GREAT Moments. Bad FINALE?!? | House Of The Dragon Ep 2x8 Reaction & Review | HBO Max & Crave

[@govinddas7876]

Great moments, bad finale is a great way to describe it lol. Every issue I had with episode would not be an issue if it wasnt the finale. I cannot believe we saw 8 episodes of Corlys mending his ship for him to be in a fucking canoe in the last scene. Give the man his ship 😭

[@Blinkptx]

I loved it 🤷‍♂️

[@govinddas7876]

@@Blinkptx good for you!

[@Melodicroger]

3 scenes in Essos- which were fine but to have them all in a finale is questionable. Plus, 4 scenes with Rhaena chasing a dragon in one episode with no result was the weakest part.

[@govinddas7876]

@@Melodicroger I was facepalming so hard when every 15 minutes they cut to Rhaena for 5 seconds. Like just show me the whole 2 minute scene or just dont show it to me at all. So annoyingly paced.

[@Randomyoutubecommenter]

And daemon the whole season building an army only for it not to get used in the finale c'mon now

[@LFR0705]

alicent making aegon fear for his life for his entire existence telling him if he doesn’t take the throne rhaenyra will kiII him just for her turn around and sacrifice him Does Alicent not realize she and Helaena would be hostages in King's Landing when Rhaenyra takes it and also that Daeron would have to die too?

[@aileenpi73]

All of that because the greens challenged Rhaenyra’s claim, if they would have just accepted her, none of this would have happened

[@justmando9488]

@@aileenpi73No,it was really all because Viserys was brainless and wanted to break the tradition of the land and somehow thought it wouldn’t cause conflict.

[@ZeeZed153]

@@justmando9488 It wouldn't have caused any conflict if Alicent hadn't challenged it. There's no conflict without a challenger. They had even put aside their differences the night Viserys passed.

[@gailf1617]

And doesn't Alicent realize that Rhaenyra would never spare Aemond after he murdered Luke?

[@chuugummy975]

​@@justmando9488 Without someone to rally behind and with a united house of the dragon, what opposition would have stood a chance? Alicent should have fostered good relationships between her children and Rhaenyra and her family, so they would love and protect each other. It was said in the very beginning of the show, the only thing that could bring down the house of the dragon was itself.

[@mearac]

I would rather have a slow season and them take their time instead of having them rush all the battles and other important plots into 8 episodes. We all know how that went in GOT. I think this season needed to happen regardless of how "useless" people felt it was. It setting up all the characters for how they will be later and all the choices that will be made.

[@amby8719]

agreed. cause then it makes the battles and everything after to pay off.

[@randallwilliamson3838]

You say that like it HAS to be one or the other. It was not good, it is what it is.

[@suddenimpulse030]

@@randallwilliamson3838 if you say so

[@monlovchel]

@@randallwilliamson3838 due to the writers strike

[@Rash23215]

I mean it still doesn't make sense why they're making 4 seasons out of a 350 page book

[@ttrue08]

Not how I expected the season to end the last couple of years, but I think when the show is finished, people will look back and view this episode differently. Reminds me of the finale of Game of Thrones season 2, which I think is one of the most underrated episodes of the entire show. Both episodes have a lot of foreshadowing that only people who know what happens will get right now. Also had some of the same vibe as the finale of season 6 when Daenerys arrived at Dragonstone for the first time. As she said, "Shall we begin?"

[@amby8719]

i liked how aegon wanted the nickname that the people and his father called rhaenyra. he still wants the love that viserys gave rhaenyra . at least that’s how i interpreted it.

[@TensaSangetsu1254]

Rhaenyra is called like that any moment in the show? I feel it more like a reference to the book, and Aegon been ironic.

[@hokagedlo6133]

Viserys called her that like twice in s1 and I think Otto does as well ​@@TensaSangetsu1254

[@chuugummy975]

​@@TensaSangetsu1254 no, i'm pretty sure it's mentioned a couple of times. at least one time i remember is during season 1 when daemon and rhaenyra go out of the castle at night, she get's called "the realm's delight" by the people putting on a play

[@amby8719]

@@TensaSangetsu1254 there’s a few times she’s called it in s1.

[@Rash23215]

May be if he wasn't r*ping servant girls all the time he would be loved

[@marchealgideon7916]

I agree with Alyn you can't have a kid, abandon him, now try to help him all a sudden. He wont even admit thats his son.

[@breezy3392]

Alyn had full rights to his anger and resentment. And he shows strength of character.

[@TheLouis1973]

It’s not a bad episode. It’s just not season finale worthy in my eyes

[@Alejojojo6]

Exactly. I think most people agree on this. Seems like its leading to the finale, rather than the finale itself.

[@breezy3392]

That felt like the lead-up to the finale, not the finale. Enjoyable, but incomplete to be the last of the season.

[@mikaylagore1174]

There was a budget issue and they pushed the last 2 episodes into S3. So there would have been a battle next episode but they didn’t have the money.

[@MarcusFrederiksen]

Has that been confirmed, or is it just speculation?

[@Melodicroger]

@@MarcusFrederiksen The production team was given a mandate to shorten to 8 episodes with a lesser budget. HBO’s parent company is under real economic pressure. Even at its peak budget season 8, GoT could only depict two major action set pieces. Two or three with dragon CGI is crazy expensive. I’d wager the show would need $300M per season to fully realize the story.

[@YourMajesty733]

No wonder the white walker looks like a Temu Halloween mask

[@Melodicroger]

@@YourMajesty733 lol

[@mikaylagore1174]

@@MarcusFrederiksen this has been confirmed by hbo/max and Ryan Condal.

