Aug. 23, 2024

From Page to Screen: Breaking Down "House of the Dragon" Season 2, with Frank Lourence from Geek Freaks Podcast

How does House of the Dragon's Daemon Targaryen evolve from a power-hungry prince to a self-aware conqueror? Join us as we uncover this transformation with our special guest, Frank from the Geek Freaks Network, who brings his vast knowledge of George R.R. Martin's world to our discussion. We'll explore the significant differences between Fire and Blood and its TV adaptation, focusing on how the show adds depth to characters such as Daemon and Aemond. You'll gain fascinating insights into the lore surrounding dragon riders and the future of Westeros mythology, making this episode a treasure trove for fans of both the books and the series.

We assess the power dynamics and character arcs that define House of the Dragon. You'll hear about the ambitions and sacrifices of key figures like Kristen Cole and Corlys Velaryon, along with the gender politics that impact Rhaenys and Rhaenyra's paths. Frank sheds light on how the series enriches the narrative beyond the black-and-white depiction found in the book, offering a nuanced view of these compelling stories.

Get ready to celebrate standout moments from Season 2 with our "Season Celebrations" segment. We highlight the most impactful scenes, such as the intense dragon battle at Ravensbrück and Daemon's emotional transformation at Harrenhal. We also touch upon the unique bond between dragons and their riders, and the significance of Targaryen bastards. Don't miss this enriching conversation with Frank, filled with detailed analysis and engaging discussions about the future of Westeros.

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Chapters

00:00 - Differences Between Book and Screen

10:23 - Character Growth of Damon and Aemond

22:33 - The Decline of Alicent's Power

25:31 - Ambition and Sacrifice in Westeros

30:50 - Rhaenys and Rhaenyra

34:59 - Laris Clubfoot and Bastard Bloodlines

38:54 - Dragon Bonding and Targaryen Bastards

49:47 - Enhancing House of the Dragon

55:56 - Season Celebrations and Unexpected Alliances

01:02:08 - Dragon Bonding and Character Growth

01:12:31 - Connecting Through Fandom Community

Transcript

WEBVTT

00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.312
What are some of the major differences from the book and the screen that you can tell us about without giving too much away on what's to come?

00:00:05.312 --> 00:00:24.265
Hi everybody, it's Aaron Davies here from the Fandom Portals podcast.

00:00:24.265 --> 00:00:32.000
Now, today's episode is a very special one, ladies and gentlemen, because I am joined by none other than Frank from the Geek Freaks Network.

00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:47.517
If you haven't heard of Frank already, he produces so many podcasts that you can find available in the show notes below, but most notably, he is the main producer of the Geek Freaks Network, which our podcast is fortunately a part of.

00:00:47.517 --> 00:00:54.667
So in this episode, we talked to Frank about everything to do with House of the Dragon, which is one of his passion areas.

00:00:54.667 --> 00:01:07.828
You can hear through the interview that he is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to everything to do with George R R Martin's world of Westeros, and it was a pleasure to actually sit down and pick his brain about a topic that interests him so much.

00:01:07.828 --> 00:01:12.623
We dove into questions like what really motivated Daemon to have his change of heart.

00:01:12.623 --> 00:01:20.704
In the House of the Dragon season finale, we talk about how a dragon chooses its rider according to the lore of Westeros.

00:01:20.704 --> 00:01:39.540
We ask the question what can the viewers expect in the future of the Westeros mythology, and the biggest question that I wanted to ask him, having such a vast knowledge of the source material, was how does what we see on the screen differ to what was actually written in the book?

00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:43.712
And the answers are extremely surprising and awesomely detailed.

00:01:43.712 --> 00:01:55.227
When Frank gets going talking about these amazing worlds and all the characters in it in terms of countries, various different noblemen, dragons, names, lineages he is the guy to go to.

00:01:55.227 --> 00:02:04.484
So sit back while Frank and I take you on a journey through Westeros and we answer these questions just for you, on this episode of the Fandom Portals Podcast.

00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:14.510
Welcome to Fandom Portals Podcast, where curiosity meets community in a celebration of all things geek.

00:02:14.510 --> 00:02:20.608
We build connections on every episode by delving into your favorite fandom questions in the time it takes you to bake a loaf of bread.

00:02:20.608 --> 00:02:24.748
I'm your host, aaron Davies, and today we are here to talk about the season two of House of the Dragon.

00:02:24.748 --> 00:02:25.151
I'm not alone today.

00:02:25.151 --> 00:02:27.942
I am your host, aaron Davies, and today we are here to talk about the season two of House of the Dragon.

00:02:27.942 --> 00:02:28.723
I'm not alone today.

00:02:28.723 --> 00:02:31.289
I am joined by a very good friend of the podcast.

00:02:31.289 --> 00:02:33.683
It is Frank from the Geek Freaks Network.

00:02:33.683 --> 00:02:34.485
How are you going today, frank?

00:02:35.328 --> 00:02:36.411
I'm doing very well.

00:02:36.411 --> 00:02:37.260
Thank you very much for having me.

00:02:37.260 --> 00:02:38.304
I'm excited to talk about House of the Dragon.

00:02:39.828 --> 00:02:40.629
So am I.

00:02:40.629 --> 00:02:50.281
But before we get into that, Frank, can you tell our amazing listeners of the fandom portals podcast what the geek freak networks is and what you do on that amazing space of yours on the internet?

00:02:51.284 --> 00:02:53.451
uh, so, yeah, we just, we also celebrate fandoms.

00:02:53.451 --> 00:02:56.262
Uh, we let everybody uh find their niche and enjoy it.

00:02:56.262 --> 00:03:04.764
Uh, we have the geek freaks podcast, where it's a rotating panel of hosts that talk about different things going on each week, and then a bunch of podcasts behind that too, that each niche down into their own things.

00:03:04.764 --> 00:03:06.750
There's pretty much something for everybody.

00:03:06.750 --> 00:03:10.693
And then, yeah, we're just always posting stuff on social media.

00:03:10.955 --> 00:03:14.348
Too often, I'll say Now your social media posts are absolutely slick.

00:03:14.348 --> 00:03:21.248
So if you guys haven't already, go and check out the Geek Freaks on Instagram especially, but they're pretty much available on all social medias.

00:03:21.248 --> 00:03:29.461
Is that correct, frank?

00:03:29.461 --> 00:03:31.288
That's correct, yeah, but I would say our better foot is on Threads and Instagram, for sure.

00:03:31.288 --> 00:03:31.750
Yeah, yeah, same here.

00:03:31.750 --> 00:03:34.419
Threads is a great place to connect and I think it's got some really great potential for everybody to connect on there.

00:03:34.419 --> 00:03:35.723
So definitely go and check them out.

