Like we say in Brazil: "Pega fogo cabaré" :fire:
Fantastic episode filled with great dialogue en politics. There are so many ticking time bombs in this show.
how has Ser Criston not been burned at the stake yet for being a witch for having such anachronistically fabulous hair
each episode gets better and better.. wow!
When does this show start to become smart? this could be predicted so early. I want the writer's to be 10 steps ahead. I want Daemon to "win", because he has the most presence. All the other are lacking. Why are they bringing up "The prince that was promised"? that premise was fucked way too much in GOT.
Ser Criston Cole is a Dragon rider now!
I shouldnt say this, but this Daemon-Rhaenyra thing turned me on.
immediately starts guzzling that tea
Damn! Every new episode is better than the last one…the music is a 10 and every scene is more intense with it…
Best sex scene in the franchise; you can tell it was directed by a woman.
Really good episode since the focus is mostly on dialogue and character description. An intriguing world. It looks fantastic. The nightly, clandestine adventures of Rhaenyra and Daemon are exciting. I also liked the explicit debauchery. Unlike in other episodes of the franchise, both sex scenes with her felt genuinely "appropriate" plot-wise (and - I must admit - kinda hot in the way that Eyes wide shut or bicurious or step-siblings porn can be unexpectedly hot. You can't explain it but you can't deny it).
I like all the multi-dimensional characters. Surprising developments. I didn't see Daemon's move coming (still can't tell what he's really up to especially with regard to Rhaenyra or is he just an impulsive idiot?). I still like the Queen's and the Crown Princess' stories best. In particular, I like how these two girls quietly observe and tacitly try to influence the Royal Court. Each in their own way. I still can't tell whether they are rivals or allies. Rhaenyra is such a renegade character .... love it. (Sometimes I fear that she's modeled too much like Daenerys which would be cheap fan-service - but it's too early to have a clear opinion on this issue.)
PS: I like the extensive use of Valyrian. Adds a nice touch.
PS2: This model of the city is fantastic.
The first great episode of this show - easily the best yet. This is probably the first episode that I've found is almost as good as early Game of Thrones.
The episode starts with the reconcilliation between the king and Daemon as well as between Rhaenyra and her former friend Alicent, who seems to support Rhaenyra after all. However, things go to the dogs after Rhaenyra goes to paint the town red with her uncle Daemon, apparently he wanted to show her the poor district and what the common people really think of her? And then I don't know what happened since they ended up in a brothel so I skipped some scenes, and later when Rhaenrya returned to her chambers, she took advantage of Ser Criston but I don't know whether she really slept with Daemon or not as she swore to her former friend Alicent. There is a political scandal about it as the Hand informs the king on Rhaenyra, which has a lot of results, first Viserys expels his brother from King's Landing, than he has a talk with his daughter, and Rhaenyra agrees to marry the Velaryon to fix the political mess, but gives her father the ultimatum to fire Otto Hightower, which he promptly does. I didn't like the episode very much as it concentrated too much on the sexual themes which were often shown in the original Game of thrones and which I really detest, also, there was only one dragon shown in this ep. I liked the story about Aegon the Conqueror's dagger which Viserys tells to Rhaenyra before announcing her whom she is to marry.
This episode made me realize how much this show is lacking a Ned Stark/Sean Bean charisma level good-guy character.
rhaenyra: how dare you accuse me of something i most definitely did??
Hm, I assumed that Rhaenyra had some complicated feelings for Alicent in the past, but it wasn't mutual. The way they showed Alicent react to the rumors felt more personal, like she was cheated almost. I can't decide was she hurt or jealous because:
- it was Daemon, specifically and not her;
- her closest friend weren't back and open with her and she hated realisation that she was alone again;
- she was jealous of the lifestyle and freedom she can't afford, old husband she doesn't want or love and children that she doesn't want to produce or loves;
- she was simply afraid for her friend future;
- she was displeased that Rhaenyra refused to marry (she was involved in the organising process same as her husband, if I remember correct) and squandered her effort;
- she wanted to see her friend in the same miserable boat as she was stuck with?
Romantic intent was clearly there, as part of a subtext, in the first two episodes with Rhaenyra (and it's no longer the case for her). But I wonder if it still there, serving some form of motivation for Alicent's actions instead?
