House of the Dragon: 2x6 Full Reaction

I'd forgotten how much I like this episode - a lot happens and it's got some great character work. Daeron has been mentioned once before, in a short conversation between Otto and Alicent; I don't blame you for not remembering, it was very brief, and this conversation with Gwayne gives us much more information. Daeron is Alicent's youngest, send to grow up in Oldtown at a young age with his dragon, called Tessarion. At this point in the season, we begin to see the purpose of Daemon's vision quest; like you said, he's starting to face himself - his past and his mistakes - rather than running away. It's so good to see Paddy Considine back as Viserys. In the throne room scene, it's interesting to compare it with the original version from S1: in this scene, Viserys comes off as more sad, as opposed to the original where he was much angrier. I think this is probably coloured by Daemon's own regret, which leads directly into the next vision which shows his desire for repentence. Matt Smith's performance in this episode in particular is very good - Daemon as a cocky jerk is a lot of fun to watch, but this version of him is much more compelling. These visions are breaking him down in order to build him back up. The Rhaenyra/Mysaria scene was so beautiful: the two of them confiding and taking comfort in eachother was what they both needed I think. During the original airing, I'd noticed their chemistry and some of the long, meaningful looks they'd been giving eachother all season, but it still surprised me when they actually kissed. And the tension in the hug! I think Rhaenyra is probably bi if I had to guess: as you say, she definitely loves/loved Daemon and Ser Harwin Strong, but she also had a very close relationship with Alicent when they were both younger that verged on romantic in my opinion (I remember the fan edits lol). As for Mysaria, men have brought her nothing but pain and misery - that sorry about her father broke my heart, and Daemon treated her like garbage. The Larys/Aegon scene was very interesting; Larys is a certified damn-ass freak, but it's great to see some extra layers to him. And as you say, I'd much rather his intelligence benefit Aegon than Aemond. It's a quick mention, but when Grand Maester Orwyle is telling Alicent about fighting in the Reach, he mentions that house Beesbury has raised arms against the Hightowers because of their lord's murder. As a reminder, Lord Beesbury was the old man on the Small Council who had his head smashed into the table by ol' Crusty Criston in Episode 9 of S1 because he protested against the Green coup. I love the fact that Seasmoke said "Fuck it I'll find my own rider" after Steffon. An interesting connection, of course, is the fact that Seasmoke's original rider was Corlys' son Laenor - I don't think it's a coincidence that he tracked down one of Corlys' other sons, Adam. I think that's all I have to say about this one - thanks for the great reaction! Can't wait for the next one, it's absolutely wild 💜

Jordan McLaren