#I didn't mention Criston because I need to think more about him of where to place him on the writing scale

[lullaebies]

About Aemond he is dangerously becoming a Gary stu need someone to remind Ryan that there are other green characters who exist beside Aemond

Rather than becoming a Gary Stu there is just a layer of favoritisim with him. Aemond is not perfect by any means, he just clearly the character Ryan wants to explore more and the character that Ryan is more sincerely willing to bestow the morally ambigious title on (I am speaking only of what the show has presented so far - later on war crimes will be war criming and most characters will lean morally black). It's just a shame he is the only one of his siblings that really gets that extra input on him while the rest of them are eating dust in good faith exploration of their characters (....or they just simply don't exist yet. poor Daeron.) There were efforts in the writing for Aemond and Alicent (or at the very least attempts), it just sucks that we don't really see those extentded to Aegon, Helaena, Daeron, Larys, maybe Tyland.. you know, those who would also will be big parts of the story in the longrun.

[frankcastleonlyfans]

part three of dad!daemon headcanon pleaseeee🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐀𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄, 𝐏𝐓𝟑:

pairing: dad!daemon targaryen x mom!reader

author's note: last episode, aemond beat the shit out of baela and rhaena, and daemon didn't gave a single shit about his daughters being blooded and bruised. i thought i should rewrite that, specially because the day aemond lost his eye is a thing in our dad!daemon au. also, i'll make aemond a little bit ooc because he needs to be an asshole, AND, I changed the way aemond loses his eye.

reblogs, feedbacks and likes are appreciated. i hope you like it!

warnings: mentions of animal cruelty, descriptions of children getting harmed, aemond is his own warning, children cussing, this headcanon is pure chaos so be prepared.

· ┈┈┈┈┈┈ · ୨♡୧ · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·

this takes places months before part 1.

Daemon hated Aemond.

At first you thought it was funny that a grown ass man had such hatred towards a little boy, but then, you saw it with your own eyes.

You and Daemon once watched the kids' dragon training lessons, and you noticed how Aemond's eyes squinted once your son commanded Araxes to dracarys.

So it started there. Your son had his own dragon — and so did your daughter — , and prince Aemond had none.

Daemon would always complain to you how Aemond was picking on Rhaegon during sword fighting training.

"He should be more violent, I don't want Rhaegon to let that prick hurt him."

"Now, you're the one who's picking battles with Alicent." You warned.

Aemond never liked the fact that Alyssa could watch their fighting training. She was a girl, and wasn't supposed to be there.

He couldn't hurt Rhaegon outside the training camp, so he discovered that it was easier to mess with the Targaryen girl.

When Alyssa found her pet cat beheaded under her covers on her blood stained bed, she left her shared room crying, not even answering to Helaena's questions.

She went to the boys’ chambers, where she found her brothers, and Jacaerys and Lucerys sleeping.

Alyssa woke them up and went downstairs to find their parents, hoping they could do something to punish Aemond for his actions. But unfortunately, they found the boy first.

"Cousin Alyssa! I see you’re crying... What's wrong? Didn't like my present?"

Alyssa ran to punch him in the face, but he punched her first.

It started a huge fight, where Rhaegon, Luke, Jace and Alyssa were against Aemond.

Aemond threatened to kill Luke and Alyssa, and Jace tried to stab him with a knife.

Aemond was the most gifted in body combat, so he quickly dodged the Velaryon boy's attack, and kicked him away.

Luke threw sand in Aemond's eyes while he held Rhaegon by the neck, and Jace threw Alyssa the knife.

"Take your fucking hand out of my brother!"

Alyssa wasted no time to cut Aemond's eye.

Aemond fell to the ground screaming, but it was too late when the guards finally came to his rescue.

"What's the meaning of this!?" Daemon stormed into the throne room where everyone was reunited.

"Alyssa! Rhaegon!" You cried out, taking your beated children in your arms.

"What did you do to them, you freak!?" Daemon hissed towards the sewed-eyed boy.

"You're seeing this, Viserys!?" Alicent yelled, "Where do you think your brother's children learned to bully our son?"

"His own brother bullies him!" Rhaegon pointed out.

