5 burning questions before House Of The Dragon episode 2
What's next for Prince Daemon? When do we get a time jump? Will all those viewers come back? Here's what we're wondering about the show's latest installment
TV Features Matt Smith
After a record-setting premiere to get things started, interest is running high for the second episode of House Of The Dragon (or HotD, if you prefer). The episode’s title, “The Rogue Prince,” implies that we’ll be seeing more of Matt Smith’s Daemon Targaryen but, of course, speculating on what will happen next in this show is a tricky business. Those who’ve read the source material—George R.R. Martin’s 2018 novel Fire And Blood—already have some idea of the big story beats to come. Or they might think they do. Like Game Of Thrones before it, House Of The Dragon may very well stray from its source material, which is rather sparse and based on third-party recollections many years after the events in the series. We’ve already seen some gaps filled in with deeper character moments, and future changes may be even more significant. There are no safe bets here (though some might be safer than others). As the series continues we’ll be posting our burning questions before each new episode. Here are some of the things we’re wondering about this week.
47 Comments
I am not super familiar with Fire and Blood but it’s difficult to understand how a multi season show can closely follow a single book without indulging in significant Hobbit movies bloat. As I understand it the book is more or less a history book so I guess you just use that to make sure you hit the major plot points with lots of wiggle room in between?
It’s not even the whole book, it’s only like 100 pages of Fire and Blood being adapted. Shouldn’t be a problem though, the source material is just a plot summary with some characterization sprinkled in, there’s lots of room to flesh things out.
Eh, the Targ civil war lasts for a long time, features a ton of characters and battles. Fifty episodes should be easy to pull off.
So Fire and Blood reads more like an unreliable history than a novel. It is supposedly spliced together from the accounts of 4 main sources, some more reliable and some more salacious than others. As a result, there is a lot of room to flesh out the sparse accounts and turn that book into a skeleton for several seasons of show material. I am sure this was one of the selling points to HBO. On top of that, since some of the imaginary sources are somewhat sketchy, there is room to make a few minor changes here and there than might normally annoy readers.Still, time will tell if this works or starts looking drawn out.
It’s a poor man’s Silmarillion. You could make 100 seasons from that, and I’m sure they can squeeze a few from this.
People somehow can never get enough of this low rent Tolkien lite GOT bullshit.
I don’t know why it bothers me because this is, at the end of the day, silly fantasy fiction, but the fact that there was apparently ZERO progress – technologically or otherwise – over 200 years REALLY BUGS ME. Did they even bother to give any thought to this? Again, I know this isn’t “reality,” but time apparently passes in Westeros as it does in our world, so why doesn’t progress happen?
Like you said, it’s fantasy nonsense. But in their very mild defense, if we time traveled first to 900 CE and then to 1100 CE, it’d probably be somewhat challenging for a normie like you or I to notice a ton of technological differences. In reality, they probably just wanted to make sure everyone recognized where they were and what stuff was, and maybe reuse the sets and props they still had on hand.
Some of the fallout of the Dance is that the realm was wracked by war for decades during it, and the loss of dragons subsequent to that means that everything has been in decline since then, so I’m fine with as a worldbuilding quirk.
Yeah, this war is pretty damn debilitating overall. I would not be surprised if that would be a reason for pushing back progress for a good while.
It’s more than that even. The world has been in decline since the Doom of Valyria. They can no longer make their fancy swords or paved roads or towers so tall they go into the clouds. No more elaborate construction using dragonstone to make fancy castles like Dragonstone. No more long distance communication with the magical glass candles. For thousands of years everything was done with magic. The people of Westeros were just backwards savages not even worth conquering. Then Valyria was destroyed and magic started to wane and apparently the Targaryens didn’t bring a lot of knowledge with them, or didn’t share it.
I agree I think people are nitpicking waaaaaaay too much about that point – it’s a fantasy show, after all…likely dame jackasses complaining about black elves in the new Lord of the Rings show…its FANTASY people.
The best way I’ve heard it put: “How do you kill a vampire? Any way you want, because they’re not real.”
I’d also assume that having dragons to cement power meant they didn’t have the need to further technological advancements for things like military innovations, which often lead to domestic technologies.
Nerdwriter1 actually had a good video on that several years ago – the dearth of military weapons development in Game of Thrones compared to our world.
As you go backwards in time, technology last much longer.
Well progress equals invention or invention speeds progress . In our world look at gunpowder . The battle of Hastings ( 1066) , the battle of Cercy ( 1346) and Agincourt ( 1415 ) . Over three hundred years … not much difference . Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks.in 1453 , gunpowder in the use of cannons changed the world .
These are all great points. Now I feel better!
Is death by falling dragon shit a thing?When will this tree get revenge for its family member being turned into a book?
How much peroxide did it take to bleach every cast member’s hair?
