So good to see him getting credit he deserves.

Almost every episode where has a fair amount of screen time, he absolutely steals the show. I can’t believe how spoiled we are for amazing performances too. As amazing as Paddy is, Matt Smith is giving the performance of his life, and both actress portraying both ages of rhaenyra and alicent are fucking spectacular

He's the only reason to watch it. Matt Smith is so boring.

SO TRUE!!!

@@WardenOfTerra Calling Matt Smith boring in this is like saying the eggs are boring in a cake. It's about the whole my friend, not the individual ingredients.

OSCAR

@@Kamillo041285 Oscars are not worthy of his performance to be honest. The actor deserves better.

Amazing! I will miss him 😢

@@Kamillo041285 Emmy?

Paddy's performance and this episode was the most emotional this or GOT has ever made me. He deserves everything.

It was fricking intense as well. I feared he wouldn't make it. That he would lose consciousness, or perhaps fall while climbing: then the Hand Otto Hightower and the green queen could've later claimed at the council that the King was feeble at that point, and no longer in his right mind, and thus King's ruling might've lost meaning. Instead the old man powers through: He was "tested" at the final day of his rule, like he had spoken years ago to Hand Lyonel Strong. Only for hid delirious words to be misinterpreted by his wife, who then brought it all crashing down.

@Shepard’s P1e he was pretty stern at times. he was just overflowing with clemency.

*Paddy, Patty is a woman's name.

I no I cried a Lil bit

Yes, he was the lord of the tides, in our eyes

Fr, that walk to the iron throne, the conviction! Then daemon helping him and putting the throne on his head. The speech at the dinner table, he was finally a dragon… I was holding back tears 😅

@@byron9334 There's a moment, when he's at the foot of the stairs, when he looks up at the throne with what looks like hatred and fury. He seems to glare at it, like he blames it for everything that has gone wrong in his life. It's a small moment, and I may be reading into it, but I found it very powerful.

It was almost unwatchable, in the best possible way. Created such tension and stress!

@@dmgroberts5471 damn you're right. That is exactly it. I just rewarded it after reading your message. The Throne is what caused everything, his illness, his family falling apart, his wife being murdered, his children... Everything and it will continue to do it. That throne is his shackle and leech.

It’s kind of funny that despite viserys not being a great king, he’s the best one we’ve seen on screen so far

and Paddy Considine (and the makeup artists) absolutely smashed it too.

Exactly what I was gonna say everyone talked about Daemon and Viserys but Viserys and Rhaenyra having that little stare as he makes his way to the throne said so much

@@Argos-xb8ek the faint smile on King Viserys' face as he realizes that Rhaenyra is happy that he came to defend her and he knows he was doing the right thing

This was nothing but the underlining of why Viserys was a bad king that lead the realm to near ruin.

And then with his last words he completely r ruined it all lol accidentally, yes, but still ..

I wonder if she kicked his butt a few times when he got to the other side...?

🤧

Paddy confirms this in an interview! He improvised the line. He believed Viserys essentially died with Aemma, it just took a long time for his body to catch up to his broken heart. PC said Aemma came to get Viserys at the end, so he said "my love". Beautiful & heartbreaking

The reveal that Viserys and Aemond both have one eye gave me(likely Aemond too) a glimmer of hope. Hope that Viserys would finally say something, anything, about Aemond's loss. I think it was a great touch that Viserys did not. Aemond's unaddressed maiming hung like a cloud. Lucerys looking at Aemond and giggling like he got away with something must have been infuriating to Aemond. He kept it in well, not even hitting back. Aemond took the punch from Jace like a champ and shoved Jace down like a kid. Aemond could have been a great man. It's such a same that he is unable to rise above.

She used it to confirm her own bias

@@apollorushing3611 I mean, her "bias" is very understandable tbh, and if he said "son" then of course it would be her kids, not Rhaenyra's since those are his grandsons.

@@apollorushing3611 that's not really a fair criticism. Every character in this world uses prophecy to confirm what they want to believe. Viserys was so convinced he was destined to have a son that it cost him Aemma. Melissandre is convinced Stannis is Azor Ahai despite all evidence to the contrary. Dany is willing to buy into the prince who was promised prophecy once Missendei points out it could be a princess. Dany also adopts the stallion who will mount the world prophecy because it aligns with her desire to reclaim the Targaryen throne.