Aegon was just as unbearable as his brother, but at least he wasted his time drinking instead of making your children's life a living hell.

"Aemond killed Alyssa's cat and punched her in the face!" Lucerys told his uncle, and Daemon groaned in anger.

"That bitch cut my eye!" Aemond uttered.

"You were suffocating my brother!" Alyssa remarked.

"That is enough!" King Viserys yelled, "I want you all to make up and forget this all happened."

"That is insufficient. Aemond has been damaged permanently, my king." Alicent stated.

"I know, Alicent, but I cannot restore his eye. What would you have me do?"

"There is a debt to be paid. I shall have one of Daemon's daughter eyes in return. Ser Criston, bring me the eye of Alyssa Targaryen."

Your eyes opened wide in horror as your daughter ran out of your embrace to hide herself behind Daemon.

"You will do no such thing!" You warned the queen.

Ser Criston stayed in his position while Viserys warned, again, that the matter was finished.

Alicent took the dagger that the king carried around, and came towards the girl, that was still being protected by her father's body.

Daemon acted quickly and unsheathed Dark Sister, pointing the blade to the Queen. All the guards took off their swords.

"Father!" Alyssa cried out.

"Give one more step and both of us will die." Daemon warned, "I'll cut your throat open like a piece of ham, and the King shall have my head. I don't mind dying for my family, your Grace."

Alicent threw the dagger to the floor and left.

Daemon gave you an apologizing look after putting himself in such danger.

You both took care of your children’s wounds, and find out that Maegon stayed in his room after Rhaegon ordered him to.

You took the boys to their room with Rhaenyra and her kids, while Daemon took Alyssa to hers.

"You acted bravely tonight." Daemon whispered against your little girl's silver locks, and gave her forehead a kiss, "I'm proud of you, my little stormfire."

[witheredoffherwitch]

So TG enjoyer here, I'd just like to share some opinions about the dreaded Daeron cut. First, your anon is probably right about Helaena being the only other dragonrider for TG. There is really no way Aemond can't do it all by himself being the sole dragonrider. Helaena would be the only one left to fill that void while Aegon is out of commission. The Reach plot would need one, which I think Aemond would be taking, especially once Hugh and Ulf betray TB. He can't be holding both the Riverlands and the Reach by himself, which is where Helaena comes in. I think many of you have this fixed idea of Helaena being a pure, incorruptible victim but I think she fits parts of Daeron's arc well. She can start off just like Daeron who was kind then got corrupted along the way. Helaena has a bigger stake than Daeron which could be used as her motivation. This is why I disagree with you wanting Helaena to be just a "plot device". They didn't give her the dreamer ability for nothing, not with all the other dreamers that are going to be adapted in the future. Idk how they'll do it but it could be visions of the prophecy and rumored past Targaryens through her.

I'm also going to be honest here: Aemond was NOT doing anything important in the Riverlands. He just burns smallfolk, makes stupid decisions that costs TG greatly, then he gets killed by Martin's favorite Daemon. He wasn't fighting any army while there and neither was he getting Riverland lords to pledge for TG. This was all Criston Cole's work during Rook's Rest and he dies shortly after he steps in the Riverlands because of Aemond's indecision. His whole arc in the book was written to look pathetic compared to Daemon, so I really wonder why some people are looking forward to his arc where he was rendered useless compared to say Daeron or Aegon. There wasn't much about Alys either except for her association with Aemond and she didn't make any significant impact to the plot during the Dance. So this is like people in glass houses throwing stones when you talk about Helaena being just a plot device.

I also don't think the TG Riverlands plot would do well long-term in a tv adaptation because of how skippable it would be. Most of the Riverlands plot is about TB. For TG, there isn't much happening there until the Battle Above God's Eye. It wasn't just because Aemond makes stupid decisions, but other plots happening to other characters just completely eclipses his arc while he does nothing of import. His mass murdering is also going to be a tired act so this is why I can see him getting parts of Daeron's arc too. So if he's going to be the biggest threat in the show, then he has to be moving around. This can equalize him and Daemon in the show and give him something significant to do.

In conclusion, to all TG enjoyers here, I think what many of you fear with Daeron being cut is not as bad as you think. Imo the show is already giving more to TG than we think and Ryan Condal seems to favor TG a bit more.

