House of the Dragon Wants To Make You Squirm

[@niemandzuhause4897]

I think Raenyra is the only female character who is allowed to have some agency but thats only because her father legitimizes it by being the king and tolerating her actions. Even the daughters of the most powerful houses cant decide anything for themselves like Emma, Laena or Alicant. None of them would have been allowed to reject even half the marriages requests Rhaenyra denied.

[@alanpennie8013]

Alicent definitely has it too.

[@My13101994]

you are right of course, only forgetting all the characters that are poor and not of noble birth. Granted there arnt as many in HotD, but u will find them all over GoT

[@thomascromwell6840]

@@My13101994 Are you seriously saying poor women have autonomy in the stories? The same women who can be kidnapped and raped on the whim of the local lord, and then silenced or killed?

[@thomascromwell6840]

@@alanpennie8013 Not at all. Alicent had to be friends with Rhaenyra, she had to be friends with the king, she had to marry him, she had to sleep with his rotting body, none of those things were of her choosing and now she has to wage war because she and her sons will be looked. When has any of this even remotely happened to Rhaenyra?

[@My13101994]

@@thomascromwell6840 you might wanna learn how to read before answering people

[@revenge3265]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds so much of the stuff in the show so discomforting and really good. Game of Thrones tows the line of being just enough discomforting without going overboard quite well.

[@2ndcitysaint52]

lol wait til the conflict actually gets underway...If they dont hold back its gonna get pretty dark

[@sofer2230]

Personally I feel that the biggest pitfall with decentralized conflict isn't narrative endorsement, but rather the opposite: If all the characters are morally-questionable assholes, why bother rooting for anyone? House of the Dragon did a fantastic job making the cast flawed but likable, but it's dangerous ground to tread.

[@AjaxDGonzo]

I wouldn’t say even half the characters are likable. Rhaneyra is just making mistakes and has pretty much no personality. That can probably be said for all but three characters.

[@rougestarlight4308]

@@AjaxDGonzo Rhaenyra's personality is one of a rebelious princess and most people, myself included, LOVE that

[@AjaxDGonzo]

@@rougestarlight4308 oh you mean daenrys plus Arya? She’s a basic “strong woman”. She could have a real personality, but writers think “strong woman” is enough. The only other qualities really are spoiled, or naive. It pales in comparison to Brienne of Tarth or Catelyn Tully, and rhaenyra is a more central character.

[@upg5147]

@@AjaxDGonzo Those were side characters so most of their characterization was front loaded where as Rhaenyra is a main character so she won't be fully fleshed out till later.

[@gg_sam7847]

Name one morally-unquestionable person irl. But yeah anyway, Savage Books did talk about how it's an extremely hard thing to write well, but your wariness about people employing the writing style more often is understandable considering the quality of like 95% of modern storytelling

[@thehillshaveaviators]

This video was fantastic at putting to words the themes of HOTD beyond gender. Yes, gender is important, but it's well communicated to the audience why that is. All the while, it's all about power you don't want, and power you don't have. Reading into Rhaenyra's character, you almost wonder why she wants the throne at all. She lies on Alicent's lap in episode 1 wishing instead to fly on dragonback to Essos and eat cake, live a carefree life, and these wants seem to continue well into the most recent episode. But ever since Alicent was betrothed to her father, she's been forced to play the position of righteous ambition in order to stay consistent with her beliefs- that a woman should be able to inherit the Iron Throne. If she doesn't pursue, what does that say about those beliefs?

[@tanajagrobin6831]

That's the only thing that bothers me about Rhaenyra, i dont really understand why she wants the throne when she repeatedly says she wants a simple life away from all that duty

[@martelraykin]

@@tanajagrobin6831 Maybe to honor her mother's death ? She was so pissed that his father was willing to sacrifice her mother to get a son that she has done a complete 180 on her vision of the throne. Also maybe a little to piss off everyone who pushed a new wife for her father's because they didn't want a queen

[@katm8128]

@@tanajagrobin6831 pride, probably

[@megatron_overlord]

I might be wrong, I never read the books but for me in the show it looks like Rhaenyra never was 100% honest with saying that she’s is comfortable with her carefree position, when she spoke about that to Alicent she seemed to be sad about her own words as if she rather tried to convince herself that she is okay with all of that and that’s what she wants. But deep down she was always hurt she doesn’t have the choice and she won’t be an heir anyway so she wanted to make herself convinced that even if she could get the power she wouldn’t want it - she tried to find reasons why she wouldn’t want it but it wasn’t entirely the truth, idk

[@sanjaykarthicks1226]

She didn't want the throne for its power but to prove to be useful to her father In episode 2, she even told Alicent that she wanted her father to see her as more than his little girl

[@mjolninja9358]

The birthing scene had me curling up like a shrimp, that stuff loooksss wayyy too painful especially when it was said that the queen can no longer push so she’d to be sacrificed.