00:03:35.723 --> 00:03:49.294
On Threads, those will be in the links below, guys, in the show description, but without any further ado, let's kick off our discussion today, because I am a person who I wouldn't actually call myself a Game of Thrones House of the Dragon fan.

00:03:49.294 --> 00:03:57.092
I wasn't a person who read the books initially and I definitely had my indoctrination into the story mythos from the TV show.

00:03:57.092 --> 00:03:57.814
How about yourself, frank?

00:03:57.814 --> 00:03:59.967
How did you get into the land of Westeros?

00:04:01.341 --> 00:04:08.393
So I was looking for something good to read and the first season came out and I hadn't watched it yet but I came across the first book.

00:04:08.393 --> 00:04:11.707
I was like, oh, you know what I like, because I like to be able to have that comparison with the live action stuff.

00:04:11.707 --> 00:04:16.572
So then I picked up the first book, got super into it, then watched the first season and then I just read it everything.

00:04:16.572 --> 00:04:27.112
I read all that there was to read about it and got such so into it and yeah, so I am definitely into it now and I've often on the forums complaining or chatting or comparing, or whatever.

00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:31.858
Yeah, definitely an active member of the fandom of the Westeros space.

00:04:31.858 --> 00:04:32.360
That's really good.

00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:38.192
So did you read the books prior to the seasons coming out then?

00:04:38.192 --> 00:04:41.790
Because you obviously picked up the books, that was more written than the seasons had produced then.

00:04:41.790 --> 00:04:43.927
So then from there you were able to compare as you went.

00:04:44.067 --> 00:04:57.759
Yeah, yeah, the first one came out before I started reading it, but then I hadn't watched it yet, and then everything else I read before even watching it at all, so before it came out and when we're talking about house of the dragon, specifically, what literature are we talking about?

00:04:57.779 --> 00:05:03.629
from george rr martin, because he does have a breadth of stuff to read thick, thick ass books, you might say.

00:05:03.629 --> 00:05:07.115
You might say, so what ones are we talking about when we're doing House of the Dragon?

00:05:08.004 --> 00:05:11.947
It's a really interesting choice because actually it's a book called Fire and Blood and it's a textbook.

00:05:11.947 --> 00:05:13.846
It is kind of like how the Cimmerillion is.

00:05:13.846 --> 00:05:27.170
In a lot of ways it is spanning 300 years of Targaryen history and so House of the Dragon I always say 60, it's probably around 100 pages of house of the dragon in that section in the middle there, um, so yeah, it's, it's reads like a textbook.

00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:30.540
It goes a lot faster than like the ice and fire, um, and it's.

00:05:30.540 --> 00:05:40.774
But there are, of course, everything that's there is usually referenced in house or a game of thrones, so you have some of it from that too very cool.

00:05:40.834 --> 00:05:48.612
So when we're talking about like it reads like a textbook, are we talking like um, so it goes through the ages and tells you who the kings were and stuff like that?

00:05:48.612 --> 00:05:51.708
Does it feature some of the similar characters from the show as well?

00:05:51.708 --> 00:05:54.422
When we're talking about the novel material, it definitely does.

00:05:54.483 --> 00:05:58.091
So when I say it reads like a textbook, I mean a textbook in those times.

00:05:58.091 --> 00:05:58.661
So what?

00:05:58.661 --> 00:06:00.588
It is the maester, which is like a priest at the time.

00:06:00.588 --> 00:06:12.507
Right, he is writing down the accounts of everything that happened to the targaryens from uh witnesses of the of the time.

00:06:12.507 --> 00:06:13.511
So, especially at this time, there are two.

00:06:13.511 --> 00:06:13.831
It's a and um a.

00:06:13.831 --> 00:06:14.173
Uh, what is that?

00:06:14.173 --> 00:06:14.714
A jester of the court?

00:06:14.714 --> 00:06:19.279
His name is mushroom, and so what I like is you have differing opinions on different things, and usually the scandalous things are done by mushroom.

00:06:19.701 --> 00:06:32.646
He's like oh yeah, and then he took raniera down to the you know the house and started kissing her, and then, the maester's like they had a formal meeting, and so, as you're watching the show very unique to any other Normally you're like, oh, the book's better.

00:06:32.646 --> 00:06:36.990
Well, in this situation the book is being told on second account.

00:06:36.990 --> 00:06:50.382
So there are things that are spun to make the church look better, maybe, or whatever, or the family better in general, but the show is telling you what actually happened.

00:06:50.382 --> 00:06:53.271
So, like just a quick example um, raniera and allison's relationship are is still kind of not that bad.

00:06:53.271 --> 00:06:57.384
Like we see in season two they meet up twice, um, but in the books, of course, those meetings are all in secret, right, we don't see them back.

00:06:57.384 --> 00:06:59.370
Nobody knows that raniera went over there.

00:06:59.370 --> 00:07:03.586
So in the books it's just they hate each other right off the bat and you know the victor, a story.

00:07:03.586 --> 00:07:07.735
So a lot of times one side's painted worse than the other because the victor is the one that tells the story.

00:07:08.841 --> 00:07:09.262
That's cool.

00:07:09.262 --> 00:07:12.620
It kind of gives the space for that unreliable narrator position.

00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:13.610
That's a big part of it, yeah.

00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:30.629
Yeah, so when you're looking at the books and looking at the actual TV show, there would be a lot of differences because, as we said, that unreliable narrator it's coming from two different sources, two different backgrounds, and I like the way that George would have picked those vastly different backgrounds to get those two different perspectives as well.

00:07:30.629 --> 00:07:40.533
We're going to get into some page to screen differences a little bit later, but before we do, let's give your overall thoughts on season two of House of the Dragon.

00:07:40.533 --> 00:07:42.427
What did you think of the season as a whole, frank?

00:07:43.961 --> 00:07:46.230
I think it was a wonderful season, visually stunning.

00:07:46.230 --> 00:07:47.906
The character growth was so important this season.

00:07:47.906 --> 00:07:50.509
It was something that we really needed as we transitioned into the rest of the story.

00:07:50.509 --> 00:07:55.901
I think it's foundational for the Targaryens as a whole, because we have a spinoff coming up, it's going to feature them and, of course, we have Game of Thrones.

00:07:55.901 --> 00:08:00.165
It was I'm not blind to Boy.

00:08:00.165 --> 00:08:03.687
It was so disappointing that we didn't get to the battles that they were teasing this whole time.

00:08:03.687 --> 00:08:08.512
Like we saw this ship being built from episode one and then at the end of the season it's like, yep, ship's ready to go.

00:08:08.512 --> 00:08:09.853
It's like, no, show us the ship fight.