Daeron will be featured in the show!

He's introduced in the opening sequence and his dragon is mentioned by Daemon in Episode 10 (Edit: the dragon part is disputed but he will included either way). Rest assured, he will make an appearance either in season 2 or 3!

No need to twist someone's arc out of shape to make it fit with our own wacky idea. Instead - let's just wait and see what happens!

[horizon-verizon]

One of the most mysoginistic takes in reddit about Rhaenyra:

"He should have named Aegon heir the day he was born and raised him to be a proper king. Rhaenyra was still young enough that she would have eventually gotten over it and Daemon was still away at war away from his influence. I think she would have understood eventually as well.

Let’s not forget Rhaenyra was content with eating cake and flying around her dragon, it wasn’t until Viserys thrust the prophecy on her out of guilt for Aemma and spite for Daemon that she then took it serious.

Even when she is pleading to Viserys in episode 8 she even admits being heir has been a major burden upon her life." So Aegon should be raised a proper king just because he has a cock. Rhaenyra, being a woman, should be content with eating cake.

Show!Rhaenyra is already a watered down, rewritten version of her canon self, who anticvipated ascending since she was 8 and never questioned it herself. She  says and affirms that the throne is her birthright and dismisses her brother’s claims.

This moment/episode is a huge reason why I detest both this show and think this episode is the worst one aside from 9 and 10. It has the most misogynist writing of the season, where it totally removes Rhaenyra’s quick action, firmness, agency and dignity to make Viserys seem more of a savior when it really was not necessary.

Why can’t Rhaenyra have retained her desire for the throne? For power? For safety for her kids?!

So again, that user knows nothing and obviously never read the book or read it carefully. And you don’t even need to read it “carefully” to know this about canon Rhaenyra--it oozes whenever we get mention of her and her actions. So It’s better to say “fairly” and with an actual brain.

This part in particular:

it wasn’t until Viserys thrust the prophecy on her out of guilt for Aemma and spite for Daemon that she then took it serious.

Viserys didn’t just “spite” Daemon, he seriously believed that Daemon would destroy his legacy and invite ruin to the house. He also continues to keep Rhaenyra as his heir despite his sons not just because he’s guilty over Aemma (even with such a tragedy and his part in it, the passing years will give him other reasons and time to think Rhaenyra fit and good for the position, aside from him putting his eggs in the proverbial basket).

She always took it seriously! Going back to episode 2, with Rhaenyra choosing a guardsman. Her logic for choosing Criston Cole was that real experience more than a man's lineage and status was more useful and needed to protect herself and her father when Otto was the one to want basically anyone else and a person w/o said military experience! Cole at least fought in Dorne/the Stormlands. She also had an argument with Rhaenys about the lords accepting her in the same episode, which shows that drive and desire that I hoped for--even if that scene didn't make sense for what we would expect from Rhaenys since in the canon lore, there was never a hint of such divide or contention between these women, and they rather worked together. Rhaenys comforted Rhaenyra after Luke's death and was the one to suggest they all burn down the greens for Rhaenyra's sake. Apart from that, out of all the cousins Rhaenyra could have, Rhaenys was the one to not only support her as a woman for the throne if she couldn't get it-- especially a family member, a fellow Targ (to bring on house pride and lineage).

Why the fuck does this user think that rapist, drunken Aegon the Elder would be a better ruler than Rhaenyra, or a better candidate? Because Aegon has a dick and they have no creativity or put value into anything that goes out of their own sense of social order and overall immediate convenience, that’s all.

(Let’s just move along with the show for a minute AND use an argument one of those green stans/Rhaenyra haters use) Rhaenyra has been forced to marry for duty and for her father’s advancement, by his orders. She has also lost her mother and struggles with having to bear children and never being taken seriously or occupying the same spaces as the men around her. You’d think that this would invite some sympathy or at least the grace of observation, not censure. But noooo.

And this:

Rhaenyra was still young enough that she would have eventually gotten over it and Daemon was still away at war away from his influence. I think she would have understood eventually as well.

So Rhaenyra is meant to take the idea of her being passed over as “just how it be” because she is female? Bow her head and accept everyone’s assessment that she is inherently or inevitably “not right” for the throne because she is female? 

