Welcome, everyone, to the season 1 finale of House of the Dragon. Did this season’s finale disappoint? Were we happy with how it ended? Overall, was it a success? All of these questions will be answered and much more in this blog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A moment of honesty. I really messed up by not posting this when I was initially supposed to. This episode aired in the midst of my bout with covid and it kicked my ass. I didn’t get all the things done that I intended to do. By the time I was healthy, I was trying to get other things done, which unintentionally fell by the wayside. My point is, I screwed up and that is why this is so late. My apologies to Chris and Jim, who obviously put a lot of time and effort into this, and also to the readers who have been asking me where the season finale review was. With that being said, all comments in BOLD<\/strong> are from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris: Heading into season 2 Rhaenyra\u2019s strongest ally is House Velaryon. With the equivalent of the entire Navy to enforce their will over trade and the seas, having your two strongholds being on the ocean means you can always pack it up and move, which is something the land-locked lords cannot do. Aegon\u2019s strongest ally is definitely his mom, since we have seen how she gets Larys to help. I can\u2019t imagine him charging Otto the same cost. If he does, I hope I never see that scene. (Chris, you let me down with your first-half response. The House isn\u2019t a single person, but you\u2019re right. I can still be disappointed though. And now I kinda want to see Otto and Larys have a scene. Make it happen!!)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim:\u00a0 Heading into season 2, some Allies have made themselves known, and still others, we are waiting to hear their reply.\u00a0 If the blood spilled in the House of Baratheon causes them to feel they need to ally with the Queen, then I think they will end up as the strongest ally.\u00a0 Otherwise, the only true pronounced ally is Corlys and Rhaena.\u00a0 I don\u2019t necessarily trust that they will stay through until the end (gut feeling, I haven’t read the source material) but they are the only true force that has currently allied.\u00a0 Corlys wanted to stay out of the fray completely, due to issues with both sides, however, Rhaena convinced him to ally at this time.\u00a0 (How are you gonna not mention Erryk and Darklyn here?)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other side, Aemon has declarations from the Lannisters, which even in its infancy, and not at its true GoT power, is a formidable ally (while also not always, or ever, trustworthy). Additionally, Harrenhall (Larys) is proving to be a powerful ally of Alicent\u2019s, not necessarily Aegon\u2019s. While I believe his mother will be using Larys to help the throne, it doesn\u2019t mean that it necessarily will align with Aegon’s decree, if it is an idea that Otto placed there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kent:\u00a0 I want to say Rheanys for Rheanyra, mostly because I don\u2019t know Corlys\u2019 true state of health.\u00a0 Is he near death?\u00a0 Was this just a small bump in the road?\u00a0 Rheanys has also shown her gumption and smarts.\u00a0 She is my pick because I just can’t ever pick someone named Erryk as a positive.\u00a0 My second-place pick would actually be Mysaria.\u00a0 How much longer will Rheanys be alive, and is her power more to do with the dragon, her husband, or her smarts?\u00a0 Meanwhile, Mysaria could be the ultimate informant.\u00a0 Information from within could prove invaluable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Aemon, there are many options, with Larys, Lannisters, and I assume the Baratheons.\u00a0 I could be very wrong about that.\u00a0 But that\u2019s what I am all about.\u00a0 We all know what Aemond did, and we will talk about it in the next question, but he has done stuff that nobody else has in this series.\u00a0 He has quintessentially stolen the largest dragon and made it his, and then he murdered Luke and Luke\u2019s dragon.\u00a0 It has to be Aegon.\u00a0 If dragons are the ultimate weapon, then it has to be Aegon.\u00a0 He gets results and doesn\u2019t have a foot fetish.\u00a0 Have I mentioned how much I hate feet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris: Aemond has to own it. It\u2019s obviously already known (by the ending we get) and will thus be unable to hide. No one will believe that Luke and his lil\u2019dragon tyke provoked Vhagar to attack, and Aemond\u2019s behavior in Storm\u2019s End was already witnessed by a third party. He\u2019ll own it, add it to his reputation, and Otto will be stoked. (I enjoy that you called it \u201chis lil\u2019drgagon tyke\u201d. It feels appropriate given the absurd size differential.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim: I think he will own the killing, but not necessarily the provocation of it. He may choose to lie, and blame Luke for starting the fight (only to be refuted by the Baratheons, which is why I can see the Baratheons siding with the Queen eventually). He wouldn\u2019t want to own the cause as either him drawing first blood in the war, or Vhagar due to his lack of control. He also may spin Luke attacking to try and drum up more support elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kent:\u00a0 Aemond is gonna be an F\u2019N gangster and initially own it.\u00a0 Otto will smile and be so proud of the grandson who actually gets shit done.\u00a0 Then Allicent will wipe the smirk off their faces and give them a reality check and then they will spin the story as much as possible.\u00a0 While Baratheon could clearly dispute this, I get the feeling that Otto will find a way to keep their mouths shut.\u00a0 This was a huge win.\u00a0 Rhaenyra is coming at this situation very emotionally charged, which makes her dangerous, but not cunning.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris: I don\u2019t think he had a flawless episode, but he definitely came off better than what I was expecting from him. He finally acknowledged to his wife how his ambition has cost his family. But his actual staffing of the Stepstones and vanquishing of the Triarchy is the thing that will allow the blacks to stick in the war at the beginning where they otherwise would have had to bend the knee. (The most important Black person on the show also happens to be on team black. Seems like a Tolkien move. Fans of South park will appreciate what I just said.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim:\u00a0 I do think he played everything as best as possible.\u00a0 I am not convinced of the long-term support of Driftmark to Rhaenyra, because I know deep down, he just wanted them to sail away as the world burns.\u00a0 I was surprised with his quick return to health, and was happy to see, as he has been a character I have enjoyed.