House of the Dragon Episode 1 Breakdown and Easter Eggs

 Writers:  Ryan J Condal & George R R Martin
(as well as Sara Hess, Charmaine De Grate, Gabe Fonseca, Kevin Lau, Ira Parker, & Eileen Shim.) Producers: HBO & 1:26 Pictures [founded by Miguel Sapochnik]
Directors: Miguel Sapochnik, Greg Yaitanes, Clare Kilner, Geeta Vasant Patel

*Intro Script*

Janae: What’s Up, Weirdos! I’m Janae
Amanda: I’m Amanda.  And together we are
Both: Girls Go Books Deep
Janae: We take deep dives into the Fantasy & Science Fiction content you love the most
Amanda: Today, we’re catching you all up on what’s been going on and breaking down all of the Easter Eggs in HBO’s first episode of House of the Dragon [*add dragon roar*] based on George R R Martin’s 2018 book Fire and Blood. 
Janae: So, hit that like button
Amanda: and maybe even give us a follow
Janae: But only if you want to…

*Intro Music*

Janae: Hello Everybody! Thank you so much for joining the conversation.  Today, Amanda and I are discussing the first episode of the highly anticipated House of the Dragon [*roar]. Major Spoilers from this point forward. You have been warned…

Amanda: So this is not going to be an episode breakdown per se, even though we will be breaking down many different parts of the episode. We are going to do different segments and talk about different topics that relate to the show.  Look for a full episode breakdown of the show as a blog post on our website GirlsGoBooksDeep.com.  Hopefully, I can learn how to make clip videos soon to start giving you guys more content.

Segments:

• Character & Actor First Takes - how do we feel about this cast and characters?
• How far has Janae gotten in the book so far? - let’s hear about it.
• TimeLine Squench - the details they left out, we’ll give you the real tea.
• Episode Easter Eggs - Things that were a special nod to the books & GOT.
• Birth Battlefield Scene - let’s talk about it. What choice would you have made?
• Grand Maester Conspiracy - Who wants to hear some juicy conspiracies??
• End of Episode Bombshell - Catspaw Dagger! The Iron Throne! What will it all actually mean for book readers?

Characters

Main Cast (so far):

King Viserys I - Paddy Considine  - Peaky Blinders
Lord Corlys Velaryon - Steve Toussaint  - Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Judge Dredd
Princess Rhaenys - Eve Best - Theater actress: The Homecoming
Otto Hightower - Rhys Ifans - SO MANY THINGS
Young Princess Rhaenyra - Milly Alcock  (Great x6 Grandmother of Daenerys) Australian
Young Alicent Hightower - Emily Carey - Shrek the Musical
Grand Maester Mellos - David Horovitch 
Lord Lynel Strong - Gavin Spokes
Lord Lyman Beesbury - Bill Paterson
Ser Harrold Westerling - Graham McTavish - Outlander, The Hobbit, Preacher

Book Check!?

So Janae… Where are we in the book so far.  Let’s discuss for a bit.

TimeLine Squench!

• So the opening scene of the Great Council of 101 AC closes with words on the screen that reads this is 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen and that it’s nine years into Viserys I reign, which means that the show opens in *112AC*
• There is a hell of a lot that happens in this episode that squishes the timeline and the succession info down to an easily digestible 1-hour episode. They did a fabulous job with that. 
• But I think knowing the details of what they left out of the squish will help show-watchers understand Corlys, Rhaenys, Alicent, and Rhaenyra just a little bit better. But mostly Corlys & Rhaenys. Because they portray their characters as quite blasé, and there’s a definite reason for that. He’s kind of over this king, his family, and all of their bullshit. It’s not just because his wife was overlooked once. 
• Plus they do a bit of some aging up for the show, which is typical. The story literally spans multiple generations' lifetimes, so to put all of the major points throughout Rhaenyra’s childhood and adolescence would drag the show on. 