[@ertfgghhhh]

The concept you is describing is what I call life. We are all both protagonists and antagonists. We are both on proactive and reactive. We like to think we are the good guys but many times, we really aren't.

[@LeekyXIV]

Great scenes, great writing can definitely make you uncomfortable and still be amazing

[@camilosalazar768]

This channel alone has respawned my love in literature, I could not be more thankful

[@Bdog40]

Aemma didn't deserve that, especially when she's the daughter of daella targaryen which makes it Even sadder.

[@sydneynorsworthy1431]

So ture. Especially when we know how Daella dies. Both mother and daughter die in child birth 😭😭😭 it's sad but poetic somehow

[@Inscriptions37]

Great analysis as usual. I somehow missed the parallels between Viserys ordering the C-section and then being forced to kill the deer---partly because I was distracted by how good the score was for that scene; I didn't much like how GoT ended, but Ramin Djawadi never lost his touch. Anyway I love being excited about a story set in this universe again, and I hope they can keep up the quality.

[@WhyBeUgly]

Never clicked on a video this fast in my life

[@thatonegirludontknow]

Same omg

[@benlandis]

This is honest to God one of the best advertisements I’ve seen for a product in a KZbin video.

[@MourningCoffeeMusic]

I love how so many GoT “fans” tried justifying the Night King being killed so early on by claiming Cersei/Dany were both always the main villains. Perhaps Dany if they gave her character turn more time, but Cersei was absolutely no threat whatsoever. One dragon took King’s Landing after seasons of Dany’s council begging her not to use them. There weren’t any casualties like they said there would be until she snapped ! I guess in short, GoT’s last few seasons were awful and the people defending/justifying how things ended up were forced to eat their words when literally no one liked the ending. Also HOTD is amazing so far 🔥🐉

[@onlyechos6810]

Thank you! A decentralized conflict is exactly what I'm trying to achieve in my current work and I can agree, it is really hard to pull off. I want to write a "Choose your hero" kind of story, where the reader has to pick which character he or she wants to see prevail. Basically the same character has to function as the protagonist in his/her own story line and an antagonist or supporting character in others.

[@taurex7939]

That's actually pretty lit. I love stories like those when there's no real good or bad guy, just one's personal following. What's your work about?

[@onlyechos6810]

@@taurex7939 Thank you :) I just love gray characters as well. They are so much more interesting than our typical hero and villain. I'm afraid the premise is rather generic. Its set shortly after the complete collapse of the central government of a fictional world and is about the chaos and power struggle that follows (wars, schemes, shifting alliances, assassinations). The story follows four main characters, none of whom is fit to rule for one reason or another, but find themselves in positions of leadership anyway, for better or worse.

[@HxH2011DRA]

Enjoyying the show much more than I thought I would

[@Mj_Jetson]

The true villain is the system that pits characters against each other and forces them to make awful decisions.

[@writershard5065]

FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT! It sounds cheesy, but that's a pretty major salient point throughout the Song of Ice and Fire and beyond. The systems put in place are there to facilitate the the noble male class' power games, while using every single other person as tools to maintain the process. Women are broodmares, servants are cheap workhorses, soldiers are weapons, merchants are coin minters and peasants are nothing but the dirt for the royalty and nobility to step on. Anything different is a violation of (usually) religious order because the order was designed to keep the nobility in power and everyone else chained to their game.

[@pokemonmaster0079]

I find it somewhat funny that this was written without including the events of Episode 4, where all this gets turned up two notches.

[@leemiller29]

I love this show, and it's rekindled my love of the ASOIAF universe (and led me to this channel, which is excellent). HOTD feels like the perfect show for the current era, as it's doing a masterful job of showing how the patriarchal system hurts both men and women by making it so constraining. It's also, essentially, a family drama, showing how ultimate power and family can clash and lead to death and destruction. The writing style is also excellent, and I love how it's avoiding the pitfalls later GOT got into with the messy timeline by treating each episode as a vignette, a snapshot into their lives. People are complaining that it's going too quickly, but this is the backstory for the conflict, just as season 1 was essentially backstory into the conflict for the original series. I can't wait to see how it goes and and cautiously optimistic it stays this strong.

[@prestely]

Thank you so much for an impressive analysis on the show! I would even go as far as to Say that HOTD uses "Better Call Saulization" . A great enlightening watch! Congrats again!