Aegon the Uncrowned refused to give up when Maegor took it, why should Rhaenyra feel like she should? He was ridiculed even by his past supporters for “allowing” Maegor to take his birthright. And yet, no one in the fandom from what I’ve seen has said the same of him the way they do Rhaenyra, or it is not nearly as common to see things like this for him.

Aerea Targaryen anticipated becoming a Queen. 

Alysanne openly criticized Jaehaerys’ misogyny and refusals to name their daughter Daenerys and their granddaughter Rhaenys as his heirs.

This user just wants patriarchy, not real peace and harmony. Fuck them.

[iris-sistibly]

The Targ Talk (a review series): House of the Dragon episode 3

[🔥]

This isn't supposed to be funny but hey, this is HOTD, some fucked up shit can crack me up like the first scene in this episode where the crab feeder was feeding a hostage to the crabs (the latter was yelling and cursing at him), then Daemon appeared and burned a lot of Craghas Drahar's men and the hostage was like, "Save me my prince!" but he got stepped on...by Caraxes.

The strained relationship between Rhaenyra and Viserys is giving me a normal father and daughter vibes. Rhaenyra is seventeen in this timeline, meaning she's at her rebellious stage. Again, I couldn't blame her, apart from the fact that she hasn't completely healed from her mother's loss, she felt betrayed by her own bff and father and when the two started a family together, she felt like she was being left out. Viserys persuading her to marry made her feel like her dad is shunning her away, that he no longer needs him because he already has a male heir.

Just a little fun fact: In the novel, Rhaenyra actually supported Viserys' marriage to Alicent and the latter even called her "daughter," it was upon the birth of Aegon that their relationship fell apart. It was actually Alicent who voiced out to the king about the line of succession AND suggested the betrothal between Aegon II and Rhaenyra.

When Rhaenyra was attacked by a wild boar but was initially saved by Criston Cole, it was still alive so the anguished Rhaenyra stabbed it multiple times. I felt her anger, loneliness and frustrations which makes me love Milly Alcock even more. She is such a gem!

The stag hunting scene wherein Viserys found out that his men failed to catch the white hart and the look on his face, the night before he was questioning his decision to name Rhaenyra as heir. But after finding out that they didn't catch the white hart, Viserys knew he made the right choice which I think is an important part of the story. In Fire and Blood, Viserys simply refused to change the order of succession (in my theory, maybe it was because he didn't want to hurt his daughter's feelings or something like that), but in the show at least his reasons were clearer.

Speaking of the white hart, I got excited that it was actually Rhaenyra who saw it. It's fitting since SPOILER ALERT (based on Fire and Blood) none of Alicent's children and grandchildren will survive and the succeeding rulers of the Seven Kingdoms (including Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen) are actually descendants of Daemon and Rhaenyra.

The look on everyone's faces when the princess returned with Ser Criston. Love that Rhaenyra was just casually walking around like the badass princess that she was (with wild boar's blood on her face), even the middle finger (Otto Hightower) was fucking speechless. But I see that Harwin Strong is already fanboying her, and to those who have read the book, we know who he is 😉. Also, I want to note Alicent's face when she saw her, the queen was like, "This little brat is trying to show off," and I love it!

The battle at the Stepstones was fucking epic! Laenor Velaryon riding Seasmoke and burning enemies was an exhilarating sight. Speaking of dragons, I wonder when will we be seeing Meleys and Vhagar?

Daemon's reaction to Viserys' letter 🥺🥺 at one point I thought he was going to cry or something. But then again, he is Daemon he doesn't do shit like that. Then he broke into a smile, I swear to the gods that he looked like a little boy who was finally given what he wanted. And of course, him killing Craghas Drahar ❤️❤️

[Meh]

I've mentioned before that I'm not the biggest fan of Alicent Hightower. But seeing her character in the show, I think I kinda like her more in the book. In the novel, Alicent is cunning, clever, and basically has a mind of her own but in the series, she seems to be the opposite. Easily manipulated, and only follows her father's orders without question. I'd like to think that she truly cares for Rhaenyra as she tried to reach out to her a couple of times and even believed that she's fit to rule the Seven Kingdoms. But I can't shake the feeling that Otto is holding her by the neck which is why Alicent does whatever she's told. Well, even the king himself is easily swayed by his hand, what more of his daughter? Might I add that it made me cringe when she called Viserys "my love."