00:08:09.853 --> 00:08:12.014
So, yeah, it was good.

00:08:12.014 --> 00:08:14.036
We needed two more episodes, I think.

00:08:19.603 --> 00:08:20.704
Yeah, I actually agree with that.

00:08:20.704 --> 00:08:24.970
I think you know it feels like they wasn't a bad episode of house of the dragon.

00:08:24.970 --> 00:08:27.192
Was it a finale?

00:08:27.192 --> 00:08:28.434
Probably not.

00:08:28.434 --> 00:08:36.701
I I agree with you in terms of I would love to have seen more in terms of uh, just just give us a little bit of bite for all the chewing that we've been doing all season.

00:08:36.701 --> 00:08:47.472
Not to say that the chewing had been arduous, because, as a person who really loves character drama and seeing the growth of all these different characters, that's like the meat and potatoes for me, but I definitely like it peppered with different scenes of action.

00:08:47.472 --> 00:08:49.623
Uh, have a chat to me about the visual.

00:08:49.623 --> 00:08:55.341
Well, that was a weird way to say that the visual uh spectacle that is house of the dragon.

00:08:55.341 --> 00:08:56.644
You know the, the special effects.

00:08:56.644 --> 00:08:57.768
Uh, what are your thoughts on that?

00:08:59.131 --> 00:09:01.543
I, I mean, I'm such a big fan of their set design.

00:09:01.543 --> 00:09:03.388
Uh, of course, the dragons are always cool.

00:09:03.388 --> 00:09:04.169
Right, house of the Dragon.

00:09:04.169 --> 00:09:06.461
A lot of the budget has to go to that, more so than even Game of Thrones.

00:09:06.461 --> 00:09:12.525
But I think it's important to note that they built a lot of the Red Keep the sewers that we saw.

00:09:12.525 --> 00:09:13.535
They actually built all those sewers.

00:09:13.535 --> 00:09:14.606
It's running water going through there.

00:09:14.606 --> 00:09:19.844
The way the castles look, harrenhal this is the best look at Harrenhal we've ever had.

00:09:19.844 --> 00:09:20.683
They all have.

00:09:20.683 --> 00:09:21.745
They do a really good job of it.

00:09:21.745 --> 00:09:27.590
Just like it, not just looking like a castle, but you know from the walls that that's Harrenhal, that's Dragon's Toad, that's Red Keep.

00:09:27.590 --> 00:09:28.730
Like you recognize these places.

00:09:28.730 --> 00:09:33.434
And I think that's just the costumes too, like every little detail of the costumes, the armor.

00:09:33.434 --> 00:09:40.544
You know where that guy was born, who he fights for, everything like that, based off their armor design, the detail.

00:09:42.067 --> 00:09:46.833
And I think having George RR Martin on the production team helps with that as well.

00:09:46.833 --> 00:09:48.216
You know getting his vision across.

00:09:48.216 --> 00:09:58.206
Let's go off book a little bit and talk about some of the locations featured in season two of House of the Dragon, because, as you said, we do have a very good look at Harrenhal.

00:09:58.206 --> 00:09:59.951
Very weird place, frank, very weird place.

00:09:59.951 --> 00:10:06.332
What can you tell us about Harrenhal that we may not have gathered from the seasons of House of the Dragon so far?

00:10:06.332 --> 00:10:08.988
So for people who haven't read the book, what could you tell us about Harrenhal.

00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:11.085
Harrenhal's in the center of Westeros.

00:10:11.085 --> 00:10:22.072
That and like kind of the twins, that big bridge that we see, those are two choke points and it's a very interesting place because it's like a main setting for the book that nobody has control over.

00:10:22.072 --> 00:10:22.894
It's very odd in that way.

00:10:22.894 --> 00:10:28.924
Basically, the idea is Harren the Black, this one dude before the Targaryens really were in charge, thought he was amazing.

00:10:28.924 --> 00:10:31.908
Aegon the Conqueror comes over and says hey, you gotta bend the knee.

00:10:31.908 --> 00:10:33.385
Everybody else says I'm now in charge and he has.

00:10:33.385 --> 00:10:34.562
Now, we learn from this.

00:10:34.562 --> 00:10:35.264
He has a reason for that.

00:10:35.687 --> 00:10:44.940
Harren's like no, I've got the biggest castle ever to exist, bigger than Vhagar, I want to note that and blows fire down into it and literally melts the castle.

00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:48.323
That's how much he burns that castle down, so that castle's never been rebuilt since then.

00:10:48.323 --> 00:11:09.150
When he was building, when Harren was building that castle, he chopped down the weirwood trees, those white trees that you see, that the Starks worship, and we saw a lot in this too, where Daemon was at, and so the bed that's in that little lake next to them is the place where the green men, uh, take care of weirwood trees.

00:11:09.150 --> 00:11:15.144
So it's like super magical place that is super sacred to a certain people and they just like let's chop everything down and build this castle.

00:11:15.144 --> 00:11:17.149
That's cursed from day one, so that's why it's.

00:11:17.149 --> 00:11:17.879
It's a really.

00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:30.466
It's one of the more magical places in westeros that's a really good summary and a lot of things I didn't know before, like the stuff about the dragon coming in obviously like really central part of Westeros and somewhere that everybody wants to control.

00:11:30.466 --> 00:11:32.548
It was mentioned a few times by lots of different fractions.

00:11:32.548 --> 00:11:34.726
You mentioned the Weirwood trees.

00:11:34.726 --> 00:11:44.230
Now, during the season finale of this, Daemon was able to touch one of those trees during one of his visions with the help of Alice Rivers.

00:11:44.230 --> 00:11:55.533
Is that something that commonly happens to people or was that a daemon specific event, like in terms of the magic and the visions and the space of the Targaryens in the like vision finding?

00:11:55.533 --> 00:11:56.565
What can you tell us about that?

00:11:57.379 --> 00:11:57.961
So where would?

00:11:57.961 --> 00:11:59.626
They are connected, right, so it's funny.

00:11:59.626 --> 00:12:00.328
Is he why he's touching that?

00:12:00.328 --> 00:12:04.190
I'm surprised I didn't show it, but Bran is seeing him because Bran is very connected to that.

00:12:04.190 --> 00:12:13.664
So is the three-eyed raven, um, which is sure gonna be another spinoff someday, uh, but yeah, they're all connected, everything's connected, so they see through all the time and space, uh, including into the future.

00:12:13.804 --> 00:12:21.446
Now, damon's magic is different than that magic, but kind of intermittent, like we saw um helena kind of also whispering to him, which is like a different kind of magic really.

00:12:21.446 --> 00:12:27.793
Uh, but the targaryens, they are like x-men, in fact, that that a lot of them are born with different abilities.

