It’s that time again! Watch our roundup of video reviews, breakdowns and reactions for House of the Dragon’s fourth episode, “Second of His Name”!
Let’s start with the reviews and breakdowns from book readers!
Westeros History reviewed last week’s episode on their podcast with their usual level of eruditeness, and also created a much shorter synopsis video that contextualizes several details based on knowledge of the source material:
Joe Magician discussed the episode with Manu from Not A Cast:
Gray Area provides us with a hilarious yet informative review, as usual:
TwoTheFuture focuses on how, in the words of Oscar Wilde, “everything is about sex, except sex: sex is about power.” He analizes how Rhaenyra’s sex escapades have been adapted compared to the various sources in Fire and Blood.
Erik Voss at New Rockstars breaks down the episode, focusing on easter eggs and details you might have missed—such as the already updated bloodline in the opening credits sequence, the houses the lords who vyed for Rhaenyra’s hand belonged to, the machinations of the Free Cities, Aegon’s prophecy, and more.
Of course, there is also Alt Shift X, with his exhaustive, neatly-produced videos. His review and breakdown for “King of the Narrow Sea” highlights the legend of Storm’s End’s creation, the age-old rivalry of the Blackwoods and Brackens, what Daemon’s machinations could mean, an analysis of Aegon’s expanded prophecy, and more.
We’ll finish with video reactions! They bring a social aspect to watching the show if that’s something you seek. They’re especially fun to watch this week, as we witness several people not knowing how to react to that incestuous brothel scene.
Let’s start with Blind Wave. Their reaction is quite fun, as is their long conversation afterwards. It was interesting to see them figure out who the ‘White Worm’ was—it seems to me they got it more quickly than most other non-book readers.
The Normies are a bit short of members this week, with only three reactors, although that makes them a bit more focused too:
Finally, there is the famous Burlington Bar. Here is part two. It’s all worth it for the awkwardness of a bar full people watching incest between uncle and niece!
That’s it for this week! Who are your favorites among this selection? Also: are there any other creators you would suggest for me to include next week?
”TwoTheFuture focuses on how, in the words of Oscar Wilde, “everything is about sex, except sex: sex is about power.” He analizes how Rhaenyra’s sex escapades have been adapted compared to the various sources in Fire and Blood.”
Uhh… Was that a Freudian typo?
Here’s Jeremy Jahns. He’s been one of my favourite Youtube reviewers for a while. His videos are fairly short, but always fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IigSVRb5t0
Kristian Harloff. I enjoyed his GOT reviews, and his HotD reviews are great too. I love his enthusiasm for the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLbeC3XmIOM
Glidus is also fantastic, but his episode 4 video isn’t out yet.
As for reactions…
SirMonkeySuit is great. Unfortunately his episode 4 video is also not out yet.
I enjoy 7th House Films as well. He’s good at catching on to things, I think most people don’t.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pfjiNb6rpI
And finally, I’ve been really enjoying these guys – AutoSave. What’s so interesting about their reactions is that, not only are neither of them book-readers, but one of them hasn’t even seen Game of Thrones! A very interesting mix of perspectives, to say the least.
”Also: are there any other creators you would suggest for me to include next week?”
I used to love Ozzyman Reviews of Game of Thrones episodes. (His review of S5e8, “Hardhome,” was a classic.)
A quick YouTube search yielded an
Ozzyman Reviews video for HotD S1e1:
https://youtu.be/0n7DmTGkEsg
I have not watched this yet, or looked to see if he’s done any reviews of subsequent episodes.
Because I mentioned it above, here is a link to Ozzyman Reviews: Recap and Review of Game of Thrones Season 5, Episode 8, “Hardhome,” posted June 2, 2015:
https://youtu.be/MRKFD0rbZBQ
Note: As reflected in recent discussions here about possible spin-offs, many of us are excited about the prospect of the “Snow” show. Here’s what Ozzyman said about “Hardhome”(at 1:55 of the 7:48 long video):
“Best of all, it was like the Jon Snow Show.”
Oh, and it looks like Alt Shift X has posted his video now.
Malcolm Ferguson,
Yeah! Updating now.
I’ll consider some all of y’all’s suggestions for next week!
Pace is too fast x 10
Bronn,
I thought the pace slowed down pretty dramatically last episode.
Kind of a slow episode to me, and I didn’t really get what was supposed to be so amazing about the sex scene(s), but it contained some much needed character development.