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HBO Releases First Costumed Photos from House of the Dragon


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On 5/6/2021 at 3:08 PM, Lord Varys said:

Exactly. And the earlier press releases/information we got on Princess Rhaenys indicated Rhaenyra would eventually become the king's heir during the course of the show.

I expect something along those lines for the beginning of the series:

Queen Aemma is alive and pregnant, nobody expects her death, nobody plans to replace her yet. Rhaenyra is the spoiled only child of the king and queen, and Alicent her best friend and companion she grew up with. Their relationship has Rhaenyra as the blood royal being the one in charge, while Alicent is just the daughter of the Hand ... who isn't that prestigious himself. I'd also expect that Rhaenyra and Alicent both have the hots for Daemon, competing for his attention and Alicent, perhaps, giving her maidenhead to Daemon - which will be part of the reason why Otto loathes him.

After Aemma's death Otto and Alicent push the king to install Rhaenyra as Heir Apparent - the romance between Alicent and Viserys will only start after that. A very powerful way to do that would be if Alicent catches Viserys' eye because she passionately speaks for Rhaenyra being worthy of becoming the Heir Apparent. Alicent and Viserys will only marry/have an affair after Rhaenyra is Heir Apparent. And from that point their relationship dynamic will change because the queen outranks the Heir Apparent ... even before Alicent's has children of her own. Which will make things even worse.

But we also can draw certain dynamics from the press releases about Daemon and Viserys, since the latter really seems to have a rather dismissive view of Daemon, with Daemon not so much being imagined as 'a super cool guy', but rather as an embarrassment in the ruling department - they could have scenes with Viserys, Otto, and Daemon at council where the guy completely sucks at the jobs his given, forgetting assignments, numbers, being completely unable to do his job. You have this kind of dismissive affection Viserys feels for his brother in his line from FaB where he says: 'Let Daemon play at war, it will keep him out of trouble.'

I expect there to be an actual affair between Criston and Rhaenyra which is going to end badly when she marries Laenor (assuming we get Laenor and her marriage to him - which we should, since they should not cut this gay character). We should get some real juicy sex scenes, after all.

Otto Hightower could be a very sympathetic character while he basically defends the Realm against the prospect of a King Daemon I, especially if they portray as a person who would well and truly suck at running a government.

That I don't think - Rhaenyra-Alicent should start to fray when Alicent is queen and thus outranks Rhaenyra ... and things should further deteriorate when Alicent has sons. Although things shouldn't be completely broken between them. That will only come after what's 120 AC in the books - Aemond losing his eye and Rhaenyra marrying Daemon.

The biggest problem with Aegon II is during the Dance when he is basically either a pawn or completely absent.

But that could actually be an interesting plot since it would make the roles of Alicent, Aemond, and Criston Cole more important - as they are in the books. Aegon II is actually more a Tommen/Joffrey kind of character - a figurehead of a movement, not so much somebody who runs things.

Realistically, that 'honorable trait' of Aegon II is either completely invented ... or just a sign of his cowardice since he is afraid that the Realm would not accept him as king.

But that changes quickly enough - once Aegon is king he no longer has any redeeming qualities. I mean, even after his restoration he wastes money and resources on those ridiculous statues of his dead brothers.

The show could make him more sympathetic if he is more a not-so-bright pawn of his mother and grandfather in the show, and starts to somewhat develop after the first losses he suffers - Jaehaerys, mad Helaena, injuries, etc. But technically he should basically not have much/any screentime until he comes back to kill Rhaenyra on Dragonstone.

Weirdly enough, Mushroom’s claim that Daemon deflowered Alicent in the Rogue Prince was something I found completely believable, so I was surprised when it was removed in Fire & Blood.

I think your suggested trajectory for Criston and Rhaenyra’s relationship makes the most sense, with them having an affair and Rhaenyra ending it to marry Laenor/keep her claim. That would make them both sympathetic. Her relationship with Harwin could start later, after it becomes clear that Laenor isn’t going to perform. The more complicated part is how they write Rhaenyra and Daemon’s relationship. It might be better for them to just leave it at flirting on the show, especially if they want us to sympathize with Daemon. Modern audiences aren’t going to be down with a guy seducing his teenage niece. 
 

What I’m most curious about is if Daemon will still have two wives before Rhaenyra. They could skip Rhea entirely, or they might not even include Laena and instead have Baela and Rhaena be Rhea’s kids. 

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4 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Weirdly enough, Mushroom’s claim that Daemon deflowered Alicent in the Rogue Prince was something I found completely believable, so I was surprised when it was removed in Fire & Blood.

Yes, that's something that made sense. Although I must say the show could find other interesting ways to establish the animosity between Otto and Daemon - namely, Daemon being an incompetent, lazy, and irresponsible guy - completely unqualified to sit on the council or have any word in the government of the Realm. Otto Hightower is described as a very methodical man, a guy who would chose the men he works with on the basis of ability and talent ... and likely also whether they could work with him or not.

