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shipcestuous · 1 year ago

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SPOILERS FOR HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

Sooo... how are we feeling after episode two?

For my part, I liked that Daemon and Rhaenyra got to acknowledge the tension between them and air out their problems by actually talking to each other... and without him resorting to violence like last season. However, I'm afraid a new wedge has been driven between them. Rhaenyra's trust in Daemon and faith in him being ultimately not that bad of a person has obviously been shaken, but I think rn Daemon, too, is feeling rejected and might be questioning her love for him. His interactions with her actually reminded me of him and Viserys. I think either it will escalate until her cheats on her with Nettles (if she will indeed be cast for the next season) or he'll do some grand, reckless gesture to prove himself to her, like when he won the Stepstones by putting himself directly at risk and then immediately handed the crown to Viserys. But then, there's the question of Mysaria, too... have her and Rhaenyra actually reached some kind of understanding/respect/female solidarity? And will this draw Rhaenyra even more apart from Daemon, who doesn't have the best relationship with Mysaria?

Still on Team Black, I didn't really feeling anything either way for Jace/Baela as a ship last season, but I kinda loved the short exchange we finally got to see between them now. The contrast between fierce Baela and a more diplomatic Jace is cute, and they seem to feel comfortable with each other, talking openly about their feelings and especially their complicated relationships with their fathers. I thought that would be more of a sore subject for Rhaena than for Baela... but I'm here for Baela calling out Daemon and not really knowing how to feel about it, too. I feel like she should be the one more similar to him between his daughters, so that contrast makes for an interesting dynamic.

Moving on to the Greens... oh, man. Where do I even start!? Aemond's mommy issues being confirmed in canon, with him seeking motherly comfort and affection in the prostitute Aegon took him to as a young boy and lying in her lap to be petted and served milk? Yeah, that seems a good place, even with how weird it felt fro Aemond "I'm not like my brother, I'm better" Targaryen to visit a brothel. I think Ewan said something about him to the effect of "I'm not sure he has issues with his mother, but maybe he wishes he could have been her firstborn son and get that unconditional love from her." Which, on one hand, makes me sad, as Aemond and Alicent seemed to have a pretty tight relationship in season one. But on the other hand... he was already wishing he could have been the son she put on the throne instead of Aegon even back then. I remember seeing around that time a post that said something like (paraphrasing horribly because alas I can't seem to track it down and have to improvise) "maybe Aemond wants to be the perfect son for Alicent, the heir to the throne who's good at both fighting and studying, because he knows that, no matter how much Aegon messes up and how much Alicent resents him and punishes him, he'll always be her firstborn and she'll always defend him no matter what, while Aemond secretly fears that, if he didn't cling to his perfect son persona and messed up, her disappointment might lead her to throw him aside." And the thing is, with Luke's death, Aemond absolutely has already messed up. We didn't see Alicent's immediate reaction to the news, but obviously she wasn't happy, and Aemond seemed to have tried to hide his inner turnoil by pretending it wasn't an accident, only bringing himself to admit her regretted with the suspiciously motherly prostitute. Now, I don't think Alicent actually hates Aemond or thinks of him as a heartless monster now, especially with the way she was talking about him being angry ever since he lost his eye and Luke wasn't punished for it last episode... but Aemond himself wasn't there to hear those words. And he seems to have closed himself off from Alicent, switching from "Mother" to addressing her by her name and seemingly focusing on the war only, so chances of them having had a heart-to-heart to clarify their positions and feelings look very low to me. Which leads me to wonder... maybe the OP of that post was onto something, and now Aemond believes his fears have come true, but there's now way he can open up enough to let Alicent reassure him of her love? And instead, he seeks out what he thinks is the next best thing...

