House of the Dragon: The Red Dragon and the Gold Show Only

July 7, 2024 7:42 PM - Season 2, Episode 4

Cole makes a surprising move. Daemon is haunted. Aegon is bored.
posted by kittens for breakfast (17 comments total)

jfc Vhagar is big.
posted by hototogisu at 2:27 AM on July 8 [1 favorite]

Vhagar is a kaiju!

I knew all this was coming because I've read all the book spoilers, but this episode really brought home how upsetting this series was going to be for someone who likes animals.

(Thousands of people horribly burned alive: meh. Two injured / dead scaly friends: OMG NOT OK. I realise the irony, but I am what I am!)
posted by confluency at 2:43 AM on July 8 [6 favorites]

Is this thread show only?
posted by cozenedindigo at 6:38 AM on July 8

I guess? I haven't seen any show threads for this season.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:59 AM on July 8

Sorry, I meant any book threads. If a mod wants to add the "show only" tag, that would be good.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:03 AM on July 8

And the lesson everyone learned that day is you BEST NOT make fun of Aemond, like ever.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:18 AM on July 8 [3 favorites]

Willem Blackwood!
clap clap clapclapclap
Willem Blackwood!
clap clap clapclapclap

I prayed for this, and it happened.

This was a hard episode for my wife because Sunfyre was her favorite dragon in the book (she says the show didn't do the majesty of Sunfyre justice and I'm finding it hard to disagree) and Rhaenys was her favorite character in the show so far. I'm trying to be supportive, really, but Willem Blackwood.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 8:27 AM on July 8

So... Dragons explode when they hit the ground?
posted by Marky at 3:12 PM on July 8 [2 favorites]

eve best noooooooooooooooooo,.,,...,,,,..a big part of why I watched this IS DED

Eve Best Saw Rhaenys’s ‘Kamikaze Mission’ As a ‘Relief’


---

Remember: no book spoilers.

Is king "mommy said something mean so now i go drunk driving that will show them" dead or horribly-burned-and-now-will-wreak-agony-fueled-revenge?
posted by lalochezia at 4:40 PM on July 8

I'm pretty sure he's dead, mostly because he would know Aemond was to blame for his condition if he weren't, and I doubt very much that Aemond would have left him alive. It is interesting, though, that Aemond and Rhaenys are apparently fireproof! (I guess Aegon was not a True Dragon.) Sadly Rhaenys was not impact-proof.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:21 PM on July 8

Targaryans aren't fireproof, Dany's pyre miracle was a one-time thing powered by blood magic. The second show incident with the dothraki was a show invention from after they stopped listening to George.

I haven't done a full play by play on the fight, but it seemed to me like they were just protected by their dragons - Aemond was simply too far from the fire because Vhagar is ridiculously massive, and Meleys had her neck or wing between Rhaenys and wasn't actually Aemond's target. And I'm pretty sure Aegon's attempted flame just missed.
posted by a power-tie-wearing she-capitalist at 8:43 PM on July 8

OMMFG!!!!!! That was extraordinary! That battle!! I'm sad to see Raenys go but she went out like a boss. I hate to see a dragon die but damnnnn Vhagar is massive.
posted by supermedusa at 9:32 PM on July 8

I know, a-la King Joffrey, that Aemond is written, cast, and acted with the intent of making you think “my, what a colossal tool this person is”, but ugh, I hate him.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 11:02 PM on July 8

Is it explained in the books why one sibling gets a dragon that is three or four times as large and powerful as the other dragons? Wouldn't the eldest son get the biggest lizard? Or is there some dragon-bonding-choosing thing that I missed or the show glossed over?

This season is so much better than the first. This show has issues, but it's improved.
posted by SoberHighland at 6:08 AM on July 9 [1 favorite]

Is it explained in the books why one sibling gets a dragon that is three or four times as large and powerful as the other dragons?

I never read the books but in season 1 itself this was literally a major plot line, this is what I understood of it...

The dragons live for hundreds (thousands?) of years and there are complicated rules and agreements over who gets to bond with which dragon... it's one of those family agreement things that cannot possibly always be fair but it's all give and take as long as it stays within the family. This all comes undone in the civil war of course.

Vhagar belonged to Laena (daughter of Rhaenys) and when Laena died in childbirth in season 1 it was meant to go to another sibling in their family line, but it was "stolen" by Aemond from team green who snuck out at night to bond with the riderless dragon. That was the incident where Aemond lost his eye and said it was a fair trade for a dragon.
posted by xdvesper at 6:23 AM on July 9 [1 favorite]

I don't remember how explicitly this was addressed in S1, but per the book canon you can't make a dragon bond with you, so you can't assign dragons in a 100% predictable way (although it is a Targaryen family tradition to keep dragon eggs in close proximity to children's cradles, to increase the likelihood of a baby dragon developing a bond with a particular child). Those old dragons are a crap shoot, though. If you try to get on one and it doesn't like you, you can end up crispy-fried. You can't make Granny Vhagar do anything.
posted by confluency at 7:19 AM on July 9 [5 favorites]

I think the other factor is that dragons are getting smaller over time due to domestication. So the oldest kid might get priority access to a dragon egg so they can create a bond, but then when an older (larger) dragon's rider dies it's more a matter of chance of who is available and capable of bonding with it.
posted by mikepop at 7:41 AM on July 9