Young Daemon seems to be the kind of fellow who would think all he had to do as a prince was to be there ... and the work would do itself. That alone could cause Otto to fear for the Realm and its government when he considered that Daemon might one day sit the Iron Throne. And Viserys I didn't like that prospect all that much, either, else he wouldn't have dismissed Daemon from the council seats he had granted him.

4 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I think your suggested trajectory for Criston and Rhaenyra’s relationship makes the most sense, with them having an affair and Rhaenyra ending it to marry Laenor/keep her claim. That would make them both sympathetic. Her relationship with Harwin could start later, after it becomes clear that Laenor isn’t going to perform. The more complicated part is how they write Rhaenyra and Daemon’s relationship. It might be better for them to just leave it at flirting on the show, especially if they want us to sympathize with Daemon. Modern audiences aren’t going to be down with a guy seducing his teenage niece.

Since I don't think Rhaenyra will be a young teenager at the beginning of the show the idea would be, I think, that Rhaenyra and Alicent have the hots for Daemon, him being this dashing fellow, whereas Daemon only starts to care for Rhaenyra after she is made Heir Apparent - which basically is also the case in the book.

I think it is out of the question we get the weird uncle giving his niece seduction lessons ... but we could get the Daemon/Rhaenyra affair in 111 AC after the tourney - although that would necessitate that Daemon is married at that time, or else we would have gotten a secret marriage of uncle and niece at that time.

In general, I think, they should focus on the whole incest thing and hammer home the fact that it is normal for this people to marry and sexually desire close relations - because that's what it is.

The Cole affair I suggested would then come after Daemon's exile. And part of Criston's later hatred of Rhaenyra and the Blacks could also be connected to him viewing Daemon as a rival for Rhaenyra's affections at this early time. In fact, if you think about it, Rhaenyra ending up with Daemon in 120 AC would have only deepened his hatred and jealousy. We can assume as much even for the books.

4 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

What I’m most curious about is if Daemon will still have two wives before Rhaenyra. They could skip Rhea entirely, or they might not even include Laena and instead have Baela and Rhaena be Rhea’s kids. 

I've suggested that it could be remarkably easy for them to keep Rhea in a funny way - have Daemon appear to a be a cool bachelor all the time ... until folks first start to weirdly reference a wife we have so far never met. And then she shows up for an episode (and later we get a scene of her death or we merely hear about that). Say, when King Viserys has enough of his brother and commands him to return to his lady wife. Then we could see Daemon being pissed at Runestone for a couple of scenes, and him and Rhea having very awkward conversations/interactions.

It is the kind of thing one could use to show how much arranged marriages in such a setting can suck. Because they could be people who are so different in character and personality that even small talk is basically impossible.

Actually, if they were to cut Laena, I'd make Baela and Rhaena Rhaenyra's daughters by Daemon. That would work easily enough and could better show the incest marriage policy thing if they keep Rhaenyra's sons being betrothed to Daemon's daughters.

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I think I just figured out from a spy photo that Graham McTavish has been cast in House of the Dragon: the Saint of Killers from Preacher, Dwalin from the Hobbit prequel trilogy, Dongal from Outlander.

At first I didn't notice because of the face mask and glasses.

But then someone on twitter remarked that Fabien Frankel (Criston Cole) is following him on Instagram, and he's been cited in Cornwall.

So I went back and checked the spy photos, where I remembered a distinctive tall bald man with grey hair. 

This is blatantly Graham McTavish.

As for who he's playing, given that we think they were filming Laena's funeral, when all the great lords gather...

...I suspect he's been cast as Lyonel Strong.

House Strong is known for their great size and robustness. Graham is 6 feet 2 inches. He's too old to be playing Lyonel's son Harwin.

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  • 3 months later...

Over the past several weeks, I've been working on a thorough analysis of these first costume photos - focusing on Rhaenyra and Alicent.

It's not just a new season, but an entirely new TV show altogether set in a different time period with different production staff. So it's trying to figure out the entire "visual aesthetic" of the overall TV show (of which costumes are a major part).  I had help and advice from some of the major YouTube channels devoted to Costume analysis in scifi and fantasy shows (who know a lot more than I do).  

The result was this 2 hour long-form documentary on medieval fashion, and analyzing the House of the Dragon costumes in that context:

While this is long, I'd urge you all to watch the whole thing - because it's really an overview for the series as a whole and I'm going to refer back to it in the future. But the bullet point version is this:

