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ride-thedragon · 1 month

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I see Laena casting discourse again. They really did age her up unnecessarily, and I do think it was to communicate how bad the whole picking child bride thing is while making her a suitable (young) match for Daemon. I genuinely remember the sheer disbelief that she was teen Laena.

Milly and Emily are Rhaenyra and Alicent from ages 14 to 20, respectively, somewhere in that timeline they become Emma and Olivia's versions of the characters. Nova is Laena from 12 to about 15, and then from 16 to 20-ish, she's played by Savannah, who then passes over to Nanna until 26, Laena is at best 26 when she dies. It's a less similar time frame for Laenor who , as much as I love young Laenor, should've been played by the same (teen) actor as he and Rhaenyra are the same age.

Back to Laena, I think they should've just casted younger and kept 1 Laena for youth and one Laena for adulthood like the other girls. Yes, she's younger but not young enough to need that much of a difference between episodes 1 and 5. I'm not promoting the sick comedy of Daemon and Youngest Laena, but that's the general point. You can't want to show the world we're in with Viserys and Rhaenys and then falter when it's Daemon's turn. Those actresses do not have a 4 year age gap. Even casting an older actress in both parts but changing their styling would make sense.

I'm not upset because I adore every Laena actor. They looked and found the prettiest actors they could, and they DIDN'T DISAPPOINT, but it was biased storytelling.

I think this was a case where hiring a young actress and allowing costumes and acting to tell a story would've worked beautifully.

Another way it would've worked was seeing as production and filming takes so long, hiring a young actress and filming baby laena at the start and teen Laena at the end of filming.

Are there no black 14/15/16 year old actors to hire?

I also don't like the fact that they cast Laena with much older actors when they are done with that initial point.

Nova is 14 now, and Savannah is 28. Nanna is 37.

They were 10/11, 25/26, and 34/35, respectively, while filming.

Respectfully that's insane.

They are playing 12, 16, and 26.

It's a clear oversight and is weird because yet again, they didn't consider the implication of a 16 year old black girl going after a 30+ year old prince. Or the idea of going from casting Laena with an actress younger than her age to two actresses a decade apart from her canon age.

Anyways: Casting 101

When 2 actors represent the spectrum of ages, your character is at (10 to 26), maybe cast between them for a teen version.

I don't like the inconsistent casting. I genuinely think the only reason I don't hate it more is because of the fact that the inconsistent costumes piss me off more.

No hate to the actresses again. This is about character continuity and not at all a reflection of their performances. They are our Laena's and the reasons we wish we got more of the character.

#hotd #house of the dragon #laena velaryon #lady laena #laena casting #hotd casting #weird age consistency #something very nefarious is at play #idk why I put kyleigh there but she's a good actress so....#hotd meta #its all so weird

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revedetendresse · 1 year

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BEHIND THE SCENES OF HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Dance rehearsal on the set of episode 5 "We Light The Way"

#House Of The Dragon #hotdedit #HOTD Cast #Ryan Corr #Theo Nate #Harwin Strong #Laenor Velaryon #Milly Alcock #Savannah Steyn #eloedits #Rhaenyra Targaryen #Laena Velaryon #You'll have to forgive me but Ryan and Theo are the only two I manage to recognize with masks on #I tagged the girls as well bc they're probably there too #Ryan is in the black tee shirt with the white/grey sweatshirt on the shoulders in case you're wondering

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mejcinta · 9 months

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Phoebe Campbell in Surrey filming House of the Dragon season 2.

#hotd cast #actors #phoebe campbell #rhaena targaryen #rhaena of pentos #daemon × laena #house of the dragon #house of the dragon season 2

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viihelii · 2 days

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like mother, like daughter

#house of the dragon #laena velaryon #baela targaryen #casting department deserves a raise

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x-aefx · 2 years

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Wish we got to see more of Savannah as Laena.

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westerosiladies · 2 years

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#house of the dragon #hotd #asoiaf #rhaenyra targaryen #alicent hightower #laena velaryon #laenor velaryon #jacaerys velaryon #jacaerys targaryen #lucerys velaryon #aegon targaryen #aemond targaryen #helaena targaryen #baela targaryen #rhaena targaryen #casting #aging up

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sophiemariepl · 1 year

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Although I did very much enjoy House of the Dragon season 1, I have to admit that I really hate how much of the original Fire and Blood material was squeezed by the writers, so that the build-up for the Dance of Dragons could happen in just one season.