[@jacqueline6650]

Awesome video as always! In House of the Dragon even though we disagree with a lot of the characters' choices, we can understand from their point of view why they made certain decisions. That is good writing. One thing I feel House of the Dragon doing very differently from GOT is that a lot of its characters are so "grey" that it made impossible for the audience to label them as a largely "good" or "bad" person - King Viserys would be an easily sympathetic character had he not made that decision in Ep1. And that was not in the original book. I really enjoy with these small changes, writers are able to present us characters that are more rounded and layered.

[@calebclay2713]

This gotta be the best video easy channel on yt

[@TheCrimsonPope]

As always, SO well said!!!

[@Mj_Jetson]

"it will just be our characters in escalating conflict... and I guarantee there's a bunch more discomfort for us in store"... yeah, you have no idea how true that is... I'm not even sure how they're going to film some of the stuff due to how discomforting it gets.... B&C, Bitterbridge, the business with the spikes x2, any time dragons are involved...

[@TheaTheGenius]

I swear the blood and cheese stuff is going to be one of the most shocking moments in TV history.

[@neuralmute]

@@TheaTheGenius It's going to be the Red Wedding again. I'm looking forward to all the awfulness again, just like back when GoT was good!

[@Mj_Jetson]

The thing about B&C versus the Red Wedding is that the characters were built up over seasons for RW... much less so for B&C, and there isn't much time left this season to get the audience attached. But we shall see... the show's writers have done a very good job so far, so I don't doubt they'll manage to pull it off!

[@neuralmute]

@@Mj_Jetson We don't expect B&C to show up anytime soon do we? I figure that this season's the set-up, where the rest of the real players are being, well, *born*, while the action (including the B&C incident) will be more spread out over the rest of the series. Have they said how many seasons they have planned for this one?

[@Mj_Jetson]

@@neuralmute fair enough. based on the episode titles for this season, I'm assuming B&C will be in s02e01 - but its possible that they'll cram it into s01e10. As there should be a tit-for-tat feel between Storm's End and B&C, I think it would be a mistake to put them in different seasons, and I based on ep4, we'll likely see the Storm's End incident this season. No idea how many seasons we'll get. Considering that the conflict doesn't really have a clean ending, part of me just wants them to continue, and cover the next few kings as well (they did choose to call the show hotd, not the Dance of Dragons after all).

[@iateabagelonce]

I want to point out that Viserys' choice wasn't between "killing Aemma" and "letting her die." The Maester says when Viserys enters the room that there was no way to save Aemma... without endangering the life of the child. They COULD have saved Aemma's life, it just would've involved killing the infant. So Viserys' choice was between saving his wife, and saving his child, who was not guaranteed to be a son - and, clearly, was not guaranteed to survive childhood. I think it's interesting how Daemon's life philosophy, while shocking and pot-stirring, actually would have been the solution to many of Viserys' problems. Daemon believes that House Targaryen should live as they once did in Old Valyria, doing what they want, marrying who they want, sleeping with who they want, naming who they want to be monarch. The only reason that Viserys reviles the way Daemon thinks is because House Targaryen has been slowly but surely absorbing the values of the rest of Westeros, cleaving to the Faith of the Seven, etc. Viserys excludes himself from having the blood of the dragon - unlike Rhaenyra, and unlike Daemon. And the throne rejects him. Almost like he's not a true king, and not even a true dragon. But if House Targaryen were to let kings take multiple wives, if like the Dornish they let bastards and women rise in power and even sit thrones, if if if, Viserys could have avoided forcing Aemma to keep trying to bear children, could have avoided killing her, could have avoided all these crows coming to feast on House Targyen, could have avoided the original Rhaenys succession crisis, and could have avoided the Rhaenyra succession crisis. Like, Daemon is chaotic and is not a good person, but his philosophy about gaining the respect and the ear of the common people, and wanting to restore House Targaryen to its former glory, could have solved the entire plot many years ago. If the ruling Targaryen monarchs had just been strong and not let themselves be absorbed into Westeros, until by the time ASOIAF begins, dragons have ceased to exist entirely.

[@sleepyyam5391]

I think the important point about house Targaryan acting like they did in Old Valyria is they would have been in power partly with the support of fellow Valyrians. They aren't in Valyria anymore and the lords whose houses they need on their side would only tolerate so much - one of the themes of ASOIAF is who really wants to rule over ashes? Even the Targaryans need to make some compromises to keep almost the entire kingdom of Westerosi people with Westerosi values from revolting - the most successful Targaryan ruler we hear about, Jaehaerys was called the Conciliator, the reason he went with Viserys as the heir was to cause the least conflict and therefore bloodshed - unfortunately sometimes the least isn't none at all

[@rexibhazoboa7097]

how would they have saved Aemma. The babe couldn’t come out the normal way, even if it was alive or dead, it would be stuck in her. There was no way she would survive that

[@melgg981]

@@rexibhazoboa7097 I'm a student midwife and technically there was a chance Aemma could have been saved. During the medeival period and even into the 1800s when a situation like this happened, barber surgeons were sometimes brought in to perform an abortion during labor. But with limited medical knowledge and technology, this was dangerous and the risk of infection afterwards would be incredibly high. I suppose Aemma could have survived if that was an option in their world but after such a difficult pregnancy and labor, probably unlikely.

