It's been a good while since anything from either House Of The Dragon or Game Of Thrones was last covered on this blog and well then as I got the season 2 box set of House Of The Dragon for Christmas. It only seemed right that I review and episode from that particular season and so then join me as I review the episode that sees a one character leave the show and one SUPER of an actress return in a cameo role with the episode in question being called simply just "The Red Dragon And The Gold" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when Rhaenyra suddenly leaves without warning it's up to Rhaenys to make sure that all out war doesn't break out. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us inn this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as this episodes plot did a good job of building up the tension from the sides of both Queen Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent whilst also showing that both sides have people in there courts that are willing to do anything for there own ends and while this episodes plot might not be up there interms of quality if you were to also include episodes of Game Of Thrones if you were to just include this season of the show where the plots were very mixed at best then this episode at the very least from a plot point of view is a really good and solid story and one that fans of both shows should get some level of enjoyment out of as it has all of the thins that a good plot from both shows really should gave with some decent writing to back all of that up as well as this episode is a really well written episode and is good example of this show at it's best with the plot of this every episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen and Emma D'Arcy as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. Also starring in this episode is Olivia Cooke as Queen Alicent Hightower , Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon , Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Targaryen , Fabien Frankel as Ser Criston Cole , Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria , Matthew Needham as Lord Larys Strong , Tom Glynn-Carney as King Aegon II Targaryen , Ewan Mitchell as Prince Aemond Targaryen , Harry Collett as Prince Jacaerys Velaryon , Bethany Antonia as Lady Baela Targaryen , Jefferson Hall as Ser Tyland Lannister , Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower , Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers , Kurt Egyiawan as Grand Maester Orwyle , Abubakar Salim as Alyn Of Hull , Sir Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong , Nanna Blondell as Lady Laena Velaryon , Paul Kennedy as Lord Jasper Wylde , Anthony Flanagan as Ser Steffon Darklyn , Phil Daniels as Maester Gerardys , Michael Elwyn as Lord Simon Staunton , Max Wrottesley as Ser Lorent Marbrand , Nicholas Jones as Lord Bartimos Celtigar , James Dreyfus as Lord Gormon Massey , Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome , Barney Fishwick as Ser Martyn Reyne , Ralph Davis as Ser Leon Estermont , Tok Stephen as Ser Eddard Waters , Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne , Jack Parry-Jones as Ser Willem Blackwood , Archie Barnes as Ser Oscar Tully , Steven Pacey as Lord Gunthor and Milly Alcock as Young Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Which at this stage really shouldn't be all that surprising as not only did this episode get alot of praise for it's acting more specifically for Eve Best , Matt Smith and Tom Glynn-Carney but the actin on this show as whole is really good with all of this shows episodes this one included having some really good acting in them and all of that is due to two things the first one being the fact that all of this episodes actors are really good actors in there own right and the second of which being that alot of the scripts including for the bad episodes are all really well written and as such it's not really all that surprising that this show and this episode has some really good acting in it as it does have so much going for it as well as having some of the best actors working on it today with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that al this episodes actors really have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance really will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the CGI for this episode is PixStone Images , Pixomondo , Incessant Rain Studios , MPC Episodic , Outpost VFX , RVX , Red Visual Effects , Rodeo FX , The Third Floor London and Viridian FX. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good and was more then up there with the quality or the CGI from not only this shows other episodes but also episodes from Game Of Thrones as well and while yes there are some dodgy looking dragon effects in this episode the overall quality of this episodes CGI effects were really good with there being alot more good looking effects then there were bad ones and part of what makes this episodes CGI so good is the fact that it actually looked like the dragons where there on set as the effects teams add in these small little details both in and around the CGI characters that make them feel more real and that is something that alot of movies let alone TV shows don't really do and because of that there effects look like that they weren't there on the day of filming and when you add in the fact that they use practical elements as well it really does help to sell you on the fact that your watching a computer generated dragon flying around on screen in this episode.
This is also the episode that has one of the shows dream sequences as while yes Dany had one in season two of Game Of Thrones House Of The Dragon really didn't have any up until this episode. With this episode making a great use of the concept as it shows just how mad that Prince Daemon Targaryen is very slowly going as he's used to going out and fighting battles every couple of weeks and yet now here's forced to sit still and basically do nothing and seeing him try to do that whilst also trying to win supporters for his wife does make for some interesting scenes as we the audience know that at some point he will snap and just seeing how he could possibly get to that point whilst being taunted by a young Rhaenyra Targaryen does make his scenes interesting to see even more so when you take into account that we see him talking to alot of people there at Harranhal as well and through that we get to see how they are feeling about this war for the throne something that Game Of Thrones never really took the time to do which wasn't really there fault as they were adapting full fledged novel and this show isn't doing that it dos make you wonder what innocent people thought about certain events that were happening in Game Of Thrones and yet even so those scenes with Daemon whilst they are some of the most interesting scenes in the episode they don't really detract from the rest of the episode either rather they add to the plot of the episode and to the plot of this particular season as well all of which make these scenes more interesting to watch.