[@christianwright5813]

It's most definitely due to HBO cutting two episodes of the show especially due to the writer strike like the scripts were finished but the production was nowhere near what it should have been so HBO execs cut the last two episodes so this was definitely not supposed to be the finale but it was what the creators had to work with.

[@Skye_Writer]

The production wasn't there because they didn't have the budget this season. They are working with 1/5 less than they usually had, $25 million an episode down to $20 million. Twenty mil SOUNDS like a lot until you look at it like this: - Avengers Endgame runs just over 3 hours; House of the Dragon season 1 runs just over *10* hours. - Endgame lists the cast as 104 people, including those who are listed just as "Grieving Man" or "Kid on Bike;" HOTD has 20 starring cast members, and over 95 co-starring cast members in speaking roles throughout the season, not including non-speaking uncredited extras. - Endgame was given $356 million dollars for their production budget; HOTD, with more cast members and running the length of more 3 Endgame-length films, had to do it with just $250 million. HBO saved themselves $90 million dollars by cutting the budget and trimming it to 8 episodes. Unfortunately, it SHOWS because the series suffered. The WGA strike played a part, too, because they couldn't tweak the scripts during filming the way they did in Season 1, and not having the money for the 2 big battles they had planned to do changed how they had to film things. Condal is just hoping there won't be any huge hiccups for season 3 production like there was for the first 2 seasons (Covid season 1, strikes in season 2).

[@shortdrink873]

@@Skye_Writeroh boy, it’s such a relief to see comments like this that GET IT. I’ve gotten so exhausted from the commentary around this show haha

[@ShantalhaitianPrincess]

blame Discovery channel not HBO

[@rockerctereo2851]

Insane episode every conversation was chilling & emotional. Emma Darcy , Abubakar Salim , Olivia Cook just 3 of the wonderful actors. Don't care we'll have to wait till season 3. Episode 8 was wonderful

[@svizac69]

It is very simple: THEY RAN OUT OF MONEY!!! Season was supposed to have 10 episodes just like the first one. 8 episodes was not the plan for sure. That's why finale feels like a regular episode with no payoff. There was no money left for two more episodes. HBO did it to themselves. Lack of money is exactly why we don't see the Blackwoods/Bracken battle, or Aemond burning that city down or see the closeup of that last dragon. That's why the season feels unfinished. There are two final episodes missing. Plain and simple.

[@mattsavage9960]

Yeah episode 4 and 7, the dragon battle episode and the dragon seed episode would of been 70-75% of the entire seasons budget as idiots online don't realise how expensive it is to make those close up dragon scenes, with 10% of the budget as rings of power has it ten times better than that flop. I wish that they had the billion dollar budget like rings of power. Either way season 3 will need to have nearly double the budget to have these immersive dragon fights and scenes in general. Ryan condal has said that it's all kicking of war wise next season. I'm looking forward to it either way it's still the best thing on TV right now, but people these days are far too critical and moan at nothing and dont understand the industry. Plus season 2 was filmed during the writers strike.

[@officerdank4644]

@@mattsavage9960 then its their fault for doing the DANCE OF THE DRAGONS where there are DOZENS of dragon fights, instead of Robert's Rebellion or Blackfyre Rebellion

[@samanthaa.6055]

@@mattsavage9960 say it again for the people in the back. People have no clue how expensive the effects of this show alone are.

[@mattsavage9960]

@@officerdank4644 Its one of the many stories of this fantasy magical world. They are currently making a night of the seven kingdoms, which is close and may actually lead into the blackfyre rebellions. And they are doing Aegons conquest aswel. And clearly you dont understand the Industry. And if you don't like it maybe rings of power is for you. And name something that's currently coming out that's better than this? You shouldn't watch it if all you do is moan online. People like you moan at literally nothing these days so maybe get a life, take a good look at yourself in the mirror and make positive changes to your life.

[@pimtooler6370]

I think it's likely the writer's strike last year. It's why a lot of scenes in season 2 felt repetitive, particularly team black characters' arcs and the lack of juicy conflict compared to season 1.

[@thabisomfana4669]

4:26 Pentos isn't a part of the Triachy. In fact, they are political enemies. They even tried to get Daemon to side with them again the Triachy in season one

[@jerryminta9678]

They don't know what they are watching. Doing it for the check

[@afifmajid8754]

@@jerryminta9678 bit harsh mate

[@mastouriedam5845]

Even I sometimes dont know the difference bettween pentos and other free cities like yonkai and mereen .​@@jerryminta9678

[@shlemo1446]

​@@jerryminta9678 it's a vast fantasy world and most of the people who watch the show don't dedicate their entire existance to knowing every little fact and detail

[@askyeyv7039]

@@nor.freddy There wasnt any scene in Tyrosh in s1 iirc so I really wouldnt expect people to see the difference between free cities after literally one second in some tent / beach. Also they didnt really tell in the show whats really the triarchy and what cities are part of it. Btw they are really not bad reactors as they are one of the very few who actually guesses it's tessarion and werent surprised by him. Unlike some that said it's fucking vhagar lmao

[@volodymyrleshchenko436]

You guys are absolutely right. It was supposed to be 10 episodes, and then they decided to cut it to 8 episodes and put the next big battle in the third season. So I guess, they didn’t remake the scenario and just cut 2 episodes and threw them into the season 3

[@susanleach9106]

Totally agree

[@goleafsgo9999]

I think the directors/production made the right decision to push it. I think adding the beginning of a battle at the end here just feels out of place.

[@bz6046]

@@goleafsgo9999 It was because of the writers strike and there was budget issues with HBO and Warner.