[@maesterdrew8606]

The options the maester gave Viserys was between killing Aemma for the C section or letting the baby and Aemma die. There was no saving Aemma either way. The worst part is he didn’t give her any say in this and decided for her. If he would have asked her, she likely would’ve made the same decision

[@fabianavalentino6304]

@@rexibhazoboa7097 she said she had lost pregnacies before, and that she's tired of trying, probably's been tired of mourning her unborn babies for a while. If Vyseris had more wives she wouldn't have needed to try so many times, so iateabageloncce is spot-on. By the way great analysis!

[@brianlowe904]

Before I even watch the video as a writer if I’m writing a scene to make the audience uncomfortable and they say yes it’s uncomfortable then I win. I achieved my goal. If some of the audience doesn’t think it was necessary then that’s a different question outside of my aims in writing the scene

[@AjaxDGonzo]

You may achieve your goal, but at what cost?

[@rougestarlight4308]

@@AjaxDGonzo I think that, depending on the author, the “cost” doesn't matter

[@upg5147]

@@rougestarlight4308 The cost does matter. If you isolated a majority of the people checking out your work, you are dooming yourself to failure or a very specific niche. Some shows that do this well such as The Boys are only successful because they have more to show and have strong writing (most of the time). Same can be said for Invincible. I've heard many say they can't watch either specifically because of the gore and violence. Because there is more to both of those than just guts and blood, it has a following.

[@rougestarlight4308]

@@upg5147 that's why I said “most”. Look at Berserk or Made In Abyss, their authors never cared about the cost and, while their stories are indeed very niche, went on with their cruel works of fiction, and the fans love them

[@upg5147]

@@rougestarlight4308 Those are certainly not niche, Berserk is in Barnes and Nobles my guy. Those are examples that fit my stance, they have very questionable ideas and segments but the story and characters are so amazing that people stick around.

[@Mentira95]

This video made the series get a lot better!

[@sydnitheromantictaylor112]

I was waiting for you to talk about House of the Dragon. Great video.

[@Wandervenn]

I feel like in general a lot of the scenes are more uncomfortable to watch in this show. I didnt have too many issues before besides like... a couple very gruesome moments like whats his name having his eyes crushed in by the Mountain, but those were at the height of the conflict. This feels so much more... constant. Like there's an undertone of gross behavior and violence even when it isnt explicit, so there's never a moment to really enjoy besides when a character speaks out against it. In GoT, there were a lot of moments of peace where characters were able to snatch small moments of joy, humor, introspection, etc in between the anticipation of the conflict and the conflict itself. I feel like I could find characters to like if they had more of these moments and the show let us relax with them. It's like it's too scared to give us a chance to breathe. In episode 4 we had the festival where the two snuck out but while we saw they had moments of joy, we didnt get to experience it with them. Instead we saw them mocked by a theater troupe, play at being a thief, and go into a whorehouse for a very uncomfortable moment.

[@SebastianTargaryen1st]

The first episode was just JARRING and I knew that without that aspect they wouldn’t be able to tell this story, so I’ve resolved to just endure it 🙏🏽

[@Boris.Becker.]

This episode was very good. Thanks Savage.

[@katalinbayer1539]

Great analysis! You manage to verbalise my thoughts

[@alexmillermattingly5824]

Your videos are thoughtful, entertaining, and helpful to me as a writer! Thank you for making this content

[@jalenchildress716]

I’m gonna go on a ledge and say there definitely is an antagonist in HOD. It just doesn’t have a physical form, but in listening to Viserys and Corlys speak about their children’s marriage and the names their offspring will take, I think it’s clear as day that the tradition of Monarchy or “ the crown “ and all that comes with it are the definite antagonists of the show.

[@joevines3428]

I feel like you can say the same about the Sopranos. I haven't been this into a show in a long time. Honestly think it's better than the first game of thrones and I loved that too.

[@idab9958]

Fantastic analysis.

[@dizzyantcake]

One thing I failed to understand was that, given Aemma was going to die anyway, aren’t the stakes of that decision completely nullified? I get that the point was Viserys making the choice to have Aemma killed shows how overwhelming patriarchal Westeros is, but shouldn’t it have been set up as “Aemma or the child” instead of “the child or neither?”

