User reviews

I'm guessing some people were expecting battle after battle but if we look back at Game of Thrones in it's prime days, we needed episodes like this because it sets up for the bigger action. In fact this episode wasn't even that bad, it had conflict and action but more importantly it had strong dialog. The effect the last episode had, it had characters in question and confusion, in others it had anger and vengeance. Cutting straight to a war scene would feel bloated. The importance of dialog is what makes shows like this seem more real, for us as an audience to digest the story in preparation for the bigger payoffs.

I have officially graduated university today and if you asked me what was your highlight of the week i would say this episode!

Been waiting for this episode with these events to be exact and it totally delivered! After last week's intense start, this episode keeps up the tension and even more, with more political drama and a final scene that i didn't quite enjoy.

The duel scene was especially strong, perfectly cast and brilliantly executed. The episode balances setup and action well, pointing at what events might yet to come.

On a side note i believe there are some good quotes from this episode that people will remember in the future, but my favorite was today's "I WISH TO SPILL BLOOD, NOT INK". Great episode overall.

Somehow surpassed episode 8 in all aspects, the music, cinematography, writing and acting. The characters are the most vulnerable and honest they've ever been and yet most of the plans being made are built on deception and pain. This episode is everything I've wanted from this show since it began. It is a deep delve into the hearts and minds of it's central and even some side characters, the writing and visuals are leagues above I've ever scene from a song of ice and fire in my opinion. Also contains several of the most heartbreaking scene. The scenes are much more intimate and personal than ever before. 11/10.

Episode 2 is the best of the series for me so far. Rivals they of Season 1 Episode 8. It is good across the board. Acting is masterclass across the board. Stand out are Rhys playing Otto, Tom playing Aegon, Emma playing Rhaenyra and Phia playing Helaena! Writing is good and the direction is really great! Also Sonoya who played Mysaria is good too! All the supporting casts are amazing!

Most importantly, the dog from episode 1 is well!

This is more story driven and not action packed which makes sense as there is a lot of emotion, avenue and facets they have to deal with!

Kudos to the crew and team who worked on this at the back too, like the props, costumes, extras, CGI, ALL are amazing!

This episode is one of the finest in HOTD till date, starting with the Acting all of the actors did a fantastic job as you can really incorporate with their emotions and feelings and you can really see everyone is picking up their role. Music is on point kudos to the music and also visualization is on point as well, Don't know why some people are not happy with the pace of the show(I read a comment my guy just want to see more blood and dragons, while missing the whole point of the show)anyways I really loves the pacing of the show, it gives enough time for their characters to develope and showcase their emotions which helps in overall build up for the bigger things to come.

Another great episode, that mamages to build upon the foundation of previous events and the inevetable feeling that war is coming!

This episode had some great drama and tension! Some of these scenes really has the actors giving their best, and shows them at a very vulnerable time, as the need for revenge overshadows reason!

After this episode i am very excited to see where Daemons character goes! I see potential for a great character arc, as the man who was denied the throne in the first place!

The duel was great too and manages to balance violence and drama, just like thrones did!

There may not have been any major events, but it worked well as a set-up!

First half of the ep drags on and on. It has some pacing issues. Wish they showed more of the Kings revenge on Blood/Cheese.

Lots of yapping this episode with some moments better than others. Found myself scoffing & laughing with a buddy whilst watching a lot of the dialog arguments in the first half.

GoT s1 dialog seems leagues better compared to what we get in HoD (right?)

Seems like Otto and Daemon the only ones that got a clue on each side and are being pushed away by their leaders.

Amazing locations, settings, cinematography.. but the universe sometimes seems a bit empty especially after ep1 and showing the wall/starks. I get its about the main characters and the 2 houses but something seems missing.

Find myself wishing more characters had screen time and we knew more people.. but then you meet some new characters and instantly wish you hadn't.

Yes I might be repeating some points from another reviewer, but didn't think anything lower than a 7 is fair.

I wanna love the show. It was the only thing I could think about all day after ep1 hype!

I gave ep1 an 8 but think this was 6.5-7.5 grade for what it could of been. Just my opinion, hope ep3 slaps us all upside the head and gets to more spice melange and payoffs!

Summary: idk, i wanna love it but ep2 isn't doing enough compared to ep1..

PS: Brighten some of these shots! Didn't we learn anything from GoT?!

As mentioned previously, stretching the main plot points, while skipping and rushing through all in between, in order to have more than two and no more than few seasons is NOT the way to go.

This is the "GoT Season 8" model of creating, only in case of GoT they ran out of "Encyclopedia" and made a complete disaster out of attempts to "make their own", while in case of HotD with main events already "plotted" start to end, with skipping most between included, resembles GoT season 7 more, only darker and more gloomy (literally and metaphorically) and with no humour nor wit, making the entire story possible of wrapping up with 16 to 20 eps with no need for additional seasons, or have multiple (five, six, or eight) seasons in case of which would have to create and write all in between, instead of ignoring it.

