What are your favorite scenes of Hot D ? (And the least favorite)

[Khloey]

I really liked this season, but some scenes really stood out for me. I'm gonna pick 3 :

- Aemond riding Vhagar : I have re-watched that scene several times

- The last 15min of episode 10 : from the moment Luc appeared above Storm's end to Rhaenyra's face

- Viserys' walk toward the throne

 

On the other end, there are several scenes that I didn't enjoy much, but the one I really dislike remains Laenor's fake death (both in terms of narration and execution).

[Annara Snow]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:50 PM, Khloey said:

I really liked this season, but some scenes really stood out for me. I'm gonna pick 3 :

- Aemond riding Vhagar : I have re-watched that scene several times

- The last 15min of episode 10 : from the moment Luc appeared above Storm's end to Rhaenyra's face

- Viserys' walk toward the throne

 

On the other end, there are several scenes that I didn't enjoy much, but the one I really dislike remains Laenor's fake death (both in terms of narration and execution).

I would list those too, and some that also come to mind are:

- the juxtaposition and contrast of Rharnyra and Daemon in the brothel and Alicent and Viserys in 1x04. That was really well done. This (and the Cole/Rhaenyra sex scene a bit later) is how you do sex scene to convey meaning and not just be there for itself.

- the final scene of 1x05 was so good: the Faith of the Seven ceremony is so much better in this show than the Robb/Talisa wedding in GoT. I rewatched that and it was so badly done on GoT, I'm glad they changed it. I hope we see it again with a couple that actually mean those vows...but in this ep, it was so painful, seeing Laenor in pain, and the editing cutting between the vows and Criston Cole about to kill himself in godswood when Alicent arrives. It quickly estabishes that Cole is now seeing Alicent as a figure of worship and he is now 'hers'.

-The dinner in 1x08 with a dysfunctional family just barely containing all their issues, until they don't

Least favorite:

- Rhaenys staring down the Greens in 1x09. Not for the reasons the fandom usually states; of course Rhaenys wasn't gonna kill everyone for Rhaenyra (why?) and be branded infamous kinslayer... but why threaten them and show off at all? What was the message there? "I have a dragon"? Yeah, so do Aemond, Aegon and Helaena, and if theirs were there things would be different, so what was the point? WHy didn't she just fly away without that nonsense? Just to have a cool scene? (Although it did allow for some fun character moments, like Alicent being terrified but still instinctively shielding Aegon with her body - even if rationally that wouldn't have helped - and Aemond doing a 'come at me bro" staring contest.. the context was too stupid)

 

[cytherea]

I think the scene that had me with my heart on my throat the most was Alicent's first entrance with the green dress. It was so delicate, so full of meaning, for me it was one of the best.

Aemond's first ride on Vhagar was also GREAT, I wished we would have seen more scenes of that kind, since general memes were that the dragons were just ubers. There were a few, such as that, and Rhaenyra/Syrax syncing their screams, that showed how connected they were to their beasts.

That moment Harwin had with the baby was also on top of the list for me. This was Harwin being a father to the child he could never admit was his, and the small intimacies between him and Rhaenyra, the domesticity of it just made it for me.

Least favorites will be topped by the foot fetish thing, there was simply no reason to do that at ALL. I feel like the story could've progressed as it was without that, not to mention how much more it does to worsen Larys' character without need. His was one that bothered me a lot.

[Khloey]

On 11/4/2022 at 2:15 PM, Annara Snow said:

I would list those too, and some that also come to mind are:

- the juxtaposition and contrast of Rharnyra and Daemon in the brothel and Alicent and Viserys in 1x04. That was really well done. This (and the Cole/Rhaenyra sex scene a bit later) is how you do sex scene to convey meaning and not just be there for itself.

- the final scene of 1x05 was so good: the Faith of the Seven ceremony is so much better in this show than the Robb/Talisa wedding in GoT. I rewatched that and it was so badly done on GoT, I'm glad they changed it. I hope we see it again with a couple that actually mean those vows...but in this ep, it was so painful, seeing Laenor in pain, and the editing cutting between the vows and Criston Cole about to kill himself in godswood when Alicent arrives. It quickly estabishes that Cole is now seeing Alicent as a figure of worship and he is now 'hers'.

-The dinner in 1x08 with a dysfunctional family just barely containing all their issues, until they don't

Least favorite:

- Rhaenys staring down the Greens in 1x09. Not for the reasons the fandom usually states; of course Rhaenys wasn't gonna kill everyone for Rhaenyra (why?) and be branded infamous kinslayer... but why threaten them and show off at all? What was the message there? "I have a dragon"? Yeah, so do Aemond, Aegon and Helaena, and if theirs were there things would be different, so what was the point? WHy didn't she just fly away without that nonsense? Just to have a cool scene? (Although it did allow for some fun character moments, like Alicent being terrified but still instinctively shielding Aegon with her body - even if rationally that wouldn't have helped - and Aemond doing a 'come at me bro" staring contest.. the context was too stupid)

 

Oh yes, I loved the dinner scene in episode 8 as well !