00:12:27.793 --> 00:12:30.643
Like helena has the ability to see the future to a degree.

00:12:30.643 --> 00:12:34.351
Uh, daenerys is fireproof, and so there is some untapped stuff there.

00:12:34.351 --> 00:12:36.424
Like the fact that they control dragons is a magical thing.

00:12:36.424 --> 00:12:40.261
It's not actually just by luck or by the way they're taught, um, it's a blood magic.

00:12:40.261 --> 00:12:49.041
So when, when he's doing that, there is probably some untapped targaryen magic, and then, of course, the weird treat itself is magic, and so there he's just kind of seeing what the destiny of it.

00:12:49.442 --> 00:12:52.035
And what I love about that scene it's actually one of my favorite scenes is.

00:12:52.035 --> 00:12:52.477
It's he.

00:12:52.477 --> 00:12:54.504
The entire time he thought the series was full of it.

00:12:54.504 --> 00:12:57.660
Oh, why are you care what the series knew about the song of ice and fire.

00:12:57.660 --> 00:13:09.355
And then after that, he believes him and then sees that, oh, the series saw that Rhaenyra was the best choice for this mission that we have to do and was then like fully loyal, which is really cool to see Daemon finally get to that point.

00:13:10.423 --> 00:13:14.100
And that's a good segue onto what we're going to move on next, which is the character growth throughout this season.

00:13:14.100 --> 00:13:25.075
Now, all of our beloved characters started this season in a particular place mentally, physically or whatever and then, at the end of the season, we could say that they are vastly different in terms of the way that they have grown or changed.

00:13:25.075 --> 00:13:27.615
Now let's start with damon, uh, starting the season.

00:13:27.615 --> 00:13:35.302
Can you talk about how he grew over the season and what was probably one of the most significant changes for him as a character as the season went on?

00:13:36.184 --> 00:13:38.971
I would say, first off, his story is the one that I get the most complaints from.

00:13:38.971 --> 00:13:45.028
People are saying, oh, we took too long of him just dreaming I joke around about that, that as well but he has the most growth in my opinion.

00:13:45.028 --> 00:13:46.971
He started off the season thinking he should have been king.

00:13:46.971 --> 00:13:51.264
He's with Rhaenyra because, honestly, he thinks it's his best chance at the throne.

00:13:51.264 --> 00:13:51.644
And he's just.

00:13:51.644 --> 00:13:52.408
He's just Damon.

00:13:52.408 --> 00:14:14.201
Then, through the process of sleeping on that weird bed and having those dreams and realizing that the Song of Ice and Fire a real gut check on like you can't be king and also there's more important people in charge and then sees that he, his best thing, is to be a conqueror.

00:14:14.201 --> 00:14:20.865
There's a saying with the targaryens that when is when a targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin and you're either a great leader or a great conqueror.

00:14:20.865 --> 00:14:28.847
And I think he sees it okay, I'm a conqueror, not a leader that's a really cool little insight, um, with uh damon's journey as well.

00:14:28.888 --> 00:14:32.446
I remember a a quote from alice rivers, the character uh.

00:14:32.485 --> 00:14:34.676
She said you came to harren hall with a clenched fist.

00:14:35.097 --> 00:14:56.253
Now, to me that was very interesting because obviously that's like a violent sort of action and that was very much significant towards his approach with the rivermen when he'd gone in, because mid mid-season we saw that part where he was on Caraxes, his dragon, and he was literally threatening the Rivermen and for the first time in a long time I think he was very confronted because they turned away and walked away from him on his dragon in his threatening approach.

00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:09.302
And then it's that almost slapstick scene where he's just sort of sitting on the rock and he's got his guys behind him and he's just like I did not expect them to do that.

00:15:09.302 --> 00:15:17.774
And then I think that's where the wheels start to to turn for damon and um, can you, can you have a little bit of a chat to us about uh, alice rivers and her relationship with damon, because I think she's very significant in his change, even even if it's just as like a voice or or a sounding board?

00:15:17.774 --> 00:15:24.168
Um, what's the significance between alice rivers and damon, especially like putting in any book lore, if there's any surrounding that.

00:15:25.090 --> 00:15:33.462
Alice Rivers is a fascinating character and if you liked her, she's coming back, guys, so don't worry about that.

00:15:33.462 --> 00:15:33.703
But she is.

00:15:33.703 --> 00:15:34.105
She's actually.

00:15:34.105 --> 00:15:35.211
There's a lot of speculation of how old she is.

00:15:35.211 --> 00:15:36.919
I think she's about 200 years older now, and that's the point of the show.

00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:44.552
She's the wet nurse, to like the old man that was there Like she's been the wet nurse the entire time for a long time, and so that's one thing.

00:15:44.572 --> 00:15:47.024
That's kind of toyed with and she's trying to shape the future.

00:15:47.024 --> 00:15:52.485
She's also, from my understanding, trying to have a Targaryen baby, so there's a little bit of that going on too.

00:15:52.485 --> 00:15:55.332
So if it's not David, it'll be somebody else.

00:15:55.332 --> 00:16:09.115
But yeah, there's I think she's just big themes for all of House of the Dragon is the fact that the wealthy are fighting and the people below them are dying, and the fact that he comes to Harrenhal and is like, oh, I'm going to do this.

00:16:09.115 --> 00:16:24.874
It's like, yeah, but the river lords are going to fight and die because of whatever you just say next, and you have to see that it's so much bigger than you, there's a bigger purpose, and so I think she's as connected to the weird tree as he was towards the end and probably saw the destiny that's coming ahead Rivers so she was born in that area.

00:16:24.874 --> 00:16:28.505
There is definitely a connection to the green men there.

00:16:28.505 --> 00:16:29.748
You know the children of the forest.

00:16:30.630 --> 00:16:31.251
Very cool.

00:16:31.251 --> 00:16:35.469
So, yeah, just for our audience as well, we are doing, obviously, spoilers of season two.

00:16:35.469 --> 00:16:42.408
We are going to spoil some book stuff, but we're not going to go ahead and spoil things from beyond what the show has talked about.

00:16:42.408 --> 00:16:44.011
So we will give insights and things like that.

00:16:44.011 --> 00:16:46.686
Frank has a good knowledge of the book, but we're not going to spoil that for you guys, of course.

00:16:46.785 --> 00:16:59.865
Yeah, so let's move on to the antithesis, or the opposing character of Damon, you might say, on the other side, on the green side, we're talking, of course, of Amon Targaryen, very interesting character.

00:16:59.865 --> 00:17:02.006
We see him at the start of the season.

00:17:02.006 --> 00:17:03.489
Obviously we see him at the start of the season.

