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Emma D'Arcy and Oliva Cooke were cast first and the younger actresses after. Emma was always meant to be main Rhaenyra and Olivia Alicent!

Just to clear up a common misconception, Targaryen's are NOT immune to fire or heat in the book. Its implied they might be somewhat resistant to heat (Daenerys says something about enjoying very hot baths in the first book), but by no means immune. Daenerys was killed by molten gold, and Daenerys at the end of season 1 is explained by George RR Martin as a sort of one in a million accident involving magic. Granted, show canon and book canon tends to divert over time, so take this with a grain of salt if the show writers decide to canonize immunity to fire.

I wasn't a big fan of the actor change at the beginning but they really grew on me. I ended up enjoying them more than the younger actors even though they did great also

Btw Ser Harwin showed up in some scenes in the prior episodes with Rhaenyra. In episode 3 he was the guy who was holding the Deer that Viserys kills and the one who smiled at Rhaenyra coming back to the camp with the boar. In episode 4 he was the guard that caught Rhaenyra in the streets when she was with Daemon and then let her go. In episode 5 he was the one who saved Rhaenyra from the crowd at the wedding, picked her up and carried her away. Some more clarifications. Laena's dragon, Vaghar, is the oldest and biggest dragon that is still alive in the show. She is a little more than 150 years old at this point. Her first rider was queen Visenya Targaryen, older sister and wife to King Aegon I the Conqueror. Her second rider was Baelon the Brave, Viserys and Daemon's father. After his death she left to go live in the narrow see. She was the dragon Laena and Viserys were talking about during their walk in episode 2. Laena was her third rider, she found and tamed her around one year before episode 5,so she was her rider for 11 years. As for the children of Rhaenyra, Alicent and Daemon there is a bit to talk about. Alicent gave Viserys 4 children : Aegon, Healena, Aemond and Daeron. We saw Aegon in episode 3, when he was 2 and we saw Healena in episode 4 and 5(she was the baby Alicent was holding in the scene prior to Rhaenyra sneaking out of the Red Keep in ep 4 and in ep 5 when Alicent was talking with Ser Criston). We met Aemond for the first time this episode since he was born around the time we got the big timeskip. Daeron is another story tho. He is their youngest child, but he is not mentioned or seen in the whole season even tho he was born by episode 6. The writers said they did not cut him out of the show and he will be shown in season 2, apparently they didn't know what to do with him this season or something. The reason why we never see him is because he is serving as a squire in Oldtown,the Hightower seat. Aegon, Healena and Daeron are all dragonriders. Aegon and Daeron ride Sunfyre and Tessarion, two young dragons that have roughly their rider's age. Healena rides Dreamfyre, a much older dragon and she is her second rider. Dreamfyre is actually the dragon that scares Aemond out of the Dragonpit in this episode. Rhaenyra had three sons with Ser Harwin : Jacaerys (Jace), Lucerys (Luke) and Joffrey (Joff). We saw her give birth to Joffrey at the start of the episode. Jacaerys and Lucerys have dragons of their age as well. We saw Jacaerys with his dragon Vermax, but Lucerys also has a dragon called Arrax. That is why Aemond is so frustrated for not having a dragon,all his siblings and nephews (exept Joffrey of course) have them. Daemon had two twin daughters with Laena : Baela and Rhaena. Only Baela has a dragon tho. A young dragon of her age called Moondancer. I hope these info can help someone understand the show better, bye👋

The real story start from now. First 5 episodes were just a prelude.

Gotta say, the "Alicent never gave birth and stole her babies" conspiracy theory is not one I thought I would encounter today

The showrunners and writers really looked at Harwin and Laena and said “We’re gonna kill two of the most attractive people.”

The aged up actors were all cast first so they are with us for the rest of the show. Everyone that wasn't aged where already in their 20s/30s before the time jump.