I agree with the ending of episode 9, that bugged me too...

[Khloey]

16 hours ago, cytherea said:

Least favorites will be topped by the foot fetish thing, there was simply no reason to do that at ALL. I feel like the story could've progressed as it was without that, not to mention how much more it does to worsen Larys' character without need. His was one that bothered me a lot.

To me it worsened Alicent more than Larys. This is a guy who had his father and brother burned alive, there is nothing he can do that would worsen his character. He's clearly a psychopath who enjoys the power he has over the Queen. He could have pretty feet from any woman, but no, he chose Alicent to assert his dominance over her.

But Alicent, with all that talk about honor and duty ("I have to believe that dignity and honor will prevail" to Crispy), it just made her a big hypocrite.

[cytherea]

1 hour ago, Khloey said:

To me it worsened Alicent more than Larys. This is a guy who had his father and brother burned alive, there is nothing he can do that would worsen his character. He's clearly a psychopath who enjoys the power he has over the Queen. He could have pretty feet from any woman, but no, he chose Alicent to assert his dominance over her.

But Alicent, with all that talk about honor and duty ("I have to believe that dignity and honor will prevail" to Crispy), it just made her a big hypocrite.

The scene itself was disgusting, but personally, I think his character was portrayed in a fairly ableist manner, regardless of evolution along the series, and that specific scene was just terrible all in all for a good number of reasons

[StarkTullies]

I like the book far more than the show, so my favorite parts of the show were when it gave plausible answers to book situations where "it could have happened this way, or it could have happened that way".  There were multiple ways that Harrenhal could have burned down, so I like that the show gave us resolution on that.

I also like how the fallout between Rhaenerya/Criston indicated that both versions of the story were half-true.  Rhaenyra did try to seduce Criston, but he did not reject her.  Rhaenyra did turn down Criston's request to run off together, but she did not do it in a cruel and mocking way.

I also like how some of the more seemingly villainous characters in the book came across as more understandable and sympathetic.  In the first 2/3 of the season, I was irritated how hard they were trying to whitewash Rhaenyra to make the Blacks look better, but then in the last few episodes they evened it out by making Alicent and Aemond look better too.  So I'm okay with the whitewashing as long as both sides get it.

What I disliked were blatant changes (and stupid changes) that contradict the book entirely.  Rhaenys bursting through the Dragon Pit floor was one of the stupidest scenes of the season, and no "historian" forgot to include that detail; the show made it up.  I also hate Laenor's fake death (another attempt to make us sympathize with Rhaenyra... although that severely backfired for me because they murdered an innocent guard instead).  Maybe Laenor could fool his parents and all the humans in his life, but Seasmoke should not have been fooled and should have followed Laenor.

But my biggest dislike in the show is the One Dagger to Destroy Them All... with a secret message written into it that can only be revealed by fire.  I hate the focus on the dagger (which I am convinced will not be a thing in the real ASOIAF story) and the reminder of the ridiculous way the show's Night King dies (and not by a Targaryen heir either).  I hate the logistics of how and why this prophecy was secretly passed down for generations without the Targaryen making any attempts in actually planning for the Long Night (like fortifying the Wall... or warning anyone else about the Others/"White Walkers").

[Annara Snow]

8 hours ago, StarkTullies said:

I like the book far more than the show, so my favorite parts of the show were when it gave plausible answers to book situations where "it could have happened this way, or it could have happened that way".  There were multiple ways that Harrenhal could have burned down, so I like that the show gave us resolution on that.

I also like how the fallout between Rhaenerya/Criston indicated that both versions of the story were half-true.  Rhaenyra did try to seduce Criston, but he did not reject her.  Rhaenyra did turn down Criston's request to run off together, but she did not do it in a cruel and mocking way.

I also like how some of the more seemingly villainous characters in the book came across as more understandable and sympathetic.  In the first 2/3 of the season, I was irritated how hard they were trying to whitewash Rhaenyra to make the Blacks look better, but then in the last few episodes they evened it out by making Alicent and Aemond look better too.  So I'm okay with the whitewashing as long as both sides get it.

What I disliked were blatant changes (and stupid changes) that contradict the book entirely.  Rhaenys bursting through the Dragon Pit floor was one of the stupidest scenes of the season, and no "historian" forgot to include that detail; the show made it up.  I also hate Laenor's fake death (another attempt to make us sympathize with Rhaenyra... although that severely backfired for me because they murdered an innocent guard instead).  Maybe Laenor could fool his parents and all the humans in his life, but Seasmoke should not have been fooled and should have followed Laenor.