[@coldhands2802]

Gotta smash muh patriarchy bruh

[@jonasquinn7977]

I think there was a chance that she would have lived so it was her or the child Either way the fact that it was Viserys that was asked and not her is the main thing

[@TemariNaraannaschatz]

The question isn't about her survival, it's about torturing her for the slight chance of a male heir. She didn't need to die this painfully.

[@AjaxDGonzo]

The baby would have killed her either way. She lost a lot of blood in that childbirth, and she wasn’t going to make it and also not even fully conscious.

[@jag764]

'' shows how overwhelming patriarchal Westeros is '' I honestly think it's far less that, and far more about the stability of the kingdom... These things were considered a necessity to keep the kingdom stable and not cause civil wars, the situation for the king in this show was dire since he had no male heirs which I suppose is what you could say is the patriarchal aspect. Even then tho there's still good reasons why men ruled, it wasn't like today where birth control and relatively safe births were a thing. And a pregnant woman as a ruler would be a liability and sign of weakness that other nations would take advantage of, having a pregnant queen as ruler during war time would be really bad. And kids died all the time you had to have many kids in hopes that one or two even might make it all the way. There's practical reasons why women didn't rule that I don't think was some kind of patriarchal conspiracy. It had a lot more to do with stability and biological challenges that were significantly worse and more challenging back then, it wasn't about the individual king or queen it was about the kingdom and keeping things together. It's a mistake to think about it from a modern day individualistic perspective.

[@Latenivenatrix_Mcmasterae]

It makes relative sense to, given the world of westeros has never been forgiving

[@acousticdoubts9692]

While I agree the decision is thrust upon Viserys, he still made that choice. He knew Aemma would die, he knew the agony of being cut open (without experiencing it himself), he knew and he still made that choice. Yes, hindsight is always 20/20 but does your duty outweigh your humanity. He knew, yet he still made that choice and not to be horrible, I'm glad it haunted him until his last breath. (I know it's hateful to say, and I think Viserys is a good king, but this scene shook me and changed me.)

[@caad5258]

Excellent analysis

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the way this franchise consistently bucks the trend of exclusively proactive antagonists and reactive protagonists, for instance Game of Thrones has a number of proactive protagonists like Robb, Cat, Arya, and Tyrion, and one of the all-time great reactive antagonists in Littlefinger. It's proof positive that swapping those roles can work wonders in making a story more interesting, as it leads to whole new kinds of dynamics not normally seen otherwise

[@rustyshackleford3160]

I looked away from this birth scene. When your life's trauma gives you "discomfort" you don't want to fucking see it in your fantasy show about dragons.

[@shinyary2]

This is totally reasonable. I really love the show but I can see how it wouldn't be for you. I wish you healing from your trauma and all the best.

[@rougestarlight4308]

Unfortunately, unless you're the author of the fantasy show about dragons, you can't really decide what trauma to include or not. That's why disclaimers and fast forwarding scenes are so important

[@upg5147]

@@rougestarlight4308 Disclaimers are a slippery slope. Same are very valid like suicide and abuse but eventually we will get to the point of people wanting disclaimers for any character being an asshole or for dirt because someone's a germaphobe.

[@rougestarlight4308]

@@upg5147 while I don't think we'll actually reach that point I agree with you

[@upg5147]

@@rougestarlight4308 I think we are basically already there tbh. Cancel Culture is the big step towards that.

[@redpanda7914]

How did I get here,I was looking for new chicken recipes and now I’m here?

[@alanpennie8013]

I regard The Lannisters as conflicted and self - destructive rather than positively villainous. Of course they destroyed a lot of other people, most notably the people of The Riverlands.

[@mrslasher1064]

Aemma was going to die anyway,the maester said that if they tried a normal delivery both her and the baby would die,so Viserys did the one thing to give his son a chance at life,and I think if they asked Aemma,she would have agreed...

[@cubescubos2565]

If any of yall like this kind of stuff you would absolutely LOVE made in abyss

[@SoulKnightKing]

I wanna watch this show now

[@lup1up]

Hopefully helpful tip: you might want to spell check character's names with the source material for the content you're covering. eg) John Snow, and Cersie. Good effort in your vids; helps that you cover the content that we're all scurrying to absorb.

[@Tarnished-bn5gq]

So far, HoTD only has hatable characters, and that makes the sense, given what the show focuses on.

[@cinderheart2720]

Why do you have 2 different shortcuts to league of legends on your desktop?

[@savagebooks7482]

I actually have 6

[@SvenDzahov]

You do not understand the art of having a tremendous amount of sex

[@cinderheart2720]

@@savagebooks7482 I fear and respect you.