[WTF]

I already know what kind of King Viserys I is like but maaaan, seeing this with my own two eyes is just frustrating af. As a leader, he doesn't have a spine, only cares about parties and never addresses the pressing matters. I honestly can't tell whether he's in denial or just fucking dumb. Perhaps both.

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

HotD: 1x06-1x07 Thoughts

I enjoyed these episodes, more than I thought I would to be honest:

I admit, I was leery of the time jump and recasting but I have to say it worked out very well, the new cast is fantastic (and we got to keep Fabian) and it actually really fits where the story is at now I think (besides the time passage)

Alicent, Alicent, Alicent - wow, time has definitely changed her - that one scene with her and Criston walking really shows just how much bitterness (and jealousy) has taken root and been allowed to grow or maybe fester is a better word

Not gonna lie, I was happy for Aemond to get Vhagar (especially after all of the bullying) until what happened and I was reminded that Laena's daughter did not have a dragon either - not to mention, I don't think this will be a good thing for Rhaenyra's family, Otto seemed way too pleased with this development

Aemond in that fight scene and afterwards gave me strong Draco Malfoy vibes - can you imagine?

I kind of rolled my eyes at the Daemon/Rhaenyra scene but I have to say I felt way more comfortable with it happening now that she's a full on adult and she initiated things

My heart still breaks for Alicent and Rhaenyra, but as is reiterated by the show, who we saw in the first 5 episodes is not who they are now, they're no longer those versions of their characters (literally)

While I'm not a Daemyra fan, I am curious to see what will happen now that they married and just what kind of chaos Daemon will unleash against the Hightowers, and in KL when they return; I think that was a very smart move on Rhaenyra's part, no matter how I feel about Daemon; he's that guy if you're going to war, you want him on your side, because you just know he's going to be one hell of a formidable weapon/opponent, especially in the Game

Sorry, but to me, Aegon is such a waste, he's nothing but a spoiled brat and a bully (love the actor though!) - imho Aemond showed more guts and his ability to handle things/play the Game

Alicent is truly giving off some Cersei vibes in that scene where she demands justice for Aemond; I have never been so glad to see Daemon when he prevented Criston from reaching Alicent's side; I also love how no one was going along with what she said, I get it, her kid lost an eye but to say one of Rhaenyra's kids has to do the same...yeah, no; it seemed like everyone else, even Criston and Otto, were looking off to the side thinking 'right now she's being cray cray, I ain't getting caught up in that'

I am so relieved they didn't kill Laenor; had Rhaenyra really okayed that and the murder happened, I would have been so upset with her; I'm glad she let him go live his best life instead (though I feel sad for Rhaenys and Corlys, especially after they just lost Laena)

speaking of Laena, what a badass! I'm sad at what happened to her but I thought she was a remarkable character - one I don't think we got to see too much of unfortunately

Larys needs to go but then again he does make a good villain

I'm about to slap Criston silly if he so much as smirks at or about Rhaenyra one more time - I get why he's bitter but in no way does it excuse this douchebaggery

I'm glad Otto is back but I'm also wishing he wasn't back if that makes sense?

When do we get to see more Caraxes and Syrax action? I loved seeing Vhagar but I need more of the other two as well

Harwin Strong should be renamed Hot Second, because that's literally how long he was in the show though he fathered all three of Rhaenyra's children - I would have liked to see more interaction with Rhaenyra and him, even if for only one more episode

The Inside the Episode for 1x07 was amazing - I loved Emma's honest take on Daemyra (she's so right btw) and Matt's blunt take on Daemon - they really understood the assignment

Loved Miguel directing 1x07 - it showed imho

Should be interesting to see where we go from here. Daemon is now officially back in the Game for the IT, what he always wanted and how he wanted it be. And Alicent, Otto, and his grandsons are standing in Daemon's way.

Interesting indeed.