[@IgnisKhan]

I was disappointed, too. But to play devil's advocate: The entire premise of this show isn't just "a war with dragons"; it's "a war that permanently cripples House Targaryan and leads to the EXTINCTION of dragon kind". To land that particular plane, the focus pretty much has to be on the tragedy of it all. One of the best ways to approach that is to spend most of your time dwelling on the dread of what's about to happen, and then make very sure to NOT glorify the actual violence when it comes. Rook's Rest was 10% badassery and 90% heartbreak, and more than anything served to condition the audience (and the characters) on what to expect of future dragon fights. So it deepened our dread, and the writers have wanted to stretch that out for as long as possible. Avoiding a battle in the finale may even have been a deliberate mission statement: "This show isn't about big action sequences; it's about the sad downfall of a family. So we're going to focus on people in s2e8, not fights."

[@RuthMonteroCueva]

People are obsessed with battles and don't see beyond them. War is not just battles, it is true that this season has been "preparation" but that does not mean that it is not worth it. I find the construction of the characters interesting. Also, we all know how this ends, two dragons died in a battle, if they give us more battles the series ends. If something is worthwhile in this universe, beyond the wonderful stories, it is the music, it is crazy, just like the shots. We are missing chapters 9 and 10 because this chapter really feels like the preamble to a season finale.

[@MarkusR144]

The only time I found a battle interesting was the one-shot in Battle of the Bastards. Maybe the few seconds it took for the explosion in Blackwater to unfold, but that's technically before the battle.

[@ShantalhaitianPrincess]

last season was 10 episodes this season was cut to 8 episodes for budgetary reasons from the Disovery bosses so i hear

[@Alejojojo6]

Its been preparation but its also been war. Rook's rest, the siege of Kingslanding, the sowing of the seeds etc all have been part of the first stages of war.

[@felagund87]

Would help if the writing was good though. Parodically bad this season with all the filler repetetive dialogue.

[@leisastalnaker3790]

The lake at Harrenhal is called The Gods Eye.

[@roadrunneruntd]

You've hit the nail on the head. They are trying so hard to push a Rhaenyra v Alicent narrative that frankly just doesnt work out how they are hoping because they absolutely refuse to lean into the disdain the two have for each other in the books. The timidity expressed by both brought this season to a halt and robs the story of soo much tension

[@sculptureofsound2]

When Ulf commented on Jace's hair color, that's what really triggered him.

[@vitaaeris]

“Is this in the book?” Show Alicent does not exist in the book. Alicent in the book is 10 years older than Rhaenyra, and they were never friends. After children died from both sides, they never once thought about peace. This “friendship” between them was totally made up in the show. Of this season, only Blood&Cheese, Rook’s rest and the dragonseeds were part and semi-faithful to the book.

[@nor.freddy]

The book is all speculated and untrustworthy sources...

[@Regenmacher175]

Show Alicent is a better character than book Alicent. Daemon also stays at Harrenhal for a year in the book so that's accurate too btw.

[@roadrunneruntd]

​@@Regenmacher175Season 1 Alicent definitely. Alicent in Season 2 is woefully inconsistent and frankly kind of stupid.

[@Regenmacher175]

@@roadrunneruntd No she's fairly consistent. You just don't like what she decides to do.

[@askyeyv7039]

@@Regenmacher175 You can't tell me the alicent in season 1 who protected aemond against literally everyone, stood in front of meleys to save aegon, was fighting against rhaenyra's bastards to sit the throne is nearly the same or consistent as alicent in season 2.

[@jonah64]

this felt like a midseason finale in a traditionally longer season of TV.

[@Wesley_Smothermon]

FUN FACT: House Baratheon founder was from Old Valyrian and was the (Possible) Bastard Brother to Aegon I Targaryen (The Conqueror)

[@gailf1617]

He was Orys Baratheon, probable half-brother and definite best friend to Aegon the Conqueror. Got his start by being Aegon's warrior in the Conquest and killing Lord Durrandon, the Storm King, in single combat. The troops of Storm's End served up the Storm King's defiant daughter, Argella, naked and in chains, to Orys; he unchained her and cloaked her and told her how brave her father was. They married and founded the Baratheon line of Storm's End. (it probably wasn't a love match, she came with the castle as a war prize, promised by Aegon, but Orys didn't have to be kind to her and evidently he was)

[@bulletproof844]

They just should have made two more episode, with the last episode being a battle. The main problem people have with this is that it feels like it ended abruptly. They are telling a great story, the acting is on point, the visuals are fantastic. There is nothing bad here. It almost feels entitled how some people behave, just because it wasn't what THEY wanted from the final episode. It is a shame for all the people involved because the only bad thing here is, that we are missing two episodes, but where they left it, really sets the stage for next season and I am here for it.

[@mavenofmadnesss]

I genuinely don't get all the hate online. Do we really need season finales to be action packed and insane? All of them? It's far from perfect, but it's not bad. If all you want is dragons and war, what happens to petty politics and the flawed characters? Sure, it's different than the books, but holy hell I don't think it deserves GoT season 8 hate.

[@ClarusPolaris]

It doesn't need crazy action but it needs to feel like we have progressed.

[@deathswitch2404]

Issue is, we could've stopped watching at episode 4 and nothing really would've changed aside from the new dragonriders.

[@mikaylagore1174]

@@ClarusPolaristheir was a budget issue at hbo. The last 2 episodes got pushed back to season 3 that’s why it doesn’t feel finished.