GOT: No one is safe. Everyone can die. HOTD: Where the king just won’t die 😂

the adult actors were casted first it was always the intention for them to be the main stars, the story of the dance of dragons doesn't truly happen until Rhaenyra is in her 30s with children, the showrunners of the series expanded more on Rhaenyra and Alicent being younger for the sake of making it more emotional and expanding on the buildup of what happens. ALSO Alicent is actually older than Rhaenyra in the books and they were never friends, she was just Rhaenyra's stepmother, basically a evil stepmother, cause in the book, Alicent isn't as complex as they've changed her to be in the series

I love how everyone's reaction in the 2nd half of the season is "He's still alive"? 🤣

you guys missed when Laena said taht she wants to die a dragonriders death.... it was like her taking back control over her life

At this point in history, Daemon is kind of like all those people who took up bread making and wood working during lockdown. Trying to find fun distractions with things you are not really about in the long run. All while you can't do the thing you really want to.

I think having different actors helps the audience better realize the characters are ALSO very different people NOW in Episode 6 vs who we saw in Episodes 1-5. If they used only cosmetics & FX….. the audience might not have acknowledged the vast difference as quickly.

The "what are children but a weakness through them you imagine you live forever" Larys monologue is up there as some of the best lines in the show. "Love stays the hand" that's a brilliant metaphor. The way Larys delivers the whole thing is chilling.

You could see that Vhaegar didn't want to burn her because of the hesitation, but due to the bond they have, she felt her pain and in the end reluctantly gave her the clean death she preferred.

Love your reactions, just one little point, the Kingsguard knight is Ser “Criston” Cole, not “Christian.”

The difference over 10 years for a child or teenager is more extreme than for an adult to an older adult. It was only the characters who were children or teens that used different actors for the time jump. Milly was outstanding as young Rhaenyra, but I'm not sure she could have pulled off the childbirth scene as well as Emma did. Rhaenyra is not only 10 years older now, but has been through the rigors of childbirth twice (and now three times in this episode)... that has to have an effect on the former glow of youth. It was fun watching you try to figure out the intertwined relationship of the Targaryen and Velaryon children... the Targaryen family tree truly is a wreath!

If You Guys Go Back To The First Few Episodes, You’ll Notice Sir Harwin Strong And His Crippled Brother In Several Scenes Together, You Guys Probably Didn’t Even Notice It At The Time

Jace, Luke, and Joff are all nephews of Queen Alicent’s children since they are the half-siblings of Princess Rhaenyra. The reason Aemond doesn’t have a dragon yet is because I think none have bonded with him. Alicent’s other children Aegon and Helaena do have dragons though. Aegon’s dragon is a golden one named Sunfyre and Heleana’s is a dragon named Dreamfyre.

“It’s Kinda Weird That Some Of Them Were Changed And Some Weren’t” It’s Simple Really, All The Adults Stayed, All The Kids Got Changed Into Adult Actors

A note to your viewing the older actors were casted first. The younger actors were later in the process after they figured out the direction they wanted to go. There was much debate with RR Martin, the show runners and HBO about where to start before they settled on the end of Viserys I and the beginning of the Targaryen civil war. All casting was with the older characters because that is the meat of the story they are doing in HoD.

So Leana was basically in the same boat as Aemma was in episode 1. The baby won't come out and Leana is quickly losing blood. So she's basically dead no matter what. The maester had suggested cutting the baby out, and she heard him and that's when she walked to Vhagar. She did not want to die like Aemma did. She wanted to die a dragon rider's death, just like she said.

in the book they talk about how viserys got a new maester taking care of his medical treatment and he greatly improved, which took place during the 10 year time skip

Daenerys is the only fireproof Targaryen, and she has always had a specific set of circumstances where it happened. That’s why everyone was so at awe. It’s where she gets the name “The Unburnt”.

Just in case you don’t know yet, here are all of the new children introduced: Princess Rhaenyra’s: Prince Jacaerys(Jace), Prince Lucerys(Luke), and Prince Joffrey(Joff) Queen Alicent’s children: Prince Aegon, Princess Helaena, Prince Aemond Prince Daemon’s daughters: Baela and Rhaena I’ve always loved your content ever since I found your reactions to Cobra Kai. Keep up the good work and I hope you both had a happy holidays.

