alexwmattern

This episode was absolutely gripping, and had an epic final scene that hyped up the coming war. It finally feels like we've entered the meat of the story, after a whole season of time jumps and exposition.

I didn't know if they'd be able to make dragon battles exciting, but they absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. The dragons have much more personality than in thrones, rather than just being basically a vehicle for the rider.

The drama in the episode definitely holds up, even if the dragon action overshadowed it. Daemon, rhaenys, and Rhaenyra were standouts in this episode. I also feel like rhaenyra has become a more protagonist/empathetic character in this episode somehow.

This episode feels like a part 1 of the finale. It's got lots of great dialogue, and is filled with all kinds of scheming players on the green side.

Up front I will say that the main let down of this episode was a questionable writing choice at the end that makes for a cool visual but leaves you feeling very confused. There are ways you can justify this strange character choice but it just feels way below the level of writing we expect from GOT.

Otherwise, the episode was good. It highlights multiple characters that have been minor players until now, like Ser Harold Westerling and Mysaria. The episode mainly hinges on Aegon II - what kind of person he is, and who he will become. The real major players, however, are Alicent, Otto, and Rhaenys.

There is so much to love here. You have some awesomely evil scheming characters like Larys and Otto, who are a blast to watch, as well as more chaotic characters like Daemon and Aemond. Every episode has something great in it, whether it is an epic battle, tense dramatic sequence, heartbreaking moment, or plot twist. The fact that the writers have done this well without having much book material to pull from is awesome. The dialogue is also great, with many memorable lines throughout. The fact that season 1 is just the prologue to this series is amazing.

Yes, there are no purely good or evil characters like in GOT, and HOTD doesn't have the same amount of comedy. The time jumps in season one are annoying, but were only meant to set up the story. These criticisms are true but don't outweigh the great writing and production of this show.

HOTD will not be game of thrones, and that's okay. It has more morally grey characters, lots of politicking, and superb writing. The characters are interesting too, but at this point in the show it's unclear who to root for.