Like, so many important and interesting plotlines and character archs were lost as a result of this! Ser Harwin Strong, Laena Velaryon, Laenor did not have it much better… and don’t get me started on Larys Strong. This guy literally seems to be just a psychopath for being a psychopath. As a character, he does not stand next to either lord Varys or Petyr Baelish a.k.a. the Littlefinger.

And I have one theory about the circumstances that led to this state of the final product we got. It consists of two major points:

1) Large part of the budget went into the animation of the dragons, so they simply did not have the money to focus on nuancing and developing the storylines,

2) HBO had a survey made regarding the attention span of modern audiences and found out that it largely decreased in the past 10-15 years, so they chose to fit this new “criteria”.

The problem is, that one of the major assets of the original Game of Thrones is the fact that the storyline develops gradually, and in a relatively slower pace. This way we get the time to understand the political game of Westeros and we get attached to the characters we’re watching (regardless of whether it is a positive or a negative attachment). And this way, once a particular stage of the political game comes to it's conclusion and one of the characters dies, we feel the whole emotional baggage that comes with it. No matter if it is the sadness about heartbreaking death of Shireen Baratheon or the satisfaction of seeking Joffrey getting poisoned at his own wedding, it has it's own emotional baggage.

Meanwhile, many deaths of key characters in HotD just don’t have this baggage.

Ser Harwin Strong? He had such a cute relationship with Rhaenyra. Shame that he ended smoked on a grill, he was a hot baby daddy. Next.

Laena Velaryon, who appears so little that in each of her scenes she is played by a different actress? Oh no, she’s dead. Another point from the book behind us. Next.

Vaemond Velaryon? That guy who argued with Corlys in some of the earlier episodes? To paraphrase a text of a typical Polish grandma: I don’t know the man.

And I could count on and on…

#house of the dragon #hotd #hotd comment #hotd commentary #asoiaf #pre asoiaf #house targaryen #house velaryon #house strong #house hightower #rhaenyra targaryen #alicent hightower #hbo #harwin strong #laena velaryon #vaemond velaryon #larys strong #rushed storylines #I love hotd in general the cast was phenomenal but writers made lots of bad choices

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horizon-verizon · 5 days

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🔗LINK to TheWrap Article/Interview with Ryan Condal on Why the Velaryons are Black in HotD

Excerpt:

“To me, I mean, I don’t even really think about it anymore. There are so many Valerians in the show, having the Velaryon family, having the Sea Snake’s family, look different than the Targaryens is actually really helpful in the casting and in differentiating people on screen and remembering who’s from what house and maybe making it even clearer that Rhaenyra has children of questionable parentage,” he continued. “I think there are a lot of visual benefits that come along with it, and because Corlys has such a rich and diverse family line himself, just simply making that one turn on him to cast Steve Toussaint, his entire family then becomes a diverse cast and it’s a really interesting way to populate the show with a bunch of different faces that you may or may not have seen in another high fantasy show or in the original series.”

#ryan condal #asoiaf articles #hotd articles #hotd #asoiaf #hotd writers #hotd casting #hotd race #asoiaf race #corlys velaryon (dance)'s characterization #the velaryons #house of the dragon #corlys velaryon #laenor velaryon #laena velaryon

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bohemian-nights · 1 year

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Keep in mind this how Nettles is depicted in the book and in the lore🙃

#she’s black 🤷🏽‍♀️#nettles #reminding people #in case hbo try’s to gaslight us into some anti-black f*cking bullsh!t #it would be hella disrespectful not to mention anti-black to change her race #especially after the stunts they’ve pulled with Laena and her daughters last season #like you light Laena on fire #have Rhaena be neglected #and cut Baela’s lines #tell me you don’t respect black women without telling me #release who is actually cast that way I can be done with the show if hbo tries to be racist #sorry had to f*cking rant 🤦🏽‍♀️#hotd #race bending a black character #the only black character is not cool #nope won’t be here for it🙅🏽‍♀️#it’s not f*cking okay to race bend black characters✊🏽#this isn’t a f*cking good look hbo🤬#I mean you race bent white characters only to give them the worst stories #anti blackness

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rhaenathinker · 11 months

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Chaos of twt aside look at mother and daughter

#Phoebe Campbell #nana blondell #Rhaena Targaryen #Laena Velaryon #house of the dragon #house of the dragon season 1 #hotd cast

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ride-thedragon · 2 months

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Call it general unawareness, but the showrunners making Laena and Nettles have a lot more in common than they did in the books is like the chef's kiss of all this discourse.

