House of the Dragon continues with The Rogue Prince and so do the dialogues between Petra and I, as we get into whether the show’s use of time jumps works, the continuing adventures of King Viserys getting easily manipulated by everyone around him, that scene with Laena, the newly found complexity of Alicent and Mysaria, and what we are expecting from the next episode based on the previews.
Petra: So, we’re back.
Luka: A week later. Or six months, depending on how you look at it.
Petra: I’m assuming the time jumps will peeter off as the dragons start dancing.
Luka: There shouldn’t be any once things get firey and bloody, but that won’t be for a while yet. We’re still due for the massive mid-season time jump, and a few smaller ones in-between too. Perhaps it’s because I’ve had that in mind for a long time and accepted this season would span decades, but that six months time jump barely registered to me. It didn’t feel like we missed anything, you know? Some time had to pass for things to get worse in just the right way.
Petra: I like that they’re starting far back enough to set up the situation that leads to the Dance. Time jumps are necessary to maintain the pacing.
Luka: There were two fundamental ways to go about structuring this story for TV. One was to start with the Dance, or rather the days leading up to it. That structure was discarded early on in development, largely because Martin didn’t like it one bit. And I get why. The time jumps may be tricky for some of the audience but there is a long, complicated, generational story that leads up to the Dance. If the war itself is to be done justice, the foundation has to be there. As it is, we won’t see what could’ve been the series premiere in that other version until the last few episodes of this season. As it should be! These big climactic events wouldn’t leave much of an impact on us if we didn’t spend several episodes getting to know the characters, their relationships, and the political landscape. Imagine starting Game of Thrones a few days before Ned’s execution in Baelor. That’d be the equivalent. So, all in all, I’m content with the time jumps.
Petra: I like that we’re getting to see the thought process behind some of the major decisions that led to the Dance, namely Viserys marrying Alicent. In Fire and Blood it’s just sort of matter-of-factly stated that he remarried and… —no major spoilers, but let’s say that had repercussions. But why he ever thought it was a good idea to start a second line is never discussed. In this episode we learn exactly why Viserys did what he did. Even if we know it wasn’t a smart move.
Luka: As someone who greatly enjoyed Fire and Blood, that’ll be a big part of what I’m enjoying in House of the Dragon. Most adaptations from book to screen have to condense and simplify; this is the complete opposite. The show is massively expanding on the source material, and doing it well. Viserys is a great example of that, as you said. He had exactly one role in Fire and Blood and there was never really much to him as a character. The writers and Considine have brought a lot to him, from the weight of prophecy to his indecision as a king, and more.
Petra: Can I just say I still don’t hate Viserys?
Luka: Me neither. He’s a fuckup, especially if any woman is in any way involved. Aemma, Rhaenyra, Alicent, Laena. But honestly, I pity him.
Petra: I’ve been struggling to fully articulate my thoughts on him. There are layers to this. He’s the face of the patriarchy but he’s also a victim of it. Westeros is not a place where individuality and personal freedoms are valued. He doesn’t want to get remarried but people tell him that he has to. At the same time, he’s not clever enough to read a room and realize that he’s being manipulated.
Luka: Otto is manipulating Viserys by saying he doesn’t envy the decision the king has to make. But he’s also telling the truth. It is messed up that the king has to remarry in such a hurry, and with these prospective wives too, who are both children, though I can’t fault him for choosing the one who isn’t half his height.
Petra: It seems like a blatantly bad idea for him to have more children. He seems to think he must produce a “spare” to Rhaenyra’s “heir” but the more tactful thing to do would be to marry Rhaenyra off and have her start producing heirs. But I get that Corlys and Otto are after their own interests so they’re trying to sell Viserys on this idea that he must marry and produce more children immediately. Anyway, you’re an Alicent fan. What’s your read on how she feels about all this?
Luka: I’m enjoying experiencing her interiority. Fire and Blood lacked this perspective, purposefully, especially in regards to characters like Alicent, who can seem like caricatures sometimes. Alicent not being happy about courting and marrying Viserys is not something I’d have predicted, necessarily, but I find it refreshing. I’m waiting for that to change over the next few episodes, however. I don’t think Alicent will be a power-hungry maniac in the future but she will be seeking power, partly as a means of protecting her family. So I’m looking forward to seeing how she gets from where she’s at right now to that. For now, I’m just enjoying Emily Carey’s remarkable performance. Her anxiety makes me anxious.