[@livelovelife32]

Ohhhhh! That makes sense! I thought the writing ans pacing felt like it was meant for 10 episodes.​@@mikaylagore1174

[@kevinscottbailey8335]

The issue with this episode is this: it was a really good episode if it was just a mid-season or even late season episode. As a finale, though? It wasn't great. All the time spent on the mud wrestling nonsense and randomly wandering around in the Vale was super frustrating when you look at it that way.

[@abbyanderson2463]

I feel like they definitely anticipated having a longer season and their budget got cut (with WB being in such a financial mess) so they had to save whatever battle would've resolved this season for the next one, because everything about this episode felt like build up to a ep 9/10, like how 1-3 were build ups to ep 4. Like we didn't even get to see Aemond burn down that town, which seemed like a big thing, we mostly just heard about it, that screams not enough budget.

[@juliegibson-2020]

I liked it, but was surprised. I was expecting the battle to start, but am super excited for S3!!

[@KevinGoT]

In the books, Viserys is chosen over Laenor. Princess Rhaenys wasn't even in consideration because she was a woman outside of Lord Corlys & House Baratheon.

[@Kanoog]

Not a fan of book spoilers because plenty of people skip the books to enjoy the series.

[@KevinGoT]

@@Kanoog It's not a spoiler? That was literally the first scene of the show & the show just emphasized a different part to simplify the story. It's relevant here given the discussion about the difference in misogyny between the show & the books.

[@kaysnow5567]

I agree with Nerdy... Aegon: Does not want to be King Aemond: Wants to go to war because that will save his family vs Rhaenyra: I NEED to go to WAR because my daddy says so and the stupid prophecy

[@samanthaa.6055]

All bets were off when her son was killed. She waited to act because she wanted to avoid war.

[@kalharagayan8338]

"Wants to go to war because that will save his family" 😂U fr man

[@OnlineSafetyQ]

⁠@@samanthaa.6055And that’s part of the problem their not painting it as all bets are off when Luke died their painting it as her wanting to avoid war at all cost and it doesn’t fit her character or make her character interesting

[@suddenimpulse030]

@@OnlineSafetyQ speak for yourself

[@Melodicroger]

Agreed, I feel this would have been a very good late season episode. There are few elements that can be termed as finale worthy. It seems that the show is hitting budget constraints of portraying a continental dragon war.

[@garyprime6983]

The shot of Rhaenyra with the scrolls on the wall shows how she’s tied to Legacy of her house and the game of thrones juxtaposed with Alicent at the end.

[@samanthaa.6055]

Based on where the armies were I don't understand how people expected a big battle this episode. I would have liked to see Rhaena claim a dragon though!

[@BhBc8f8]

you mean like how the Dothraki were on Dragonstone at the beginning of the episode and made it to the crownlands by the end of it. They could have done it with good writing, they just didn't want to cause this was clearly not supposed to be finale

[@josefchovanyecz4525]

I mean in this show people somewhat teleport around. It’s not so bad as I’m got later seasons but still. And there were armies in the position to have battle. To this point we didn’t know if the fleet for triarchy is approaching or not. Cole is matching to Harrenhol where Desmond is. Dearon marching. We got bunch new dragons just a second from tp weipont form dragonstone and kings landing. And so on. And yes me too. I hoped to see rheana claim dragon. At least that when they deleted nettles

[@anhkriva5274]

I would have liked to see Rhaena get eaten by a dragon. That would be so funny, she's so desperate that she betrayed her queen by abandoning her children and drinks from puddles only to be eaten by the dragon she dreams of.

[@joshuachandler1750]

Find myself agreing with Nerdy a lot. This episode has great moments but I feel like it needed another episode or 2 and I feel like there was a lot of wasted time including the stuff in Essos this episode. It's like this entire season, lots of cool things but that it doesn't lead to anything. On a personal level I really did not like Daemon spending most of the season in Harrenhal with his should I be King thing when to be honest it felt like he decided in Season 1 that he was fully backing her I felt they could have done more with him.

[@datguy3581]

There is a more natural ending point for the season right around the corner in the book. The issue is I just don’t think the show has the budget to handle something to that scale in the same season as Rook’s Rest and the Red Sowing. It feels like they planned out a 10 episode season based on what happens in the books then cut the last 2 episodes due to it just not being affordable.

[@joshuachandler1750]

@@datguy3581 I know. Also read the book and I was fully expecting it to end at the point I think you're talking about. I can see why cost might be that but if so I wish they would say so people don't get disappointed.

[@garyprime6983]

12:54 KZbin’s own philosopher, Abigail Thorn. It was crazy to see her pop up in the show

[@TartarusIvy]

I had a similar view. As an episode 4 or 5 to change plot direction mid season? This would've been brilliant. As a finale, I felt the pacing was too erratic. Slow build until the last few minutes.

[@restlessoblivion]

I think the biggest FU of this finale was not resolving the dragged out plot of whether or not Bhaela gets Sheep Stealer or if he eats her. It would have required like 30 more seconds of screen time and left one less thread hanging for next season

[@sheepsdog]

that’s rhaena* ….

[@hidoradaikaiju4205]

Idk if anyone has already said this, but I HEARD (can’t confirm it) that they moved episodes 9&10 to Season 3 for budgetary reasons. It doesn’t fix anything, but at least it’s a possible explanation.

[@Eduardo54cenationx2]

I think that the prophecy of "Daemon dying in this place" could be interpreted as his old self and his ways dying there.

[@suddenimpulse030]

90% of this show is not in the book because the book leaves tons out and what it doesn't leave out, half of it is suspect. Idk why this is so difficult for you two to understand.

[@fadeddreams1352]

The death prophecy of Damon could be metaphorical. The old Damon dies and a new one reborn.

