A Son for a Son

Decent and impressive first episode of the second season about the internal succession war within House Targaryen. It happens many years before the death of the Mad King, Aerys, and the birth of his daughter, Princess Daenerys Targaryen. It is said that the only two claims to succeed King Jaehaerys seriously considered at the Great Council of 101 were Rhaenys and Viserys. This is an in intense epic concerning the internal succession war within House Targaryen at the height of its power, many years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. In the previous season the Targaryen dynasty is at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 10 dragons under their yoke. Most empires crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins when King Viserys (Paddy Considine) breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. Viserys tells Rhaenyra that she must keep Aegon's secret just like every heir before her has done and he insists Rhaenyra must promise him that she will guard this secret. Rhaenrya is the third person to utter the iconic "Dracarys" line made famous by Daenerys (Game of thrones,2011), the second was Missandei and first was Daenerys herself. And Rhaenyra rides a yellow she-dragon named Syrax. But when Viserys later fathers a son, with the daughter of the king's hand, Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm, with intervention of ambicious aspirants to the throne as king's brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) or Lord Corlys 'The Sea Snake' Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). The confrontation takes place when the king names his daughter Rhaenyra as his heir and after his death things go wrong.

This is a spectacular season dealing with friction nearly two hundred years before Game of Thrones (dealt with conflicts between the houses Stark, Lannister, Baratheon and Targaryen and with the remaining great houses Greyjoy, Tully, Arryn,Tyrell and Martell), now emerges a sucession dispute between Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen: Emma D'Arcy and Queen Alicent Hightower: Olivia Cooke ; it sets in motion a series of events that many years in the future will lead to a bitter feud over who should sit on the Iron Throne. In this episode Alicent grows concerned by Aegon's Small Council, and Rhaenyra arrives at a fateful decision. An impressive season dealing with inheritance disputes, court intrigues, treasons, vengeance, in which political and sexual intrigue is pervasive ; all of them will lead to full-scale war in the following entries. Breathtaking epic version based on George R. R. Martin novels with exciting drama and overwhelming power fights, his stories are imaginatively brought to life on groundbreaking images with great production values and outstanding scenarios. To date, 18 episodes have been filmed and this A Son for a Son(Jun 16, 2024) is the number 11 of three seasons. Intense court drama, nudism , sexual scenes, great appearance of the giant dragons, and bloody fights abound in this spellbinding adaptation. It contains magnificent production design and spectacular exteriors shot on location in Monsanto, Castelo Branco, Portugal ; and adding colorful computer generator images including the enormous firing dragons.

The series is well written by an excellent plethora of screenwriters as Ryan J. Condal, Sara Hess, Fonseca, Kevin Lai , Ira Parker, Eileen Shim under supervision by the great creator George R. R. Martin. The music in the end credits is "A Song of Ice and Fire" by Ramin Djawadi, which is also the music from the closing credits of the series finale of "Game of Thrones". This first episode in the second season to be well directed by Alan Taylor, that previously directed 7 episodes in the original 'Game of Thrones' series. Alan Taylor is a craftsman who's directed some films : Thor: The dark world , Terminator Genisys and hit series : Game of thrones , Rubicon , Boardwalk Empire , Interview with the Vampire and The many Saints of Newark . And he was nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series category for Beyond the Wall (2017), but lost to Stephen Daldry for Paterfamilias (2017). Rating : 7.5/10 . Notable episode, not extraordinary .

The overall episode for start of the of the season 2 is good, tension is rising up slowly. You can feel the grief and sadness in the whole episode. Especially applause for Emma D'arcy for her excellent acting like this. You can feel her pain and grief on her face, what an actress well done! Also, I could mention that I liked Helena's performance in this episode ( Helena, I don't know the real actress name sorry). One more surprising moment for me is Aegon. In this episode you see him like gentle and not brutal person like his brother but it will change though. Sad for ending, it's not enough.. it could be better. Blood and cheese moment is not enough. I didn't read the books but I know one thing that, it would be script better than it was. The moment which they have give for blood and cheese characters were not enough. Should have been more dramatic and impactful.

Wow, absolutely blown away. The cinematography was absolutely stunning. The pieces are being set in motion, hailing back to its tried and true game of thrones. Both parties vying for control over the lands and the houses within them. KEY houses being mentioned and even shown, putting big players into place for the upcoming war. The acting was phenomenal as usual, with a scene of grievance bringing a tear to myself and my friend's eye while watching. Seeing the way the different characters dealt with the events of the end of season 2 was beautiful to watch. But the real showstopper is the events that took place after all that. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING. My jaw was on the floor. What. A. Way. To. Start. A. Season.

It's good to be back in this beautiful and dangerous world of House Of The Dragon.

Ep 1 kicks off right after the events of the season 1 finale. Queen Rhaenyra is grieving the loss of her son as Darmon is head strong for vengeance. We get a lot of the greens in this episode as they are trying to identify their allies through Westeros. Alicent worries that she is losing her voice among her sons and father the hand.

A good episode, I would definitely see it as a filler episode, good progress on terms of who is on whose side but other than that it is establishing the season with a twisty end.

Team Black all the way ! 7/10.

After the events that took place at the end of season one, i was very excited for this season, since I thought season one delivered beyond what I expected!

Having not read the book, I have no idea what is about to unfold, other than the very much mentioned "Dance of Dragons"

This premiere was a solid return to the world of Westeros with everything that you might expect! The emotions are high as you feel the grief and anger, setting up what seems like an inevatable conflict, with consequences that most certainly will be felt!

I was on the edge for the most part, and I am already waiting for the next episode!

Actors were phenomenal, capturing their characters emotions in a unique way! Its obvious everyone gives their all!

Effects, soundtrack and directing.. cinematic!!