#the heirs of the dragon

[dragondreamers]

THE GODS GIVE JUST AS THEY TAKE AWAY (x)

[viihelii]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, 1.01: "THE HEIRS OF THE DRAGON" + art (1/...)

King Jaehaerys I Targaryen ∙ De koning van Thule by Pierre Jan van der Ouderaa, 1896 Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Lady Alicent Hightower ∙ Le Héron Familier by Vincenzo Capobianchi, 1877 Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Prince Daemon Targaryen ∙ God Speed by Edmund Blair Leighton, 1900 Prince Daemon Targaryen ∙ Pallas Athena by Gustav Klimt, 1898 Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen ∙ The Orphan by August Friedrich Schenck, 1885 Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Lady Alicent Hightower ∙ Preparations by Frans Verhas, 1847-1897

[dyingroses]

House of the Dragon + text posts and stuff

[underrtheskinn]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON: THE HEIRS OF THE DRAGON

S01E01

[alicentalicent]

Watching episode 1x01 of House of the Dragon is a delight because you can find a lot of foreshadowing and nods to what will happen later. This part stood out for me because while Corlys is swearing fealty to Rhaenyra as Viserys' heir, the shot cuts to Alicent in a very pointed way.

We can see her with an expression that could be read as jealousy, perhaps, or being worried about what this means to Rhaenyra (Alicent is very smart, and the precedent in this respect does NOT bode well for Rhaenyra. Though maybe she's just being anxious (as per usual) about losing her friend to duty and responsibility soon idk Emily's acting is superb and this expression can be interpreted in many ways.)

That's the surface layer of the scene, but I find it interesting that Corlys, the one swearing fealty to Rhaenyra, betrays her at the end. Whereas Alicent, the one being shown at this moment, ends up walking a very complicated path where fealty and good faith are questioned, but we know now she chooses Rhaenyra at the end. Beautiful.

Followed by a quick interlude of Rhaenyra enveloped in flames, because of course she is.

And now we have the next Lord swearing fealty, Hobert Hightower, which we know will stop supporting Rhaenyra's claim from the very moment Aegon II draws his first breath.

The scene cuts to Daemon, who is at his lowest point because Viserys chose Rhaenyra as his heir in part to spite him and as a punishment for being an absolute prick about Baelon dying.

But we know that he ends up marrying Rhaenyra and supporting her claim. However, I would argue that his arc also questions "good faith and without deceit."

And finally, the scene cuts to none other than Mysaria, who we know will play an important part in Rhaenyra's cause.

It's fun that the focus is on her while Lord Hobert is swearing by the old gods and the new, especially if we think of the role she will play in advising Rhaenyra about the dragonseeds and thus leaning into the divine aspect of being a Targaryen, closer to the gods thanks to the dragons etc etc.

Heh, that's Mysaria on the stairs. (Young Rhaenyra would be like: "may the gods bless you wtf???")

Anyways I like finding scenes that on first watch are saying something and on rewatch you can notice maybe there's some more stuff hidden there.

Also I looooove noticing parallels between Alicent/Daemon on one side and Alicent/Mysaria on the other. Delicious food.

[whitegownsandflowercrowns]

My Rewatch 1x01: "The Heirs of the Dragon"

I do love the choice to start with the Great Council; it's what started this whole thing and there's a 99% chance of it coming out very clunky if you try to talk about it in expository dialogue.

I missed the opening titles this episode :(

Oh god I forgot how happy Rhaenyra and Alicent used to be. It's so much harder to watch their 1x01 scenes when you've watched everything after go down.

Also am I seeing things or was Rhaenyra very much checking out Alicent at the end of their first scene together?

When I watched Aemma and Rhaenyra's scene I thought it was kind of darkly funny how Rhaenyra essentially said "hey mom, are you feeling alright? no one's checked in on you" and Aemma basically responded "you are a womb for the crown." After watching the rest of Aemma's scenes, though, any humor is gone. I'll elaborate.

Did not think the first person I would want to kill Viserys for would be Rhaenyra. But seriously, there's no need to emphasize how you know this baby is a boy and how you're so excited to finally have a boy as many times as he does in this scene when your daughter is right there. UGGHHHH I hate him so much.