[@rougestarlight4308]

HOW DID YOU EVEN NOTICE? 💀

[@cinderheart2720]

@@rougestarlight4308 Us League players are broken inside.

[@ArdannaL]

This is a totally unrelated question, but if you're a new writer seeking to professionally publish. How does one do that? Also say you want an editor (context I have dysgraphia and just miss things sometimes) how do you go about getting one? Or do you go to a publisher first and if they like your manuscript will they provide an editor? If you do seek an editor first, how do you vet them to be sure they are actually good at their jobs? Further context I am Canadian but I don't know if that makes any difference in this age of the internet.

[@LynxxMan]

Surprising how a George RR adaptation is better than a Tolkien one. WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY

[@sofer2230]

Rings of Power is to Tolkien what the "Cat in the Cat" movie was to Doctor Seuss. Joyless, soulless cash grab.

[@DamnedConservative]

Hardly. Tolkiens work is essays of purple babble, characters have no depth, they're just good guys or bad guys, with no real consequences

[@cerostymc]

Why's that surprising to you?

[@upg5147]

@@sofer2230 I disagree. It's not anything ground breaking but it's telling and story and doing it as well as you can expect. I feel LOTR was the same way, it's pretty and all but the story and characters are rather basic. It's very good at being an average standard for fantasy.

[@rougestarlight4308]

Nah, with Tolkien there's barely any complex story to adapt, so screenwriters are mostly on their own

[@shadesofjade]

I’m glad I realized from the get-go that Aemma was going to die. Especially when they started preparing for the cesarean. You cannot preform one at home. The woman will almost certainly bleed out. And yes, I know they did that on a medical show. But that show, according to actual doctors is 90%* drama, and 10%* medical. (*Not accurate statistics)

[@naomigallacher7384]

HotD is absolutely fantastic in this respect.

[@yaelthesnail]

Wait, you've actually been gorgeous this whole time? Edit: Great analysis :)

[@CA-bw9vw]

Still not over Viserys literally butchering Aemma for his dream baby boy then claiming he loved her. I will never ever root for him after that.

[@upg5147]

He found himself between a rock and a hard place politically. He definitely loved his wife as shown by his grieving and speech at the fire place during the hunt. As King he made a hard choice and that gamble failed. He honestly seems like a pretty good guy especially by this world's standards. By ours, we'll that's more iffy.

[@rougestarlight4308]

He's an idiot, I'll give you that

[@breendart134]

@@upg5147 I feel that that context is important. He lives in a different reality from us cushy 21st century Earthling folks, and doing what we have the luxury of considering the right thing isn't always in the cards for someone in that position. That's not the same as justifying a dark or even evil action--but I personally think it's important to see characters (esp. in stories like Thrones) as people who are trying and failing, rather than teams we should be rooting for.

[@upg5147]

@@breendart134 Exactly what I was getting out with my last sentence!

[@shaunthomason3712]

Yeeee yeee yee been waiting for this with BAITED breath

[@andrea_766]

The white background is killing me, I know probably it’s for copyright reason or something, but I can’t watch the screen

[@devinmaxwell7749]

Bro been following you for some years. Super excited to know u look like me. Love ya work. Great vid 😁

[@soccerandtrack10]

I was just saying how the original 1 would be the gray part between antiheros and antivillians, then he says the prequel is the middle between them. I know about it,I don't watch it. that's why I guessed the gray part.

[@alialmuhanna4938]

Yep. Viserys, at the absolute least, should have told Aemma, and let her have her say. As I was watching the scene, I said that Viserys was a b*stard.

[@jewellet.9016]

been binging all your GOT/HOTD videos! the amount of years you’ve been at it really shows in your execution and your takes a super wise . how old are you anyway?? 😭

[@marvelousmikereviews]

I had a general question, great video by the way as always, but my question centers around the premise and subject matter of the antagonist and protagonist in a story. Can your protagonist always serve to be the antagonist of your story? I'm developing a story down this line and wanted your thoughts if you don't mind. Thanks

[@hogndog2339]

Your protagonist cannot be your antagonist, those roles are mutually exclusive. But if you mean can the protagonist be the villain, the answer is yes and there are plenty of books/shows with villain protagonist

[@DourFlower]

Yes exactly how I feel everyone in the show is flawed

[@toriblackwood5920]

Great work! Thanks for the video. Btw, I didin´t expect that you be this handsome!

[@liamsalmond3099]

Idk if you'll actually do it but I would love to see a video about the anime demon slayer. It could be all the things it did wrong or how it could have been improved but whichever it is I would greatly appreciate it.

[@robertsmiley2207]

It's more gray characters in HOTD

[@greyworld6242]

Please do a discussion on how rings of power does the opposite of what was covered in this video. This was very good!

