Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itltxev wrote
Reply to comment by Chataboutgames in The first season of Game of Thrones:House of Dragon has ended. What is your opinion about it? by mrnicegy26
Ya the season finale really had me wondering about a lot of the choices. It is so clearly a pro-Rhaenyra show, which is fine, but that really makes me wonder why didn’t spend more time seeing a lot of these events from her perspective and getting more down time with her, her father, the Strong who she had an affair with, and her sons. If it’s ultimately a show about motherhood, which I think it is, they really should’ve trimmed things down and worried about building out other characters later, or cutting down ones who weren’t ultimately that relevant.
Chataboutgames t1_itluu3z wrote
Yeah I really don't think I liked how they did the last two episodes as one all green and the other all black.
I just want to have some emotional resonance with these characters. Rhaenyra is a stranger to me. She seems to have nothing in common with her younger self, she makes horrendous decisions that we never really see her reflect on or grapple with and when she is on screen she just seems kinda blandly concerned about things. Aside form "less war hungry than Daemon" I can't really think of any personality characteristics I'd ascribe to her in the finale. Like I would shed some context for some reason to care about any of these people.
Like the finale chase/dragon seen was phenomenally done, and it got a reaction out of me. But that reaction was because they did such a good job suddenly switching in to horror film mode, not because I have a shit about this glorified extra or how Rhaenyra would feel about it.
Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itm0njq wrote
I’m so glad to hear this because it speaks to a lot of the frustrations I’ve had with the show that I always get downvoted for expressing.
I think the finale actually works on an emotional level more than most other moments in the show because we’ve seen the rivalry between the cousins occur many times now. The tension has been built, so when he walks into the court we feel it immediately not just because of “oh they’re both here trying to convince this king” but “oh they have literally been at each others throats since they were kids, and there is a personal rivalry between them”
> Aside form “less war hungry than Daemon” I can’t really think of any personality characteristics I’d ascribe to her in the finale. Like I would shed some context for some reason to care about any of these people.
1000x this! So many of the characters are only understood through their actions as they relate to the plot. But we need to see them in moments that have nothing to do with it.
When you watch a show like Andor, you get so many details of characters that add emotional context to their actions. There’s a villain who appears in only one episode, but we get a scene of him preparing for a ceremony with his wife and kid. His clothes don’t quite fit him anymore because he’s gotten fat, he’s dismissive of his wife, and hard on his son. It’s nothing to do with the overall story, but his presence throughout the rest of the episode is changed dramatically because we see underneath the surface just a bit. There is SO little of that in HOD.
Deadlocked02 t1_itlxb7a wrote
> It is so clearly a pro-Rhaenyra show, which is fine
I mean, is it (fine, not pro-Rhaenyra, which it obviously is)? It really feels like they rob her of a lot of what makes her compelling in the book to me in the process. She comes off as very soft spoken, wise and well-meaning in the show. Some interpretations of the book are not as flattering, but I genuinely believe they’re more interesting and have the potential to be more entertaining.
Chataboutgames t1_itlz7gq wrote
It's like the show doesn't have the balls to engage with her character. Like she clearly fucks up on an epic scale producing all these bastards, but the only one ever vocalizing that is Alicent, who's presented as a tightly wound, overly pious, sex negative shrew. Rhaenyra's fuckups are obviously present in the show, but it only engages with them as plot devices, not one a real character level.
Also, the whole tie in of the prophecy is stupid and I don't understand why it's even there.
Particular-Fly-3643 t1_itlzuxc wrote
Ya I think this is very true. When I said it was Pro-Rhaenrya, I meant that they started the show with her, and ended it with us hanging on to her emotional perspective. But that doesn’t mean they do a good job of making it her show, like you said the engagement of character stuff is only plot level. And since she’s the main character, it means everyone else is even more surface level.
I never knew Alicent was in love with Criston until reading an episode with the actress. The show never talks about it, but it’s a huge part of why the actress says Alicent feels so upset about Criston sleeping with Rhaenrya. Similarly, the actress said that Alicent is insecure because she knows Rhaenyra is the better mother, but that’s also never really showcased since we rarely see them as mothers unless it’s important for the plot.
Deadlocked02 t1_itm2qcf wrote
> Like she clearly fucks up on an epic scale producing all these bastards
The show tries to sweep that under the rug by saying she and Laenor tried to have kids, but it just didn’t work, which is a pretty poor excuse, to be honest. Especially for someone who knows her claim is likely to be challenged. In the books, my impression is that she did it because she thinks she can get away with it.
> Also, the whole tie in of the prophecy is stupid and I don't understand why it's even there.
One of its purposes, the way I understood it, was to remove Alicent’s agency. Like she supports the usurping of the throne, but just because she thinks it’s her husband’s wish. Pretty lame, if you ask me.
yoaver t1_itmug3f wrote
Laenor claimed the Strong kids in the books, which I doybt he would've if Rhaenyra just had them for the fun of it.
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