Petra: I was rewatching her scenes to prepare for this, and I don’t know that Alicent’s entirely unhappy about getting married. Obviously, she hates the way Rhaenyra finds out, but I get the impression that she enjoys her chats with Viserys. The way her face falls when her father enters the room, I think she feels some degree of safety with Viserys because, contrary to what Otto thinks, the king’s not interested in her for sex. They just have these nerdy conversations about Old Valyria. Obviously, her needs and interests are not being addressed—it’s all about Viserys. But it’s not as bad as it could be. The bar is low.
Luka: When we caught up with their private chats in The Rogue Prince, I also thought Alicent was enjoying herself. But then we saw she was still picking at her fingernails, injuring herself, which led me to believe Alicent was merely being dutiful and a great actor. But I like your angle. Perhaps she was still so anxious because her father had sent her with a clear purpose, and she was there under false pretenses. Even if she feels safe around Viserys, which I do believe she does, she knows these conversations are a farce, rotten to the core.
Petra: She picks at her fingernails when Viserys says he’s considering marrying Laena. It could very well be that she’s worried her father will be upset at her for “failing”, but I think it’s also a fair interpretation that she knows she’s got a good thing going with Viserys. To be clear, I’m not claiming that she has agency in this situation, or that the situation isn’t fucked up. But I think the writers made the decision to frame their interactions the way they did—with them fully clothed, avoiding physical contact, talking about Old Valyrian infrastructure.
Luka: You mentioned Laena. What did you think of that scene? I read some reviews, watched some reactions; everyone was cringing so hard, which is obviously the intended effect. Even Viserys was cringing. But I thought it was cringeworthy in an effective way—even darkly funny, as it was so absurd. Not cringeworthy in the “what the fuck is this offensive abomination?” kind of way.
Petra: I really appreciated how they leaned right into the grossness of it. It’s a scene that’s intended to highlight how ludicrous the system is. I also liked that Laena mentioned Vhagar. Nice set up for later!
Luka: “Mentioned” Vhagar? You could tell Laena was only interested in talking about that old dragon. I loved that bit. Especially because the actress, Nova Foueillis-Mosé, seemed to play that part quite genuinely, but when she started talking about giving Viserys strong sons, she’s just reciting it; you could tell Corlys and Rhaenys had made her memorize that bit. Poor baby.
Petra: The mental image of Corlys going full Pageant Dad makes me laugh. But, yes, that scene addressed head on that this 12 year old is being used as a political pawn and she’ll be expected to have sex with a middle-aged man. The horrors of the patriarchal system that characters will fight to dismantle later on are being firmly established. And Laena and Alicent aren’t the only women having to nagivate within a patriarchal system this episode: we got to see more of Mysaria.
Luka: We did. They’ve taken a curious approach with the character. If Alicent can seem like a caricature in Fire and Blood sometimes, Mysaria is an outright cartoon villain. The show version not wanting to have children and being with Daemon because it offers her freedom is a more rounded characterization than what we get in the source material, to say the least. That said, given the significant actions Mysaria will eventually take, probably next season, I imagine we’ll see her change, because right now I can’t picture Mysaria acting as—spoiler alert, albeit a vague one—Daemon’s henchwoman. But we’ll get to that someday.
Petra: The decision to make her pregnancy a ruse was a pretty significant way to differentiate both Daemon and Mysaria from their Fire and Blood counterparts. I’m hoping that Mysaria will function as more than Daemon’s evil go-between, since she objects so strongly to him using her as a pawn in this episode.
Luka: Daemon trolling his brother for attention from Dragonstone was marvelous, though. I love Smith’s Daemon. He just wants his brother to notice him and will do whatever crazy shit he can think of to achieve that.
Petra: Daemon as an agent of chaos and a needy little brother is so much more interesting than Daemon as a power-hungry brute. He doesn’t seem to have a long-term plan, which contrasts him against folks like Otto and Corlys. Everyone’s still violent and self-serving, but in different ways.
Luka: What did you think of the standoff on the Dragonstone steps? To start with, I was just happy to see Dragonstone again. Instead of returning to film where I live, in the Basque Country, they 3D-scanned the Castle of Gaztelugatxe and Itzurun beach in Zumaia and recreated it in their gigantic LED wall stage. Normally I’d be against them not going on location but, as you can attest to having been to Gaztelugatxe, it must be a terrible place to film in. The way they did it allowed them to get shots they could have never gotten on location, as well as that beautiful mist and the twilight rays shining through it. It looked beautiful.