One of the least interesting aspects in this episode was the arguments between Prince Aegon and Prince Aemond. As despite both Tom Glynn-Carney and Ewan Mitchell putting in some really good performances n those scenes together the characters as a whole just aren't that interesting and the scenes just aren't that good to watch as they feel more like an after thought in what is already a really overstuffed episode which means that when the episode does keep on cutting back to them it is hard to remember what there plot is and what it is that there trying to do as it does come across as the makers of this show only giving them something to do not because it's important to the actual plot of the episode but because they felt like that they had to do and while on paper there scenes could have worked they wold have worked better if they where in a less crowded episode as then they could be given the time that they really did need to breathe and become more memorable because of it where as there's so much already going on in this episode it does have the added impact of making there scenes feel like a chore to sit through even tho they are all really written and well acted but with an episode that has as much going on in it as this episode does then then this episode either should have been alot longer as there scenes in this episode do tie into the cliffhanger ending of this episode or the episode as a whole should have been rewritten not only to make the episode feel less overstuffed but to also remove those scenes as well.
While Game Of Thrones also brought us some very tragic deaths that is something that did also continue onwards with not only this show but this episode as well. As this is the episode that sees the death of Rhaenys Targaryen with her death being one that was quite shocking as it quite literally came out of nowhere which is good as it made it all the more impactful and when you add in the fact that that whole battle scene was really well written and her death scene was really acted with her being stuck to her dragon as it had it's neck crushed it makes her death all of the more impactful as Rhaenys knows that there's nothing that she could do and you see it in her eyes that she's fully accepted the fact that she's going to die which is just one small example of how good of a character that sh really was as while Rhaenyra Targaryen would act impulsively more often then not making a very rash decision Rhaenys of the other hand would think things through and talk things through with people before reaching what she might consider to be the best choice to make for all involved and while that might not have made a good Queen it is something that could have made her a good leader as a leader should take the thoughts and opinions of everyone involved instead of acting rashly as that only results in the kind of chaos that we saw in this episode and because of that way of thinking it means that Rhaenys ended up getting killed of when she might have otherwise survived the war and lived a long and hopefully happy life.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly fifty five minuets and twenty eight seconds. Which was a really solid running time for this episode to have as when you boil this episode down to it's bare essentials then this episode really does have the absolutely right mount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time but at the same time tho this episode does also have a really short running time as well as there is so much going on in this episode plot wise that doesn't get alot of screen time and therefor would have worked better if the episode did have either a longer running time or was placed within another episode as either way it would mean that all of the plots that this episode has to juggle would have been given alot more time to breath Game Of Thrones for all of it's faults in it's final season at least knew to keep episodes focused on one maybe two or three central plots and keep the rest for other episodes where as here due to this being the fourth episode of this season it has so many plots to juggle and while all of the Matt Smith scenes are really good they don't add anything to the plot of this episode with the same thing also being true for all of the scenes with the two Princess sometimes less equals more and if this episode did have a longer running time then it would allow all of the plots that it focuses on in this episode to breath and have the time that they are all fighting for but as things stand this is just a really crowded episode but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well in all honesty I in all honesty thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented t us in this very episode was in all honest not that bad. With the big battle at the end of the episode being really done with them mixing both CGI effects and practical effects in a way that does for the most part does make it hard to tell which was which with the battle scene in itself being really crafted with danger both coming from the ground thanks to the ground solider s and from the air thanks to there being not one not two but THREE dragons all in the air even with the third one not really taking part in the battle and just being there because the King was angry at his brother either way you sill get to see just what alot of damage just one dragon can do and so now having three of them pretty much all taking part in the battle does make that action scene near the end of episode really worth watching even more so when you take into account that at least two of the episodes plots converge here in this one battle scene in a way that does feel satisfactory with the two Princes having there plot line taking place during this one scene which is interesting to see play out as you get to see Aemond sort of make of a plan to have Rhaenys be the one that's held responsible for the death of his brother and when that doesn't work he then has to take matters into his hands which does make this episodes action all the more thrilling and exciting to watch in this very episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this was a really enjoyable episode that is quite easily one of the more better episodes from this shows second series as even tho there are one or two very minor issues with the episode they don't on the whole take away anything from the episode with the episode itself a being a really good episode even despite all of it's faults and flaws in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 9.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very episode well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got ll of the images that I personally used in this very episode from the official Game Of Thrones fandom wiki page , Tenor and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official Game Of Thrones fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the really great the official Game Of Thrones fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
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