[@andremotivation6561]

yeah, Helena did say Aemond will parish in God Eyes, but Dameon's fate was never truly revealed

[@brendastevenson8521]

@109:19 thank you for pointing out what I have commented on several other channels since the last episode. This young lady leaves the group , her baby brothers , four eggs , and a dragon with the nanny and the unknown 6 Great Vales guards and the two guards from Dragonstone because the dragon was more important, to do what with it ? No one looks for her and she never worries for the kids that she promised to see to in case anything happened to Rhaenyra . Valuable eggs, a baby dragon and the babies (the future) so that she too can become Aemond 2.0. @1:08:54 not the time I first stated.

[@gailf1617]

Could be she'll claim Sheepstealer (without presenting him with sheep, hah!), then zip on over to the Battle of the Gullet in time to save one or both of her little brothers, thus further messing up the story...

[@Kanoog]

Not all prophecies come to tuition, Daemon got to see a possible outcome and by telling Rhaenyra he is going to serve her could be the move that allows him to survive all of this at least til the show runs it's course to lead into Game of Thrones. In Game of Thrones there are a lot of prophecies that were forgotten or never played out, so you can't exactly take his visions as THIS WILL HAPPEN 100%. I defiantly wouldn't go 2 years assuming that is going to be the case.

[@petergonzalez2632]

It was an anti-climatic finale. Yeah, they teed it up for S3, but they didn't give us a second action-packed episode. The GOT custom for the pre-finale episode was a barn-burner and the finale setup next season just didn't happen here. We were in line to the bukake session, the fluffers did the job and just before our turn, the director says, "ok, we're done for today, thanks for coming (or not), we'll see you next year". *sigh*

[@abbyanderson2463]

definitely a budget issue or the writers strike delayed production, this is such an obviously bad way to end a season I feel like it was out their control, and not a creative decision

[@breezy3392]

I don't think it was anticlimactic. I think it had no climax. It was all set-up to a finale that we didn't get. I think it was supposed to have more episodes.

[@susanleach9106]

I think people would have been happier showing the Sharp Point conflict, Rhaena getting the dragon. In my opinion take out the scene where the dragon riders were putting on armour and going nowhere all that would have been satisfying and better than nothing.

[@ryanpennington1508]

I thought it was a great finale. Set it up for season 3, which btw, all GOT series did for the last episode, set up for the following season. There are a lot of moving parts and a complicated story. Not an easy task to tie these all together and give viewers favorites the screen time they deserve while at the same time continuing the narrative and their respective journeys. This was a dense episode and rightfully so.

[@jimmydare6392]

you thought that was a great finale watching 2 people wrestle in mud

[@ryanpennington1508]

@@jimmydare6392more happened than just that. Expectations are great but they need to be realistic. You can enjoy a thing for what it is. It’s ok to hope for something more but you shouldn’t expect it. Keep an open mind is all I’m saying as it’s only a story.

[@samanthaa.6055]

I agree about the prophecy zapping the tension- Also usually prophecies are more vague and up to interpretation than Helaena's- it was actually the clearest she's ever been on the show haha

[@Kanoog]

In the LORE of Game of Thrones, not all prophecies come to tuition and a lot aren't even played out. I have no idea why everybody is taking that at face value.

[@samanthaa.6055]

​@@KanoogBecause book readers are telling them to

[@anhkriva5274]

@@Kanoog Because so far, all of Haelena's predictions have come true. The Eye of Aemond and Vhagar, the beast below the floor, the ratcatchers, the burial shroud for Jaeharys. Why should viewers doubt her predictions now?

[@mischr13]

I'm curious how many people recognized Abigail Thorne/Philosophy Tube (the pirate lady). I started watching her in like 2017 or something. Leftist youtuber/philosopher/writer/actress, she's come a long way in a pretty short time. It's wild to see her on HOTD

[@red_five1542]

The God's Eye is a large lake in the riverlands. I believe it was Amond we saw walking past Vhagars body and drowning in Daemons vision. That is what Heleana foresaw. "Swallowed up by the God's Eye and never seen again."

[@keanonkerr9265]

The gods eye is the name of the lake in front of harrenhall. The island in the center is known as the isle of faces. It's covered in weirwood trees and legends say the green men live there.

[@rhonecherrington2131]

Bro, them dragging out the claiming of sheep stealer the way they do is literally comical, im excited for things to come in this series and think there's a ton to like, especially the acting, but this season was a let down to me if im honest...

[@nadialittle5821]

yea 4 cuts to her running for the dragon was 2/3 too many

[@MrAMP1520]

When rewatching this I'm just gonna imagine episode 7 was the finale and this is episode 1 of the next season

[@deanthemachine8879]

Question I have for the season generally: why was the blockade and embargo so rough on King’s Landing and Westeros in general? Like, why are people *starving* ? Is Westeros materially unable to sustain itself without food from Essos? Are there no farms on the whole continent? Wtf

[@anhkriva5274]

This makes no sense, in GoT the Tyrells alone sent hundreds of food carts a day to Kings Landing by land, and the Greens can import from many places. Restrictions on the quantity of products and a significant increase in prices are understandable, but a complete lack of food? Plot hole.

[@deanthemachine8879]

@@anhkriva5274 I learned from comments in the live stream last night that apparently in the book, houses aligned with the Blacks were attacking land based supply lines earlier in the story. I don’t understand why the writers couldn’t plug in a throwaway line in one of the innumerable council meeting scenes we sat through to let the audience know

[@mjbull5156]

​@deanthemachine7489 Especially since, up until this episode, the Black Council was complaining that they had no armies on the mainland, yet somehow King's Landing was not able to be supplied by land.