Visyres must have been thinking he was talking with Rhayneara when in fact it was Alicent he was having a conversation with. That doesn't sound really nice since Alicent could've believed her son Aegon the king was referring to.

@@elvinbertcorvera1884 this is correct. If we remember, in the last episode, Viserys accidentally calls Allicent Aemma, his previous wife. So there is a history of him mistaking Allicent for a Targaryen family member.

he did say a word, he said ''he can keep his tongue'' hahaha

Aemond was incredibly turned on by that

Yeah. None of the stink of the final season of "Game of Thrones" can be found anywhere on this show! This is the season we all deserved, three years ago, and never got. Gives me good vibes for the upcoming "Jon Snow" sequel series, as well as later seasons of this show. Isn't it incredible what GREAT showrunners can accomplish, Dan & Dave??

Matt Smith is good at playing a quiet character. I feel like you get so much from his facial expressions.

@@seibervideo very true, and when he speaks he says a lot with very few words. His performance on Doctor Who was excellent at capturing a good and lovable man with a true sense of darkness and unpredictability under the surface. I’m so glad he got this role.

Yeah, i like how diverse daemon is. You literally never know what hes going to do. He might cut youre head off, he might be studying dragon lords sitting around for days, he might be lurking around ina cloak, sometimes he seems dishonornable, yet does some of the most honorable things in the show. Its pretty cool. Ontop of that hes just about as clever and witty as tyrion and and seems to have either control, or knows how situations are going to play out before they even happen.

@@profo4544 yeah, love his character too, so many layers and personality.

His physical acting in the last few episodes was absolute amazing. Given all of the prosthetics and green screen areas, that’s a lot to work around. He did so very convincingly. So very talented!

I agree. I don't know for sure if that was a death scene however. BTW Brian Blessed's death scene in I Claudius was pretty darn good too.

@@kevinc809 oh yes, i had forgotten about that scene, also outstanding acting for sure.

Maybe we will get to see him in flashbacks? Gotta hope.

Yeah that was good. He's a great actor.

Greatest scene daemon didn’t fail to impress

A Shien Daemon 😆 I thought she said 'you are the beast beneath the boards'?

Yes! There was so much chemistry, and Aemond was so turned on by the murder of Vaemond.

Alicent had agency. She heard what she wanted to, got hot and bothered then practically ran out to pleasure herself while Viserys died alone.

No, it's Alicent - knowing her husband is not compus mentis - taking information she doesn't understand and projecting her ambitions onto it instead of speaking with those who might. She's going to use his "last wish" to her own ends rather than respect it, she has no clue what he was talking about.

Well, it’s not about what causes her to have the goal she now has. It’s about the actions she will take in seeking to achieve those goals. Is a good way to keep her character grey. Otherwise she would just be evil for the sake of being evil

@@CharlesGoodwin What exactly would she say to anyone else about his last words? What clarification would she be seeking? That Aegon is _not_ the heir, and that he 100% was speaking of Rhaenyra's Aegon?

Check out Dead Men's Shoes. He's terrifying.

Dude if you’ve never seen it watch a movie called dead man’s shoes it stars paddy considine and it’s unbelievably good

Wouldn't want Team Black taking any form of accountability would we? Lol They love to act like Rhaenyras boys are sweet innocent angels

@@Captain_Insano_nomercy Team black fans specifically are gonna run out of excuses throughout the show lmfao

Jaecarys was dancing, it was the spoiled brat Luce who laughed at him. I kind of liked Jace's depiction in this episode, he seemed nice, wanting to learn things in order to become a future good ruler, etc., while trying to keep it together although Aegon kept on challenging him, it was his spoiled brother who gave Aemond the chance.

@@Captain_Insano_nomercy At least none of her boys are rapists. Just gonna shrug over that one, I guess.

@@TheSuperRatt a royal doing that in that world isn't really that uncommon first off my guy If you wanna use modern morality then they are basically all cousin fuckers aren't they?

