House of the Dragon S2E01 Explained

This video has no spoilers for future episodes.

Images and video from House of the Dragon used under fair use.
Images from The World of Ice and Fire used with permission from Random House.
Map from The Lands of Ice and Fire.

Special thanks to Patrons Michael Appell, Harry, Shane Veglia, NotGac, Tessa Campbell-Kelly, Tim Cunniff, MaxPal, Jake, Nicolas L. Pimenta, T. Ledoux, Geo Hu, Abdulla Al Mulla, Tibor Pakozdi.

0:00 Opening tapestry
4:33 Jace and Cregan
9:51 Rhaenys and Daemon
11:35 Rhaenyra
12:24 Corlys and Alyn
13:44 Aegon and Helaena
16:22 Alicent and Criston
18:44 Green council
21:24 Larys and Alicent
23:14 Aegon and Hugh
25:48 Mysaria and Daemon
27:25 Rhaenyra, Jace and Alicent
31:24 Aemond and Criston
32:02 Aegon
33:07 Blood and Cheese
38:55 Nebula
40:33 Valyrian dragon magic

#GameOfThrones #ASOIAF #HotD

[Alfredo.Rafael]

I love how when House Of The Dragon comes back, it's not just the weekly episodes, it's this entire online community and culture that comes back to life and brings us all together. These videos are an intrinsic part of the GOT/HOTD experience.

[nataliewatson]

I'm surprised that no one talked about the fact that Lukes dragon Arrax was hatched from one of Syraxs eggs, meaning that her child was killed along with Rhaenyras and on the beach they were both mourning their babies together. It's another neet little way to showcase how connected dragons and their riders can be.

[fjnemo]

I appreciate you putting character’s names, pictures when you’re talking about them. Helps a lot, a lot of channels talk as if we know everything

[thirdcoinedge]

"What name will Aegon choose? ...He likes 'the Dragoncock'"
"Daemon puts on his ~mischief hoodie~"
Stuff like this is why I watch these videos.

[luzcalderon]

I noticed that Larys walks perfectly normal and stands tall and straight in front of Alicent, but pretends to be small and weak around Aegon (just like he did when he first met Alicent). He's like maester Pycelle, playing a character to manipulate powerful people

[MsJackieJack]

15:32 A “rat king” is also a rare phenomenon where a bunch of rats get tangled up by their tails. It’s also a way of interpreting Helaena’s drawing. She’s predicting mutually assured destruction due to an easily avoidable entanglement caused by stupid, self serving decisions.

[xSmuggen]

"Maybe incest is bad" is at the base of literally 4/5 of the conflicts in Westeros

[AnneBernhardt]

I always watched your videos with my ex boyfriend. When we weren't together anymore, we watched them separately and then discussed it (we broke up in good terms). Last year, he decided he didn't want to live anymore. This is the first video I'm going to watch alone. Is so painful and yet bring me some very sweet and awesome memories. He was the biggest fan of yours. Thank you for what you do.

[HobbitnCN]

Get a raise to whoever made the new intro.

[malcolmferguson]

I always got the impression that Alicent's issue with Rhaenyra was less about her doing things she wasn't "supposed to", and more about how she could do those things publicly, with no repercussions, while Alicent couldn't.

[dreaelam]

It's noteworthy that on the beach scene, Syrax is grieving the loss of her child, Arrax. Both mothers are wracked by loss.

[diegoprodriguez]

Gotta give Olivia Cooke credit. Reading Fire and Blood, I didn’t care for Allicent, but her performance has probably made her my favorite character of the show. Shows not inherently wrong, she’s just surrounded by psychopaths and ambition

[awesomehpt]

Turns out sir Cristin Cole is a cunning linguist!

[jlshel]

“He puts on his Mischief Hoodie” made me giggle and almost clap my hands

[Gchan]

The sound in the blood and cheese scene alone is so haunting. You don't need to see what they're doing to the child, your imagination is doing it for you

[Glidus]

bro who the hell would listen to 23 hours of jon snow content

[NicholasAmCuben]

15:43 when lots of rats occupy a tiny space, they sometimes get their tails tangled. This is called a rat king. They are often unable to free themselves and will eventually starve to death.

[elenasreadingcorner]

I saw Allicent saying that to Tyland as her way of de-escalating the situation. She knew that by humiliating him publicly and siding with Aegon, the latter will lose interest and they will be able to get on with their meeting.

[Panyc]

Schools should use this format to teach. I swear it increases my comprehension and retention on these subjects.
Great job as always!

[trippersigs]

Daenys being Balerion's original rider is actually really cool.