00:17:03.489 --> 00:17:38.702
Obviously he reminds me of what Damon was like in the first season, where he is very much vying for what his brother has and then he shows moments of vulnerability throughout the show where we see him obviously cradling up to I've forgotten the character's name, but she's essentially one of the women of the night, right, yeah, and then he's obviously humiliated by his brother and then he goes through a transition as well no-transcript that enabled him to be the sort of tyrannical figure that he is throughout season two.

00:17:39.329 --> 00:17:41.076
Aemon is one of those guys you just love to hate, isn't he?

00:17:41.076 --> 00:17:50.538
Yeah, so Aemon is very much a mirror to Daemon and we see in season one when he gets his eyes sliced, he's being bullied by the other kids and stuff like that.

00:17:50.538 --> 00:17:51.634
He's just that kind of guy.

00:17:51.634 --> 00:18:01.210
He got tortured as a kid and as Daemon is becoming more and more accepting of the Targaryen life and his role and his part in the world, aemon is going the opposite direction.

00:18:01.289 --> 00:18:24.038
He started off as very loyalist to Team Green I'm part of the family, I am the sword to my brother and very strong within his family and then, as the season goes on and he starts to take power for his self, seeing that his brother is bullying him just like anybody else, that even Team Green is not strong and that he needs to be by himself, he starts to alienate himself.

00:18:24.038 --> 00:18:26.145
And he even alienates helena, somebody who he was he had a bit of a crush on when he's a kid.

00:18:26.145 --> 00:18:29.916
And, um, his mom, he's got so many mommy issues, um, and he's starting to alienate her too, or he fully alienates her.

00:18:29.916 --> 00:18:31.851
So now by the end he's like by himself.

00:18:31.851 --> 00:18:37.282
He's on the biggest dragon, who even the dragon doesn't quite listen to 100%, which that's because Vhagar is just tired.

00:18:37.784 --> 00:18:42.198
Let's be honest so, yeah, so we're seeing it by the end of the season.

00:18:42.198 --> 00:18:47.892
He is, by himself, a terrible king again, a conqueror, not a leader.

00:18:48.535 --> 00:19:11.194
While Daemon has gone closer to team black and less isolated, aemon has gone the opposite direction, is more isolated and furthering himself away from his own family he's definitely one of the linchpins in the the greens faction in terms of their strength and their ability to manipulate the battlefield, obviously, vhagar being this omnipresent aspect.

00:19:11.194 --> 00:19:18.656
One of the best things that I thought of season two was every and I don't know if you felt the same way, but every single time that Vhga sort of made an appearance on the screen.

00:19:18.656 --> 00:19:36.382
It reminded me of those old sort of movies where, uh, like the big monster was approaching and you, you heard it before you saw it, and it was slowly revealed through, and there was always that bassy kind of music um, uh, the battle reminiscent of when, um, the dragons fought and when vega was was there as well and fighting melees.

00:19:36.382 --> 00:19:43.151
Uh, that that one, specifically because you actually see vega sort of bobbing under the tree line like a massive shark and it was just.

00:19:43.230 --> 00:19:47.830
It was really cool and every time that hulking dragon takes off it almost fills me with like fear.

00:19:47.830 --> 00:19:53.623
I'm just like holy crap, like this thing is huge, so definitely a really big part of the um.

00:19:53.623 --> 00:20:00.835
Like the greens army and faction we're going to get a little bit into like dragon seeding and dragon claiming a little bit later.

00:20:00.835 --> 00:20:10.525
But uh, does the book reveal anything about the relationship between vega and amand in terms of why that partnership sort of happens?

00:20:10.525 --> 00:20:20.378
Uh, vega to me seems like a very old sort of soul and obviously a very wise dragon, and amand seems very reactionary and uh driven by his feelings.

00:20:20.378 --> 00:20:22.036
So it seems like an unlikely pairing to me.

00:20:22.036 --> 00:20:22.919
Did you want to comment to that?

00:20:23.670 --> 00:20:30.578
So Vhagar's previous, just before this one was Laena, and that was Daemon's first wife, right?

00:20:30.578 --> 00:20:34.520
So she's a very kind soul, very nice person.

00:20:34.520 --> 00:20:38.721
But Vhagar's original writer was Visenya, which is we're going to see.

00:20:38.721 --> 00:20:46.876
There's a spinoff coming up about Aegon the Conqueror and his two sister wives, and one of them was Visenya, and she was a warrior, One of the best warriors in history.

00:20:46.876 --> 00:20:50.636
She's oftentimes referenced back and her mount was Vhagar.

00:20:50.636 --> 00:20:54.935
So we're going to see Vhagar, a much more spry and fast dragon, in Aspen.

00:20:54.976 --> 00:20:55.516
Oh, that's, scary.

00:20:55.757 --> 00:20:57.499
Still super large, but faster right.

00:20:57.499 --> 00:21:01.124
And every time Vhagar moves, I love that, like all the other dragons, you see them like fluid and moving real quick.

00:21:01.124 --> 00:21:06.801
For her, for some reason, it feels like you can see every part of her body move independently, as it's kind of like gets its lumbering self in the air.

00:21:06.801 --> 00:21:23.906
So we're gonna see rider, and I think there was something there where she's mourning the death of her last master with lana.

00:21:23.906 --> 00:21:24.461
She, she had to, she was the one that killed her, but lana asked for that.

00:21:24.394 --> 00:21:34.616
Um, and then so when she sees amon come up, this like tortured little kid but with a fire in him that reminds her of isenia, uh she's like, yeah, this is what I need, I need to like cleanse my palate with some you know good stuff, and uh, sees it and knows that she could go back to war with him.

00:21:34.616 --> 00:21:48.401
Uh, I think that's one of the things is, he doesn't listen to her when amen doesn't or, I'm sorry, vagard doesn't listen to amen because she's kind of doing what vicinia would have done where she's just like go burn down dragon stone, get rid of all those dragons, you could do it, and so that's.

00:21:48.401 --> 00:21:48.602
That's.

00:21:48.622 --> 00:21:57.787
What I love is she's still acting like her oldest master it kind of reminds me of uh and a very like immature sort of reference, but Ash and Charizard when they have that sort of relationship.

00:21:57.807 --> 00:21:58.288
Yeah, great reference.

00:21:58.990 --> 00:22:01.179
And Charizard is just like I'm going to do what I want to do.

00:22:01.179 --> 00:22:12.515
But yeah, I love seeing Vega's attitude and you can tell sometimes when you're watching the show where she's just this old pissed off lady that just wants to just do her thing, you know, and that's great.

00:22:12.515 --> 00:22:13.371
I love seeing that too.