[navree]

is it just me who thinks aemond "loving" alicent was only a facade? now he is smug; looks at his mother not with respect or reverence but as if she is someone lower than him because he murdered someone so he can feel better about himself and fuck the others including alicent who was always there for him. like wtf?

So I haven't actually seen the Team Black trailer so maybe there's more interaction in there, but I haven't seen any interaction between Aemond and Alicent? In the promo materials thus far Aemond's on his own or with Criston, and Alicent's with Aegon, Otto, and the funeral scene with Helaena, as well as on her own near various water sources (Ophelia-core, hell yeah). So unless I'm missing something, we haven't really seen any of how their season 2 dynamic is going to be from promotional material yet.

But as to any expressions he's making, I think we need to remember a few things. One, that Aemond isn't actually very expressive visually. He keeps his face pretty neutral at all times, even with people he's close to like Criston and like Alicent. The only time we really see Aemond as portrayed by Ewan openly show emotion is that scene when he realizes Viserys is dead, when he loses his shit at Luke, and during the chase above Storm's End. So it's entirely possible that, whatever he's feeling, he's not showing it on his face (and Ewan has a mouth that appears to curl naturally, so neutrality doesn't necessarily entirely come off that way just based on how he looks). Two, Aemond also doesn't express what he's feeling, period. Storm's End has always been notable to me, from a character perspective for Aemond, because of the fact that it's the only time we see him as an adult actually show how he's feeling. He doesn't show how he's feeling during his training session, during the throne room, during the dinner (seriously, even when threatening Jace or doing the Strong boys speech, his face stays the same, it's just the fact that he's acting at all that appears impressive), during Aegon's coronation, even during something as high emotion as Aegon begging for freedom (while also tenderly cradling his face, the Aegond agenda is alive and well here people never forget that). So I think unless it's a scene where there's a lot going on (like, immediate aftermath of Blood and Cheese levels), he's gonna just not openly express a whole lot.

Lastly, again I never like to knock on people's interpretations of things, but I think it's important to remember what actually happened last time we saw Aemond and what we've seen so far. He didn't murder anyone. He had intent to maim, yeah, at least during his outburst, and he clearly wanted to fuck with Luke, I'm assuming to try and instill a similar feeling of fear and helplessness he must have felt as he dealt with a gruesome, debilitating, and very painful injury at a younger age than Luke due to something Luke did. But the second shit started going wrong and there was clear intent to cause serious bodily injury that could result in death, he's not on board. Remember, Vhagar and Arrax broke control and started acting on their own volition, Arrax by attacking clearly despite Luke trying to stop it, and Vhagar by retaliating to a threat against her. We verbally hear Aemond try to rein it in, and we hear how clearly not on board and horrified he is when it doesn't work and Vhagar chomps Arrax and Luke (earned, honestly, he was super boring and if you can't even bring yourself to apologize for nearly killing another human being for no reason you deserve what you get). And when we see his face, he's very much not happy, and is clearly aware of just how big a fuck up this is and what the potential repercussions could be. Would Aemond be found guilty of, like, dragoncular manslaughter in court for what happened to Luke? Yeah. But did he murder someone and feel good about it? No.

Not to mention, the only in depth thing we've really seen from Aemond (at least in the Greens trailer) is him saying that he has no problem meeting Daemon in the field, which I think is taking place after Blood and Cheese since Criston's hair is shorter and they're clearly putting Fabien in a wig at least for episode one, based on some stills I saw on Variety. And just as I have no issue with Aegon jovially discussing going to war with Team Black after his mother is brutalized and his sister is tortured and his children are threatened with death and rape and his son is beheaded, I don't have much of an issue with Aemond being gung-ho and happy to go after Daemon after he sent men to terrorize innocent civilian members of his family who had jack shit to do with what happened at Storm's End. I'd be skipping and dancing to the opportunity to fuck him over if he did something like that to my sister and her hypothetical family.

TL;DR, I don't think Aemond is "smug" personally, I think he's got resting bitch face and a tendency towards looking neutral, and we also just haven't seen anything of substance from him yet, along with a) not jiving with what we saw last time we saw him and b) a certain cheeriness to violence being a reasonable response to members of his family being grievously wronged.

[iris-sistibly]

Overall Thoughts on House of the Dragon season 1: Is this worth watching?