Plate Mail. The medieval lingerie.
I like that Alicent and Rhaenyra reunited in the beginning.
It does not make sense that Rhaenyra would want to have sex with Daemon like that.
And then Daemon couldn't get it up? No.
Then she has sex with the king's guard??? No, this is stupid.
And the queen doesn't like having sex with the king. Even though she's been doing it for years and he's not an evil man. It makes sense with modern sensibilities, but for medieval times it doesn't make sense.
She gave a little romantic affection towards Daemon, but having sex with him? No, doesn't make sense. Especially for medieval times, and especially moreso for the king's guard.
And the kingsguard going through with it? He knows if he was caught it would mean death or torture. Stupid. And if the king's guard was also found out or confessed, that would also spread through the realm.
Would Daemon have really tried to have sex with Rhaenyra? When they haven't had much romantic tension or interest. If he was rejected then that would damage their relationship, or if the king found out then it would damage his relationship with him, which happened in this episode. It doesn't make sense.
I ain't team Rhaenerya anymore, and Daemon doesn't deserve my support, so i'm team Alicent's children.
Past episodes have shown Rhaenyra to be our virtuous hero. This episode shows she isn't, and with her behavior towards the queen and king later in the episode, shows her manipulative nature, and apart from getting rid of the hand, she's not quite clever in regards to politics, as she wouldn't have done the things she did in this episode.
Why can Rhaenyra force the king to act against the hand? This makes no sense. The hand was just doing his duty.
And the king goes against the hand, even though he's trying to unite the realm, and the hand is a strong ally? Makes no sense. Oh but the sense is that what tips him over is because he sent Alicent to him. So what? Realistically i don't think the king would care too much, and it's an understandable decision to advance your status that many others would have done. It's bad decision when you think of it in modern sensibility terms, but not medieval times. The hand even denied doing it, so the king doesn't even know for sure.
When you tack on modern sensibilities into a time period that is supposed to be reminiscent of medieval times, you know things are probably going to go wrong. Modern sensibilities can be entered if they don't go against the realism of the backdrop. Writers these days don't seem to get this, and the content suffers for it. They also struggle with thinking ahead, and in adaptations are often either naively slavish to the source material or vary too much from it. Talented writers know how to reach a good middle ground while also creating good content on their own.
The first three episodes surprised me being good. This kind of episode is about what I expected of GoT.. Like fantasy horny fan fiction...one hand on a keyboard.. The other hand... Elsewhere
His actions might be questionable but more Daemon please he’s charismatic and entertaining as hell lol. 8/10.
Alicent and Rhaenyra… just kiss already
It seemed to me like a missed opportunity for even more unwanted complications and drama:
Since Rhaenyra swore to Alicent that Daemon had not touched her, she could've pressured Viserys to have Rhaenyra examined that she's still a virgin in order to restore her "virtue". That would've once again fractured Rhaenyra's friendship with Alicent, and, in order to protect Criston, Rhaenyra would've had to admit that Daemon raped her, which would paint Daemon even more as an immoral villain and a threat to the king.
HBO really loves naked teens it seems... I'm about done with this poorly written soap opera-esque drivel.
Still struggling to maintain interest in this extended soap opera version of a GoT greatest hits episode. All very predictable.
That director really loves mid shots through furniture.
The back-to-back-to-back child sex scenes really took me out of this one. sex scenes in HBO shows feel superfluous at the best of time (do we not all know about porn tube sites by now, folks?) but these REALLY fucked with the flow of things.
The complication to these characters and this plot with all of the conniving politics mixed with family dynamics is peak GOT. You can just imagine how things that are happening in each episode could come into play later and make things even more complicated. Another great episode.
Ew wtf have I just watched?
I was so unbearably uncomfortable for that entire hour, catastrophising about all the terrible things that could happen.
Less than i expected so much
This episode was super quality, because it showed. There are some minor issues, but there is much more excellence.
Giving all the explicit nudity to extras to fill the quota is such a lame cop-out
I did not expect to see Rhaenyra and Daemon together like THAT, despite having been spoiled that they get married. Very good episode although I am concerned with the aftermath of these events.
