[Poll] How would you rate episode 110?

[Ran]

What'd you think?

[miyuki]

It didn't feel like a season finale at all. 

[TormundsWoman]

23 minutes ago, miyuki said:

It didn't feel like a season finale at all. 

That is the one of the few reason I only gave it a 9.

The other was the fact that it seemed unlikely Arrax would have attacked Vhagar first, but I suppose it would make sense if we consider that Arrax is so young and inexperienced and Luke may not have a grasp on mastering him. 

What is sad is that Aemond seemed to not control his own dragon. And quite frankly his “not intending” to kill Luke when he has the largest, grumpiest and meanest beast in the skies but chasing him like he means it, makes the character look a bit stupid. Every Targaryen knows the dragons are attuned to how their riders feel. And he meant to take out Luke’s eye at least. What did he think Vaghar will do?!

But it is what it is. I guess he can say: oops I did a boo boo?! Maybe?!

Really liked the Rhaenys and Corlys scenes. Seems like such a wholesome relationship when you take a look at all the others we’ve seen so far and especially when you put it in the same ep against the volatile connection that seem to rule Daemon & Rahenyra.
 

There’s some really violent  streak that Daemon struggles to control and it comes out when Viserys or his desires, decisions etc are at the center of it.

I cannot end without mentioning the wonderful job I thought Emma, Eve, Steve, the young actor who played Luke and Matt Damon did this ep.

Edited October 24, 2022 by TormundsWoman

[C.T. Phipps]

https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2022/10/house-of-dragon-1x10-black-queen-review.html

Do you hate the Greens? I know I do. George R.R. Martin stated when he wrote The Dance of the Dragons, he expected fans to be divided on which side to support. Then he found out that it was something like 90% in support of the Blacks and 10% in support of the Greens. The show has actually probably modified those numbers but it's now, 80% support of the Blacks and 20% people who think the Greens aren't being portrayed right due to treating them as the scumbags they are.

I admit, if you couldn't tell, I'm a bit biased in my Pro-Rhaenyra support. I think the Greens being a bunch of scheming evil bastards is one of the things necessary to give any weight to the Dance of the Dragons. I feel like they should be the most contemptible scummy monsters imaginable while the Blacks should be antiheroes who are facing someone worse with just a DASH of a question whether it matters which side is on the throne because the common people will suffer the most no matter what.

However, whether or not you support #TeamAlicent or #TeamRhaenyra, the fact is you've been waiting for the civil war to happen between House Targaryen's three branches. Yes, I'm throwing in the Velaryons there. Everyone knew there was eventually going to be a war between the dragonriders and we all just wanted to see how it would come about. Indeed, HBO executives reportedly wanted to start with the Dance of the Dragons and had to be persuaded by George R.R. Martin to give it a season of build-up.

The premise is that Rhaenys arrived at Dragonstone and tells Daemon and Rhaenyra that Aegon has crowned himself King of Westeros. Rhaneyra is furious but not quite ready to start a war since it's clear that not nearly the level of support she expects is available and House Velayron is an uncertain ally at best. Corys and Rhaenys decide to throw their lot in with Rhaenyra anyway, mostly because Rhaenyra is showing restraint, but Otto provides an unexpected offer of terms that would allow her to back down with dignity. Daemon, of course, is furious and almost strangles his wife over it.

What follows is an interesting depiction of Rhaenyra's mindset as she really does want to be a good ruler and not tear the realm apart. I like Daemon's reaction, though, because he points out Viserys may have been a fan of omens as well as prophecies because it allowed him to think he was more important than he was--a mediocore king over an utterly uninteresting time. However, the losses she suffers in this episode pile up with her father dying, her baby being stillborn, and the horrifying death of one of her sons. I can understand when and where she breaks in deciding to burn them all ala Aerys II.

Speaking of which, the actual beginning of the Dance is interesting to interpret from the perspective that Aemond didn't intend to kill his nephew. He was clearly interested in scaring the living crap out of him by chasing him down but lost control of the world's largest dragon. Which is a a nice callback to Viserys trying to warn everyone that the dragons are not really under their control. It's also still Aemond's fault, like aiming a gun at his nephew to scare him only for it to go off.