 

I don't think the main reason was to make Rhaenyra look better (although there's nothing wrong in not making Rhaenyra awful right from the start, and the same goes for other characters), I think it was mostly about Laenor's character. Laenor himself is not a fo[ who doesn't fight but a knight who enjoys fighting and has war expderience, and we don't get the same rampant homophobia from other characters (not even Criston Cole who doesn't give the same Green Council speech), the closest is Corlys' "it's just a phase" delusion. They have been thankfully reducing the levels of casual misogyny and homophobia and just random a-holeness  from pretty much every character that doesn't even help the plot that the source material is full of (things like random terrible lines of dialogue assigned to main characters, even when it's questionable what source possibly this could come from) - so, for instance, you don't get Rhaenyra's homophobic book line about Laenor (in a private conversation with Viserys that no one would've been present to anyway!) "One of my half-brothers would be more to his taste" (at the time when they were 6 and 3 respectively, ugh). With the fake death, they clearly wanted to avoid another Bury Your Gays moment, especially after Joffrey's death.

Secondly, hey portrayed the relationship between him and Rhaenyra as a caring and warm one although with problems (overall close actually how I ialways magined it), so it wouldn't make sense for Rhaenyra to be OK with his murder/ And this is a matter of character consistency. It wouldn't make sense for Rhaenyra to be so ruthless at this point to be ready to murder someone she cares about and has been close to. If she was ready to do murder Laenor, she would probably already be OK with killing people on the Green side even before she loses Luke and starts getting vengeful.

On the other hand, the show has established that she can have a certain disregard and disinterest for the lives of people she is not close to - with her uncaring attitude over what happened with her Bracken and Blackwood suitor who were fighting each other in 1x04, so her being OK with a murder of a servant she doesn't know is consistent with her characterization. That and her remark in 1x04 that the opinions of the smallfolk don't matter are some of the hints of her flaws that are going to become more prominent.

[Aldara Stark]

I'm late to the party but anyways.

Favorite scenes: 

-Rhaenyra arriving at Dragonstone riding Syrax to confront Daemon when he stole the dragon egg.

-Alicent entrance with the green dress that was a declaration of war itself.

-Aemond claiming Vhagar and their first ride together. Probably the scene I enjoyed the most this season.

-Viserys walk to the throne and the whole dinner scene. Paddy killed it.

-Storm's End. Those last 15 minutes were just perfect. It looked like an old horror film. Loved it.

Least favorite:

Do I really have to say it? Larys, feet, ugh...

[The Bard of Banefort]

I don’t agree with the notion that HOTD “feels more like ASOIAF” than GOT because to me, reading a book and watching a show are just too fundamentally different to compare. That said, there was something surreal about Aegon being crowned in the Dragonpit, with Blackfyre and the Conqueror’s crown, dressed in all black. That was one of those books-only things that I never expected to see on TV.

As for worst scene, probably Laenor’s escape. It was just such a silly decision and broke a lot of the lore that the show had seemed dedicated to up until that point. I also didn’t like Rhaenys’ little speech to Alicent in E9. It was both anachronistic and hypocritical. Rhaenys spent her entire life doing whatever the men in her life told her to do—she didn’t even fight for Baela to inherit Driftmark over Vaemond, despite her having a much better claim—so it’s pretty rich to hear her disparage Alicent for being a trad wife.

[King_Tristifer_IV_Mudd]

Favorite

-Aemond claiming Vhagar

-Alicent trying to claim Luke’s eye was peak

-Viserys walk to the throne. I still don’t think much of him, but that scene was breath taking

-the whole dinner scene

 

Hate

-Rhaenys murdering a bunch of small folk for a “girl boss” moment. I agree she wouldn’t have done it as it was outright kinslaying, but I can’t stand how show only fans act like it was awesome. She straight up murdered a lot of innocents.

-Criston outright murdering Joffrey at a dinner, rather than by accident at a Melee. They could’ve made it on purpose at a tourney for the same effect but it genuinely makes no sense how a KG could straight up murder a nobleman at a royal wedding dressy.

-Any scene Larys is in disgusts me, but the foot fetish scene was unnecessary 

-Making Aegon an outright rapist. In the books he’d grope serving girls from time to time, but he never outright raped anyone in the text. I feel like adding that was for the sole purpose of making Rhaenyra more likeable by comparison.