Problem seems to be the same as before: they just can not write the way G. R. R. Martin can, thus just rush through it, while in all their Delusion of Grandeur, still having wishes of "Epic Achievements".

What we see here in these two eps of season two, and will likely continue to watch for next couple or few eps is NOT "a build up" toward "epic peaks and resolutions", it is just HACKS trying to fill episode and season number, together with runtime, attempting to justify the money invested..

For those saying the pace is slow... not every episode has to have some huge event or cliffhanger. This episode is immaculate with its story telling, deep dive of the characters, cinematography, and music! We are seeing how this conflict is being built and the lies, pain on both sides that are feeding the conflict which is going to make the big battle scenes pay off so much more. Acting is nothing short of incredible and the dialogue is amazing. Fight scene between the brothers? I was holding my breath the entire time, it was executed beautifully! Overall, love this episode and excited for the next!

The second season of "House of the Dragon" continues with full force, delivering an excellent second episode that even manages to be more consistent and captivating than its predecessor.

The episode opens with the aftermath of the despicable act committed at the end of the previous episode, under Rhaenyra's camp. With a new and wonderful musical composition by Ramin Djawadi, the shock that hit the Hightower camp and their response to the new situation they find themselves in is conveyed very effectively. While most of the characters grieve in their own ways, Otto Hightower immediately thinks about how he can leverage the situation for his political needs and to further his camp's agenda.

One of the strongest points of the episode is the performance of much of the main cast. Emma D'Arcy (Rhaenyra) and Tom Glynn-Carney (Aegon) established themselves as key players in the season already in the previous episode, but in this episode, it's Rhys Ifans (Otto Hightower) and Phia Saban (Helaena Targaryen) who deliver even stronger performances than usual. Otto's confrontation with Aegon was a powerhouse of quality acting from both sides, and Jaehaerys' funeral scene was just as uncomfortable as it was supposed to be, thanks to the exquisite performances of Phia and Olivia Cooke. Fabian Frankel (Criston Cole) also gave a rather impressive performance, managing to make his character more and more detestable to the viewer with each episode.

While the series receives a lot of criticism for portraying many actions that were very deliberate and premeditated in the book as "mistakes" in the series (whether it's the murder of baby Jaehaerys in the previous episode or Luke's murder at the end of the previous season), I sometimes view this as an improvement on the way things unfold in the source material. In the first season, the show's writers presented a clear bias towards Rhaenyra's camp, while already in the first two episodes of this season, it seems they are making an effort to balance the perspective presented in the series, by depicting both sides as having people who commit monstrous acts but also have others who strive for solutions that would prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Of course, above all, each camp has its own personal interests and hunger for power driving it for various reasons, but on both sides, there are characters who are internally conflicted by the situation and the bloody war that is undoubtedly approaching, which is the result of quite a few wrong decisions made by certain decision-makers on both sides, while other decision-makers try to balance the situation in a more calculated manner.

For those who don't know, the book "Fire & Blood" on which the series is based was not written as an objective source book (unlike the original "A Song of Ice and Fire" series), but as a sort of biased "history book" presenting conflicting and sometimes contradictory viewpoints from "historians" trying to document the "Dance of the Dragons" years after it occurred. While this is a wonderful concept for a book, it would work less well in a series, and these changes that the writers are making to the plot, in my opinion, cleverly bridge this gap, creating a story that is indeed told as an objective story while maintaining a certain balance and narrative coherence.

The episode prominently highlights the difference of this series from its parent series, at least at this stage, as the scenes are divided between the two camps and occur mainly in two different settings, unlike "Game of Thrones" where each episode was scattered in a million different places and comprised many short segments about different characters. This has its advantages and disadvantages, but briefly, it can be said that while it doesn't feel as rich in plot as "Game of Thrones" as of yet, the plot in "House of the Dragon" is more focused and there is more momentum in the transition between scenes (a bit like in the later seasons of the parent series).

Needless to say, the technical aspects are absolutely top notch just as we've learned to expect. The Music, Cinematography, Visual Effects, Costume Design, Production Design, etc. Are still the best there are on TV these days. The writing by Hess was extremely great as well.

So far, the second season of "House of the Dragon" is excellent in my opinion, and I am enjoying every moment. The political intrigues and schemes are intensifying by the moment, heading towards a boiling point that will undoubtedly arrive soon.