\u00a0 (I can\u2019t tell if his allegiance was a move of desperation or commitment to a greater cause.\u00a0 I agree with you when you say that he just wanted to sail away from the BS and maybe one day accidentally meet his son.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kent:\u00a0 He was braless and flawless.\u00a0 He has very firm man boobs, or pectoral muscles for those who want to be that person.\u00a0 He basically came back from what sounded like near-certain death and seems to be doing just fine, all things considered.\u00a0 Then he realized that he was wrong and that his wife was right, and he wanted to go back to a time when he and Rhaenys were happy and on the same page.\u00a0 And he took over the Stepstones intelligently.\u00a0 This was good.\u00a0 Most importantly, nothing bad happened in his Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris: Being a commoner myself, Rhaenyra. Sure Daemon burning King\u2019s Landing would have been effective, in a way, but just like at Aegon\u2019s Coronation, who would have died? Not the nobility and not the people who they are at war with but the common folk. Rhaenyra\u2019s own inaction has led them to this point as much as Otto\u2019s ambition or Alicent\u2019s feelings of betrayal. (Dusty Rhodes would have approved of your thought process.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim: The more logical approach of course was Rhaenyra\u2019s, but sending others to speak with Allies rather than herself of course opens the possibility of drawing blood and triggering the war too early (dragon fractions as exhibit A). While Daemon had the potential of catching them off guard, they didn\u2019t really have any army to speak of, so if more of their dragons fell than he was planning, there was no plan B. But it remains to be seen if the Allies she was trying to rally actually come through. If they do not, it appears that Daemon’s surprise attack actually would have been the best. (I thought Plan B was the tea that they keep serving the young ladies. You\u2019re right in the idea of the risk of losing too many dragons is not worth it.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kent:\u00a0 I will say that both approaches were lackluster, at best.\u00a0 Yes, they both lacked a sense of luster.\u00a0 Rheanyra\u2019s wouldn\u2019t be so bad if she hadn\u2019t sent her sons to do a job that she was more fit for.\u00a0 I understand her thinking, but it was very bad thinking.\u00a0 The type of thinking that doesn\u2019t win a war.\u00a0 It hurts you, both short term and potentially long term.\u00a0 What is the best-case scenario for her side after the Luke situation?\u00a0 She gets to try to play the victim card\u2026..again.\u00a0 She MAY get the Baratheons on her side.\u00a0 That\u2019s a really shitty best case.\u00a0 It has a low ceiling.\u00a0 Daemon\u2019s probably doesn\u2019t work, but it would be far more exciting to watch play out.\u00a0 Not only that, but I can\u2019t imagine him being dumb enough to send those boys separately.\u00a0 The thing is, Daemon knows that he can do some significant damage and have a great kill number and even take out some important cogs in the machine, but he can\u2019t take them all out, and he doesn\u2019t have enough muscle behind him to fall back on.\u00a0 That leads us back to Jim\u2019s response about potentially losing dragons.\u00a0 It simply isn\u2019t worth it at this time.\u00a0 Still, a surprise attack has higher potential so I side with Daemon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris: No more than it would have been for the Lannisters. Aerys did some truly horrific things, and the last straw for Robert was Rhaegar\u2019s kidnapping(sic) of Lyanna Stark; that was what kicked that off. Knowing the carnage to come, this will be seen as minor since he did protect Luke within his demesne. (How many people reading this have ever used the term \u201cdemesne\u201d? Just Chris? That makes perfect sense, but a great word for those who may not know what it means.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim: It certainly seems like allowing Luke to die on their soil (sky?) is the beginning of the bad blood, but is it also possible that the bad blood is stemming from the future Baratheon losses in the war between the Targaryens, their people dying as a result of shady estate planning. (I admit that I read that as shady real estate planning and I was wondering where you were going with this. To read the statement as \u201ctheir people dying as a result of shady real estate planning\u201d is really a phenomenal thing to consider.)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kent: I could see this as the first spark. I\u2019m not even sure if this incident would get passed down in Baratheon lore as a big ordeal or not. But, much like the Hatfields and McCoys, it doesn\u2019t take much to really get things started. By the way, that miniseries from 2012 was really fantastic. It had a solid lead cast of Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton along with a litany of other actors that you know by name or face, like Powers Boothe, Tom Berenger, and Mare Winningham. Furthermore, the song that they used for was \u201cBartholomew\u201d by The Silent Comedy, which was also used in the trailer for Dark Souls, one of the all-time greatest video games ever made. Wait\u2026.what was the question again? This is exactly how Kenter At Your Own Risk ends up going off the rails. It was that easy. To answer the question, yes, but it probably wasn\u2019t something many Baratheons cared about by the time that Game of Thrones took place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Heading into season 2, who is Rhaenyra\u2019s strongest non-dragon ally? Who is Aegon\u2019s strongest non-dragon ally? Please pick people, not philosophies or locations, just pick a person.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2.\u00a0 Will Aemond own what he did to Luke?\u00a0 Even if he didn’t mean it, was this a good thing for the Green team?\u00a0 Will Otto approve?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Corlys is alive and doing better than some people expected. Did he have a flawless episode?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Whose approach made more sense to you: Rhaenyra\u2019s or Daemon\u2019s?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Is this the beginning of the bad blood between the Targaryens and Baratheons that lingered all the way to the times of Game of Thrones? Do the Baratheons have a target on them now?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The \u201cWillem Blackwood Award for Momentary Brilliance\u201d – Better known as what our favorite moment or most absurd or unexpected moment of the show was for the week.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n