How people are comparing Alicent to Cersei is crazy to me. They're so different, I don't know how the comparison even started.

the detail on the sister saying ''he'll have to close an eye'' is incredible

Others mentioned before the House Targaeryn is not invincible to fire that was just something made for the show. You talked over it but Daemon's wife said she would die a dragon riders death hence the dragon fire

Love the physics of dragon riding in this episode. Vhagar is extremely large and giving the air flowing around and getting in her mouth, Laena literally had to scream to so Vhagar could spit out fire…loves it👍🏽👍🏽👩🏾‍🦳

The young actresses were just the prologue of the series, the real story begins when Rhaenyra and Alicent are adults and both have children.

Funny how people compare Alicent to Cercei when Cercei’s whole schtick was mothering THREE bastards and advancing them to the throne, which Alicent evidently hates. Reminds me of someone else actually…

I can’t wait for ep 7 and 8 so excited

Laena has always mentioned during this episode that she is a proud dragonrider and rather die as a dragonrider. Vhagar sensed Laena pain, was reluctant too but she still obeyed her commands. A bond between dragon and dragonrider is something magical and the dragons senses their riders emotions.

I like how Harvin says he will be a stranger when they meet again and in this world Stranger is the god of death implying that he will be dead

Fun fact: Criston Cole got his ass beat intentionally. He could've 100% won that but he wanted everyone to see how strong reacted to his underhanded comment.

Sadly there isn't an explanation for his survival to this point but in the book the former maester died and the new one used other treatments that helped him survive this long. The Targaryen can burn. Don't matter that the fire comes from a dragon or not, Daenerys was a creative license from D&D.

You guys upload so often, I love it.

For me the actors changing made a lot of sense because this story of the Dance of Dragons takes place over many years but doesn't pick up until they are adults with children and resentments, but in order to set the scene the show introduced us to the two characters as teenagers, before everything went downhill. It helps to make you realise the friendship they had (even though in the book this is not the case) and as a result the events that are about to transpire hurt each character deeply.

After you watch the next episode you need to rewatch this epsiode and pay attention to what Alicent's daughter Helaena says because it'll be a major plot point that seems like a throwaway line that no one pays attention to. But watch the next episode first or it'll be a spoiler. It's the scene where Alicent is trying to comfort her son Aemond about not having a dragon and Helaena happens to be in the room. It's a VERY big deal.

Guys, Targaryens are NOT immune to fire, Daenerys's case was something unique in the books but the show overplayed it and made her literally fireproof, even so, that just means Daenerys is the only targaryen immune to fire (only in the show) but targaryens like the ones presented here can burn, Daemon himself has a burn mark on his neck from his battle on the stepstones.

Alicent can write Otto back, because the fact that Rhaenera had 3 consecutive bastards makes Otto to have been right all along.

"He wouldn't get burned anyway, right?" In the books that's actually not true. Not getting burned by fire is a Daeneryrs only thing. Other Targaryens can definitely be burned by fire. Also you are close but not quite on the "foot guy". The "foot guy's" name is Larys Strong. The people arguing in that scene were Larys's brother and father. (Edit: I pushed save too early. It seems you figured that out later in the video. ☺)

funfact the queen didn't order the princess to her she ordered the baby immediately be taken to her so she'd see him before the mother even held him properly and princess was like FUCK NO

Daenerys is resistant to heat but not inmune to fire completely (Except for the exceptional magic-event of the pire). The Targaryens might have a like for heat and resistance to warm/hot stuff but not fire. Aside, as long as you advance on the series you will keep enjoying the new actors. Alicent and Cersei are 2 different people so you should not compare actors and characters from both shows. The dragons, well, some have them placed in the craddle and are born automatically while the others do not have them hatch and usually tame older dragons from deceased riders when they age up.