Will the rape scene count be lower or higher for this series than GoT?When are screenings of the show on this guy’s forehead being shown?
Oh death by dragon shit IS a thing, but the CGI to pull it off just costs to much.
Jesus Christ, how much is WB Discovery paying all you to promote this damn show? Was “House of the Dragon Week” not enough?
I don’t know why you’re asking the writer, since they’re not the ones getting the money.
Notice my use of “all you,” indicating the site on the whole rather than the specific writer.
I don’tknow why you think the vulture capitalists who run this site read comments and I don’t know why you think the writer has any contact with said vulture capitalists to pass along your complaint.
And I don’t why you care, but I’m sure you have better, more productive things to do than bitch about my bitching.
Hell no, I love taunting useless whiny babies.
Hmm…have you really taunted me? Last comment excepted, you mostly limited yourself to passive aggressive pissiness. But whatever, I’m sure the writer has duly noted your gallant defense of her honor and you’ll soon be handsomely rewarded.
“passive aggressive pissiness”Oh, my bad. It wasn’t my intent to be passive. I’ll be more aggressive in the future. Thanks!
Sure thing!
So you’re the only one who cabatch?
I mean, this sort of show and its hype IS what this site is about after all. In a bit I am sure we will get flooded with even more Amazon LotR stories. One can always just not read them of course.
Yes, the current site is all about tossing out pointless slideshows devoid of any analysis or insight regarding shows it deems sufficiently popular. It is very much not what the site used to be about, however.
Have you not been reading? They’ve been analyzing HotD to death!
Who doesn’t like HotD, though?
10 million people tuned in for the first episode! It’s kind of popular. This site is riding the wave, as it should. You write about what the masses care about. Did you flunk marketing in school? Did you even attend school?
It’s a valid complaint, despite some naysayers. There was a discussion in a thread in morning spoilers this week about the lack of any deep coverage of Sandman, and it sure is a … stark contrast.Pun unintended at first, but then I reread my sentence, and now it’s totally intentional.
The only burning questions I have is why would anyone eat Taco Bell before watching this show?
Maybe they had or attended a Taco Bell Virtual Wedding at Taco Bell in the Metaverse and the reception is everyone hanging out in VR watching the new episode together at their favorite virtual bar like all those GoT fans did while streaming their reactions on Youtube!Yeah … I’m stuck on the taco bell virtual wedding thing to the point I need to find one of these weddings to attend myself.
Hahaha
I didn’t read the books and haven’t thus far been too interested in learning more than the show offers but, re: 5. Who will be the key players in this game?, I severely doubt Eve Best was cast so Rhaenys can sad angry face around at not being picked. Don’t tell me I’m right or wrong but I assume she’s going to be a problem for someone(s).
Both the review and this mentioned that “everything looks the same as it did 200 years later.” It’s a permanently medieval fantasy world. This is not an unfamiliar concept, nor does it really require very much suspension of disbelief. Rings of Power looks pretty much like LOTR. No one cares except the avclub apparently.This fictional world has its own historical epochs. I have news you’ll find distressing – it would look the same if you set it 100 years earlier even. Things might look or feel different in a show that took place before Aegon’s conquest or in the Age of Heroes, but everything since the conquest is written as if it’s pretty much the same, from the clothes to the castles, to the armor and weapons, to the heraldry. No, this is not how science or culture work in a world where it’s established that they already have books, formal education, textiles, architectural knowledge, art, music, agriculture, metallurgy, etc. We know this. Who cares?The multi-year seasons of Westeros don’t make a lick of sense, considering that they live on a planet orbiting a sun and seemingly having 24-hour days and roughly 365-day years, but it’s accepted because it drives the story, it adds interest to the fictional world, and outside hard sci-fi these are pedantic thing to harp on. This show is detestably fucking dumb for many, many reasons, but “I can’t believe they dress the same way they did on GoT,” is not even one of the minor ones.
Oh god, this is happening? This is an actual thing that we care about now?
Right?!
I enjoyed the first episode – good cast, quality production. A ton of people watched it as well. Makes sense that there would be articles about it.I get why people have a bad taste from Game of Thrones, I did too. But this is really an entirely different situation as the story is shorter and complete.
I’m sorry but I loved the ending of Game of Thrones. Seemed totally plausible and the meeting at the end where they have to decide what to rebuild first? Brothels first of course! That was hilarious and totally human!. What’s wrong with people?
1. Why does the AV Club and its sister sites drive away its commenting community by leaving people who want to contribute in the greys? 2. Is it laziness? 3. Is it spite? 4. Why do accounts critical of the site get left alone? 5. Who the fuck cares about Game of Stupid Ass Thrones?
“10 adult dragons under its yolk”Yolk? FFS, do you employ any copy editors?