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• Old King Jaehaerys lost both of his sons tragically at two different times and a decision had to be made at both of these important moments. First in 97 AC and then in the Great Council of 101 AC that we see. 
• The king lost his oldest son and heir to the throne, Aemon, in war. He only had one daughter, Rhaenys. But he had a younger brother, Baelon. 
• This moment in time is an echo of the past, and you will see more and more of that as time goes on, especially if you read his books. But just like what’s happening now, has happened in the past only a few years ago.
• Except Rhaenys was a woman.  Why would we name a queen, when the King still has one healthy spare heir that we can crown? She was pregnant at the time, and it could be a boy.  But again, they would choose the grown man over the possible baby in the belly, which turned out to also be a girl - Laena Valeryon. So Rhaenys was passed over as ruler due to her sex, and the title of Heir to the Iron Throne & Prince of Dragonstone was given to the Baelon, the 2nd son, Visery’s father.
• Then, within only a few years, Baelon became very ill and died of what the maesters called a burst belly. (More than likely a burst appendix from the book descriptions.) And once again, the succession is in jeopardy. So that’s when they call the Great Council of 101AC
• And *Again* not only is Rhaenys and her daughter overlooked for the throne, but also her son Laenor. Even though they are the descendants of the oldest son, Aemond.
• The council chooses Viserys because of his sex and the fact that he is already a 24-year-old man who is married and has birthed a child.  Laenor is a 7 yr old boy at the time. Rhaenys is passed over for the SECOND time when we see her in the first episode, as well as both of her children. Even though they have a better claim to the throne, the lords of Westeros thought that the male line should matter more than the female line, because if they changed it for the ruling class, the female children of the lords will want to start claiming the lands and castles of their father’s. We can’t be having that!!

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• Viserys becomes king when Rhaenyra is only 8 yrs old, and he makes her his cupbearer.  So for her whole life, whenever you see one, you see the other. It’s a very loving relationship. 
• 104 AC - Ser Criston Cole is a knight who beats Prince Daemon in a tourney, but it’s for Viserys’s Ascension, while Rhaenyra is still 8 years old and she has a schoolgirl crush on a very handsome young 23 yr old man. 
• 105 AC - Queen Aemma dies in childbirth (that’s all we get from the book) and very shortly after Ser Criston Cole is sworn into the King's Guard. Angry with Daemon over harsh words said about his passed wife and child, Viserys makes a decision that changes everything. Rhaenyra is named Princess of Dragonstone
• Viserys also names Ser Criston as R’s sworn shield and Ser Lynol Strong joins the small council, bringing his children to court, most notable being Ser Harwin Strong, called Breakbones, was made captain of the Gold Cloaks. 
• 106 AC - Viserys marries Lady Alicent, daughter of the Hand of the King.  The girls are very fond of each other during this time, but it slowly changes as Alicent gives birth to two boys: Aegon in 107 & Aemond in 110 - but the matter of the laws around ascension is never discussed - on purpose. Viserys hates confrontation, so much so that he sends Otto Hightower away from court on account of not letting it go and this causes a rift in the court, creating 2 clear factions. 
• 111 AC is when Daemon leaves for a long time due to a quarrel with the King. According to Mushroom, Daemon was giving the 14 yr old R lessons to seduce Ser Criston.  But when she approached him, he was horrified & rejected her. According to Septon Eustace, Daemon seduced her and she lost her virginity to him (as a play to get closer to the thrown. He would have to marry her now…) Grand Maester Runciter claims that the two brothers simply had a really bad fight and that’s all. Either way, Viserys sent his brother into exile. 
• 113 AC finally at 16 years old, she takes over Dragonstone and starts getting courted for marriage. Alicent proposes that she marries Aegon, but that goes nowhere, unfortunately - because it would have fixed everything. (20/20)
• 114 AC she marries Laenor after being threatened to have her status revoked because the Valeryons will revolt if we don’t make good on this, child!!  Laenor spends most of his time on Drift Mark, his family home.  Rhaenyra spends the majority of her time at Court with his sister Laena, who marries Daemon shortly after in a fast-paced romance.