Like yea, let's make Laena 15 instead of 12 when she claims Vhagar, no one else, was a similar age with such a big feat.

(Nettles was 16)

Yea, let's cast the Velaryons with black actors and Laena specifically with 3 black actresses with various features. I'm sure we can't point back to another black character. (Nettles)

I think the show runners are opps.

Not to me though

#hotd #hotd discourse #its all so good #nettles #laena velaryon #a song of ice and fire #daemon targaryen #like id hate to be someone who dismissed laena #im just waiting for the casting announcement #prepared to be sick of me

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rowandamisch · 2 years

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the way harwin and laena were swept under the rug so quickly.... yeah HBO will pay for its crimes

#the time jump was a terrible mistake omfg #house of the dragon #harwin strong #laena velaryon #im still bitter idc #both laena and harwin played important roles in daemyras lives and to see them being cast aside so soon does not sit right with me #ly watches hotd #text

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mejcinta · 9 months

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Silver-haired Targaryen girls, possibly Phoebe Campbell (Rhaena) with a stunt double, filming S2 of House Of The Dragon in Bourne Woods, Surrey.

The scene was described by a local as that of the Targaryen girl falling down.

Why on Earth is Rhaena falling down? And from how high? Is she hurt? Is she in mourning? Was she trying to claim a dragon?????

So MANY possibilities. 🤔🤔

#hotd filming #rhaena of pentos #rhaena targaryen #daemon × laena #leak wars #hotd cast #phoebe campbell

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alrightsnaps · 2 years

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my best girls 🐉🔥

#house of the dragon #laena velaryon #rhaenyra targaryen #savannah steyn #milly alcock #hotd cast

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ppeuppeuppeu · 2 years

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Ryan Corr in House of the Dragon, behind the scenes part VI

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lagosbratzdoll · 1 year

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thinking thoughts

I have quite a few thoughts about Alicent Hightower, both the book and show versions of her character. Her actions remind me of the hyper-religious women in my own life, and while I sympathize with her somewhat in the show, I find her character cruel and callous. In the book, however, I respected her agency and choices, even if she annoyed me at times.

That being said, my main issues with the House of the Dragon show are the mistreatment of Laena, Leanor and Alicent's indecisiveness and lack of backbone. Rhaenyra's accusation that Alicent had been hiding behind her righteousness was spot-on. I'm sorry that Aemond lost his eye, but I do not think that the appropriate response will ever be knowingly removing the eye of a six-year-old boy.

Alicent declares war against Rhaenyra because she believes she didn't tell her the whole truth about the pleasure house incident with Daemon. I wonder why she'd think she's entitled to anything from Rhaenyra, much less the truth. She broke her trust and they are barely friends. While we know that Otto pressured her into going into Viserys' room, Rhaenyra does not, and in her mind, her best friend married her father only six months after her mother's death. Rather than trying to understand where Rhaenyra is coming from, Alicent breaks her trust once more and declares war.

Alicent ignores the violence her older son inflicts on his younger siblings, and she marries her 13-year-old daughter to her own violent rapist son. Additionally, Alicent emotionally abuses her stepdaughter/friend for no apparent reason and aligns herself with an incel/murderer/oathbreaker, a kin slayer and a rapist despite going on and on about Rhaenyra's lack of morals. She knowingly crowns her violent rapist son, who she'd told was no son of hers, literally one episode ago.

#house of the dragon #alicent hightower #rheanyra targaryen #house targaryen #otto hightower #aemond the kinslayer #I have thoughts about Laena #and I'll probably write them soon #the show is just so frustrating so I started from the characters who frustrate me the most #I don't know why people adapt stuff and spit on the source material #everyone suffers when you do that #kinda hater how the promos for this show sold it as a bunch of women fighting for power #I don't think I'm gonna watch s2 #I love the casting for Laena so I'll just picture them when I read the book now #if only they hadn't flattened her character #let's not even get into how Baela and Rhaena barely speak #why would Daemon care that Rhaena doesn't have a dragon btw #he didn't hatch caraxes #he claimed him after Aemon died #he would've been in his teens so that made no sense tbh

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