Paddy and Sean both icons of the first series

Now the question I think we're all wondering..who was you rooting for. The greens or the black?😈

@@desmondbillingslea7616 Personally me the blacks, daemons actually a cool and complex character, compare him to jon snow its like miles different, jon snow is a very overrated character. Daemon you literally never really know what hes going to do. He might might cut your head off and leave ur tongue hanging out for saying the wrong thing, or he might not lol, he might be studying dragon lords sitting alone for days, he might be lurking around in a cloak, you never know he has alot of sides. The greens dont really have anyone dope atleast yet on there side fighter wise, atleast not on deamons level. The one eyed kid is essentially a wannabe daemon, and daemon backs him down with just a stare alone. Unless ur a heavy alicent supporter, or some criston cole emo fanboy the blacks are cooler, minus the weird incest stuff but thats how we were told targaryens were from the get go, so i mean to have an issue with that now after the entire game of thrones went down with jamie and cersei, but now you choose to make a stand on it is weird to me. But imo the blacks are cooler because of daemon and darksister, there dragons, ceraxes looks cool. And green really has no place being ina Targaryen sigil or logo, or banner.

@@desmondbillingslea7616 The Blacks.

@@jodiackerly275 good good.

Sadly we know that the greens will triumph.

Yeah but sneaking up behind a guy to kill him is weak. Real tough guys like Charles Bronson for example look you right in the face , then bam! You're dead.

I've actually been finding HoTD to be better than GoT. It's more mature, the quality of acting and writing seem higher...it's more Shakespearean than Game of Thrones ever managed. We'll see if they can maintain it, but they've made a strong start.

house of the dragon is moving at a much different pace, some game of thrones episodes were kind of boring, and led to small plot things. Every episode in this is like, a summary of a chapter or something the episodes as a whole are hitting way different than alot of game of thrones were, and these characters are also much more complex. Yeah that last episode was literally levels over anything game of thrones had put out emotional wise, like miles better. People i knew who barely saw game of thrones and didnt care for it saw this episode and were floored by it. But you also have to remember Daemon is george rr martins favorite character in the whole ice and fire universe i beleive, so he definitly wasnt going to represent this era in a bad way. Tbh i think a jon snow sequel would be boring. Game of thrones was good but jon snow was a very simple character, especially toward the end. Alot of characters toward the 4/5th season of that show starting going to complete garbage. I dont think this show will go down that road i think he learned from those mistakes.

*forgive the long response in advance* @@dmgroberts5471 same and i took some heat saying that lately in these forums / chats. But personally i do feel the same , to me its better on pretty much any level than most of even early GoT. For one GoT was always good and interesting (until it was not in later seasons) but really took until its 3rd or 4th season to fully hit its stride then sadly fell off from S5 on for the most part. Other than S6 which had some good moments / episodes. HotD has a much higher starting level , as it should 10 plus years after GoT S1 and the general standards and expectations come with that and with the climate of film / series making and fandoms at this point. Ntm seemingly HotD looks to have smartly observed and learned from many of GoT's mistakes. The writing is better on HotD imo and especially in S1 or S2 GoT we don't have so many of those several minute throw away brothel scenes and the like we got quite often in early GoT. Hardly any of that on HotD , much more streamlined. The writing does set HotD apart , GoT had some very good performances / acting but once D&D surpassed most of the source material / went their own way , including S5 and after that. The writing declined which hindered a lot of the GoT performances going forward. But i would say not one performance came near Considine / Viserys level on GoT , some very good ones but nothing quite that level of moving and emotive we see from Considine. I think it also shows that Condal in particular and his team are true students and fans of the ASoIaF universe ; which D&D clearly were not. The delving into and expanding the lore so often into small detail. Even down to touching on theories like the Lemon tree with the whole Braavosi plant thriving in KL. Elements like that but also of course Aegon's prophecy , Valyria , Tyroshi generals , curse of Harrenhal , hints around Corlys / his voyages and well beyond. To me HotD just feels even more ASoIaF universe-like than GoT , especially with using similar devices to the text like ambiguity (similar to how GRRM uses it) and proper complex symbolism. I also find it that much more impressive how well HotD is doing on any cinematic essential level while also including so many ASoIaF / GRRM elements. Because imo adapting F&B is in imo tougher than ASoIaF. ASoIaF is much bigger and complex overall. But F&B / the novellas / the DotD in general has a relatively small amount of source material. And that limited material has a fair bit of ambiguity , almost no dialogue, and one has to navigate often multiple conflicting accounts of events. ASoIaF is larger , more complex and ambitious but early on especially had so much source material (1000s of pages) , and direct events / scenes and dialogue to borrow from. Which is often what they did in early GoT. Neither project is easy at all but F&B has quite a bit of challenges to navigate and overcome , let alone delivering to the level cinematically , while also staying so true to the source material / feel of the universe that we are seeing on HotD. The job HotD is doing for me impresses me much more at this point. And shows that even with slight / tweaks changes that all adaptations have to make , things can be slightly altered but still remain true to the text and the general spirit of it.