[EggBlue]

something I've noticed is that my favorite scenes and my most hated scenes are back to back! pretty funny ,huh?

favorites:

•  Aemond claiming Vhaegar
•  Aegon's coronation
• Storms End scene and Luke's death

hate:

• the fight scene between kids: in the books Aemond's accident truly felt like a mishap, while in the show not so much.
• Rhaenys's Draon pit scene
• the manner of Joffrey's death
• Harwin and Criston's fight and all that it entailed: Criston Cole  can imply the princes' bastardy , insult the crown princess, her noble husband and the noble heir to house Strong AND then when Harwin punches him , he is the one who faces consequences?! for god's sake, it's a pretty normal reaction to defend his honor by punching the guy

 

 

[Craving Peaches]

44 minutes ago, EggBlue said:

Rhaenys's Draon pit scene

I have only watched the first episode due to lack of budget for additional streaming services and television channels but I heard she got a bunch of peasants killed and seemingly did not care at all...And she's supposed to be one of the nicer characters. Now I thought it was to show that at the end of the day none of the noble characters really care about the Smallfolk, and to pave the way for when all the common people get fed up later on, but...

[StarkTullies]

3 hours ago, Craving Peaches said:

she got a bunch of peasants killed and seemingly did not care at all...And she's supposed to be one of the nicer characters. Now I thought it was to show that at the end of the day none of the noble characters really care about the Smallfolk, and to pave the way for when all the common people get fed up later on

That was the effect that scene had on me.  Rhaenys was one of my favorite characters on the show prior to that, and now I can't wait until Aegon and Aemond take her down.  But I am certain that was not the show-writers' intent.  What I think it really shows is that the none of the show writers care about the smallfolk, or at least they assume (probably accurately) that most of the show viewers don't.

I also think that when Rhaenyra and Daemon helped Laenor fake his death, we were supposed to think: "Rhaenyra is so awesome for letting her gay husband live his true self!"  My reaction was: "Rhaenyra and Daemon murdered an innocent bystander to take Laenor's place so they could legally sanctify their incest."  The show assumed that no one would care that Rhaenyra, Daemon, Laenor, and Qarl murdered an innocent man because he was just "a nobody", but I did, and I hate all four characters because of it.  (Though admittedly I utterly despised Daemon long before that.)

[EggBlue]

4 hours ago, StarkTullies said:

That was the effect that scene had on me.  Rhaenys was one of my favorite characters on the show prior to that, and now I can't wait until Aegon and Aemond take her down.  But I am certain that was not the show-writers' intent.  What I think it really shows is that the none of the show writers care about the smallfolk, or at least they assume (probably accurately) that most of the show viewers don't.

this is so true. in these kinds of shows the way commoners are treated by the writers dictates if the viewers care about them. clearly, these showrunners prefer treating the smallfolk like sheep. for me, this was a bit of a letdown because in the books the first Riverlander supporters of Rhaenyra were surprisingly commoners and lesser nobles, and later on the Shepherd played a huge role in the book. both of these situations could have been more fleshed out in the show.... 

[VisenyaTargaryen]

Favorites:

- The confrontation between Alicent and Rhaenyra after Aemond lost his eye. I loved Alicent/Olivia in that scene and sympathized with her a lot.

- The contrast between Rhaenyra's adventures in Flea Bottom and Alicent's domestic life.

- As silly as it sounds, I loved all the scenes between young Rhaenyra and young Alicent, especially the one where they're studying and talking in the garden. I wish their friendship had been better developed. Those moments added the lightheartedness that the later episodes lack, and there's also something nice in watching the characters walking around the Red Keep.

Bonus: Any scene with young Aemond, just because I loved the actor (Leo Ashton) and the character was quite sympathetic. The one where he claimed Vhagar was the best, of course.

 

Hated:

- Daemon killing Rhea. I'm a huge fan of book!Daemon, even though he's kind of a jerk, but that scene made him irredeemable to me and he became my least favorite character of the show. He's so awful and much worse than the book version that I almost wish Aemond would kill him. I can barely enjoy his scenes now and I just roll my eyes at most of them. It baffles me that everyone seems to love him.

- The manner of Joffrey's death and the way Criston Cole gets away with it (and later on, with taunting and punching Harwin).

- Alicent misinterpreting what Viserys said in his death bed and using it an excuse to start a coup. I don't mind a bit of whitewashing, but it changed her motivation. And later, Aemond also unintentionally fucks up and starts the war, which bothered me. I wish the show didn't make both events something that happened by accident.

Bonus: the dagger/prophecy thing, for reasons which people have already mentioned.

[Porfirio K. Heisler]

I loved this season too! Aemond riding Vhagar was definitely my favorite scene, it was so epic. And the last 15 minutes of episode 10 gave me chills. I agree that Laenor's fake death felt a bit forced though. Overall, a great season!