As we further progress into this series and as the tension and conflict builds, it feels as if HOTD IS inching closer and closer to the quality of the early seasons of Game of Thrones, but of course with its own new underlying tone. The way that the series takes its time to build the drama and tension through dialogue-heavy episodes like these is what I think we all missed in the later seasons, and it's incredibly exciting to see this return to form. Furthermore, the acting and dialogue in this episode was fantastic, particularly from Aegon and Otto Hightower. The rage and hatred that their actors portray is stunning to watch, and they deserve a massive kudos.

Even though this episode had a bit of a pacing issue in the middle but it was still very good. The scenes following the immediate aftermath were very strong the only issue was that the scenes with non main characters were skipped past way too quickly without giving it full time to simmer. Overall it is a very strong 8.5.Even though this episode had a bit of a pacing issue in the middle but it was still very good. The scenes following the immediate aftermath were very strong the only issue was that the scenes with non main characters were skipped past way too quickly without giving it full time to simmer. Overall it is a very strong 8.5.

In this episode, there are bad cuts, weird camera angles, soap-like stage direction, and some weak dialogue. Jumping back and forth between Dragonstone and Kings Landing starts to feel exhausting when the story could develop a little from room to room in the same castle for a while instead. Sets, costume, and graphics are up to par. There are some notable quotables, which I think is probably the key driver of the high IMDb score for this episode. I thought the actors did a fine job with highly emotional scenes. The story that's unfolding is gripping, and the character development is good. I wonder who is directing and editing episode 3.

Whenever an act of war is enacted you can most certainly expect an act of vengeance. While Game of Thrones is a battle between houses for the Iron Throne, what makes House of the Dragon so interesting is that this is a story about the battle between one extended family, the Targaryen, for the supremacy of the Seven Kingdoms.

This second episode of the sophomore season does an amazing job portraying not only the suffering of the rulers, bur also how this internal battle affects King's Landing, and the horde of innocents that live within its walls.

The entire episode revolves around the people caught in the crossfire, it's about how they are forced to choose a side in the war for Westeros, and what the repercussion of their choices will bring.

So far, the course of the story is moving very slowly and nothing new is presented in the events, just a presentation of unimportant details to extend the time and hours of the show.

The first and second episodes so far have made me feel very bored. The story, according to what we know, has epic events, but what we see so far seems, at first glance, to be an ordinary story written by an amateur person that contains a lot of "coincidences" at times and dwarfs the roles of some characters.

I am not completely satisfied with the first and second episodes, and I hope that in the coming episodes we will see something as special and epic as we think.

It's hard to finish watching the episode because it keeps revolving around the same thing which is already quite clear and self-explanatory for everybody. It's filled with the scenes and dialogues that don't add any value and depth into the story and show itself.

We know all of these characters from before, we knew the conflict between Rhaenyra and the Daemon from long ago, why to repeat the same dialogues that we had in the first season? If you need to fill up the empty spaces just make less episode but of higher quality. Sometimes I just want to rewind some scenes.

Actions speak louder than words and I hope that this will be the motto of the next episodes, but hope is fading.

"House of the Dragon" continues its slow-burn storytelling, carefully crafting viewer allegiances while ensuring the other side isn't completely dehumanized.

The twin vs. Twin showdown is among the best scenes in "HOTD" so far. It showcases why the show excels when it focuses on actual conflict intertwined with the exposition of inner turmoil, rather than delaying action for emotional buildup.

A unique aspect of this episode is the portrayal of women in positions of power, with men like Daemon, Cole, and Otto wanting to wield authority through them. These men act as the enforcers for proxy rulers, highlighting a fascinating power dynamic.

Aemond's scenes are particularly poignant, revealing him as a boy out of his depth with deep-seated issues. His "mommy issues" are likely to be explored further, given the show's deliberate pacing.

One of the biggest merits and demerits of "HOTD" is its ability to make viewers pick sides, despite both factions being equally flawed and vain. This creates a sense of community among viewers and characters, making it easier to justify the worst acts committed by each side. This might explain the show's decision to cut down on gore, especially in the Blood and Cheese sequence, to prevent burying one side in irredeemability.

This approach contrasts sharply with "Game of Thrones," where the lack of a clear bilateral conflict meant fewer sides to pick. While viewers rooted for the Starks, the show offered much more than just their struggles. "HOTD" compels viewers to engage deeply with the characters and their complex, often dark, motivations.

Don't get me wrong,its a very good episode..It has great performances,mostly from Rhys(Otto), Tom(Aegon) and Phia (Helaena)...But the main thing is that we waited 2 years for this season and now we have passed the 1/4 of the season..For me its time to pick up the pace and get straight to the conflict..But i have faith to the production team,cause now i feel that all the puzzles are connected and the pones are in the right position for them to amaze us another time

P. S Its funny how this series tries to justify everyones war crimes and stuff but they dont give a damn about Criston Cole.. They legit want everyone to hate him..And yea they have done it well in that part..I legitimately hate his guts so much.