[@brookb5890]

Personally, I think there is a villain in the story currently and that it's Otto Hightower. He's not as captivating a villain as we had in Game of Thrones, but narratively, he kind of represents everything wrong with the power struggle we're witnessing going on within the Targaryen family. He has a goal and he's willing to sacrifice others to achieve it. I really enjoy the show so far. My only real gripe as been how lame the Battle for the Stepstones was. Sure, Daemon struggled, but the way they won the battle didn't actually feel earned. It felt very quick and unsatisfying when in conjunction with how much build-up the Crab King and the war as a whole got. We only got one battle scene that honestly wasn't all that clever. There was no mention of Dorne and the Triarchy, while mentioned, was not in evidence. As far as we knew, they war was already one because it was just one small group of pirates trapped onto one island that doesn't have any resources to support them. They literally could have just starved them out (or waited for greyscale to take them all). There really was no urgency and or reason to think they were "losing" the war. I would have much preferred if the parallels between Rhaenyra and Daemon's journey were far more frequent and happened throughout the entire show. We really only needed one or two scenes spent with Viserys drinking and struggling. We didn't need to spend half the episode with him when I think the show really should have used that time instead to establish Daemon as a great war hero and leader, because that's part of why (SPOILERS) it's so shocking that he and Rhaenyra lose the war, especially given all the symbolism each were given. I just think it was a missed opportunity, but maybe the budget wasn't there considering the war waged on the sea with twenty dragons is coming up soon.

[@jag764]

At first I liked Otto because he seemd like the most rational guy who appeared to be more invested in doing the right thing, then he started being weird with his daughter lol. I like that he's not cartoonishly evil at least he comes across as very realistic. His villany is way more subtle.

[@upg5147]

@@jag764 But that's not even villainous in the parameters of the story, that's entirely normal. He's doing what literally anyone and everyone else was doing, it just so happened to work for him. He's trying to get more power while keeping his own but nothing has shown he's being malicious about it.

[@pg1448]

@@upg5147 Yup, Corlys did more or less the same with his daughter. He was just more upfront about it, but no one considers him a villain. They all play the Game of Thrones, why is only Otto made out to be the bad guy for his ambition. There are no good guys, Rhaenyra and Daemon aren't particularly good people either.

[@upg5147]

@@pg1448 Agreed, they are just people doing people things. Daemon is by far the most "villainous" but even he isn't terrible

[@alanpennie8013]

@@upg5147 His worst sin is not realising how dangerous the proliferation of dragons is and not doing anything to counter it. It's a difficult problem but I'd like some sign that he's aware of it at least.

[@summertime69]

You talk about characters being understandable and their actions not necessarily sympathetic, and I thinknthats my problem with Allicent. I just don't see why she is so moved as to takes the steps she does, especially the ones stemming after the first time skip but before the first. And I'm not interested in hashing it out again, but the reason Allicent is so appealing early on is because she's quiet kind and doesn't seem to be looking for power. I never once thought she wanted to be queen. So to see her mad at Rheaneya being spoiled seems... really out of place. I just don't think HOD's characters are as well written as the ones in GOT

[@suto5704]

More house of the dragon videos please

[@KaijuRhino]

Nice video

[@palacsintakat]

Me at 9 months pregnant watching the third graphic birth scene in this show 😆

[@Sayojen]

Savage Books Friday

[@JamesonHuddle]

Hey folks, I wasn't exactly sure how to go about this but here goes. Savage Books, I love your videos and I ended up watching this one despite it being about HotD which is a hilarious abbreviation. I was hesitant to get on the game of thrones hype train again because of the later seasons, then Mother's Basement (on his second channel) posted "The Great HBO Max Purge" detailing how HBO removed a bunch of shows (even original animations) in order to stop paying the artists and voice actors their cuts and generally fuck people over to make money short term. I have not done any independent research (dangerous I know) but I trust Mother's Basement and decided not to watch HotD at least through the end of the year. I encourage others to do the same/cancel their max subscriptions or use free trials if possible. Have a good one folks!

[@robertsmiley2207]

I asked my mom what she would do in that situation she said save the wife I disagree with her I would have got the baby out without killing my wife using blood magic whatever it takes to not sacrifice my lover

[@bobbiecat8000]

If only magic was real

[@TheMPExperience]

Oh my . . . you don't normally be showing your face on camera right!?!? Or have I been missing it? You are (in the most respectful way) a beautiful human, and I didn't have expectation about what you looked like, but I was slightly surprised. I love your content and breakdowns. I have been a subscriber and fan for years. I appreciate your art and your work. You should be very proud of your work. Love and blessings.

