“I am hers and she is mine. I am his and he is mine. From this day until the end of my days.”

ugly crying because I know which of them goes first 😭

Please do not repost without my permission!

House of the Dragon thoughts

(I am already so mad that this show has managed to make me watch, knowing what happens to all the characters & to Daenerys in the end, but here we are)

First of all—I subconsciously owe the entire cast an apology, as I doubted them from the start. Emilia Clarke set a tough precedent for portraying a Targaryen but I’m impressed by all the actors. Milly Alcock has made me fall in love with Rhaenyra & I will miss her after the time skip. Also, I didn’t expect to like Matt Smith as Daemon but damn. Now onto more concise thoughts—

Whoever made the decision to have all the Dragons look different & unique, I salute you endlessly. I can’t wait to see Vhagar’s size as well, & I’m hoping to see the beautiful Dreamfyre this season (potentially Drogon, Rhaegal, & Viserion’s mother?)

THE VELARYONS!?!! I adore them. Laenor & Laena both won me over within seconds of screen time (despite their circumstances). Corlys & Rhaenys are a POWER COUPLE.

Going with the point above—I want to see more Rhaenys/Rhaenyra. And I want to see Rhaenyra with the twins as well, especially her relationship with Laena (AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE LAENA WITH VHAGAR!!)

I hate Viserys for what he did to Aemma, but otherwise…he is surprisingly likable, albeit rather pitiful as well. I truly believe he loves Rhaenyra, and wants her to rule as Queen in a way that brings her happiness (if such a thing were possible). I also think he genuinely at least cares for Alicent and treats her well, which within this world is rather rare. And he loves his brother, despite their rocky relationship. But my god my dude, just put a few pillows on the Iron Throne and get that prick Otto out of your ear.

Speaking of the Devil—fucking jump into Caraxes flames you utter sack of shit, Otto. I knew he was bad, but holy shit. Why does he just ooze greasiness every time he’s on screen??! (No hate to the actor, he’s doing great!) What he is doing to Alicent is…disgusting doesn’t cover it. This man has Viserys wrapped around his fingers and I have no idea how as the man has less charisma than the fucking Mountain.

Next, Alicent. I did NOT expect to emphasize with her. I am even actively fighting against it, as I’m well aware of her future, but she is just a girl trying to survive. The relationship of her and Rhaenyra in the beginning vs how its going and its future—breaks my heart. They loved each other & found solace together, and the fact that in the end Alicent is made to be a pawn of an evil man is just misogynistic bullshit til the end. I don’t think it necessarily excuses her future actions, but it does explain them in a more sympathetic lens at least.

The Rogue Prince, Daemon. As I said before, I was not fond of the casting choice initially, but now I see he was a good call. He’s definitely a fascinating character, and represents the Targaryens fairly accurately. I don’t have anything to say about him that someone else can’t say better, but I will say his soft spot for Rhaenyra is sweet (regardless of their relationship status). I can’t wait to see him swoon for an adult Laena!

Now onto our Queen herself—Rhaenyra. I simply love her, faults and all. I wish we could’ve seen more of her and Aemma’s relationship, but what we saw was only a little short of enough to understand how deep her grief is. I think she’s got a lot to learn, but already has the admirable instincts you would wish for in a leader. Ideally, she would understand that Alicent had little choice but it asks a lot of her. Also, I’m like 99% sure that girl is bi/pan. And I want more scenes with her just fawning over Syrax because dragon/dragonrider bonding fluff is my favorite thing, alright? However, she does seem a LOT like Daenerys in many aspects currently, and I would appreciate some different personality traits to separate the two.

Overall, I’m surprised with how much I like the show, but trying my hardest to level my expectations to match the canon ending. The ending of GoT, Daenerys’ ending, really fucked me up (an unhealthy amount for a piece of media, I’m aware) so trying to not emotionally invest in this is tough. I don’t like the attempts to reference Daenerys, though. I know they aren’t the same writers/producers/showrunners that killed her, but I want them to stop using her. I have other thoughts and complaints, but time will tell if they matter.