These are my OVERALL thoughts and opinions based on the show and how it is compared to the novel. 

The show started out really strong

From the trailer, down to the first few episodes. All were amazing! The cast were serving, I always looked forward to watching it every week. That aside, everything was on point–from the costumes (those details!!!), visual effects, musical scoring, cinematography, all were top notch! Some even say that this is way better than the first season of GoT (too early to tell tbh). 

Then the timeskip happened

I know they wanted to focus on the dance so they had to do some major time skipping to fast-pace the story a little more and focus on how the dance of the dragons started. I personally didn't mind that much since I too was looking forward to the tension stirring between Alicent and Rhaenyra, although I must say that it was a tad bit different from the book (we'll get to that later) BUT I would have loved to see how Rhaenyra and Harwin's relationship developed after Rhae dumped Criston to marry Laenor and then having difficulties in conceiving a child with the latter. I would have loved to see how Laenor was coping up at the death of his lover before he met his new paramour. Lastly, the build up between Daemon and Laena's relationship (and well, more of Laena tbh). Perhaps they didn't want to bore the viewers, but I would have loved to see those side stories. Again, the time skips to me were fine. 

They steered away from the book and the first character assassination happened 

Alicent Hightower was the first casualty. In Fire & Blood, it said that both she and Rhaenyra aspired to be the first lady of the realm (this was during Viserys' reign). I have to say that it was never mentioned how Otto raised his own daughter, but she was nowhere near the Alicent I saw in the show. From the very beginning, she has always known what she was doing, she didn't need her father telling her to "do this" and "do that." While in the show, Alicent has shown reluctance to fight for Aegon's claim to the throne at first, in the book, the queen has always been vocal when it came to her son's rights and THIS is where the tension began, this is the reason why the court was divided into the party of the princess and the party of the queen. Alicent's biggest supporter was, of course, her dad and this cost Otto his position as Hand. 

To make Alicent a prisoner of her own father (in the show) was interesting. She was taught to obey her father without question and it was because of this that she first backstabbed Rhaenyra by "winning the king's heart" and marrying him. I love the rebellious stage of the princess and the queen trying to reach out, then eventually patching things up for a moment and then fucked up, that was fine by me. The moment Alicent made that grand entrance at Rhaenyra and Laenor's wedding wearing the color of her house as a way of sending a message to Rhaenyra: it's on bitch, I got so excited. I thought she was going from being a pawn to a player and I'll finally get to see a fiercer side of Alicent. 

But her character was so inconsistent

After the final time skip, that's when everything spiraled downwards for her. Idk what the fuck the writers were thinking when they wrote the story of Alicent in this season but I'm not buying this bullshit. Olivia Cooke delivered her character so well, and that's overall the only good thing about Alicent at this point. Her low-key "waging war" against Rhaenyra, and then having no clue that the greens were already plotting something behind her back to ensure that Aegon will be king and not his sister is so dumb. Perhaps she has known about their plans on crowning her son but not about murdering Rhaenyra, but come on, does she really think that the Blacks would stay still? 

And then there were other things too like, humiliating Rhaenyra at the council meeting, teaching her kids to hate her ex-bffs children, initially planning to take away Lucerys' rights to Driftmark, etc. then she suddenly went back into, "you would make a fine queen" at the dinner scene. I did sense that she still cares for Rhaenyra which was good, but I wish it was more like a facade so when Rhae turns her back, she'd be like "just kidding!" (same goes for Rhaenyra). I would have preferred that over the miscommunication that happened at the end of episode 8. 

Speaking of this stupid prophecy

This is one of the reasons why the second half of the show flopped (as far as the story is concerned). I think that it's so dumb that they made Alicent…well…misinformed about the whole prophecy thing. Then after hearing that "vAliDatiOn" from Viserys, she suddenly learns to defy her dad, and wants to protect Rhae and her family like wtf?! She becomes softer towards Aegon, and tries to prevent bloodshed as best as she can, which she did in the book. But then again, the prophecy bullshit has already messed her up and the entire first season as well. 

