be drawn more to Rhaenyra's side just in how they approach things and what they think is reasonable. Like having bastard children because you only got married out of duty and you both agree on side pieces? Some would say that's ridiculous and others would say hey that's free thinking. Getting married to a person you aren't attracted to and having kids with them to get money and power? Some would say that's disgusting and others would be fine with it.

Although I have a hard time with anyone who understands the plot going "Alicent's the only good one here" because she is quite obviously not.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Wow some really dark and twisted shit in this one. Allicent snaps and then Rhaenyra sanctions the murder of her husband so she can marry her uncle. Rhaenyra went completely to the dark side in this one.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

I mean you did see the ending scene, right? I was there with you until that final scene and I was like, ah!

Since multiple people seemed confused, the last scene was




And now I realize that they probably killed that family guard so there's a body.

Also if there was any "important" dialogue during that lovemaking scene please enlighten me because I fast forwarded through that. Also speaking of enlightening holy crap did every scene have to be that dark?

I did like the subtle (or not so subtle) nod that Viserys is losing it when he called Alicent "Aemma" as he went to bed.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Oh wow, it didn't even cross my mind that was Laenor with his dreads cut. So what is the purpose of him disappearing?

Edit: I saw Fujishig's spoiler, which you didn't have to do since this is an episode specific thread. But that makes sense.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Are you sure you're paying attention or are you playing with iPad while watching? ;) I understand this is not an easy series for you to follow.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

True, but it's such a surprise at the end of the episode I wanted to at least give it a day in case someone wandered in here.

Of note is that the book, which is a history from unreliable narrators, doesn't have that scene at all, so I think that's what the showrunners meant when something big was changing from the book (but not really). I thought it was really clever.

Also, that still in the OP, who's the girl in green? Is that Helaena? I don't remember that scene from the episode itself, but there were a lot of people standing around during the wake.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Yeah... good God... how does this murky shit get made? Not sure if the director, or cinematographer, or the guys who sit at the computers and do the post, but do they actually think this looks good? It's like we're watching it through brown gauze or muddy water. It's not just ugly, but it's nearly impossible to tell characters apart and see what they're doing.

It can enough to tell the characters apart when everyone's kind of androgynous and wearing blonde wigs, even when they're in broad daylight (which is rarely).

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

The Targaryens like to keep it in the family.

Harwin Strong was killed by his brother Larys after he returned to Haarenhal. Larys also killed their father, Lyonel, the King's Hand who replaced Otto Hightower.

He got back in after Lyonel died in the fire at Harrenhal.

Yeah, Viserys I and Alicent Hightower have two sons (with three eyes between them) and a daughter that appears to be autistic.

The Targaryens openly practice incest. Aegon the Conqueror married his two sisters.

Some guard whose body they used to fake Laenor's death.

The nameless knight who Daemon paid to kill Laenor. But it turned out he was Laenor's lover. The other guy who jumped in the rowboat was Laenor, with newly shaved head. The murder was faked so that they could both sail across the Narrow Sea and live happily ever after in Essos.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Laena's mother is the cousin of the King and Daemon.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

I wasn't on anyone side but Alicent has been put in this position by her Father and is now protecting her children. She really thinks that if Rhaenyra becomes Queen she would have her kids killed (something I hardly thoughted).

All this time jumping is really cutting into character development.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

There's no question that a couple GoT S8 episodes were so poorly lit that they were difficult to watch, but everything looked crystal clear for me in this episode. Were you all watching it in a brightly lit room or something? I like all the lights out, theater style.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

I think maybe this show's not for you.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Err... if she were to let go of her pride and ambition, then she could've made peace with Rhaenyra. Yes her father put her in this position and she felt like it was her duty to follow through (and "comfort" her best friend's father so she could be queen and have kids) and now she feels like she played by all the rules while Rhaenyra didn't, but at the end of the day she's still making these choices to stoke the flames. And we can see the turn here where she's justifying stuff that Larys did to further her own ends.

I mean, all the porn on her walls are a big sign of how repressed she is.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

And this is way at first I wasnt concern with the time jumps but now kinda think its actually hurts the character's developments. How do you know she hasnt tried to make peace? and maybe she isnt as strong will as others and everyone putting shit in her head is clouding her judgement.

I mean, Rhaenyra hasn't exactly been trying to make it work neither and having children that were obviously not Laenor was not pretty smart of her.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

I listen to the dialogue is how I know Alicent has been bitter and is fostering the same in Cristen. If anything the time skip/casting change has helped in this development since Olivia Cooke is a bit better than her younger counterpart in playing mean instead of helpless and confused. She is a character who wants to stand on top of duty and a higher moral ground but really only so that she can lord it over people: like last episode when she finally admitted she wanted her father back as hand because he's favor her side.

This episode even went out of it's way to explain that Laenor and Rhaenyra tried to have kids and couldn't.