00:22:13.371 --> 00:22:26.031
But I definitely think we have more to see in terms of Amon and Vhagar, especially given the fact that that is the chip on the chessboard that the blacks need to move off in order to secure their position.

00:22:26.031 --> 00:22:32.895
And as the season went on, the greens position and Vhagar's importance just increased and increased, and we'll get into that a little bit later.

00:22:33.376 --> 00:22:41.583
In terms of in terms of power, when we're talking about some of the characters, there were characters that started with power and ended without any.

00:22:41.583 --> 00:22:44.699
So, in particular, let's have a look at Alicent.

00:22:44.699 --> 00:22:49.321
When she sort of started the season, she was on the small council for the king.

00:22:49.321 --> 00:22:53.259
She had a very high and prestigious position amongst the council.

00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:59.001
As the season went on, that change Can you talk about the change that Alicent went through through the season, specifically Frank?

00:22:59.990 --> 00:23:03.259
Alicent's a fun character because she starts this whole process off thinking first off.

00:23:03.259 --> 00:23:13.525
She's fully right that the series wanted Aegon to be the leader and seeing herself as like I'm taught by Otto Hightower one of the smarter strategic players on the field.

00:23:13.525 --> 00:23:21.401
And as the days go on, like everything she thought was going to be a given is exactly what she's fighting against, like she thinks that she's going to be able to hold on to power.

00:23:21.401 --> 00:23:22.962
It's like we're fighting against a woman who's in power.

00:23:22.962 --> 00:23:24.003
We're not going to have you be in power.

00:23:24.003 --> 00:23:24.805
That doesn't look good for us.

00:23:24.805 --> 00:23:37.463
And so when there's an opening because of Aegon's injury, she council's like no, we can't have you there, because then it gives legitimacy to raniera and we can't do that.

00:23:37.584 --> 00:23:45.688
So it's like she set herself up to never have a chance at actually winning this because she's she's, she is reina, but just on the different side of the chessboard.

00:23:45.688 --> 00:23:48.252
So it's, it's a shame for her and she loses power.

00:23:48.252 --> 00:24:00.884
And there is a thing where, like she's friends and like her nephews are dying in this war, you know, so it's not only just her kids, but but also family that she grew up with, with her friend's kid, and so I think there's a lot of complex motions there.

00:24:00.884 --> 00:24:11.393
I really liked the fact that they brought these two characters together a couple of times to share that, and I'm glad that we're going to get out of Hightower back in the third season because I think he's a really big part of empowering her again.

00:24:12.394 --> 00:24:12.795
I agree.

00:24:12.795 --> 00:24:16.520
I think that Otto Hightower's presence definitely emboldens the Hightower name.

00:24:16.520 --> 00:24:18.924
He did just sort of ghost at the end of the season.

00:24:18.924 --> 00:24:21.960
We might get into a little bit about that in a moment.

00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:38.098
But in terms of her sort of downward spiral, you might say, on the power hierarchy, during that moment where Eamon was named, she was also kind of denounced by or not denounced fully, but publicly at least by Christian Cole.

00:24:38.098 --> 00:24:47.857
He is obviously a character that is emboldened by her, but he's also a character that is pretty disliked through the fandom, as I've seen.

00:24:47.857 --> 00:24:58.859
Can you comment on why that might be and also comment on some of the things in the book that Kristen Cole does that might be different or the same to how he's portrayed in the in the season?

00:24:59.894 --> 00:25:06.557
one thing about kristen cole is in the history of house of the dragon, like the history of the dance of the dragons, which this is called, uh, uh, he's to blame.

00:25:06.557 --> 00:25:13.751
So they actually like write it to where kristen cole's the one that did everything wrong, because you know you don't want to say it's a targaryen, they're still in charge.

00:25:13.751 --> 00:25:15.815
So you say like kristen cole talked this guy into it.

00:25:15.815 --> 00:25:19.580
No, whatever, um, he's, he's the reason that rook's rest went so bad.

00:25:19.580 --> 00:25:22.325
Uh, but it's really just he's a pawn and everything else.

00:25:22.325 --> 00:25:27.203
Um, the reason I think he's so hated is because, like, as bad as amon is he.

00:25:27.585 --> 00:25:30.912
Amon has like a right to the throne or he has a right to be in this fight.

00:25:30.912 --> 00:25:37.118
Kristen cole's just in there as an opportunist in the show, not so much of the books, he's Dorne, he works with the Baratheons.

00:25:37.118 --> 00:25:44.287
Then he gives his way over to like he's just trying to climb that political ladder so hard that it's like, dude, get out of here, you don't belong here.

00:25:44.287 --> 00:25:54.675
And in comparison, laris Clubfoot, who I think is kind of doing the same thing, same thing, like a Littlefinger type character, right Doing the same thing but adds value to that, like they're the Lords of Whispers and stuff like that.

00:25:55.076 --> 00:26:03.127
When Kristen Cole's like you're making all the wrong moves, you're just lucky and you're just sleeping with the right people, he's like the worst guy you can work with.

00:26:03.127 --> 00:26:03.509
You know.

00:26:03.888 --> 00:26:08.053
Yeah, yeah, he's doing his way to claw his way to the top and I like that.

00:26:08.053 --> 00:26:17.359
Whenever he's in a situation where people are talking about him, there is always a character that references his heritage like his Dornish heritage in sort of a bad way.

00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:21.097
Can you explain to people why that might be something that someone's not proud of being from Dorne?

00:26:21.893 --> 00:26:26.477
Oh, the Dornish people are so freaking cool and Game of Thrones did them so dirty this series.

00:26:26.477 --> 00:26:29.471
The Dornish people are the Martells, or the leading family.

00:26:29.471 --> 00:26:30.737
They're all the way to the south.

00:26:30.737 --> 00:26:32.593
They look different than the rest of Westeros.

00:26:32.593 --> 00:26:33.535
They're a little bit darker or skin.

00:26:33.535 --> 00:26:38.963
The way it's described in the books is kind of a mix of like spain and egypt.

00:26:38.963 --> 00:26:40.031
It's kind of a mix of those two.

00:26:40.031 --> 00:26:41.538
There's a lot of like oasis based things.

00:26:41.538 --> 00:26:44.209
Um, they are incredible family.

00:26:44.209 --> 00:26:46.654
A lot of sand snakes, stuff, like a lot of really cool stuff like that.

00:26:47.036 --> 00:26:51.316
So, um, when agon conquered all of westeros, he didn't conquer all of westeros.

00:26:51.316 --> 00:27:01.415
He couldn't conquer um, the martels and they actually took out one of his sisters and so then he took two years to burn every city he can find in dorne.

00:27:01.415 --> 00:27:04.932
So there's like this big revenge against the targaryens and and the martels.