  • Michele Clapton made original fantasy constructs for her costumes; new costume designer Jany Temime is pulling from real historical fashions...but mix-and-matching between different eras.
  • I go over three broad eras of fashion: "High Middle Ages" (1000 - 1350), "Late Middle Ages" (1350 - 1500), and "Tudor/Reformation" (1500-1600)
  • Alicent looks similar to Tudor at first, but she isn't exactly wearing what Anne Boleyn wore; it's more of a mix-match of Late Medieval and Tudor elements. 
  • Alicent's neckline is the famous square Tudor style....but she doesn't have a Tudor hat (the French hood); instead it looks like she's wearing some sort of variant of the "Escoffion" hat from the Late Middle Ages. This is backed up by spy photos in which women on Driftmark are very clearly wearing double-horned versions of Escoffion hats - that's a Late Middle Ages feature, not a Tudor one. Alicent also doesn't have the "busk" tube-corset associated with the Tudors. 
  • Consider that the War of the Five Kings era is supposed to be loosely inspired by the Wars of the Roses, ending in 1487 with Henry 7 victorious. What we call "Tudor" is what got established under his son Henry 8....really established by the 1530s.  So while Alicent is mix and matching from two eras, they're two eras that happened right next to each other. So was there ever historically an "overlap" period like this? With the new Tudor square cut neckline but the older hats?  It seems like something from the years 1490 to 1500.
  • At first we had no idea what Rhaenyra's gown is supposed to be. But once you realize that Temime is basing this on real-life designs, that narrows it down.
  • After extensive research....I realized that Rhaenyra's costume is ALSO an early Reformation-era design....but from Germany and the Low Countries (was Sweden like this too?)
  • Not all of Europe wore the fashions we associate with Tudor England, it was starting to diversify. Actually, this style started in Spain, spread to France and parts of Italy, THEN spread to England (with Henry 8's first and second wives).  But Germany and the Low Countries had a very different style altogether.
  • Rhaenyra's outfit isn't quite as closely based on a historical design, the way Alicent's has prominent Tudor features....it's sort of a more loosely inspired, exaggerated German design: the V-shaped neckline, the narrow sleeves...and above all, the prominent, huge decorative lace holding the gown together in front - which is a style unique to Germany and Northern Europe in the 1500s. 

Why the heck did Temime choose to have characters wearing designs from a slightly LATER time period than the Wars of the Roses that the War of the Five Kings era is based on...in a prequel?  My running guess is to show that this is the Targaryen golden age, the Targaryens at their peak - books state the reign of Viserys I is considered the apex Targaryen power - and to show that the civil war devastated them so badly afterwards that it's a height of society and prosperity that they never quire reached again.

Why did she choose these opposing styles for Alicent and Rhaenyra?  Alicent dresses the way Catholic countries did and Rhaenyra the way mostly Protestant ones did...but that's a historical accident.  Henry 8 ended up turning Protestant but kept the fashion styles of his Catholic rivals France and Spain. Germany had different fashions because it was a rival of Catholic powers like France and Spain, but I think any higher symbolism wasn't intended.

In short, I think that Temime wants Alicent to look like what the audience stereotypically associates with "England style"; something pseudo Anne Boleyn. The Hightowers are one of the oldest and purest Westerosi noble families, they rule *OLDTOWN* itself, heartland of Andal culture, deep ties to local religion. So logically, Alicent looks like a "Tudor Rose" of sorts, classic England.

From there it just sort of falls into place: there were only two major widespread fashions at this time, the Spain-France-England-parts of Italy style we call "Tudor", and then "Germany and the Low Countries".  So I think Temime put Rhaenyra in this German style/Northern Europe style....simply because it's "not England".  

If Alicent looks like "pure England, Tudor Rose"....Rhaenyra looks like a different rival fashion. The only other..."contemporary" choice that's still in Europe is Germanic style.....the other option was to go really out there by doing what Clapton did, making the Lannisters look Asian inspired (which we suspect was because Clapton's ideas was that the Lannister style was inspired by the Targaryens back when they were close allies, and the Targaryen styles we saw looked sort of Asian to emphasize their "foreign-ness").  So instead of reaching for "Rhaenyra and the Velaryons look really foreign to contrast them with the Hightowers...let's make them wear Asian styles!".....I think Temime just went with the only other major fashion in Europe at the time, the Germanic one. 

That's my theory anyway. But in a side by side comparison....Rhaenyra's outfit actually looks a lot like paintings of Martin Luther's wife. It IS a historical costume, just not one we're used to in our too-often "England-centric" view of the Middle Ages.  

Updates as I get them.

@Ran @Linda

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  • 2 weeks later...

@Ran

Big new spy photo leak reveals that House of the Dragon has been filming in Derbyshire, England ( between Manchester and Sheffield, up in the mountains of the Peak District):

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9957319/Graham-McTavish-Olivia-Cooke-pictured-set-Game-Thrones-prequel-House-Dragon.html

  • Our first clear look at Graham McTavish in full costume...confirming that he's playing Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Harrold Westerling. We got a big casting description for Harrold in the leaked casting sheets last year so we figured they'd cast a high profile actor. Kingsguard armor a bit closer to the white design from the books; his horse has Targaryen sigils on it.
  • Our first look at Young Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and Young Alicent (Emily Carey). Alicent is wearing more of a pale green...probably going to gradually evolve into bolder, more threatening shades of green when she shifts to adult Alicent. Similarly, Young Rhaenyra's hair is loose, doesn't really have threatening, coiled war braids yet. 
  • Shots of some new guardsmen who might be standard Targaryen guardsmen we've never seen before.
  • Clear shot of a nobleman who MIGHT be actor Gavin Spokes, who we've heard has joined the cast. Possibly Lyonel Strong?
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