DAEMON SHE IS FOURTEEN STOP LOOKING AT HER LIKE THAT

Back to Aemma: something about her scenes that struck me so much harder this time is how much she clearly hates pregnancy, and how hard she's trying to convince herself that she doesn't. Her conversation with Rhaenyra? Trying to convince herself that to give birth to dead children over and over again is her duty, that there is something noble in this suffering. In her bath scene with Viserys she keeps making "jokes" about how awful pregnancy is ("at this point I may very well give birth to a dragon", "born wearing a crown? childbirth is painful enough.") Her book counterpart was married to Viserys at 11, and he only waited two years to start trying to get children out of her. It's unclear how old Show!Aemma is supposed to be, but if we're taking that as canon, she has known nothing else her entire life. She believes that this is her one task, her one duty, and so she must repress the fact that she clearly hates it. And then the fact that her one attempt to gain some autonomy is what led to her death...

Ok so fun fact I cannot watch the Gold Cloaks with a straight face anymore because when I showed @lovelybeautifulwasteland the show and we got to the scene of Daemon hyping them up she just said "it's giving they've explored each other's bodies" with no context and now that is the only thing I can think of so as they're all chanting I'm just laughing hysterically.

Once again, Alicent and Rhaenyra happily gossiping during the tourney is rough when you realize this is essentially the last time the two of them (especially Alicent) will ever truly be happy.

Also Rhaenyra holding Alicent's hand when she notices her picking at her skin...they love each other so much

FIRST LOOK AT CRISTON

Also Rhaenys I am so sorry that I have ever spoken against you. I am apologizing in advance for when I rewatch 1x02 (and maybe 1x09) and I will speak against her again. She doesn't deserve that. She does, but also she doesn't. I love her.

We got so many reaction shots of Laena during the tourney, and a few of her clutching Laenor's arm when she was shocked. I wish we could have seen so much more of their sibling relationship, I would have loved that.

Daemon asking for Alicent's favor immediately after knocking Gwayne out...I am praying for them to interact a lot in Season 3, there's so much potential there.

Aemma's death legitimately almost made me cry this time around because I think it finally truly hit me just how viscerally horrible it is. Viserys barely hesitates before asking "you can save the child?" She's so happy when he tells her that they're bringing the baby out, she thinks it's all going to be okay. And then when they hold her down and start cutting into her, she's so scared. She's so scared, and she doesn't know what's going on, and her husband who she's sacrificed child after child trying to do her duty for isn't doing anything to stop the maester from hurting her and he just keeps telling her that they're bringing the baby out and he loves her, and her final moments are spent in fear and confusion and pain. I hate Viserys so so much.

Also during the funeral, when Rhaenyra wonders if he finally experienced happiness for the few hours that Baelon was alive...I really do wonder, if Baelon had survived, if Viserys would have regretted it even half as much.

Look, I think, out of all of the main cast, Viserys did the most damage. But I do think that there is a really compelling argument that Otto is the single cruelest character in the entire cast. Daemon enjoys violence, sure, but he does care. In his own way. Otto doesn't even wait until the day after Aemma's funeral to immediately start pressing on the topic of heir, covering it all up under the (very very thin) veneer of the whole "I hate to bring it up now" act, and he sends his fourteen-year old daughter to Viserys' chambers literally hours later. He does love her, and he seems to care for Viserys, but he's just so, so cruel.

On that note, "you might wear one of your mother's dresses" really stuck out to me this time around, more so than "in his chambers?" Because let's be honest: the second Otto said "I thought you might go to him" Alicent knew damn well what the subtext of that was. But there was still the plausible deniability. She could convince herself that maybe her father really did just want her to comfort Viserys after a horrible loss. But "you might wear one of your mother's dresses?" There is absolutely no mistaking what the true intention of this visit is. Coupled with the sheerness of the dress in question, that it was clearly made for an adult woman...Otto you're going straight to hell with Viserys.

Alicent in this scene and the choices she makes also really stood out. Because, like I said, she knows that her father wants her to seduce Viserys. Maybe not in the moment right then and there, but he wants her to at least begin the process. She can't completely go against her father's wishes and sit in silence with Viserys, but she also doesn't want to seduce her best friend's father. So she plays it very carefully: she keeps a conversation rolling, but she makes sure that she's just being a friend. I feel so sad for her.