Petra: Really gorgeously shot scene. After seeing it teased so much in the trailers, it was nice to finally see the whole thing. Rhaenyra takes charge and disobeys her father because she knows how to diffuse the situation. We learn a little bit more about what makes Daemon tick; he’s desperate for his brother’s attention but he has a genuine soft spot for Rhaenyra. We already knew that, to some degree, but surrendering the egg and giving up completely takes it to another level.
Luka: As much as Daemon likes Rhaenyra, I suspect this is the first time he’s seen her as an equal, as a force to be reckoned with. He respects her more now.
Petra: She calls his bluff. Anyway, they’re not going to see each other for a while since he’s off to the Stepstones, which should be interesting.
Luka: Yes, he’s going away to fight horror movie villain Crahgas ‘Crabfeeder’ Drahar. I don’t think he’ll be more than a one-episode antagonist (well, two episodes, if we count the tease in this one), so it makes sense to go big and broad with his appearance, I suppose. What are you looking forward to in the next episode, aside from this Westerosi Freddy Krueger/Jason Voorhees mashup?
Petra: Well, Westerosi Monster Mash is definitely a huge draw. The fact that they’ve given him greyscale elevates the danger of engaging him in single combat.
Luka: Thankfully, Daemon has a dragon, and one who’s at least as grumpy as he is.
Petra: Yes! More dragon action. Though, Daemon does get shot with an arrow in the preview so that may impact his dragonriding. Viserys cutting his pinky finger on the Iron Throne led to a grizzly infection, so I’ve got to think Daemon getting shot with an arrow could have some sort of consequence.
Luka: I don’t think the war will be going very well when we catch up with Daemon and Corlys next episode. This will probably be the largest action set piece we get this season, so I’m looking forward to it. But I’m probably more intrigued by how things develop at court. Going by the promo material, we’ll see Aegon as a toddler and Alicent already pregnant with her second child. And a royal hunt! We never got one in Game of Thrones, not truly, which always was one of Martin’s pet-peeves. Considering this particular royal hunt is not mentioned in Fire and Blood, I can only imagine this was Martin’s suggestion, or at least Ryan Condal’s way to make the author happy. You want a royal hunt? Here you have a royal hunt, as it should be—with hundreds of extras, horses, and tents. Can’t wait.
Petra: It’s a great way to demonstrate the opulence of the Targaryen kings at this time. I’m looking forward to it.
Luka: It’s funny: the real reason for this contrast is the massive difference in budget between early Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, which may not have the budget of the original show’s last few seasons but close enough. But it works so well in-universe! Comparing Robert’s tourney and hunt in Game of Thrones to Viserys’s in House of the Dragon makes the former look pitiful, which is appropriate. It shows Game of Thrones was a time of decline in Westeros.
Petra: It’s also a good way to keep things varied. Three episodes of people conspiring and moping around the Red Keep might get repetitive. But moving everyone to a campsite in the woods changes things up.
Luka: I think these big events making each episode feel distinct are a big reason why this time-jumpy structure and pacing works for me: the tourney in the premiere; the princely standoff here; the royal hunt and the war next week. If they keep mixing it up for the rest of the season, I don’t think there’ll be many complaints that it’s getting too samey. And it would be too samey if this season was a one-to-one adaptation of Fire and Blood between the years 101 and 129 AC. They’ve found a good way to differentiate each episode by giving us some unique spectacle each week and by amping up the drama of these pre-Dance events.
Petra: Agreed. I almost feel like we may come off as boring just praising the episode and not having gripes. But House of the Dragon is really good so far!
Luka: Agreed. That said, if someone wants to pay me to say it’s shit, I’ll do it.
Petra: Oh, that goes for me too. I have a Venmo.
Otto played this whole thing really smart. He knew the only way Viserys would remarry would be if he actually fell in love. So, he sent his daughter to him immediately after Aemma died – not to have sex with him right away, but to start forming a genuine bond with him.
In contrast, Corlys approached Viserys with the more pragmatic proposal of “marry my daughter, not for love, but for duty” – something Otto himself uses to plant doubts in Viserys’ mind later (“To be forced to replace her for duty’s sake…”)
The reason Otto is so good at manipulating and “climbing the ladder”, as Littlefinger would put it, is because he analyzes, and takes advantage of the humanity of his opponents, rather than just telling them the pragmatically sound thing to do.
As for Alicent’s feelings… While I do think she genuinely enjoys her time with Viserys, and isn’t entirely against the idea of marrying him, my take is that she’s aware that her feelings “don’t matter”. Like Rhaenys, she understands “the order of things”, and so she simply goes along with what her father says.
I think that will change though, and she will start to form her own agenda – Like Luka said, most likely to protect her family.
Love these GCDs!