House of the Dragon S2 Ep 8 "The Queen That EVER Was" | REACTION x SEASON REVIEW

[@DivergentWizdom]

the Queen who EVER was!! Rhaenys' influence has brought most major characters to this point so it feels fitting that the final episode of season 2 is named in her honour. She was SPOT ON about everything from how to deal with being a leader, how to deal with court, how to oppose the enemy, and how to manage Daemon. Rhaenys changed people for the better: Rhaenyra, Corlys, Daemon, Baylor, Jace, and the Sers of Rhaenyra's court. What do you all think?

[@soulfulcurl7027]

@divergentwizdom I never thought of it this way….i was feeling dissatisfied with the finale, it felt like it was missing something…..an you just made me realise it was…it’s was missing Rhaenys 😢

[@turkliish2239]

​@@soulfulcurl7027good point fr

[@turkliish2239]

I loved the finale. We didnt need more fights or dragon scenes, we needed to focus on finding exit points for each characters story until we meet them again next season

[@DivergentWizdom]

@turkliish2239 we agree! Ok our prediction we guessed there wouldn't be any huge fights or even dragon scenes because they were never going to start the big war scenes in this season and maybe we will only have one or two in season 3

[@soulfulcurl7027]

More life to Ulf 😂 love this guy so refreshing….tired of all the elite talk 😂

[@DivergentWizdom]

@soulfulcurl7027 Ulf is so strikingly different and it's really noticeable when he's around Jace 🤣 imagine these two become besties 🤣🤣

[@osman732]

Jace is smart to not take the Dragonseeds' loyalty for granted. He's classist/elitist but he's also correctly identified that these people exist outside of their web of fuedal loyalties (historic obligations to liege-lords & Monarchs) and incentives/rewards for those loyalties (lands, titles, incomes). They are complete strangers to their world, who've been given nukes and asked to fall in line. What if they don't want to fall in line?

[@DivergentWizdom]

@osman732 that's a really interesting perspective - it's true - people existing outside of the elite system are less beholden to it. Addam is definitely looking to be part of that world coz he thinks he deserves it coz of royal blood, so he is actually closer to Jace than Ulf or Hugh. Ulf is totally not establishment - he's a wild card for sure. Hugh.... That's an interesting one. Hugh is also a wildcard because you can see him falling in line but also going ape sh*t coz he's got that deep rage like Vermithor. What's interesting is that the very elitist thinking that Jace is living by is the same one that's got Aemond and Aegon fighting against their own bloodline to try and rule the kingdoms. It's causing the issues in the first place 🤣🤣

[@osman732]

My issue isn't that the show departs from the books, it's that some of the changes are....bad. Alicent's path just doesn't make sense on its own terms. She spent 10+ years making Rhaenyra's life hell: dragging her publicly, undermining her at Council, indoctrinating her kids to hate her (remember "YOU ARE THE CHALLENGE AEGON, SIMPLY BY LIVING & BREATHING!"), using her power as Queen to humiliate Rhaenyra after childbirth, going to great lengths to try and disinherit Rhaenyra's children, demanding that Criston cuts out Luke's eye, actually STABS Rhaenyra. She forced an unwilling Aegon (literally dragged him kicking and screaming) to take the throne. She bears as much responsibility for this war as anybody. Now Aegon's broken and helpless...and Alicent serves her children up to die, so that she can escape to freedom with Helaena? "Come with me Rhaenyra" wtf are you serious bish? In service of centering Alicent/Rhaenyra's connection and making S2 about them rediscovering their lost friendship, they've assassinated Alicent's character. She flips from the harsh stepmother (vicious but smart, competent & steadfastly advancing her family's interests), to a despicable traitor who signs her childrens' death warrants, because she misses her bestie, and regrets siding with the patriarchy (but only after it worked out badly for her personally). This departure from the source story is apparently because Alicent "was smeared by history" in the books, WTaF? She is VASTLY more despicable in the show now. S1 Alicent and S2 Alicent are different characters, it's bad writing and it's jarring. By S2E1 children have been murdered on both sides, the point of no return had been passed. The pace of the rest of S2 suffers because of the decision to make it about "two friends figuring it out".

[@turkliish2239]

Also one critique i have is that the show doesnt need to become so grand that it ruins it. Searching for perfection just makes it impossible to deliver something powerful and enjoyable. Working from Canon has never really led to the best version of tv shows or movies, it's restrictive. I dont care if they diverge from canon, in fact, you can never get it exact so why not use the opportunity on screen to do somwthing different. How it looks in your mind should not be a prerequisite to how it should look on screen

[@DivergentWizdom]

@turkliish2239 listen homie we are with you on this one.....the amount of people who are so wedded to THEIR interpretation of the canon is bringing a sour taste to the show.