Her lover is Ser Harwin, the man who went in and saved her during the wedding, the son of the hand as well

There was a scene of Daemon hugging and consoling his two daughters after their mother's death unfortunately the director/producers removed it from the episode.

It was a little weird to see the new actors and I LOVED Milly's portrayal of young Rhaynera, but trust me, Emma D'arcy kills it too. Just stay tuned haha I dont know how to explain it, but they both played the same character incredibly well.

Good God, nobody understands alicent. Check out the KZfaq channel Hills Alive. She explains her perspective in a way even the layman could understand.

Happy New Year, Anthony & Kacee!!!🎊🎊🎈🎈🎉🎉🍾🍾I do miss the younger actress that played Rhaenyra. I think it is hard to find someone that looks older with her facial features, and I think many people liked her in the part of course. I think the older actress for Alicent shows a stronger resemblance to the younger. I think Viserys being alive 10 years later surprised everyone.

"is Ser Harwin Strong my Father? Am I a bastard?" "I promise." -Ned & Harwin

The confusion about the fire comes from the GoT show. Book Targaryens are not immune to fire, Dany surviving the pyre was a one time magical thing according to Grrm. Had to do witch the which chanting and blood magic or something. Targaryens have a high resistance to fire and heat, but they are not fire proof.

As much as I think the Ser InceI jokes have always been hilarious and it's a trip watching it catch on in the mainstream, I do wonder how many ppl truly understand "not transplanting 21st century sensibilities on a knight from middle ages". Poor Criston don't know Ray Neeruh was having a hot girl summer. But that aside...the memes were hilarious ngl. Someone tweeted "dude would be a menace if they had podcasts" & I spat out water thinking Criston on a roundtable with Andrew Tate and Fresh and Fit 😂😂

Age them up isn't always the best option, for a time jump this big it wouldn't look good, in adults yeah bc they don't change that much in such period but teens really change when they're becoming adults. Criston, Viserys, Daemon, they were all adults, meanwhile Rhaenyra and Alicent were like 14 in the first ep, you can age them up to get to 20 (the actresses are that age), but to late 20s or 30, they had to change the actors.

Larys is clearly HOD’s Littlefinger and Varys due to his manipulative skills.

I noticed you guys mentioned about not being burned by Fire a few times on your reactions. That's not a trait that every single Targaryen gets. Very few get that trait and even Daemon was burned by the fire arrow while battling the Crabfeeder.

Dany walking out of fire was a phenomenon & there was magic involved but Targaryens are not fire proof And I liked the younger actors but the older actors are so good and I loved them more than the younger ones especially Olivia Cooke PS. DAEMON IS THE GOAT

Yeah, as others have said, Targaryens aren't actually immune to fire. There is some evidence in various texts that suggests that they love heat and are resistant to it; much like Daenerys settling into that hot bath in episode 1 of GOT. Or Egg in at least one of the stories in Knight of the Seven Kingdoms also showing an affinity for hot baths. But remember, Viscerys, brother of Daenerys, is just as much a Targaryen as his sister and died from having molten gold poured on his head. Daenerys surviving the funeral pyre of Khal Drogo was a magical fluke for acting as an impromptu sorceress at the time, or she's just super-super resistant for some reason (in the show). I would hypothesize that at least some Targaryens are resistant to everyday forms of heat, so getting burned accidently due to hot water or an oven isn't something that they much need to worry about, but deadly forms of fire might still be lethal.

no matter how hard i try, i always focus on tht damn cowboy's hat. Giants fan lol. Love the reactions keep it up

Daemon took divorce to a whole new level. This family would be Jerry Springer's Dream

I thought the actor change transitioned beautifully. I do like how they tell you how many years has passed in the episodes to help us keep up with speed.

I can't imagine the younger actors playing the scenes as good as the older actors do. Not so much this episode but it becomes apparent in later episodes that the younger actors just wouldn't have been as fit for the roles they needed to play. The only option they maybe had was de-aging the episode 6-10 actors and I think with Olivia and Emily, it would have been difficult. The change in actors really brought a loss of innocence and optimism for the characters.