00:27:04.932 --> 00:27:10.954
There's a rebellion that happened right before this and, um, he's kind of a traitor to his people kristen cole because he left that.

00:27:10.954 --> 00:27:13.582
So they're just the other people.

00:27:13.582 --> 00:27:15.694
And then there's some you know classic racist racism.

00:27:15.694 --> 00:27:25.200
Of course there's always got to be some of that in every story and you know it's a shame, but this is based off a real history here, and so he is a darker skin character than everybody around him.

00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:41.019
Generally the show doesn't show so much, but if he's from dorne then yeah, he has kind of that brown if you think of, like egyptian and and and spanish skin, you know yeah, very Now talking about Dornish people from the sand, let's move all the way over to the people of Salt and Sea.

00:27:41.109 --> 00:27:45.642
We're talking, of course, of Corliss and his seafaring people.

00:27:45.642 --> 00:27:53.080
Now can you talk about Corliss in terms of his growth through the season and what may have been one of the triggering events to his largest change?

00:27:53.990 --> 00:27:55.174
Oh God, I love him so much.

00:27:55.676 --> 00:27:56.077
He's the best.

00:27:56.250 --> 00:28:04.511
He's so cool he's the best and and guys, he's just a straight-up pirate, like the reason I just a real fast little quick history on him his house wasn't rich in forming.

00:28:04.511 --> 00:28:06.678
Yeah, they're, they're valyrian blood, but like not a rich family.

00:28:06.678 --> 00:28:21.779
He builds this ship to sea snake, he goes across on I think it's called seven, the seven voyages and he like goes to un like untouched lands, like people from westros, never goes Asai or whatever, and he does all his trading and bartering and comes back with a ship full of gold and just made his family one of the richest families in Westeros.

00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:25.577
He makes his fortune and that's why he thinks the way he does going forward.

00:28:25.577 --> 00:28:28.817
It's like he's like my family's number one and I make my family number one.

00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:41.086
So in the super attached to the Targaryens, because the Targaryens didn't make their, especially at this level of Targaryens, didn't make their fortune and really it was one person with a dream that got them to where they're at anyways.

00:28:41.086 --> 00:28:49.097
So he's not super attached to them, doesn't have super loyalty to them, but he obviously loves Rhaenys more than anything in the world.

00:28:49.097 --> 00:29:13.730
The growth I was a little disappointed with his growth because his, his two bastard sons, adam and Alan, his, his two bastard sons, adam and alan, are very cool characters to explore uh in their own rights and the fact that he just doesn't completely accept them although rainies is like telling him to is a shame because I think that they are they're they're important for his house going forward and it would have been really nice for him to try to like, try to teach them or something like that.

00:29:13.750 --> 00:29:17.278
You know, I don't know, yeah yeah, it was like a sort of squire or mentorship.

00:29:17.278 --> 00:29:45.298
I actually really liked that scene in the end, where he does talk to Alan on the dockside and he basically says to him you know, now I'm added to you because all of your heirs sort of have gone, and he has the same sort of emboldening steadfastness as I feel like his father has, because he's standing in his position saying you know, I know my worth, I will build my own, I don't need anything from you, which I think is good.

00:29:45.298 --> 00:29:54.962
And then Adam as a character as well, very quick to bend the knee to Rhaenyra's as he becomes a dragon rider.

00:29:54.962 --> 00:29:59.539
He claims a dragon later on and, yeah, I think that that family has a whole lot of power.

00:29:59.539 --> 00:30:06.758
And in terms of Corlys, he was a very to me and obviously, as you've said as well, he's a very ambitious character.

00:30:06.758 --> 00:30:08.978
And after the death of Rhaenys he's just.

00:30:08.978 --> 00:30:12.557
He even names his ship after her.

00:30:12.557 --> 00:30:13.137
I think.

00:30:13.178 --> 00:30:13.839
What was it called?

00:30:13.839 --> 00:30:14.883
The Queen that Never Was?

00:30:14.883 --> 00:30:16.957
That's right, the Queen that Never Was, yeah, so yeah.

00:30:16.957 --> 00:30:17.458
What was it called?

00:30:17.458 --> 00:30:18.019
The Queen that Never Was?

00:30:18.019 --> 00:30:25.549
That's right, the Queen that Never Was, yeah, so yeah, he's even sort of dedicated the rest of his mission, life and his ambitiousness, he sort of funneled it toward that thing.

00:30:25.549 --> 00:30:30.301
He realizes that he's lost in terms of his love.

00:30:30.301 --> 00:30:31.775
What a sacrifice to you know.

00:30:31.775 --> 00:30:32.939
Let's talk about Rainy.

00:30:32.939 --> 00:30:34.375
She deserves her day in the sun.

00:30:34.375 --> 00:30:41.523
So yeah, mid-season episode, probably one of the better episodes in the season, I would say in terms of action.

00:30:41.523 --> 00:30:49.280
Yep, can you talk about the moving parts that sort of led to that scene and the gravity of Rhaenys' sacrifice in that scene?

00:30:50.430 --> 00:30:51.736
Rhaenys is a wonderful character.

00:30:51.736 --> 00:30:53.596
She really is the queen that never was.

00:30:53.596 --> 00:30:58.380
And the whole thing with her in the series who would be the next leader, the fact that she wasn't chosen because she's not.

00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:00.541
She has the better right to the throne in the first place.

00:31:00.541 --> 00:31:01.923
She wasn't chosen because she's a woman.

00:31:02.324 --> 00:31:18.590
So then to see her backing over nira and it's like, yes, this is her second chance to just showing that that has value, you know, and, um, she throws all her muscle behind it and even, you know, losing, they believe losing her, their son and their, their daughter, to the cause, like they're just trying everything.

00:31:19.112 --> 00:31:21.057
And she's, she is a loyal targaryen.

00:31:21.057 --> 00:31:24.070
She knows jaheras, she knows the kings of old and stuff like that.

00:31:24.070 --> 00:31:32.776
So she's very much targaryen and I think her relationship with her dragon is the best example of what that that relationship's like.

00:31:32.776 --> 00:31:45.065
Because like, even uh, just to kind of throw some book stuff here, um, before the actual war kicks off and there's just some tension between the two families that are still living in Red Keep together, their dragons would snap at each other.

00:31:45.065 --> 00:32:08.215
It's because the dragons are emotionally connected to their riders and so when we see like she's like all right, old girl, let's go out again or whatever, and then when they kind of look at each other like knowing that they're probably not going to survive this fight, but they turn back to continue the attack, that bond, I think, is important to see, because oftentimes we see the Vhagar thing that comes up a lot, the fact that Vhagar's not listening to Aemon, and it shows how out of character that is, because that's not normal.

