Ryan Shoots First: House of the Dragon (S1 Ep2) “The Rogue Prince”
It is week two of House of the Dragon and while this may have been short on action it certainly was not short on some stellar performances. Headlined by Rhaenyra who really shined in this episode. Her quiet confidence and vulnerability in conversations with her father and Alicent were really great. I really like her and I’m not really looking forward to the time jump when we will see Emma D’Arcy take over the role of the older Rhanry.
Beyond that we saw a lot of what we saw last week reinforced with King Viserys feeling the weight of the crown as he is pulled in all directions from the self-serving members of his small council. Matt Smith’s Daemons in some brief moments also really shines. He is a conflicted character who seems both impulsive but also calculated. It is hard to tell if he is acting crazy or confident or foolishly… or all three. We also see a lot more of the Valeryon clan as Viserys’ sister Rhaenys gets her first lines and her husband Corlys plays a more prominent role.
All in all this was a very political episode of House of the Dragon but these episodes are crucial to not only build the playing field our players are maneuvering on, but also to inform us and allow us to invest in the characters for what’s to come. I am glad to see the series focus on this so heavy in only the second episode. With Thrones it made sense as the show was not a hit yet and frankly they did not have the budget but this show has every reason to try to ooh and ahh us with visuals. It is nice to see that character matters to them.
Observations
- Interesting the opening uses the Thrones‘ theme.
- Gross, but man that’s some good effects
- Another Targaryen girl trying to break the wheel.
- Cool that the King is building a model of old Valyria
- Man Rhanry is tearing that candle scene up.
- This is like the Cold War of Westeros
- This dude is literally not strong enough for the throne.
- Rhys Ifans was made for Thrones.
- Haha well this is awkward.
- Daaaaamn Rhanry is MVP this week.
- Daemon making plays
- I gotta say there are some strong characters already 2 weeks in I’m invested in.
- See find you a women who invests in your hobbies guys
- Kings guard fits are a little much.
- Return to Dragonstone
- Shot of the week on the bridge there entering dragon stone
- Rhanry done letting these dudes play
- Daemon you gotta get your side chick to buy in man.
- Corlys is pissed
- “I’ll speak of my brother as I wish you will not” as all Brothers feel.