Targaryens aren't supposed to be fireproof. Got did a poor job of showing that. Danny didn't burn because of a unique magical moment according to grrm. They all can be killed with fire.

Rhaenyra and Alicent were only 15 years old in the first episodes, while all the other characters were already adults before they made the character change for Rhae and Alicent, that's why there's no change in Daemon, Viserys, Corlys, Rhaenys, Otto, etc..

I’m glad you guys were finally properly introduced to the next Littlefinger.

These guys haven't really been paying attention.

estou amando acompanhar a reação de vocês

Cant wait for you guys to watch the other eps. It goes fcking wild!!!

Criston Cole tell us the secret of the fountain of youth we know you have it

The unburnt was kinda unique to Daeny. Remember, her brother got the burning golden crown and died. Daeny thinks it meant she was the "true" dragon, but it was only because there were no other Targaryens around to question.

Season 1 of this show worried me the most because of the pilot episode (coming off of GoT Season 8) + introducing the characters to the audience and having us care about them + the time jumps + sticking the landing in the finale. Looking back now, I can confidently say that they did an excellent job overall, all things considered. It wasn't perfect, but I loved it, despite some minor things. Had I not, I wouldn't be watching reaction videos repeatedly, and neither would so many others. Season 2 and onward will not have such hurdles to have to clear. The characters won't be further aged + switched with new actors, and now the main conflict has begun. The best parts are yet to come, and when they do, I suspect they'll just about break the internet.

She said earlier in the episode that she wanted to die a dragon Riders death and she knew she was already going to

I was conflicted at first as well, but after the next time jump (6yrs) it made more sense.

It is only certain Targaryen's that are "fireproof". It is only ones needed for this show. Normally in the books they are not immune to fire but it was changed for the show.

the way ive grown to see it. its like the show starts here but if they had started here we would all be lost so the first five episodes were like a recap...heres what you need to know now the show begins!!

This may count as a spoiler but: Make sure to pay close attention to what Alicent’s daughter Helaena says. She’s actually a dragon dreamer who can tell the future like her father.

"I didn't even think about how this dynamic will play out." Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

Not all dragon eggs hatch. Only about half of dragon's eggs actually hatch. Aemond was just unlucky enough to have an egg that didn't hatch, like Laena Valerion, whose mother is a dragonrider, Rhaenys Targaryen. Not all Targaryens were impervious to Fire. That was something for Dany only in the TV show.

In the books they aren't fire proof but in the show they obviously are. Dani was the entire show, Daemon flies through it like it's nothing, and Rhaenyra doesn't get burnt by candle. They changed that in the shows and I'm glad they did, bc it goes with Rhaenyra saying they're closer to gods than men.

Aemond does not have a dragon because the egg assigned to him didn’t hatch.

I can't wait to see your reaction to my favourite moment in all Game of Thrones series!

The "oh no they changed actors" is amusing because the originals are the older versions and then they casted the younger ones.

Regarding the aging of some characters and not others, I think the point is that Daemon & Cole were already grown men at the start of the story. True they might have given them a few grey hairs or whatever, but there was no reason to change actors, whereas Rhaenyra & Alicent were still teenagers at the beginning.

The source material this is based on is written incredibly different than GOT. GOT was based on ASOIAF, which is as of right now 5 books and several short stories. It has several POV chapters as well as linear storylines and events. In all the main storyline in GOT covered events that spanned over roughly 7 years. HOTD is based off of a single book, Fire & Blood, which is a Targaryen history and is written a lot like a history book. There is no linear storytelling. It starts with Aegon's Conquest and ends with The Dance of the Dragons, which covers roughly 140 years. There are about 24 chapters in that book and show will cover about 8 of those chapters, which spans about 27 years. And much like a history book its very moments driven, with very little filler. Which is why you go from teenage Rhaenyra marrying Laenor to her being almost thirty with three kids in the span of a few pages or in this case an entire episode. Much like how GOT season 1 was a prologue to the War of Five Kings, HOTD season 1 is a prologue to The Dance of The Dragons. However GOT season 1 spanned a little less than a year while HOTD season 1 spans many, many years. So time jump was kinda necessary if we were ever going to get to the actual conflict.

