Laena isn’t a Targaryen, she’s a Velaryon. Both families descend from Old Valyria, and both have dragon riders, but the Targs are the dragons.
Her mother is a Targaryen; thus she has Targaryen blood. We don’t know exactly how the mystical forces of Valyria view inheritance. Furthermore, if for whatever metaphysical reason, she doesn’t count as a Targaryen, her children by Daemon still are Targaryens. And one was inside her womb. It seemed to me that’s what the previous post was referring to.
In fact however I recall Corlys Velaryon remarking that the Velaryons, while of the Valyrian elite, were not dragon riders. So if I remember that correctly, Laena is a dragon rider precisely because she is a Targaryen.
I’m any case, none of this changes what I said before: there is no general rule that Targaryens are immune to fire.
The show is definitely missing this. But I did laugh at calling the pig The Pink Dread.
Correct. GRRM even said this:
Some Targaryens may be immune to regular old fire, but I wouldn’t assume that means they are also immune to superheated dragon breath plasma.
Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a Tyrion like character in this story. And it’s bound to get even more serious when Viserys dies.
Even more than a Tyrion, the show needs a Bronn. Not just to be sarcastic about everything, but also to represent the common, non-aristocratic people of Westeros. We need a working-class hero.
Though even Bronn is more a part of Tyrion’s story. Tyrion hires a common man sellsword because no one else is going to be coming to his aid. There really isn’t a working man perspective yet in HOTD (whereas, a good deal about GOT is how “the game” screws over the common folk - see the book A Feast for Crows). Later on (like seasons from now) we will get some common folk in this story, but it’s not really the same as Bronn.
Though it does seem barely anyone is sarcastic aside from Daemon. Maybe they’ll make one of the kids or grandkids playfully sarcastic?
If she had one or two kids who looked right it wouldn’t matter as much about the others, the entire point is her bastards are heirs to the throne.
But does it matter who the children’s father is, with regard to inheriting the throne? Either way, they’re still the children of the heir apparent.
Yes, bastards are bastards.
Also nobody ever said Targaryens are immune to fire, Danny said DRAGONS are immune to fire and called herself a true dragon.
OK - Davos Seaworth, then.
You’re both wrong, what this show needs most is a stickler for grammar like Stannis the Menace
This seems more-or-less modeled on real-life monarchial and nobility systems. A child is an heir only if the child was the product of a legitimate married relationship.
This wasn’t always the case, however. For example, the Dukes of Normandy weren’t all that concerned with marriages and legitimacy of heirs. William the Conqueror himself was also known as William the Bastard, but he still inherited the title of Duke of Normandy.
As the role of Christianity became more important to governance, the rules became more strict.
A few seasons for that as well…
So what was the point of murdering Rhaenyras lover? that just seems to help her, at least politically.
If nothing else, it reduces the number of her powerful allies. Both of them would have a … strong … motive to protect the interests of Rhaenyra’s children.
Also with the death of Lyonel and Harwin Strong, the resources of House Strong and Harrenhall presumably fall under the control of Larys Strong, who seems to be Alicent’s ally.
OG Game of Thrones had all these characters with so much swagger and personality that the viewer instantly felt like they were your friends. There isn’t even a shadow of that on House of the Dragon, and it really suffers for it IMO. It seems very weird to me that HBO would so easily forget that this was one of the key ingredients that made the original show such a phenomenon, and omit it from HotD.
I liked the episode but remain baffled why the big jump was made after 5 episodes. There were plenty of interesting storylines to explore and this should really have been the first episode of season 2.
Am I am the only who thought Viserys was dying at the end of the last episode? For someone whom the iron throne seemed determined to kill, he has done pretty damn well to survive another ten years.
I have enjoyed the show but agree that it badly needs a lighter touch and more characters like Tyrion and Bronn. It makes me appreciate the first few seasons of GOT all the more, such a varied and memorable cast of characters.