[@JackLattimore]

Gorgeous guy golden voice great video

[@fwiffo42]

I think this is both the strength and weakness of House of the Dragon. Some people find it slow because who’s good and evil keeps swapping, so they don’t see progress towards good triumphing over evil. On the flip side, it returns this universe to the character driven tension and drama that exemplified the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones. I hope the runners avoid the trap of falling back on well worn tropes or big spectacle. Because if they’re able to keep this up, I think it will surpass Game of Thrones in overall quality and enjoyment.

[@FelipeGomes-ek8lf]

Love it

[@tedidaniels8302]

The White Borders on your videos Really Distracts me. Anyone else have the same issue ?

[@demancheedouard2144]

The crab-feeder though was a lazy classical antagonist, poorly written. They could've given him more screen time, to make him either a complexe antagonist/protagonist or just a scary compelling purely evil vilain. What a weird waste.

[@akasakikawasaki1890]

I had never seen your face before. You're really handsome 🤭

[@MartijnterHaar]

A lot of people find House of the Dragon boring, but I love it for all the reasons mentioned in the video. Paddy Considine is so great as Viserys. I have to say the last episode was a quite a letdown with all the long non-sexy brother scenes, seemingly lifted straight from some 70s softcore. I hope that was a blip.

[@jesperburns]

Paddy Considine is the only saving grace of this series for me. I don't give a fuck about any of the other characters.

[@rougestarlight4308]

You should review Made In Abyss and Berserk

[@canislunaticus]

2:44 if you're going to say food is healthy it'd be helpful to know how healthy exactly, as a lot of food marketed as "healthy" is a lot of the time not as healthy as people think, like a lot of food may contain E-numbers or/and is highly processed.

[@PrinceIsot]

Glad to see someone that can actually articulate thoughts agrees that this show is amazing. Tired of hearing about "woke" nonsense

[@stefanopiccioni620]

I find it borring really

[@AjaxDGonzo]

I think some of this you’re off on. We as an audience have been still given no reason to think the maester was acting out of malice. So with that being said, the king was given the decision to lose them both or to maybe save his child. Were we as audience supposed to think he shouldn’t have said yes and let them both die? Yes the baby dies, but they had no way of knowing. That’s just what doctors used to be like. It would make more sense that it shows a moment where the king who is looked at as weak, makes a tough call. This show really isn’t that good and is just riding off of GOT.

[@berilsevvalbekret772]

No. Evwn in medieval times a woman had to be either dead or completely unconscious and guaranteed to die for a c section to be performed. This was a butchery where she didn't have a voice. To men women are just incubators for most of our human history. Westeros isn't any different.

[@upg5147]

As good is still up in the air but riding off of GOT is just wrong. I think the writing has proven itself to be competent on its own. It's not trying hard to give us fanservice, it's telling its own story.

[@rougestarlight4308]

@@upg5147 agreed

[@AjaxDGonzo]

@@upg5147 I’m sure it is telling it’s own story, I’m saying the main reason people are watching it is because of GOT. In four episodes we have no idea where the story is going and not very much about the characters. It’s relying too much on spectacle with sex, violence, and the occasional dragon. It’s not bad but kinda boring

[@upg5147]

@@AjaxDGonzo I can agree that many are coming because it's a GOT prequel but this stands on its own just fine. Not knowing where a strong is going to fine if not better than knowing where something is going. It's not aimless, it's unpredictable. If you think it's relying on spectacle too much you aren't paying attention. The web of characters and alliances as well as the talks of freedom and duty and what makes those wrong or right are everywhere. This knows what it wants to do and is doing it as well as it can. You honestly seem to be talking more about the new LOTR series, in comparison House of the Dragon is the most unique piece of fiction on the planet.

[@rrca1973]

I just just watch the last episode (4) and gone to throw up!!! This show is so far from GoT, a Rambo mission, a teen on a hore house !!!! C'mon shit show ban from watch list for live

[@TheGreatGonzales777]

What makes me uncomfortable about this is the clear intention to make women scared of having children…

[@maroontiger1361]

...are you sure about that? That's a weird reading...

[@CartoonFestival22]

Dude, most women DIE on childbirth during the medieval eras, and having children to this day is a horrible process

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@@CartoonFestival22 most women? 😂😂😂😂If that is true then we wouldn't be having humans in the modern day especially with high child mortality during that time. In reality women had chance of 2 to 10 percent of things going wrong in birth

[@katm8128]

@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl there is a reason why the life expectancy in those times was 30-40 years old. Not because people lived short lives, but because the high infant mortality rate skewed the statistic so much.

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@@katm8128 I know. I mentioned that

[@japango1]

As a big fan of GoT...HoTD is horrible and a real struggle to watch😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