Clockwise from bottom left: Ewan Mitchell, Elliot Grihault, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Fabian Frankel, and Matt Smith in House Of The Dragon Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO
We’re almost back in Westeros. Twenty months after the season-one finale, House Of The Dragonreturnson June 16 with eight new episodes. HBO’s Game Of Thrones spinoff isn’t perfect (here’s what we would change), but it strikes a chord with its epic world-building, fascinating characters, and, of course, way more dragons than the original ever had. Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood novel, HOTD is set two centuries before GOT and depicts the brutal Targaryen dynasty clash that led to war called The Dance of the Dragons.
The show debuted in 2022 and slowly won over audiences, even those scarred from GOT’s final season, including this writer. With season two almost here, this is your refresher on the key storylines to remember so you’re not constantly running to Wikipedia while watching the series.
3. Criston Cole and Ser Larys are leeches of the top-order
Fabien Frankel; Matthew Needham in Photo Ollie Upton/HBO
There’s no one worse on HOTD than Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel). Handpicked by Rhaenyra to join the Kingsguard, the two form a strong connection and start a fun little fling. When he asks her to marry him for love, she rejects the proposal in favor of her duty and the Iron Throne, as is her wont. It pisses him off when she suggests they can continue in secret, even if she’s wife to someone else. So he promptly switches his favorite colors from Black to Green after Alicent stops him from killing himself. Now he’s devoted to her and obsessed with taking Rhaenyra out, no matter what it takes. He’s not the only leech on Alicent’s side. She’s also got master manipulator Larys Strong (Matthew Needham), who is HOTD’s version of Littlefinger and Lord Varys combined. He’s friendly on the surface, but simmering inside is a callous man who is keenly observant and ready to orchestrate the killing of anyone as long as he survives and stays within power’s reach. On occasion, his behavior has freaked Alicent out, who realizes it’s better to keep Larys close than to let him run amok. Now, brace yourselves because both of these faces will show up heavily in season two, and take charge in the inner circle. Yikes.
I’m just glad they didn’t change one of them! Back in the early seasons of Game of Thrones they didn’t think their audience could wrap their minds around there being an Osha and an Asha. So they made up the name Yara for Theon’s sister.
Hah, I never made that connection.In their defense, when plotting out the second season they probably figured Osha and Asha/Yara would end up having more screen time than Bronn. But damn what a performance Jerome Flynn gave, I understand why they gave him a larger role, even though it got a bit ridiculous in the end.
Call me crazy, but I think stuff like rape is worse than a guy who snapped, killed someone, and then felt so ashamed that he tried to kill himself.But he called the main character a cunt, so obviously he’s the worst character in the show.
I can’t wait to root for the side that contains of Joffrey 2.0, Bearded Machiavelli, Ser Incel McMurderface, Creepofinger, Anime Eyepatch Villain and Green Mean Girl.
I guess the blond girl is alright?
On the other hand the other side has niece-fucking wife murderer uncle, so that’s something
She’s important to the story because in season two, Mysaria is back and her network of moles is crucial in the war to come.I’m fairly sure this is a show spoiler? Maybe not technically, my memory is fuzzy but I’m pretty sure her death was implied without showing a body at the end of last season.
I hate to be this guy, but I read the initial sex between Rhaenyra and Cole as effectively involving coerced consent on Cole’s part (ie not consent at all), and his later attempt to marry her being his way of coping with having broken his vows of chastity (ie, if it was a grand romance than it was somewhat justifiable). I find it odd that it’s being portrayed as a ‘fun fling’ with him then being the spurned lover. My take was he turned on her because she effectively used him. Like, I thought this was what the show was going for, though I haven’t rewatched so maybe I’m wrong?
It’s been a while for me too, and I remember some debate about this point. I think this confusion was just the result of extremely poor characterization. Cole initially seems written as being coerced into a relationship, to the point where their first encounter feels a lot like a rape, which was interesting material because of the genders involved in this power imbalance. But then later on it’s unclear if Cole really was in love with Rhaenyra the whole time and she broke his heart, or if he was just deluding himself because he felt guilty about breaking his vows for her. So his entire character motivation is muddled.
I remember everything I need to remember about this show:all the characters are unsympathetic monstersthe visual palette of this show ranges from brown to a slightly grayer brown
House of the Dragons is not perfect but it’s 100 times better than Rings of Power or a parody of a CW show made by half retarded teenagers like The Acolyte, but weirdly you have only praise for them and never proposed to improve them.
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Aegon Targaryen is the John Smith of Westeros.
I’m just glad they didn’t change one of them! Back in the early seasons of Game of Thrones they didn’t think their audience could wrap their minds around there being an Osha and an Asha. So they made up the name Yara for Theon’s sister.
Which is baffling, because there was Bran and Bronn, and those two got WAY more screen time than Asha and Osha.
Hah, I never made that connection.In their defense, when plotting out the second season they probably figured Osha and Asha/Yara would end up having more screen time than Bronn. But damn what a performance Jerome Flynn gave, I understand why they gave him a larger role, even though it got a bit ridiculous in the end.
“There’s no one worse on HOTD than Ser Criston Cole”What’s wrong with you?
Nice try, Ser Criston, you absolute piece of shit
Call me crazy, but I think stuff like rape is worse than a guy who snapped, killed someone, and then felt so ashamed that he tried to kill himself.But he called the main character a cunt, so obviously he’s the worst character in the show.
I can’t wait to root for the side that contains of Joffrey 2.0, Bearded Machiavelli, Ser Incel McMurderface, Creepofinger, Anime Eyepatch Villain and Green Mean Girl.
I guess the blond girl is alright?
On the other hand the other side has niece-fucking wife murderer uncle, so that’s something
She’s important to the story because in season two, Mysaria is back and her network of moles is crucial in the war to come.I’m fairly sure this is a show spoiler? Maybe not technically, my memory is fuzzy but I’m pretty sure her death was implied without showing a body at the end of last season.
I hate to be this guy, but I read the initial sex between Rhaenyra and Cole as effectively involving coerced consent on Cole’s part (ie not consent at all), and his later attempt to marry her being his way of coping with having broken his vows of chastity (ie, if it was a grand romance than it was somewhat justifiable). I find it odd that it’s being portrayed as a ‘fun fling’ with him then being the spurned lover. My take was he turned on her because she effectively used him. Like, I thought this was what the show was going for, though I haven’t rewatched so maybe I’m wrong?
Plus, he’s a working class guy who got he was through talent and hard work, which still put him under the absolute control of an inbred dilettante.
It’s been a while for me too, and I remember some debate about this point. I think this confusion was just the result of extremely poor characterization. Cole initially seems written as being coerced into a relationship, to the point where their first encounter feels a lot like a rape, which was interesting material because of the genders involved in this power imbalance. But then later on it’s unclear if Cole really was in love with Rhaenyra the whole time and she broke his heart, or if he was just deluding himself because he felt guilty about breaking his vows for her. So his entire character motivation is muddled.
I remember everything I need to remember about this show:all the characters are unsympathetic monstersthe visual palette of this show ranges from brown to a slightly grayer brown
House of the Dragons is not perfect but it’s 100 times better than Rings of Power or a parody of a CW show made by half retarded teenagers like The Acolyte, but weirdly you have only praise for them and never proposed to improve them.
A bit of a stretch to call Fire and Blood a novel. It’s an appendix of backstory for the books that have characters you can actually care about.