This episode was tense and built on a lot of the things I liked about the previous episodes. As stated, without the time jumps, the show feels much-much stronger. We needed the cast to be able to follow-up on events from story to story. Plot elements are also not being tossed away like Corys thinking Rhaenyra had something to do with Laenor's death. I'm not sure I quite buy the fact that he still intends to support her but since he does view her children as his grandchildren, maybe that's enough.

Overall, I've had my issues with the season. I've felt the time-jumps have absolutely killed the pacing, that some of the plot twists were unnecessary (like Viserys' delerium being misinterpreted or Criston Cole not getting any punishment for multiple murders), Alicent's characterization has been all over the place, and way too many deleted scenes. They cut away a lot of scenes that deserved to be in the story. Still, I think we've finally reached a point where actions can be properly followed up on.

[DMC]

3 hours ago, TormundsWoman said:

Matt Damon did this ep

Matt Damon was indeed a great addition to the blacks.

 

[Cashless Society]

4 hours ago, TormundsWoman said:

What is sad is that Aemond seemed to not control his own dragon. And quite frankly his “not intending” to kill Luke when he has the largest, grumpiest and meanest beast in the skies but chasing him like he means it, makes the character look a bit stupid.

What's wrong with characters acting stupid?

[Khloey]

6 hours ago, TormundsWoman said:

The other was the fact that it seemed unlikely Arrax would have attacked Vhagar first, but I suppose it would make sense if we consider that Arrax is so young and inexperienced and Luke may not have a grasp on mastering him. 

What is sad is that Aemond seemed to not control his own dragon. And quite frankly his “not intending” to kill Luke when he has the largest, grumpiest and meanest beast in the skies but chasing him like he means it, makes the character look a bit stupid. Every Targaryen knows the dragons are attuned to how their riders feel. And he meant to take out Luke’s eye at least. What did he think Vaghar will do?!

I find it very plausible that Arrax, out of fear would strike the first blow, little animal can panick quite easily under stress.

It doesn't make Aemond stupid, It just means that emotions of dragons and their riders are interconnected and Vhagar wanted revenge from Luke through Aemond. Vhagar also wanted to protect her rider against the fire, it pulled the string and Aemond lost control of her. If we can assume dragonriders really control their dragons at all.

I'm a horse rider, and I quite agree with Viserys'statement, while we can think of ourself as having great control over much stronger animals, it's quite often an illusion. I can name at leats 10 different examples when my horse did something that I didn't planned, and things he did while I tried to stop him.

But I'm on the fence whether I like that decision or not.. Between that and Alicent's misundertanding, the war seems like it results mostly from accidents.

[The hairy bear]

I've given it a 8. Strong episode, with a very powerful beginning and ending.

[TormundsWoman]

6 hours ago, Cashless Society said:

What's wrong with characters acting stupid?

Nothing. I was simply sating it.

[Ser Not Appearing]

I thought it was pretty good. As always, the most notable things to me are the things that didn't land and among those include random strangulation from Daemon that goes unaddressed and then a rather standard complaint that they are far too willing to sacrifice logic and a sense of realism ... like Rhaenys being undeclared generally but participating in all war councils, specifically.

Probably a 7 or 8. It wasn't bad but it didn't capture anything for me.

... I'm also somewhat mixed on Aemond not intentionally killing. It certainly makes the situation more tragic but also removes a significant portion of autonomy and blame from those involved. In the end, I don't think it factors much in my rating.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Ser Not Appearing

[TormundsWoman]

4 hours ago, Khloey said:

I find it very plausible that Arrax, out of fear would strike the first blow, little animal can panick quite easily under stress.

It doesn't make Aemond stupid, It just means that emotions of dragons and their riders are interconnected and Vhagar wanted revenge from Luke through Aemond.

To the 1st paragraph. While I wasn’t finding it likely while seeing the ep, in my comment if you read it all, I reasoned it out and agreed I suppose it made sense because Arrax is young and inexperienced so probably he reacted out of instinct to what he saw as a larger threat and didn’t listen to Luke.

