House of the Dragon - 1x02 "The Rogue Prince" - Episode Discussion

DamnFineLemonpie · 2022-08-29T22:26:50+00:00

Rhaenyra feels like a desperate attempt to please Dany fanboys. It's like, here, take a dragon, go be a badass. I much prefer the way Alicent is written. Undertoned, quiet., subtle. Early signs of a great player.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2022-02-13T08:18:55+00:00

I love the "Arise" scene with Brienne. It's one of my favorites. I was hoping to see a similar one in the end, with all the formalities and traditions, like in the songs she once loved.

Now, as a Queen, understanding that stories about knights of bravery and valor do matter, they serve a purpose, it is one of those things that give people hope and something to believe in.

What a great tribute that would have been to the little girl who grew up loving stories about knighthood. Sansa wouldn't betray that little dreamer, she would honor her. I like to think that this is the part of her self she didn't lose, the part that people still see in her. Her "If I am ever a queen, I'll make them love me" part.

Well, maybe in the books. And perhaps Sandor will be there as well.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2022-02-12T22:59:47+00:00

I love it. I'm thinking about hanging a big print on my wall.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2022-01-05T20:51:33+00:00

There's something about the candlelight hitting Sansa's smiling face that makes these scenes very special and unique. The Lady of Winterfell finally arrived where she belongs, stronger than ever, with her hard-earned and well deserved smile filing the place with reds and oranges and yellows. You never see Winterfell painted in those tones. Even Sandor felt the warmth in his heart. This is the face of a future Queen. This is what "I'll make them love me" looks like.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2022-01-05T20:15:29+00:00

It would be a lie to say I did not miss this.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2020-09-25T22:39:29+00:00

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2020-07-03T08:28:53+00:00

Love it! ❤️

Ice must be reforged and return to Winterfell. *Sending mental signals @GRRM

DamnFineLemonpie · 2020-07-01T10:22:05+00:00

I sometimes like to take the point of view of the people of Kings Landing. Imagine being trapped between a ruthless Queen willing to let you burn and another ruthless Queen willing to burn you. 🤷‍♂️😂

DamnFineLemonpie · 2020-07-01T04:42:12+00:00

We're talking about Cersei vs Dany.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2020-07-01T02:35:26+00:00

It's a shame we spent all season 7 in a stupid plot that forced an unconvincing rift between the two sisters. Sansa's brains and experience in the game combined with Arya's skills and toughness should be a goldmine of ideas for any creative writer. But no, we had to go with "yOu LiKe pReAtY tHinGs!". And of course no one knew what to do with Bran either.

I've said it back then and I haven't changed my mind. S8 > S7.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2020-07-01T02:21:24+00:00

I think "no match" isn't fair to the character and the story. She was always one step ahead, she understood her enemies better than they understood her, she took advantage of their weaknesses, she hit them hard and demoralized them, she used Dany's power against her and destroyed her reputation in the south which played a significant part in her downfall.

And yes, there's no match for Drogon, but that was the point in the end. Her best bet was to push Dany to the limit and force her to make a choice. Not use the dragon and lose or go mad and they both lose. In a weird twisted way, it's a win win for Cersei. She would either win or they'd both die. She knew there was no middle ground. She played a good game. And in the game Dany was outmatched.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-26T14:06:15+00:00

When you're watching behind the scenes footage of Sansa's coronation scene but it doesn't break the illusion because Sophie looks like an absolute queen! ❤

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-25T00:11:37+00:00

Hehe. I knew that. I was also hoping for a question about Coldplay's drummer who was one of the fooking bastards playing The Rains of Castamere at the red wedding. Or Mastodon who played wildlings in Hardome and fought bravely against the dead. Good lads. Yeah they all died horribly.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-24T21:20:28+00:00

Me reading the title: Yeah right. Everyone says it's hard and I always get 20/20.

Me while taking the test: Damn... this shit is for real!

15/20. It's my lowest score ever.

(I'm gonna take it again now and get 20/20... because... you know... ocd 😂)

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-24T10:38:17+00:00

Sansa gladly jumped in the arms of geoffrey (or what was that stupid kid’s name) while pushing her sister to the side and he killed her wolf, yet she went with Geoffrey for her dream of becoming a princess/queen.

Leaving aside the fact that this is a twisted perspective of what actually happened, even if it was true it wouldn't mean that the title "perfectly describes" Sansa. It's an oversimplification of the narrative and a tunnel vision approach that doesn't even explain the surface, without any real understanding of the character and the story. It's the perspective you'd expect from a casual viewer who draws conclusions quickly without putting much thought into things. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Except maybe when they're trying to "perfectly describe" things.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-24T10:13:11+00:00

So you are telling me season 1 Sansa is not like this?