Not that Alicent's been very good at reassuring her children in this ep. The scene where she was just silently looking at Aegon as he cried broke my heart. Especially because we now from episode nine of season one that, when Aegon is desperate, he just wants his mother. However, I can't bring myself to agree with the people bashing Alicent for it. For one thing, she's literally said herself that she feels responsible for Jaehaerys' death and is terrified of it being actually a divine punishment for her affair with Criston. It's clear to me that she feels horribly guilty towards her children and grandchildren, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was partly her guilt paralyzing her in that scene, making her think she's not "worthy" of offering comfort or really get close to them after what she believes she's done. But also, Aegon's clearly always been the son she's had the most difficulty relating to, possibly because he's the one who's been put in a position that's eerily similar to her own (he was pushed into preparing himself to be and then actually becoming king for the good of the family when he wasn't ready or even willing for that, like a young Alicent sent to entice Viserys and become his queen) but he always reacted to that in ways she could have never even thought of, and the crushing weight of grief isn't that likely to make the relationship between them any easier, just even more awkward... can you imagine if Alicent tried to hug him and he was just like "why do you care? You wanted me to be king and that put a target on my children's back" or "what, no more slapping me for not being dignified enough?" I can't help but feel those thoughts might have crossed Alicent's mind, too, despite we as the audience being more inclined (this is the impression I'm getting, at least, and I do agree with this line of thought) to imagine him needing and appreciating her support. And finally, Alicent herself doesn't exactly have the best tracked record being comforted by her own parent. With Otto, it's either "sure, I'll hug you and kiss you, but I'll also make you fear for your life and that of your children and plant the seeds of doubt re: your former best friend killing you all for her own gain at the same time" or "look, I already have my own shit going on, of course I DON'T wanto to hear about your angst or your sin or whatever." When your'e basically self-taught at offering support and comfort, I can see your skill failing in the tough situation where they're most needed.

Speaking of Alicent and Otto... I can really get a hold on their relationship this season. They ended the last one with Alicent standing up for herself and Otto having to give in a bit even while still having his own machinations going on. But in the first episode of this new one, Alicent had to beg him to support her instead of undermining her and confided her troubles with her children to him. And now he's not Hand of the King anymore, and he's done caring (or pretending to care?) about her feelings, but it seems she still needs his guidance as she goes along with his plans even when they leave her appalled, as exemplified by Jaehaerys' public funeral procession. It's just a weird, shifing dynamic...

But, leaving Alicent alone for a second (as difficult as it is, because I like her a lot and I feel after this season people will treat her even more unfairly than they used to, lol) and going back to Aegon. I'm not sure I would ever want the show to go in a more Helaegon direction, after all the "it's fine, he doesn't give a shit about me and only fucks me when he's too drunk to tell I'm not one of his whores" stuff in season one, but seeing both of them grieve for their son in their own different ways... I don't know. I wish they could help each other through, connect like they'd never been able to before, even just as brother and sister rather than husband and wife. She doesn't want anyone around her and was just forced into a public event that looked about to give her a panic attack. He's so full of rage and despair that he just wants to kill and destroy and go to war. Such different reactions to the same intense, devastating feeling.

Oh, and we got a Daeron mention at last! I thought he'd have to show up at some point, given his name was in the season one intro, but after no casting had been announced for him before season two, I'd figured they'd just cut him. I wonder how they'll justify his total absence in all the important events up until now in the next season, and how he'll fit in the already very complex Green family dynamic.

Also, as a closing note, I really liked Arryk and Erryk. It was so tragic and full of emotion. They went from "one soul in two bodies" to "I have no choice but to kill him even if I don't want to and I'll regret it forever" to "I hate you for picking the other side and forcing us into this but, more than that, I love you and always him." And that ending... makes me wish we'd seen more of the twins before it came to that point!

Thanks so much for sharing all of your thoughts, Anon!

Daemon & Rhaenyra: I did not enjoy watching them fight, but I think it might have done them good to air out some of the dirty laundry. Daemon never actually told those guys to kill Jaehaerys, or to kill Jaehaerys as a back up, or anything like that. He told them to kill Aemond, which is what Rhaenyra said she wanted. So I feel like this was more of a straw that broke the camel's back situation, and Rhaenyra took the opportunity to list her insecurities and grievances and fears, and it may have been good for Daemon to hear those things, but surely he must be hurt. I liked that Rhaenys expressed sympathy for him, knowing what it's like having been passed over for the crown. I hope she'll say something similar to Rhaenyra at some point. I just hope Rhaenyra we'll realize that she and Daemon are stronger together, and by all appearances, they've had several very happy years of marriage. Daemon's obviously got some issues, and some skewed perspectives, so I guess we'll just have to see if he's going to hold on to them or let them go. They won't come back easily from this fight, but I definitely think it's possible.