To the second: definitely stupid action by Aemond. He’s as much aware as any Targaryen who trains for dragons that Vaghar is connected to how he feels. It’s nothing new. If the purpose of the scene was to show Aemond taking revenge for an eye but somehow he figured Vaghar will not read his anger and glee at hunting down Luke… he’s action was stupid.

I don’t think I said stupid enough!

that being said Ewan totally nailed it with the surprised stupid look!

[Corvinus85]

GRRM has never fully revealed how dragon riders control the dragons. Daenerys has heard stories of the use of spells and magical items. Fire & Blood doesn't go into great detail, and often the text's writer ponders what goes on in the mind of a dragon. The show has decided to show that a rider's control is tenuous at best, done only with years of training which involves learned voice commands. And while a telepathic connections seems to develop, it's certainly nowhere near warging. 

[Frey family reunion]

23 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

GRRM has never fully revealed how dragon riders control the dragons. Daenerys has heard stories of the use of spells and magical items. Fire & Blood doesn't go into great detail, and often the text's writer ponders what goes on in the mind of a dragon. The show has decided to show that a rider's control is tenuous at best, done only with years of training which involves learned voice commands. And while a telepathic connections seems to develop, it's certainly nowhere near warging. 

I think their relationship borders more on the empathic than telepathic.  I think they have a strong bond of loyalty to their riders and pick up on their emotions, but I don't think it rises to the level of knowing their rider's thoughts.  

[Frey family reunion]

I only gave it a 7.  I was a little underwhelmed with the ending, which I thought was going to be the strong point of the episode.  Maybe part of it had to do with knowing how it was going to turn out.  

But overall I loved this season.  (apart from Larys' foot fetish, which I could have done without).  I'd give it a strong 9, and it helped wash away the bad taste that the GOT series left.  I thought Paddy by far was the standout of the series.  He helped make Viserys a terrific character (GRRM even admitted that he made that character a lot more interesting than the author did in F&B).  

[IFR]

I gave it a 9. I would dock points from the very predictable fact that Rhaenys masscring hundreds didn't merit any kind of mention, so it clearly was put in as a mindless "cool" moment. And even Daemon in this episode points out how foolish it was that Rhaenys let Alicent and company survive, which further emphasizes how stupid Rhaenys comes off...but I've just accepted that this is one of the missteps that has occurred in the series. And the rest of the show is so strong that I'm keeping with it.

This episode did an excellent job developing the characters, and I enjoyed every moment.

I would rate the season overall as an 8. It established a great foundation for things to come. The characters are well done, fantastic acting all around, and for the most part good writing. And there's plenty of potential for the future.

I hated the idea of a GoT spinoff, so kudos to everyone involved for making this as good as it is.

[Ser Graymax]

Would have given it a 7 1/2 if I could have so an 8.

Unnderwhelming in most spots for a finale but it did convey necessary info on who is aligning with who.

Been nice to know how Daemon found out about Lukes death and his reaction rather than the scene with the dragon in the pits which served no purpose this season, maybe next.

Dragon CGI is excellent ( Rhaynera landing and a small amount of rubble being displaced was a nice touch as well as Daemons slipping on the rocks) but dragons sure are a noisy bunch.

Episode 9 note:  Rhaneys dragon breaking through the floor afterwards from the side sure looked a lot like Godzilla.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Ser Graymax

[Sandy Clegg]

Amazing 'Jaws' vibes from that last scene. I'm glad they went with that eerie vibe rather than a more straightforward dragon fight.

[DMC]

5 hours ago, IFR said:

And even Daemon in this episode points out how foolish it was that Rhaenys let Alicent and company survive, which further emphasizes how stupid Rhaenys comes off...but I've just accepted that this is one of the missteps that has occurred in the series.

Daemon thinking it was foolish just further demonstrates it was the wise decision.  And based on this episode, clearly would have gone against Rhaenyra's wishes until Luke is killed.

[Dildo_Baggins]

Man that soundtrack hits. Thats a 9.8 for me dawg

[Ingelheim]

9/10. Probably the best episode of the season (together with the 1 and 7).