[@sheepsky]

From what I have read they are aiming for a late 2025/early 2026 release so its honestly not that bad. Like a year and a half tops. Plus we are getting the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms show next year

[@ZeeZed153]

That's terrible actually. A year and a half wait for another only 8 episodes? Assuming they don't shorten even further down to 6 like they did with GoT's final season.

[@sheepsky]

​@@ZeeZed153 stop complaining without looking anything up and just assuming the worst. Everything I've seen says they are going back to 10 episodes after this season, which was meant to be 10 in the first place. I don't know what you expect. It takes time to make these shows, and the writers don't control the budget. Also it's not terrible you're just impatient.

[@ZeeZed153]

@@sheepsky Let me get this straight. You believe it's going to be 10 episodes even though that's what they said for this season and it wasn't? LOL! They said they'd have more episodes for GoT seasons too. I'm not even blaming the writers it's just a mess regardless.

[@sheepsky]

@@ZeeZed153 yeah because the only reason they didn’t have 10 episodes this season is so they could film the battle of the gullet well and do one of the largest naval battles in Westerosi history justice lmao. They couldn’t afford to do it this season as they originally intended so s3 will open with it. Also when did they ever say GOT would have more episodes? They always had 10, and then D&D got lazy. Not comparable at all. You literally just made that up about GoT having more episodes. I swear you people don’t actually believe this shit and just like shitting on stuff people enjoy lol. its just absurd baby rage

[@ZeeZed153]

@@sheepsky What are you babbling? You think this is the only time they're gonna run out of budget because of battles? LOL! And GoT did not always have 10 episodes...Season 7 only had 7 and season 8 only had 6...you're clearly the one who doesn't know anything.

[@hedinsee6830]

It is indeed a great episode 8...out of 10. The bitch of it is that this is not the writing issue, this is the studio issue. And cramming 3 episodes into one would've been even worse, so they left it as it is. It's sad when studio idiots continue to hamstring their own cash cows.

[@MrReded69]

The damning thing about this season was that Condal basically admitted that this whole season ended up as a prologue to season 3 due to HBO's cheaping out on them. That's why story points that could have been settled in less than one episode took up over half the season. They basically padded it out knowing they couldn't hit the BIG plot points. Thus, Daemon's 4+ episodes tripping out in Harrenhall and 2 essentially pointless secret meetings between Rhaenyra and Alicent! Also, they've already started the "plot rot" (my own word for it) that doomed GOT in the book canon vs show aspects. By this, I mean when the show staff started altering characters and plot points contrary to canon, it took them down a slippery slope that resulted in the abomination that was Season 8! Back when they announced the cast for Corlys and House Velaryon being black, I suspected this would effect or eliminate the Nettles character and story arc. It didn't have to but after watching the GOT staff screw up so much due to convenience and disregard for book canon, I predicted it would. And unless they have Nettles show up and claim Sheepstealer("That's MY dragon, Bee-Yotch!"), I was right! The Nettles character was important to the third act overall plot of the series. Now the writers are either gonna have to work extra hard to make that plot come to pass or abandon it entirely! It's symptomatic of the writers story building problems. To be metaphorically poetic, they are building this House with suspect materials and cost cutting techniques. Just like in real life building, this will lead to a disastrous collapse!

[@hartjohnson2975]

I love the smell of the ocean. Not in a perfume way, but in a life way.

[@bz6046]

Also no Alicent doesn't show up to dragonstone and Rhaenyra also doesn't go to kings landing like they showed earlier.

[@hockeyfan131993]

This was clearly written to originally be the 8th episode of a 10 episode season. Strong episode, bad for a finale.

[@ToyHunter-wc9dz]

This season needed more episodes. We just watched an 8 episode trailer for season 3 🤦‍♂️

[@Adamantium93]

My thoughts on this was it was a good--possibly even great--episode but a poor finale. Last week's Red Sowing, while a really cool sequence, didn't have the stakes, consequences, and scale to be the climax of the season. It still felt like it was setting up something bigger, not paying off the season's tension. This episode was really good and I think on a rewatch (after the series has ended) it will feel like the good episode it is...but just not now. And for a season that often justified repetition and redundancy with the promise of payoff, to end without that is a big misstep.

[@aaronbourque5494]

Shogun built toward the great big battle that never got shown on screen.

[@NerdyNightly]

Sure but they never intended to show the battle. We are clearly going to get it in 2 years which is different

[@helendunham4410]

The episode was brilliant but felt like the episode before the finale instead of the finale. I think if it wasn’t a finale it would be better received

[@hanka303]

people have no media literacy to appreciate Alicent

[@emmakulmala2173]

It's a good episode but as a finale it lacks a little something. The very end was more finale-like but that’s about it. And couldn't they have put Corlys on his ship? Like man has been repairing it the whole season. More pressingly: Sunfyre is dead? Have they really changed things that much? Because Aegon should feel if Sunfyre is Alice or dead. Or maybe he's just so fucked up that he things he's dead?

[@nadialittle5821]

YES I'm with Nerdy - the show is trying to make it about the 2 women - they are Literally the poster when it should be Rhaenyra and Aegon! We also could've had the whole aemond reaction to the riots instead of 2 other characters say oh he chose to send them to the wall like HELLO we needed to see that rage! Like we got Alicent floating in a lake that gave nothing to the story but NOT that or him actually burning that village just the after math WHY?! Daemon story went on for TOO long. Phia and Ewan in interviews have always said Aemond is the only one to truely listens to Haelena and we barely got them together and when we did - it was him getting angry at her when it doesn't fit that characterisation. Also why do we need 4 cuts of Rhaena trying to get a dragon for them not to even show her succeeding - 2 would've done. Also the mud wrestling was just not needed to be that long. Jace just feels like he's to be there to pout prettily rather than him getting to have growth.