Easter Egg Hunt

Here’s your sign - *Bigger Spoilers* 

• So we didn’t get any kind of an opening sequence for this episode, but we did get a sort of title card that is the Targaryen sigil on a black field. But, the sigil shines gold - and I think this is a foreshadowing moment of what’s to come in the Dance of the Dragons.  Spoiler Moment: Aegon II eventually wins the civil war (even though he himself is killed and Rhaenyra’s son Aegon III is the one who takes the throne in the end). When the war begins, they each take up a new form of the Targaryen sigil. Aegon’s is a gold three-headed dragon on black, while Rhaenyra’s sigil is the red three-headed dragon quartered with House Arryn (for her mother) and House Velaryon for her first husband and the house’s continued support.
• The size and scale of King’s Landing looks amazing! We get great shots of the Red Keep, but also the Dragon Pit before it’s been destroyed (which we’ll probably see in what I will guess to be season 3) and left in great disrepair, like when we see Daenerys meet with Cersei.
• I love seeing the Heart Tree in their God’s Wood. Every major house in Westeros has one, so it was great to see them reading together under it. And they’re reading the story of the Rhoynish Warrior Queen Nymeria and her 10,000 ships. Not only is this the person that Arya named her dire wolf after, but it’s also a great way to introduce the story to tv watchers.  Queen Nymeria’s travels are a fantastic short story you can read about in Martin’s World of Ice & Fire and it’s slated to be one of the Westeros Cinematic Universe Spinoffs coming to HBO (on top of others).
• They’re much closer in age on the show. In the book, Alicent is probably around 10 years older than Rhaenyra, but this is actually a great way to bring the young Alicent’s character into the forefront and I really like it. 
• So we see that Viserys has a wound on his back that refuses to heal, from sitting on the iron throne. It’s a huge omen when the Iron Throne cuts a monarch, it means that your days are numbered. Plus, the book mentions that Viserys isn’t in the best shape or the best of health. He has gout and a number of other ailments, so this tracks. Plus, the book never mentions *how* Viserys dies - only that he dies in his sleep during a nap one afternoon in 129AC, and then it describes how the Green Faction, mainly Otto Hightower, Queen Alicent, and Ser Criston Cole leap into immediate action to secure Aegon on the one who inherits the throne, all while keeping Viserys’ death a secret for as long as they possibly can, while Rhaenyra gives birth on Dragonstone and has no idea her father has died.
• I love how he describes his Dragon Dream. Even though he’s interpreting it wrong, which is very unfortunate, yet still understandable - Dragon Dreams are actually a huge part of the books.  I was always a little disappointed that they never delved into all of the different prophetic and interpretive dreams that were explored throughout the books - but it seems that will be fixed in this series.
• They use direct quotes from the book during the small council meeting after Daemon dispenses some of the King’s Justice. Daemon calls his wife his “bronze bitch” and says everyone in the Vale fucks sheep because the sheep are prettier than their women.
• The Tourney!! (it was so good, I loved it.  Made me want to watch A Knight’s Tale, lol #RIPHeathLedger) At the tourney, after making mention of a “mystery knight” entering the tilt, Princess Rhaenys is called upon by her kinsman (Rhaenys mother was a Baratheon, she actually has dark brown hair in the books, but that’s not that big of a deal…) for her favor. (He out loud in front of everyone calls her The Queen Who Never Was, and you see Otto make mention that the King could have his tongue for that. It’s like he’s saying, we all know who the real monarch should be, but it’s cool. Can I have your favor, lol.)  But more than that - when she gives him her favor, it’s a wreath of blue winter roses - which is a direct call back to Jon Snow’s mother Lyanna Stark. Lyanna gives her favor of her favorite, blue winter roses, to Rhaegar at the Tourney of Harrenhall during the Year of the False Spring, this is where they meet and fall in love. If Rhaegar had won the battle, he might have taken Lyanna as his wife or paramour and she, too, could be looked at as the Queen Who Never Was.
• After upsetting Viserys because he was pushing the matter of succession just hours after the funeral, we see Otto sending a letter to Oldtown, where his older brother is the Lord.  In the small council meeting, we see Otto saying he supports Rhaenyra becoming the heir because he cannot fathom letting Daemon onto the throne god-forbid something happens to Viserys. In the book, we do know what he wrote to his brother at one point, and I believe it’s right here.  It reads, “‘On no account can Prince Daemon be allowed to ascend to the Iron thrown… He would be a second Maegor the Cruel, or worse.’  It was Otto’s wish (then) that Princess Rhaenyra succeeds her father. ‘Better the Realm’s Delight than Lord Flea Bottom,’ he wrote.  Nor was he alone in this opinion.”
• After royally pissing off his brother and being ordered back to the Vale and his “bronze bitch” Daemon bounces from King’s Landing with Mysaria, his White Worm, on the back of his dragon Caraxes, the Red Wyrm. (A man in black armor, surrounded by worms…. There are echoes of the Night King here, I just know it - but I’m going to have to do some more research first before I can say for sure. But it feels right, lol.)