Viserys accidentally spilling Aegon the Conqueror's dream wasn't necessary

If anything, it steered away from the core reason why the dance happened in the first place. It turned one, if not the bloodiest war all throughout the Targaryen dynasty into a joke, Alicent didn't have to know about that dream. Her fighting for Aegon's claim simply because he exists is more than enough to challenge Rhaenyra's claim to the throne and cause a war. Had they stuck to the ascension issue and worked their way from there, this wouldn't have turned out the way it did. 

They tried so hard to paint Alicent as a pitiful character

Nope, y'all murdered her. Alicent is beautiful and she's not dumb, she can be fierce and cunning as well. She fought for what she thought was right in accordance with the law, not because of some prophecy. 

Then the writers thought that it would be fun to assassinate another character

Daemon Targaryen, why am I even surprised? I know Sara Hess doesn't like him but whatever. When I was reading Fire & Blood, I did not understand why he's GRRM's favorite. But as I went on with the story, I now know why. Daemon is one, if not the most complex character in the novel. His nature is pretty much typical for a Targaryen–volatile, impulsive, but is also protective and like I said, he will always fight for his family. 

I don't get why the fuck are they trying to paint him as the worst character when clearly there are much more terrible characters than him. I have already discussed so much about Daemon's redeeming qualities, it's bad enough that they fucked up Daemon as a dad to his girls, and now they tried to paint him as a husband who's just as bad or worse than Aegon (he didn't murder Rhea Royce in the book okay?) Like I said in my previous post, that shit was soooo unnecessary and so out of place. It's like Daenerys in season 8 all over again! I'm not saying that Daemon is a heroic character, hell no! He's nowhere near Harwin Strong, but that doesn't mean that he was pure evil (as in like evil, evil). He's the same as the other characters, they all possess BOTH good and bad sides that's why I was invested in him and in so many other characters.

For the record, none of them are purely innocent

Except for the babies. That's what HotD's edge over other fantasy shows, it's not a typical hero saves the day kind of story, it's about how far are you willing to make your hands dirty for your ambition, and if losing the people you love and care about is really worth that something you want so badly. 

By the way, they really love accidents don't they?

Don't bullshit me with Aemond being Aemond, who initially was terrorizing Luke for fun and him accidentally killing his nephew was unintentional, that's not quite Aemond at all. Like I've said before, he's a raging bitch. If I were Aemond, and I lost my eye because of my nephew–accidental or not I will never forgive him. Aemond has hated Lucerys (and his brothers) for so long, even before Luke accidentally plucked out his eye. And every single time he sees him, he always has this urge to kill him. He is also very volatile, had they stuck to the book and planted the same scene in the show that triggered Aemond's anger, that would have been enough reason for him to act impulsively and kill Luke. 

Luke's death being written off as accidental, to make the greens…hm…how do I put this? Less terrible? Is also dumb. The greens and the blacks know wtf were they getting themselves into, it started with the question of succession, then along the way Rhaenyra and Alicent's families had hurt each other which made things worse, and that paved the way for the dance of the dragons. No prophecies, no stupid accidents. 

HBO has a habit of starting off their shows so well and then fucking it up at the end

They really fucked it up the way they fucked up GoT. They outdid themselves this time though, because it only took 1 season. Fire and Blood is literally a history book that was written based on contradicting accounts, meaning the screenwriters had options to choose which one of the accounts was more credible and made more sense (though the very core of the story is the same). They steered away from the novel, fucked up the most important parts of the story and made it worse. 

Idk how the fuck are they going to redeem themselves in the next season, but hopefully it gets better. I'm still crossing my fingers that they'll be able to pull this off despite of what happened in s1 and I'm looking forward to it. 

Is House of the Dragon worth watching? 

Yes, but watch at your own risk 

I love the actors, the technicalities, props, costumes, etc. The first half was really good, but when it came towards the end… 👎 plus I hated how they wrote two of the show's major characters (I don't even know how many fucks I've said already bc of this). 

However, I still think that this show is entertaining. The watching experience was exhilarating, and overall I enjoyed it. 

Rating:

Storyline: 6/10

Cast performance: 1000000/10 (outstanding!)

Cinematography: 1000/10

Musical scoring, Costume, Props, Visual effects: 1000/10

Special shout-out to whoever did the dying Viserys' makeup: 1000000/10