[@nadialittle5821]

The episode was a 70 minuet trailer for Series 3 essentially

[@nadialittle5821]

I'm hoping series 3 episode 2 and 7or 8 are going to be the battles we've been waiting for

[@nadialittle5821]

Completely forgot about the other kids going to Pentos hahahahaha

[@spacechampi0n]

Turns out they wrote 2 more episodes but HBO told them late to cut 2 and then the writer's strike prevented them from rewriting.

[@Korica]

Literally the only reason people are saying "bad finale" is because they have to wait. Somebody binge-watching it in the future won't be bothered at all. Learn some damn patience people. You want them to rush out a half-baked sub-par product? You want a REPEAT of the disaster that was S7 and S8 of Game of Thrones?

[@anhkriva5274]

That's the point, people don't want this to be season 8 of Got and so far it is.

[@Korica]

@@anhkriva5274 Season 8 was pretty much all action, with barely any plot, at a breakneck speed. This was slow moving plot with little action. They could not be more different in execution.

[@anhkriva5274]

@@Korica Yet there are similarities, such as plot holes and sudden and unexplained drops in the IQ of supposedly smart characters. Fortunately, they limited teleporting to Alicent in the last episode.

[@nadialittle5821]

Can't believe you didn't show your reaction to Aemond talking to his mother! Also look at a Westeros map - things like places will make SO much more sense haha

[@mightypigeon836]

30:53 i thought of the exact same thing when i watched it XD I almost expected Zendaya to pop off out of nowhere and stare directly into the camera - “this is only the beginning…” Would’ve been kinda fitting considering that season was mostly just setup for the next one… again

[@ZeeZed153]

It would have been a good episode if it wasn't a finale. This season needed 10 episodes at least.

[@raemonmedina7870]

Lohar (the mud wrestling captain) is supposed to be a man in the book, and the actor playing the character is a trans woman, I believe

[@gailf1617]

I didn't care; their scenes were still amusing, who would have thought that Tyland Lannister could be good for comedy and could even hold his own in a mud wrestling match?

[@datguy3581]

I think that this was a fine episode. The issue is that the show just doesn’t have the budget to handle the sea battle this episode. They used up their budget on Rook’s Rest and the Dragonseeds. So I think the proper way to look at this is as a build up episode to the climax which will be in season 3.

[@icequeen.]

I personaly really like this finale. It feels more like you end up reading first volume of book and getting ready to read vol.2. For me not every finale needs to be packed with blood and action.

[@goleafsgo9999]

This was a great finale. They don't need to sacrifice their storytelling to placate fans who have unrealistic expectations or don't understand tv production

[@vavictus]

Multiple things can occur. Helena doesn’t straight up tell people anything… save saying that Aemond will die. Hopefully they didn’t mess up Daemon’s story arc by making him a non-rogue prince obedient to prophecy and prophecy alone. They wasted Daemon from episodes 3-6.

[@Sharpester]

Good episode, a horrible finale. It's like the writers and production team never met up to set the pacing of the storytelling to match the number of episodes.

[@GabaGhoul10]

This was a fantastic episode 8 of a 10-episode season. It’s due to pure corporate greed that we aren’t all buzzing with anticipation for banger episodes with 9 and 10.

[@vampyre_with_a_suntan]

Maybe so.. but you cant pin this sort of writing on corporate greed - it might have exacerbated the issue, sure, but at the end of the day this was the writers dragging out 3 episodes worth of content over the span of 8 episodes.

[@IIIIAmSHODAN]

Eh. The writing has been weak all season. Likely because the show lost their best screenwriter Miguel Sapochnik. Not to mention there was a writer strike.

[@bz6046]

It's not Corporate greed it has to do with the writers strike and HBO and warners budget cut for this season.

[@GabaGhoul10]

@@IIIIAmSHODAN The writing has been incredible this season, particularly the dialogue which has been crackling all over the screen. Miguel Sapochnik wasn’t a writer, all he ever did was direct a handful of episodes that nobody could see, and then tried to worm his wife into an Executive Producer role for no reason and stormed off in a huff when they rightfully told him No. This is 100% because of David Zaslav attempting to mitigate Discovery’s massive debt accrual after purchasing WB, and then almost immediately followed by the writer’s strike.

[@GabaGhoul10]

@@bz6046 Uh yeah, corporate greed is why they cut budgets and shortened the season.

[@s1lm4r1l6]

This Season was great. It just wasn't finished. I understand why they gave Daemon the voodoo storyline. Coz in the books he gets to Harrenhal and really doesn't do very much. Like he spends a long time just chilling.

[@wazza8026]

Not all prophecies come true. GRRM writes prophecies as vague and are often misunderstood and diluted as they get passed on. I’ve read the books, and won’t spoil anything. But I wouldn’t cling on to “this is exactly what happens” too much :)

[@hockeyfan131993]

So much has come out since about how Warner brothers - who is bleeding financially (and took another huge hit with Joker 2) - cut the episodes last minute and shortly after the writers strike happened.