Baela/Jace: That was a cute scene and it was nice of the writers to let the step-siblings interact and give them something more than just standing together as a family.

Baela/Daemon: Can you imagine having Daemon Targaryen for a father? I don't think we'll see his relationships with his children explored very much, so it was nice to have something, even if it was just a few lines. I could see a very interesting mix of hate and hero worship co-existing for his kids.

Alicent/Aemond: Aemond's scene with the prostitute screamed mommy issues. The implication of a scene like that would normally be that he needed that kind of love/affection from his mother and never got it. But I don't think Alicent was all that cold of a mother. And that pushes Aemond's need into a more suggestive/interesting place, in my opinion. If he still wants that kind of attention, and to be held and comforted like that.

I didn't like the way Alicent had seemingly turned on him, the way she snapped at him for being at the council, especially. I really liked what we saw of their relationship in s1, which gave me the impression that he was the son she trusted. Smarter, measured, reliable, everything Aegon failed at.

I love that analysis that he has tried to be the perfect son because he'll never be the first born.

Aemond seems to have turned on her a little as well, but I think that's in response to her behavior. If only he would confide in her that Luke was an accident. But he's too proud.

Alicent/Aegon: People will use any excuse to hate on Alicent. And she's just about my favorite? I don't get it.

Alicent not comforting Aegon had, as far as I'm concerned, absolutely nothing to do with her being a bad mom or not loving Aegon enough or anything like that. My impression was that she felt unequipped to comfort him, in large part because of this "sin" that's weighing on her. She feels terribly guilty, like all of this is her fault. It was like you said, Anon.

I also had the impression that maybe she thought he would not have been receptive to her attention. Like he might have been embarrassed and would have lashed out at her.

Alicent is terrified that Aegon is going to stop listening to her. So why would she pass up an opportunity to endear herself to him and put him back in his place as the child? - unless she thought it wouldn't go down like that. Or if she felt unworthy.

Aegon is proving to be a much for layered character than Joffrey, and I'm so glad.

Aegon/Helaena: I actually really liked the moment between Aegon and Helaena in this episode. A moment of sweet comforting would have been better, but that was a pipe dream anyway. What I liked was that Helaena seemed to be seeking comfort from Aegon, which is not what I would have necessarily predicted. When she saw him, she partially-expected but I think mostly wanted to have a moment with him of shared grief. And I think the reason why Aegon refused to do that is because he wanted to be all rage and plans and revenge. That moment where Alicent sees him sobbing is probably what he was trying to avoid with Helaena, either because he didn't want to go there emotionally, or because he didn't want it to happen in front of her. And Helaena really did seem hurt when Aegon refused to stop and speak with her. She expected better, which is interesting.

Aemond/Helaena: You didn't bring this up but I'm going to. What the hell? Two episodes and they haven't even been in the same room together. He has barely been around. The writers really said, "Oh, Aemond is a fan favorite? Let's see what we can do about that." "Oh, a lot of people ship Aemond and Helaena? Let's see how much they ship two characters who are never even in the same room together."

Otto/Alicent: Choo choo, this train is really chugging along this season. I already shipped these two a lot, but their scenes this season are making me love it even more. I'm bummed he's seemingly going away for who knows how long, but surely we'll see him again, and hopefully he'll have Daeron in tow. Otto and Alicent were really working as a team this season. Yes, Otto pushed Alicent into a marriage with Viserys and that was messed up, but we saw in this episode how much Otto actually respected Viserys. And Alicent had the choice not to fight for Aegon's succession, and she chose to put him on the throne, so she's a gamer too, when the chips are down. She's going to miss Otto's wisdom and sanity when he's gone, as much if not more than the first time he was removed as Hand.

I didn't read Otto not wanting to hear her sin as harshly as some people seem to have. For me, it wasn't, "I don't care" as much as, "It doesn't matter". You don't need to come clean with me, you don't owe me honesty, that kind of thing. But also, "I can't offer you absolution." Whatever kind of relief she was seeking, he knew he couldn't give it to her.

Let's not ignore the fact that she wanted to confess to him about her torrid illicit affair.

Arryk/Erryk: I was watching Jeremy Jahns' review of this episode and I really loved what he said about how it didn't really matter which brother won the fight because they both lost no matter what. I just killed my brother and so I'm killing myself, my gosh, what pain.

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