Rhaenyra such an icon 😍. She just loves whom she wants to love and lets hubby do the same 😍!! Yass!!! Open marriage poly goddess 😍!! Well the problem is who you have kids with in this world have consequences for the entire realm. Today you won’t have to worry about being in control of the lives of millions as an absolute monarch. If Rhaenyra wanted to enjoy free love she should've just taken up on Criston's offer and lived up to her heart's desire in the Free Cities, liberated from the shackles of titles and inheritance and such. But she is in love with power. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Holy shit does your girl talk ENOUGH this whole episode 😂 damn

the GOT showrunners completely made up the not burning thing

I understand you from this point i felt that too at ep6... but in the end you gonna love this Reanyra more..

Harlan was the one that saved rhaenyra from the fight in the last episode and in episode 3 when she was covered in blood from the hunt she was looking at her smiling and chuckling

Ser Harwin is not a new guy. He was present in episode 3,4 and 5 with the same actor.

Thanks for another great reaction!

Alicent is doing her duty. Not fooling around with adultery.

The way I look at it, even IF Targaryens were immune to regular fire (Daenerys in a funeral pyre or burning hut) I would think that they would not be as resistant to Dragon's Fire or Wild Fire (that green crap) as both of those supposedly burn much hotter than just a regular fire.

The actual Dance of Dragons takes place further into the future.There's more time jump ahead. Even if we would've liked to see "how they grew up" and things like that, there wouldn't have been much to show cause nothing really happens in the in-between time. Plus you can't really "ease in to the future" when you only have 4 episodes left to get to the actual timeline. So this had no choice but to be a setup episode to get you introduced to the next gen, the payoff to which is gonna come next. The info dump can be overwhelming...especially if you have a knee jerk reaction to change ("we have to learn everything again?!!). But even this episode had some great emotionally high strung moments between the rivalry of the two former best friends and the two deaths. They did a great job of bringing out the little character traits of the next gen and also the older gen 10 yrs on. The show so far was basically the Rhaenyra Daemon romance-action movie. Post time jump is where it becomes more like early GoT, with a vast array of cast, constant back and forth verbal jousting, various entagled motivations, constantly moving chess pieces.

Not to worry. My first reaction to this episode was also to feel sad about losing the younger actors. Especially Rhaenyra but you will probably soon adjust to and appreciate the main cast quicker than you expect.

Targaryen's are not fireproof! Danny is a special case in the tv show alone D&D chose to have her be fireproof on multiple occasions but in the books it happened one time only and blood magic was involved, she didn't burn at the pier except all her hair. There was rumor and legend about a rare few Targaryen's being more resistant to burning or heat but it was mainly that, legend and some Targaryen's even believed those legends and died burning thinking they wouldn't. The only thing that would have made this season better was one more episode with Harwin and Laena, they are both cool characters in the books especially Laena. I do like how Laena chose to go out, she chose what happened to her as she was dying anyways and went out a dragon riders death. If you think about the situation mirroring what happened to Aemma being cut open against her will and her baby still dying, it was a much better way to go out on your own terms. Plus dragon fire is so intense especially something as large as Vagar it would have been instant, she wouldn't even have felt it.

The bond is mutual. They have to "match." And this point aemond, hasn't bonded one. Also, dragons temperament, usually, matches the rider. As the bond is mental

Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke as adult rhaenyra and adult Alicent elevated the show to a whole other level. These two ladies are a couple of bad-asses.

Targaryens are not immune to fire. Daenerys was a special case in GOT because of some blood magic, which made her unique. This special ability of hers was something specifically created in the show. In the books, she does have an affinity for heat and fire, but she is definitely not immune to it the way she is in the show. Just to clear out the confusion.