[@MagneticMania]

i personaly dont get why people crave war and "stuff to happen" literaly game of thrones best seasons are those that didint include only war do yall just want bam bam war death and then its over? like season 7 and 8 of GOT ? these kind of season's is what made GOT good not just battle and death the sooner we get all the battles and death's the sooner the series will end im glad their dragging the show longer giving us more lore and build up so that we get more attached to the charecters yes while i agree that the season shouldve had two more episodes i hate when people say "oh its just a filler scene/episode " like dont you all remember what happend in GOT season 7 and 8 ? if you want that why do you judge what happend in season 7 and 8 of GOT ? your literaly asking for that.

[@nadialittle5821]

It's not that people wanted a battle but literally NOTHING happened for the season final - NOTHING. we found out how people will die, someone wanting to claim a dragon but we didn't see it, Alicent going in circles and hypocrisy, people still walking to war, Jace once again just there to pout and look pretty, even Aemond was just there and not really doing anything - there was no significance in anything that happened in the episode

[@MagneticMania]

@@nadialittle5821 if you think nothing happened ethier you didint realy watch or listen to anything i dont think these type of shows are for you

[@nadialittle5821]

@@MagneticMania So tell me what happened in the episode that made any major significance to the episode? People are still marching to war, alicent is going in circles with herself and is a hypocrite, Rheana is still didn'tt claim a dragon, no moves were made by anyone, daemon 'woke' up after having lucid dreams for way too long sure but what was the big plot end/point of the episode?

[@Zseventyone]

I think this was supposed to be E8 of a 10 ep season. We’ll get 9 & 10 as 1 & 2 next season.

[@senior_comrade8401]

what's wheel of time against GRRM? a mice vs an elephant.

[@Redqueenjj]

25:20 It's not in the book, in the book they were never friends

[@drrohanjacob]

They disbanded team green. No greens to hate any more. Just team good guys vs aemond the pyscho. I cant believe good queen allysanes dragon chose ulf as a rider.

[@LucerysOwner]

I can't believe you have the audacity to call the blacks as "team good guys" if you just use 1% of your brain cells you would know that the dance is a catastrophe for the taragryen dynasty and westeros itself. the taragryen lost their major source of power as it's result : dragons. So in this Civil War no one is innocent. But for mindless media sheeps who are clueless it's easy to choose team black because the show is white washing team since season 1

[@alaaalsalman6733]

In this season, the main characters were destroyed, and the first of these characters is Alicent. Imagine, after the great hostility towards Ranira and her defense of her children, she simply comes to Ranira and gives her the plan for the fall of the capital and agrees to kill her son. 😬 And many things are not understood in this series. Disappointment.

[@aidan404]

It was a great episode, I would’ve just liked it to be a penultimate episode

[@loganhemin4818]

During the dinner scene the actor who played Ulf ate 30 quails while filming the scene.

[@HaleysTusk]

Rhaenera has to lean on the dragons because she has no ground troops because Damon is raising one and the other armies like the Starks have to march there. I don’t understand why Nerdy doesn’t get this limits her strategic options 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@OnlineSafetyQ]

In the first season daemon said they had like 300 men at arms a lot of crossbowmen when they were talking in episode 10

[@bz6046]

@@OnlineSafetyQ That's nothing the Lannisters and Hightowers have several thousand alone.

[@OnlineSafetyQ]

@@bz6046 Yeah but it's like we don't ever see that force. Dragonstone looks like it has 15 people guarding it at most

[@zae-no1365]

I totally get hating prophecies because it’s like avoiding spoilers this whole time only to the show to spoil us like what the hell?!

[@obijuan-kenobi5117]

This show should have been 3 tight 10 episode seasons, but it seems they're stretching it out to get a 4th $eason, to the detriment of momentum they'd built

[@susanleach9106]

Nerdy you showed everything I felt about this episode. Great review well done. Perhaps after all of this we won’t have to wait for 2+ years if the hierarchy have any sense they will be reading all of these reviews.

[@GentleGiantJason]

Definitely agree you thoughts. They match mine. Some great scenes during the season but not a great season. Almost nothing happened. Season one was amazing with the drama between the family members. This season the family was separated and the only drama was with council members who we don’t know. We don’t see the council members do anything. A couple dragons died and we add a few more. But nothing changed.

[@mattsavage9960]

No that was not rooks rest and looked nothing like rooks rest. Its a place called sharp point

[@GamiCross]

Cole still going through that Post-Traumatic-Seeing-Dragons...

[@aaronunsfe]

The God's eye is the lake near harrenhall with the island of faces this is the place where the children and the 1st men made a pact. Haelena just told you how aemond will die. Same with dameon.

[@MrReded69]

Tyland should have challenged Lohar to a Long Range Pissing contest! I think he'd win!😁 Maybe I'm wrong? Lohar looked pretty mannish.🤔

[@JimmiHoevring]

You try to make a show during a strike. A strike that you guys supported btw...

[@jmartin4396]

Not a real spoiler, but the lake next to Harrenhall is called the God's Eye. :)

[@nonchalantd]

House of the Dragon is basically the fantasy version of Succession.

[@voyager451]

i'm fine with not getting a battle this last episode but it would have been interesting to see the dragonseeds train with the dragons - and Jace starts to come around on them, maybe befriend Addam, build a rapport. Alicent's turn made no sense, it just made NO SENSE. they could have their rhaenicent tragic romantic moments sure, but for Alicent to sacrifice her three sons including the innocent Daeron over to Rhaenyra as she runs away from a war she created like a spineless coward that absolves herself of any responsibility? she gets to ride into the sunset as she leaves a pile of dead bodies in her wake?

[@Flexorcist3030]

The biggest change was that Sapochnik “GOT war god” is no longer with the show. Allan Taylor was the “conversation on elegant rooms” dude.

[@ryanp.1370]

You can definitely feel this season was off due to Miguel's absence.