Honestly, it's the GoT-verse... so, who really cares about a bit of incest? Wasn't it mentionned in the last episode that he should just betrothe Rhaenyra and Aegon to each other, so it can't be that. But of course, a princess must be a virgin at her wedding. Okay, right. Viserys at least understands this hipocrisy and he tries to be a just and good ruler - but I don't quite understand why he hasn't named Aegon his successor. Is it really just the memory of her mother? Or does he love Rhaenyra that much?
But this episode was the weakest so far, all the palace intrigue, inferences and omissions can't distract from that. Also, the scope of this series is rather narrow, so far. I mean we know the Targaryens are going to continue to reign for another 170 years until Daenerys' birth when Jaime kills the last Targaryen king and Robert Baratheon ascends. So what exactly is the purpose of this series other than somehow perpetuating the GoT-lore? I haven't seen any distinctive feature so far. And what's Daemon's agenda other than the throne?
(And Alicent... can you imagine having to have sex with someone whose body's rotting by the minute? Urgh.)
So far the most interesting thing about this show is Daemon. The fact that he went for Rhaenyra doesn't surprise me. Targaryen being Targaryen right?
The show doesn't pack a lot of action yet. I'm still interested to see where it's headed but it's definitely on another level than Game of Thrones. I don't care much for Alicent or her father. Viserys reminds me of a softer version of Ned Stark, noble, trying to do the right thing... I feel an inevitable death coming... that is if the rot doesn't get him first.
Easily the best episode thus far.
this show is so lazy, they aren't even trying!
1x04 - King of the Narrow Sea: 8.4/10 (Impressive, Yet Slightly Flawed)
An intriguing episode, with a pace and tone reminiscent of classical “Game of Thrones.” It's not often that a television episode leaves me speechless, but this one certainly did. A lot was going on, and while most of it had been foreshadowed, the episode's runtime of 60 minutes gave little time to reminisce on everything that was unfolding. Not a single minute of this episode dragged; every line delivered had an impact—riveting from beginning to end. Ira Parker, the writer, does an outstanding job and deserves praise, despite some minor shortcomings. It's too soon to draw any firm conclusions, but I must admit that I was a little puzzled by Daemon's goals and the choices he made in this episode, almost leading me to question the writing. Three episodes' worth of Rhaenyra's arc was compressed into one, yet the feeling remains the equivalent of watching three episodes. The writing was sometimes a tad flimsy, nonetheless, it was another solid episode in arguably the finest television series currently airing.
Tea tea tea more tea !!!!!!!!!
A very politics heavy episode but also has a heavy first couple seasons GoT taste.
Quite the conundrum at the end.
Great episode all round. It is good to have interesting and a captivating story to look forward to throughout the season. [Not like that other garbage that is airing at the same time].
Review by SeanMSUBlockedParent2022-09-13T05:33:57Z
Pros
+Blackwood boy taking on the Bracken bullies (as is custom)
+Daemon's return was effective
+Alicent's character came through with little to no dialogue and her role as new Queen was a great contrast to the major plot point with Rhaenyra
+The scene showing the views of the smallfolk on Rhaenyra's status is HUGELY important for show watchers. The people of King's Landing specifically have a huge role
+Rhaenyra's main scenes were all great the sex scene was weirdly one of the more accurate portrayal of sex I've seen in a while. The time it took to get Criston's armor off of course giving that somewhat awkward first time feeling as well as symbolism him letting himself be himself rather than just a member of the Kingsguard. and the positioning, music, lighting, etc. made it feel weirdly real. Despite the lead up to it in the awkward pleasure house
+ Daemon lying that he had sex with Rhaenyra to try to pressure his brother into accepting him as heir through her is fittingly despicable for him considering him and Otto are becoming increasingly alike. (Right down to the banishment lol). It'll be interesting to see if this was him making the most of the situation his ex put him in or if it was intentional
Neutral
*No dragons
*Fairly narrow scope and little action (Not a problem for most but some might not feel like this is a very grand episode compared to the last one
Cons
-The prophecy being told YET again is showing even more so that they are trying to lead us onto this idea that Rhaenyra is the main character and one everyone should root for. At this point she IS of course the main character and most people root for her so really the only purpose/effect is to stifle the complexity of Alicent, Aegon, and Criston choosing to usurp her. It paints the smallfolk as sexist morons instead of people who all live under a different set of rules than these spoiled Targaryens and their incest, foreign language, and dragons