@@AndrewK23777 Well, it's even more impressive now that I know how little text there is about each event. Episode 8 was taken from, what? 2 or 3 paragraphs? Less than one page, and they crafted this from it. Amazing. It really goes to show the calibre of TV show that's possible these days, and the demand for such. Another thing I've noted is that the language is more medieval, using things like "mine own," and addressing people as "good Brother."

@@dmgroberts5471 agree on the possibilities and what can be achieved cinematically even with series nowadays. But the proviso there hinges on having the right and properly qualified people in the creative and production positions. Those cinematic essentials have to met - good writing , directing , casting , acting , sensical choices , cohesion , sets , costuming etc. We see with even other massive projects (also airing right now) those basics / essentials if shirked can be quite disastrous. With GoT , D&D wrote most of it i believe except for a few hacks and yes-people they let into their circle. HotD has a team of writers i believe , many of whom have quite good CVs and the difference is clear. Also HotD seems to also have good directors not micro-managed from unqualified people above them. Perhaps above all the clear familiarity , knowledge and passion for the universe shows through with Condal and his end product. D&D to me likely feigned enough interest to get the job but they were hardly ASoIaF experts or even avid fans and that very much showed in the later seasons. Condal seems a genuine fan and student of this universe which also shows in HotD with the difference in the level , complexity , feel and immersion. HotD really captures the spirit & feel of this universe so well. Likely how often Condal seems to include and collaborate with GRRM helps tremendously with the authenticity. Which was very lacking for example when D&D / GoT alienated GRRM from S5-S8.

And Vaemond - thoroughly unlikeable guy. Too honest for his own good. But I respect him. He knew that he would not leave that room. But his spoke the TRUTH, He died for his bloodline. Couldnt stand him, but he had my utmost respect.

He died for himself. The marriage pact would put Velaryon blood back on the seat of Driftmark.

My guess is rats and Larys.

@@JuulE9lsen Or Cheese. He works in the celler.

Blood and Cheese, I'd wager

@@kevinc809 Though, I thought she appeared to be warning Aegon, and maybe even Jacaerys, more than herself.

@@JuulE9lsen Yeah, on second thought it probably isn't Cheese. I mean if she knew that she would be keeping armed guards by her side 24/7 for life.

GRRM was raised catholic so I believe the silent sisters are his version of nuns

@@Lord_Clarke that makes sense but I’m still curious about them. Does every church or chapel for the Seven have their own Silent Sisters? How are they selected and trained? Do they prepare everyone or just nobility and those who die in war? I appreciate that the show runners remembered them and included them in HoTD but they’ve only reactivated my curiosity. Thank you for sharing about GRRM and what he probably drew inspiration for them from.

I think he meant young Griff. 😉

It's such a bombshell that Rhaenyra is actually the true "Prince That Was Promised". He could only have meant her, as I interpret his words at the end as being his answer to what Rhaenyra had asked him earlier in the episode.

The True Prince that was Promised was Aegon the Unworthy, he slept with so many women that all the characters in Game of Thrones were secretly the descendants of his many many bastards. As for Azor Azai’s flaming sword… that’s a description of Aegon’s “sword” after all the STIs he contracted, it’s certainly burning.

Not really. Whether a Cole or a Strong does not matter. He will be seen as a bastard either way.

Today I could see clearly that Jace has brown hair like Crispy and Luke and Joffrey have black hair like Breakbones

@@veteran0121 its a massive twist because Criston Cole will be killing and going so far out of his way to keep his own son off the throne. Yes, obviously he's a bastard. lol

Of course Rhaenyra never drank the moon tea. That would have been the same as admitting to have shared the bed with Daemon. She's smarter than that. I am convinced Jace is Criston Cole's son.