Something else that could go easily missed (though I'm sure they'll have the scene on the previously on segment) is that Helaena's prophecy from last ep came true, dude lost an eye ("he'll have to close an eye") to get his dragon. I'm sure some people will think she's just crazy and just talking nonsense to herself but she's not.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

I think they made it pretty clear last episode how unwilling she is to squash the beef. The bastard children being in the line of succession above her kids is the final straw. While probably to late, Rhaenyra did extend an olive branch with the wedding proposal.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

To bang his boyfriend in peace, with wealth.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Because they are bastards and have no rights. I bet if Rhaenyra and Laenor did have at least one child would it still been a problem?

Them being bastards have thrown a monkey wrench in the whole operation. lol

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...140909433.html

Sounds like HBO received a bunch of complaints about how dark everything was.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Knowing Alicent then yes, it would've still been a problem, because she wants her kids on the throne (it would actually probably threaten her more, though she couldn't then be as blatant as she is in disparaging them). Remember, she still feels like Aegon should be heir and not Rhaenyra. The whole bastard thing is an easy way for her to feel like she's morally right, but like I said, we've seen that that's just a cover.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

I do think that Princess R and Daemon actually wanted to kill her husband, but Qarl decided to warn him in advance so they faked his death and apparently escaped at the end. So I think the Princess and Daemon really do think he's dead. Eventually someone will probably find out he's alive and she'll be in deep shit.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

I don't think that at all.

Daemon killed a guy right before that scene and ostensibly that was the fake body used.

Daemon and Rhaenyra have a whole conversation (that had a different tone at the time) about how only they would know the truth but their enemies will think how ruthless they are and fear them. If you watch that back knowing what happens at the last scene it takes on a different context.

The show wanted to make you think that Rhaenyra was so heartless even after Laenor recommitted himself to her. But if you remember their conversation, it was about duty and being able to live your life and how those things don't always intersect (it was also a nice scene of Rhaenyra reassuring him that he is a good and kind man). This freed Laenor of his duty and allowed him to live his life free of the guilt that was ravaging him for not being the kind of son/wife people wanted him to be. It's also a nice parallel to Cole's earlier offer to Rhaenyra to do the same thing and she refused because she didn't want to give up her position.

That isn't to say that he doesn't come back into the story at some point and get screwed up because hey, nice guys always finish last in Westeros, but I fully believe this was Rhaenyra and Daemon's intention.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Daemon killed the guard to give them a body for the switch. I guess Rhaenya’s potential future children with Daemon would still be bastards since she is married to a still alive Laenor if their plans were to be discovered.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

But Daemon and Rhaenyra were legally married, and at least in the past the Targaryans were able to have multiple wives (it's just not kosher in current Westeros). Besides, in the real world if someone is left for dead, their spouse remarries and have kids, and the person resurfaces, are the kids now bastards?

The bigger thing would be that there are three older brothers to whatever Daemon and Rhaenyra have and then you'd have to out them and thus Rhaenyra first. For all of Daemon's faults I don't think he's trying to trick his niece so he can have power, I think he truly (blech) wants to be with her. Oh and can I mention that for once I was glad they switched actresses?

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

having two spouses may have been okay in the past but Rhaenrya and Daemon clearly aaid that Laenor had to be “dead” for them to marry.

I wonder if dragons can sense their rider is still alive. I assume Laenor’s dragon will have to stay ( or maybe it flies away)and someone will attempt to ride it but be refused and that will raise lots more questions.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Right, for Westeros customs they weren't going to have a dual marriage, I'm just addressing the possibility of Laenor being found alive. I don't think that makes any kids Rhaenyra had with Daemon retroactively bastards.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

I think this will be the last we see of Laenor. In the book history, he was killed off without any doubt. The Fire and Blood book is more of a history book than a novel, and it doesn't necessarily explain everything. For example, in the book, nobody really knows who set the fire at Harrenhal and there are multiple suspects, but House of the Dragon clearly shows Larys was responsible.

A whole lot of other shit is about to start going down, and a Laenor is still alive reveal won't be necessary to advance the plot.

But they do tend to rewrite some stuff for the show, so anything is possible.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

So Laenor just abandoned his kids?

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

He is not the real father.

Wonder if Daemon and Rhaenyra have a child together.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Yeah, but to the kids, he is their father.

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Not to the older kid. But the younger kid, yeah. Felt kinda bad for these kids who both just saw one parent die, and their other parents are marrying each other. Do I call you great uncle or uncle-in-law or father now?

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Wait, what? He acted too much like a father to them, and they had scenes to show it, to the point that he beat up Cole because of it. And the eldest kid point blank asked his mom if Harwin was his dad. In the funeral scene he was like "why do I have to comfort those kids, my dad died too why can't we go to his funeral?" Also, I excluded the last one because that kid is still an infant, right?

Re: House of the Dragon (S1E07) -- "Driftmark" -- 10/2/22
 

Good episode, but damn it was shot way too dark for my liking, and I was watching in a dark room (as usual) and everything.