The fact that Viserys names Rhaenyra heir at most 48 hours after Aemma's death is really the worst part of her death. She died for absolutely nothing.

I will not become a Daemon fan. I will not become a Daemon fan. I will not become a Daemon fan. I will not become a Daemon fan.

Viserys' little spiel about control of the dragons being an illusion and how easily the Targaryens could tear themselves apart...it's THE THEMESSSS

I said a while back that I couldn't remember any moment in Season 1 that really said Mysaria was attracted to Daemon, but honestly? She has a few moments that make me think that she genuinely does like him, it's not just the money.

The ending to this episode is just SO good. Cutting between Viserys telling Rhaenyra about the Song of Ice and Fire, Alicent getting her ready for the ceremony, the heir ceremony itself...it's just so good.

Also tell me why I was tempted to cry when they played "A Song of Ice and Fire" over the credits, I just love this show so much and Ramin Djawadi is an actual genius.

[awkward-sultana]

(Almost) Every Costume Per Episode + Extras' costumes in 1x01,3,4,5,6,9

[woman-with-a-movie-camera]

HotD 01x01 The Heirs of the Dragon (2022)

[tv-moments]

House of the Dragon

Season 1, “The Heirs of the Dragon”

Director: Miguel Sapochnik

DoP: Fabian Wagner

[darkmasterplan]

Daemon can easily relate to Rhaenyra's feelings. Since his position as younger brother of Viserys is awkward. Constantly have to prove his loyality and value to Viserys court

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 1.01 | ‘THE HEIRS OF THE DRAGON’

[dragondreamers]

i miss you, i'm sorry...

[viihelii]

❝the girl that they once cheered as the realm’s delight had grown into a grasping and vindictive woman, men said, a queen as cruel as any king before her. one wit named rhaenyra “king maegor with teats,” and for a hundred years thereafter “maegor’s teats” was a common curse amongst kingslanders.❞

[dyingroses]

House of the Dragon + art parallels

[alicentalicent]

House of the Dragon 2nd rewatch - 1x01 The Heirs of the Dragon

my thoughts while i watched the episode:

Alicent smiley and happy: me instantly bursting into tears

Rhaenyra pulling the gloves off with her teeth that’s a faguette.

Daemon’s first scene being him seated on the Iron Throne really takes the Second Son complex to the next level.

It’s kind of funny how they didn’t even try to make Daemon look older after the time jump, they just gave him the best wig they had for the first episode and hoped for the better. It kinda worked cause that's his best look in the whole show the rest is downhill.

Otto and Daemon are obsessed with each other oh my god.

Gwayne in episode 1x01 is not a redhead :( #notmygwayne

Otto as a Hand to Viserys feels quite similar to a husband. He has the final word in the council when Viserys doesn’t want to be bothered with more comments, the Grand Maester gives him detailed information about his health and how to move forward about it, he is jealous of Daemon (and Daemon of him okay he is a Targaryen, if Daemon had been born a woman he would've been Viserys' wife so...i'm not just shitposting here)

Okay but Daemon/Otto/Corlys has potential or is just me?

Hah the Throne keeps cutting Viserys you suck the gods are rejecting you or something.

Stop filming Rhaenyra enveloped in fire!!!!

Wow this shit is full of foreshadowing.

Otto and how he comforts Alicent with physical affection vs. Viserys literally not even sparing a glance to Rhaenyra...

Rhaenyra breaking the fourth wall literally gave me CHILLS.

[whitegownsandflowercrowns]

My Top 10 TV Episodes (First Watch) of 2023:

“Connor’s Wedding” from Succession (2018-2023)

“Long, Long Time” from The Last of Us (2023-Present)

“The Renaissance Will Not Be Televised” from Cunk on Earth (2022)

“The Heirs of the Dragon” from House of the Dragon (2022-Present)

“America Decides” from Succession

“With Open Eyes” from Succession

“Aloha” from The White Lotus (2021-Present)

“Cherry” from The Boys (2019-Present)

“Church and State” from Succession

“Pilot” from Yellowjackets (2021-Present)

[awkward-sultana]

(Almost) Every Costume Per Episode + Rhaenyra Targaryen’s red gown and gold cape with black lapels and gold embellishments in 1x01