00:32:08.450 --> 00:32:20.219
Normally the dragon is bonded to you and you know, like Vhagar burning, lena showed this bond like I need to go out, showed like this bond like I need to go out, I need to go out like a targaryen and vegar mournfully doing that.

00:32:20.219 --> 00:32:25.039
And then we see that here with with rainy, she's the most pure targaryen we've seen on the series, in my opinion and I loved her.

00:32:25.099 --> 00:32:37.084
The first time I remember looking at her and thinking that is a badass character was obviously in the first season when she broke through uh and flew off with maylise to join uh reneara during the middle part of that season.

00:32:37.084 --> 00:32:53.058
Just a really sort of strong female character that people can get behind and you know, her sacrifice throughout this season really was impactful to obviously Corlys and spurred his transition, but to the whole sort of black faction as well.

00:32:53.058 --> 00:33:02.237
Talking about Rhaenyra, she obviously goes through her struggles through this season as well in terms of the fact that she is a woman.

00:33:02.237 --> 00:33:08.740
You know she's surrounded by all of these advisors who are all men and they're all talking about how she should best claim the throne that belongs to her.

00:33:08.740 --> 00:33:26.202
Uh, can you have a little chat about uh Rhaenyra and the the sort of prophecy that leads her to be one of the greatest rulers in Westeros, but also her struggles with basically being listened to by the council that she's surrounded by?

00:33:27.891 --> 00:33:33.063
One of the themes of all of Game of Thrones universe is the gender politics and the fact that women are overlooked.

00:33:33.063 --> 00:33:41.941
A lot of Game of Thrones specifically our ice and fire, is pulled from the War of the Roses, from English history and a lot of times like, if you guys, fire is pulled from the War of the Roses from English history, and a lot of times, if you guys just listen to the queens, it would be fine.

00:33:41.941 --> 00:33:56.239
And so Rhaenyra, being the one that's correct in the room, is important, because not only are the men almost talking about her while she's standing next to them, they all just want to go to war.

00:33:56.239 --> 00:33:59.824
You're using my dragons, and the allies that are actually important aren't even at the table.

00:33:59.824 --> 00:34:05.715
That's the Ares, the people who have the veil, and the Starks up in the north.

00:34:05.715 --> 00:34:06.618
They're not even at the table.

00:34:06.618 --> 00:34:11.876
Those are the only two that actually matter, and so to sit there and try to talk over her is just foolish.

00:34:12.777 --> 00:34:13.759
And yeah, she's the war at all costs.

00:34:13.759 --> 00:34:16.822
It's her decisions and, to a point, jace.

00:34:16.822 --> 00:34:22.067
Actually, jace helps a lot too to bring in bastards and to embrace the idea that there are bastards out there.

00:34:22.067 --> 00:34:24.815
That gives her any leverage in this fight.

00:34:24.815 --> 00:34:36.056
And then when she listens to a woman who says you need to feed the people of King's Landing to show them you're good, is again the only thing that gives her advantage to the jerks around the table that are just like, oh, we should go to war.

00:34:36.056 --> 00:34:37.597
That's not what's going to win you this fight.

00:34:38.518 --> 00:34:39.840
Yeah, wave the sword never works.

00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:43.945
You mentioned Jace and the bastards in this.

00:34:43.945 --> 00:34:52.561
I think a very massive theme of Game of Thrones and even House of the Dragon is the importance and the value of those that seem to have no value.

00:34:52.561 --> 00:34:58.659
So, especially in this season, the bastards, the cripples and the small folk really get their day in the sun.

00:34:58.659 --> 00:35:01.878
Let's talk about Laris Clubfoot first.

00:35:01.878 --> 00:35:10.101
You said he's positioning himself in a very advantageous spot in terms of his friendship I'll say in quotes with Aegon.

00:35:10.101 --> 00:35:18.199
Can you talk a little bit about his motivations, his house and some of the theories surrounding him?

00:35:18.199 --> 00:35:24.393
It may be outlined in the book, but I think he has a hand in what's happened to sort of otto hightower, so can you explain that a little bit as well?

00:35:25.356 --> 00:35:26.318
do you want a real fun theory?

00:35:26.318 --> 00:35:28.572
There are theories that he's actually a skin changer so he could actually.

00:35:28.572 --> 00:35:32.391
He's like actually the cats in the in the castle, so that's a fun theories and stuff like that.

00:35:32.391 --> 00:35:37.601
That's how he gets his whispers is that he actually walks around as a cat and listens to people or the rats and stuff that is a cool theory.

00:35:38.163 --> 00:35:41.813
Yeah, so, but yeah, he's like Tyrion Lannister.

00:35:41.813 --> 00:35:51.650
If he's evil, right, Because Tyrion also was born different than everybody else, then was put down by everybody else, but Tyrion still was able to hold some dignity in that.

00:35:51.650 --> 00:35:52.333
Well, Larys doesn't.

00:35:52.333 --> 00:35:55.139
He makes sure to kill his own family to make sure that he's in a good spot.

00:35:55.139 --> 00:35:55.942
He doesn't care about Harrenhal.

00:35:55.942 --> 00:35:57.405
He owns Harrenhal but he doesn't care about it.

00:35:57.405 --> 00:35:59.574
And he's using Aegon.

00:35:59.574 --> 00:36:05.574
The Aegon situation is complicated because I do think there is a level of seeing another broken man and wanting to help out.

00:36:05.858 --> 00:36:10.251
But also Aegon is so malleable you could use him in any way you wanted.

00:36:10.251 --> 00:36:15.639
So it's also a way for him to secure his own safety and they escape at the end of the night.

00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:17.983
But Laris can't leave King's Landing for too long, guys.

00:36:17.983 --> 00:36:23.150
He's going to be back for sure, but just because that's where he's strongest he doesn't do good in some random other place.

00:36:23.150 --> 00:36:25.056
He's good there where all the politics are at.

00:36:25.056 --> 00:36:26.275
So he's going to try his best to get back to it.

00:36:26.275 --> 00:36:37.501
And a lot like we saw with Game of Thrones, this will come down to a fight between Whispers Not come down to it, but the White Worm versus Laris Clubfoot, like these two Masters of Whispers in this like spy craft.

00:36:37.501 --> 00:36:39.465
It's another layer to the entire Game of Thrones universe.

00:36:39.465 --> 00:36:46.739
That's one of my favorites, and so he's going to do everything he can to make sure that he's safe and successful at the end of the day.

00:36:47.893 --> 00:36:59.775

From Page to Screen: Breaking Down "House of the Dragon" Season 2, with Frank Lourence from Geek Freaks Podcast

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