A Son for a Son

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.

After years of waiting, House of The Dragon is back and better than it was before. Just like all premieres should be, it's a soft, sad, and suspenseful slow burn that leads right up to the next big cause of the Dance of Dragons. Blood and Cheese sequence was rushed and underwhelming but it's overshadowed by the rest of the episode's amazing writing, dialogue, acting, and cinematography. This season will truly be something very special and I cannot wait. Emma D'arcy does such a great job playing the part of a vengeful grieving mother as she mourns the loss of Lucerys. The new season is filled with familiar GoT themes like revenge, anger, rage, sorrow, and DRAGONS!!!!

Been waiting for ages for season two and boy oh boy it did not disappoint! The episode kicks off with an emotional punch with Rhaenyra mourns about what happened in season1 last episode. The grief is noticeable, and it sets the tone for what's to come in this show.

The political strategies are intense, with alliances shifting and betrayals happening everywhere. And of course the most important thing is the dragon action scenes that are literally breathtaking!!

As a reader of the books the characters are brilliantly played, each driven by their own goals and haunted by their past mistakes.

A 9 out of a 10 is simply because of the last 7 minutes of the episode, didn't find it so convincing but the story must keep going!

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.

The buzz around this show when it was originally coming out was huge and quite insane on social media. Not a lot of people were as neutral on that season in the end as I was, but it does seem like it quickly found the spark that was missing for a lot of fans of this epic type of television storytelling. I was very excited about this season, because it seemed like they were going to be more focused and not jump around in time constantly. And already with the first episode, the show has upped its own standards and provided a great season opener.

The pacing of this episode is very methodical and akin to the previous episodes of the best "Game of Thrones" seasons. It takes its time to set up all of its pieces and get the audience onboard with the current state of things, quickly reminding us of what happened previously so that everyone is onboard. It takes its time and that's what the first season severely lacked as it felt like every piece was rushed to make sure that we got to the stuff that we wanted to see quickly. The episode plays around with grief a lot, and it all leads to a beautiful funeral scene that is wonderfully edited and an emotional piece of storytelling told almost without any words. It makes us wait for some of the highlights, but the episode is full of them, and especially the last act of the episode carries a huge punch that shows the early stages of war in all of its ugliest forms. It shows how the circle of vengeance and hatred has overtaken morale and common sense in this time and this show could end up becoming a truly breathtaking exploration of war and the effect it has on people involved, told through the veil of a fantasy show. The character work is done sparingly but effectively in this episode, and especially Rhaenyra's arc, which is small as she rarely appears throughout the episode, but it still gets the emotions stirring because of great writing, and especially because of Emma D'Arcy's continued supreme acting.

"A Son for a Son" makes for a thrilling return to Westeros and sets up the game pieces for a truly remarkable and gripping season. It features the slow, yet deliberate pace that made its predecessor such an engaging show, and its character work is truly remarkable, achieved through some great writing and excellent performances.