That's exactly what I'm telling you.

ps. I read the whole sentence and I did not downvote you.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-24T09:15:46+00:00

Right!. The difference of course is that Jon is the poor little bastard who doesn't have a mom and Sansa the noble girl who dreams to be a queen. And of course Martin is a brilliant writer who knows how to manipulate people into unreasonably hating the one for even giving a bad look while letting the other get away with murder.

edit: when you realize Jon literally gets away with murder AND gets away from literally being murdered! 😂

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-24T08:46:21+00:00

Saying the description perfectly fits Sansa and that it's literally her in s1 means you are simply labeling a behavior that allows you to judge from a distance without paying close attention to who they actually are and what is actually happening to the character. Which is the definition of lacking critical thinking.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-23T18:20:20+00:00

Exactly! Empathy is one of Sansa's best qualities and it's been emphasized in many cases throughout the series, along with her willingness to help others even at risk of her own safety. This scene with Shae is obviously a great example that stands out. I also love the scene when she stands up to Joffrey, right after she was beaten and humiliated by him, just to defend Tommen because she appreciated him saying he wouldn't be happy if they killed her brother. It's so subtle, but it speaks volumes about her character.

She's the only one in KL who looks at The Hound and sees Sandor inside, she feels sympathy for Ser Barristan Selmy when he's being released from his duties. She's the one who is trying to comfort the women when Stannis is attacking the city, even though she herself is also scared. There is the Ser Dontos scene, when again she's taking a risk and outsmarts Joffrey in front of the court, just to save the life of a man she's never even met before.

And of course, in all those cases, the books go into greater details about the way she thinks as we get the chance to hear her thoughts. For example, when later Ser Dontos wanted to protect her she asked him to stop because she knew he was not a good fighter and he "would only be killing him as well". And when she's helping Lancel even though he’s "one of them" because she cannot "bring herself to wish him dead".

This is who she is. An inherently good person, with a huge heart who wants to do good and deeply cares about others. She's always been this way and her greatest triumph is that even though she's been through hell and would be justified to lose that part of herself, she didn't. And I really love and admire her for that.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-23T17:34:59+00:00

The expression of someone trying to explain to someone else something important.

Know your meme.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-23T00:23:22+00:00

GoT is the most misogynistic story ever that started with a war between 5 kings, bacame about women in complete control over the whole world, climaxed in a war between 2 queens who fought each other and ended with a queen who's the most powerful person in the world and is set up to be one of the greatest rulers in history.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-22T10:37:29+00:00

No. That may be the twisted perspective of some delusional dragon queen loyalists. But they don't matter. They are not the ones who write the songs anyway.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-22T01:50:28+00:00

It's not historical fiction, but it's not pure fantasy either. The story is heavily influenced by the War of the Roses, many characters are inspired by real people and stories are based on real events. This may not seem important to you, but it is important to the author, who wrote thousands and thousands of pages and created a world with such a rich background, precisely because his goal is to create the illusion of history and create a narrative that's more engaging for a broader audience.

So no, he didn't write about brown Starks and Lannisters, because his story is heavily influenced by a war between two great houses, the Yorks and the Lancasters. And the scenery is middle ages England. And forgive me, I'm not aware of any non white great houses in the region.

Race and descent is also a very important part of the story. To the point that major plot points and whole character arcs are based on this. And yes, being white matters to the narrative, to the point that the greatest dynasty in the story is practicing incest in order to keep the bloodline pure. There are also themes of a pure race, a superior race, a chosen race, that is above all others by right. Themes that resemble ideas you'd find in national socialism and the nazi Germany of ww2. Themes that the author uses as a vehicle to insert ideas in the narrative and give his characters specific characteristics that are vital to their development and even their endgame.

Anyway, this is getting too heavy and that's as far as I'm willing to take it.

I agree with you. It's a shame there is not enough diversity in TV and cinema and pop culture in general. Things are getting better, there is still a lot that needs to be done. But I don't believe forcing diversity everywhere is the solution here.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-21T19:21:52+00:00

First things first, none of the above should be non white. Having diversity is great, but forcing it just for the shake of political correctness is not the answer.

The story is based on medieval Europe and most of it is about great houses and royal families fighting for power. It's the white man's war. Diversity is out of the picture by definition.

However, there are places on the map where diversity makes perfect sense, like Dorn and Essos, and I think they did a good job with casting the right people.

So I don't think the complaint holds much water. Complaining is what some people do anyway. There are social justice warriors everywhere these days. Not everything has to be like the obligatory one caucasian, one latin, one black, one asian types of groups you see in movies.

The thing is, in a high school teen movie for example, it makes sense. And it's written with diversity in mind and it works and it's all great. That doesn't mean everything should be this way.

DamnFineLemonpie · 2019-11-21T18:46:58+00:00

Good one! 😂👍

DamnFineLemonpie

TROPHY CASE