Makes sense to me

I cackled way too loud at this, I doff my cap to you.

Ep 3 for me

Clever!

Honestly watching those two interact is very interesting. Any time Daemon looks upon Aemond I don't get the feeling he's facing down an enemy, but rather thinking 'Damn, another one just like me. Well there's only one way this ends.'

I really hate alicent

Only watched it once so far but I thought he was telling her (Alicent) that she needs to take control after he dies and be sure her son becomes king because the bloodline must stay pure in order to fight the "threat" from the north someday. Even though genetically the "Strong" boys are equally Targayen.

@@kevinc809 Yeah, very much the opposite of what he was trying to say. That's certainly what Alicent intends to pretend he was saying, But for that to be true, you have to ignore every thing he's said and done throughout the series up to this point.

That was my take as well - she totally understood it was meant for Rhaenyra but will use it anyway.

@@wyldride Thanks, you're probably right. If not that would mean he was basically ruining his daughter on his deathbed. Only how did you know he thought he was talking to Rhaenyra? Knowing what he meant is very important. Like super important.

Exactly, dude looks menacing. Why people try him is beyond me lol

Seriously 😂 every time they cut to his face I was like "oh no no no, he's about to shed blood".

Same hahaha it’s great casting

Watching this with my Dad, he said Aemond is exactly what he imagined a Targaryen would look like. Hard to disagree.

@@Tahkaullus01 Yep, I was thinking the same as your Dad. Smart man he is.

I think Daemon is the only person that Aemond fears. They surely look alike, but Daemon has charisma. Aemond seems angry and tense non stop.

@@vKSh87 Aemond lost his eye and his father didn't even care. Viserys should have said something about it at the dinner. Son I would give you my one good eye if I could. Lucerys, you maimed my son. You can never make Aemonds eye come back, swear to me you will try for the rest of your life to make amends to Aemond

@@BillyBasd I don’t know how much good that would have done, I can’t believe that little twerp started laughing. Aemmond is a douchelord obviously but what an idiot to laugh as if he could take him on in any capacity. Their mom spoiled the f out of them with love and they turned into little hobbits.

@@BillyBasd His own words were that it was a fair exchange. So why still hold a grudge after 6 years. He’s bigger and stronger than his brother and his nephews and rides the biggest and baddest dragon. But still gets insecure by seeing a piggy. Now the bullied kid becomes the bully. How cute ☺️

@@vKSh87 nah I fully get Aemond. If someone stabs my eye out you better believe it’s on sight for the rest of our lives.

Viserys proclamation is illegal and criminal. The entire plot to pass the Strong bastarrds off as Laenor's sons constitute a criminal conspiracy. This is a situation Viserys created himself by being so selfish and pigheaded in his decision making. Alicent has never in all those years cared that he supported Rhaenyra's criminality. I think from her perspective Rhaenyra is just a criminal and it's her duty to stop what she's doing. Alicent is taking on the Ned Stark role and Rhaenyra the Cersei role, albeit with different levels of intellect and power dynamics.

@@crescendyr8438 the king is the ultimate authority nothing the king does is "illegal" (nevermind that this is not a society with codified laws anyway). Also, the ruling Velaryons are happy and willing to go along with it. Alicent is nowhere like Ned. She might act and cloak herself in righteousness and religion, and she has a point that sexist common law is on Aegon's side, but she will act for interest, not honor

@@AllTheArtsy If the King can do nothing illegal he wouldn't need to hide behind lies. He could just say Luc and Jace's father is Harwin Strong, but Jace is still heir to the throne. He doesn't because he knows there are limits. He may not be accountable to the law in life, but after he dies those illegal decrees can be challenged. Like an executive order irl. Doesn't matter if Corlys is happy to participate in a criminal conspiracy. Again, you keep talking like everything is out in the open. But they are lying because they know it's wrong and that it will not fly. Similarly, it doesn't matter if parents agree to their 12yo child getting married. It's illegal. She is very much like Ned in that she is a person of traditional values who can't stand by a watch criminals flout the law. The only difference is you like "sexist common law" supporting Ned and you dislike "sexist common law" supporting Alicent. Ned's honor resulted in the War of the 5 Kings. Alicent's honor results in the Dance of Dragons.