Battlefield Birth - Let’s Talk About It.

• Viserys gets called away from the games because things are not going well with Aemma. The baby is a breach and there’s nothing else they can do. They’ve already given her as much milk of the poppy as they can, but now they ask Viserys to make a very hard decision.  Everything from earlier in the episode compounds at this moment and he chooses the heir he desperately needs.  **This is one of many important tipping points.**  And without even consulting her on the matter, they perform a medieval C-section with no kind of local anesthetic, all the while juxtaposing it with the scenes of men “playing at war” (in Rhaenys words) while also dying in a vicious and bloody way. It’s heart-wrenching to watch and the episode's tone takes a serious nose dive afterward.  
• I do appreciate that Corlys at least takes a moment to reflect on the matter of wanton violence in order to celebrate the birth of a monarch. All the while his children, Alicent, hell event he squires are trying to deal with what they’re watching. They’re just surrounded by shock, awe, vomit, anxiety, and indifference…
• Paddy Considine’s acting in these scenes and the one after in the small council, and then when he’s fuming mad at Daemon.  They got the right man to play Viserys. Perfect casting, really.
• But the minute Viserys tells Aemma that he loves her, I started crying. She loves him too, then he gives a nod and she’s no longer a queen. She’s a bodily vessel that’s holding the property of the king inside of it, and they treat her as such. Like meat. It’s visceral. 
• I tried to think about it afterward, and I can honestly say I don’t know what I would do in that situation.  If I would choose myself, or my child. Yes, I can have another child, but that’s such a logical, cold, distant way to think about the matter at hand.  Not in the swing of it, with the baby that has grown to a full 10 months inside of you and is ready to come out and meet the world. That you’ve been holding, feeding, and talking to from inside your own body, that you’re already so linked to. It’s a part of you by then. A lot of people just keep saying, I would want my husband to choose me, I can have another baby. Well, I hope you guys have that conversation well before you ever get pregnant. And then you talk about it again 2-3 weeks before the baby is due. Because I don’t think a lot of people are factoring in the mental and emotional implications of what you would go through after choosing yourself. I don’t know if I could do that and live my life guilt-free.  Big point - this is not about abortion. In no way am I talking about abortion. I'm talking about making the choice to choose me or my child if both of us couldn’t live through the birthing process. Big difference. I’m just saying, for me personally, it would definitely take me a long time to be able to get over something like that if it happened to me.  If we had to choose, and we chose my life over my baby’s life. I would need major amounts of therapy afterward. Me, personally.
• And it feels so strange for him to be crying over his wife’s maimed body and have this maester walk up and say the word “Congratulations”  YAK, it leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. Especially after ALL of that, and then the baby dies just a day later. Absolutely HEARTBREAKING!!

Grand Maester Conspiracy

Image from Alt Shift X on YouTube. Give him a follow!

So, the world that George R R Martin cooks up has lots of world-building and many different points of view, some who are reliable, some who aren’t.  This gives rise to a lot of different theories, including conspiracy theories, that float around the Westeros Wide Web. And this is a great moment to introduce you to one of the juiciest: The Grand Maester Conspiracy!

Provided from Ranker.com:

• The general thrust of the Grand Maester Conspiracy is that the maesters hate magic, and want the world to be free of it. Why might that be? For one, magic is, by its very nature, anti-academic. Magic cannot be fully understood, measured, or controlled, unlike the other areas of expertise the maesters concern themselves with.
• The maesters derive their influence from being able to advise on every possible subject, so having a powerful force out there that can’t be explained or controlled undercuts their very purpose. Maesters dislike magic so much, in fact, one of their initiation ceremonies involves spending a night with a supposedly magic “glass candle,” trying to get it to light on fire. The lesson is supposed to be that magic doesn’t work and should be ignored, but lately, the candles have been working again.
• Some individuals in Westeros, like the Lady Barbrey Dustin, don’t believe the maesters are trustworthy. This is partly due to the fact that, by necessity, every maester comes with a mysterious past. When they are ordained as maesters, individuals must give up all claim to their past life, including their family name and any family holdings.
• A lord welcoming a new maester into their castle has no idea what family that maester came from, or where their loyalties lie, or anything at all about their personal history. A great example of this is Maester Aemon at the Wall, who kept his Targaryen ancestry on the down low. They're loyal to no one but themselves, which means they have exactly the correct disposition to pull off a massive conspiracy. 
• It’s a lot easier to pull off a conspiracy when you have control over information, and the maesters have that in spades. As already noted, the maesters write all of the history books, which gives them ample opportunity to manipulate past events for their own benefit. Maesters also do the majority of letter reading and writing for lords and ladies, many of whom are outright illiterate.
• Maesters are in charge of the ravens by which messages are most frequently sent. There’s no guarantee that maesters are manipulating the information their lords and ladies receive and send out, but the opportunity is certainly there.
• The maesters might not have just had it out for literal dragons, but symbolic ones, too. There are a few whispers in the pages of A Song of Ice and Fire that suggest the maesters may have played an active role in the decline of Targaryen rule. The maesters are heavily supported by the Hightower family, who control Oldtown (the home of the maesters), and the Hightowers were instrumental in the Dance of the Dragons, a bloody Targaryen civil war. Lady Barbrey Dustin also alleges the maesters were pulling the strings behind Robert’s Rebellion, the event which finally brought an end to Targaryen rule.

~Maester Watch 2022~

• When you’re watching the very first episode, notice that the maesters make sure to go to Otto to speak to him and then *he* goes to the King to fill him in…
• Also, the maesters -say- that they did everything that they could for Queen Aemma, but did they really? Why do they keep showing the septas faces listening in on the conversation between Mellos and Viserys? Their expressions were…. Off, to me.  What do you guys think?
• We’re going to keep a running tally of things that look sus in each episode to see if we can figure out this conspiracy, guys!!

Blonde Bombshell!

So we got a major world story reveal in the very first episode!

• We end the show with a beautiful shot of Balerion the Black Dread’s skull in a place of honor, surrounded by burning candles.  This is where Viserys asks Rhaenyra to meet him
• He apologizes to her for looking her over all of her life and says that she deserves to be queen. She is now his heir, not Daemon.  But that’s not all, folks!

• The idea that we control the dragons is an illusion.  They are a power man should never have trifled with. One that brought Valeria to its Doom - and it can happen again. (Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm…)
• This is all spliced with the lords at her coronation, pledging fealty to her.  Is it me, or do these guys not look so pleased to be doing so?
• IT WAS A DREAM, MOFO!
• Just as Daenys foresaw the end of Valeria, Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men. Tis to begin with a terrible winter from the distant North.  Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those winds, and whatever dwells within will destroy the world of the living. When it comes, all of Westeros will stand against it, and to survive a Targaryen must be on the throne. A king or queen strong enough to unite the realm against the cold. *Grabs the Catspaw Dagger* This secret has been passed down from Aegon to every king afterward.  Now you must promise to carry and protect it. Promise me, Rhaenyra.

OMG!!!!!

So, 1. The Catspaw dagger. I have so many questions!! It’s amazing, how did the Baratheons know they also hand down this dagger? Because Joffery had it, got it from his Dad. But I doubt they knew anything about this secret. Yet the catspaw dagger still found its way to kill the Night King.  Is that what’s being suggested when Viserys grabs it while talking about the terrible scourge coming from the North?

Also! The fucking Iron Throne makes so much more sense now!!

In the first season of Game of Thrones, we hear old Nan telling Bran about the White Walkers and how they hate the sun, warmth, and *Iron* - this is exactly why all of the Stark ancestors in the crypt have an iron sword on their lap.  It will keep them from rising with the dead during the Long Night.  The fact that the Iron Throne is 100% made of and surrounded by iron swords is a way of protecting the Targaryen King when this evil comes to play.  So many things make so much more sense now!!!! With one fucking episode, Ryan and George have answered more questions than Dan & Dave did with a whole damn final season. Sorry, I had to say it. Got it out of the way, lol.

Extra Spoilers!
Leave now or forever hold your peace!!

We have the list of names for the episodes!

These are our predictions for what each episode will be about. If you wish to not have the spoilage this deep, we suggest you leave now.

(Check out our website, GirlsGoBooksDeep.com for more blog posts and updates.  And don’t forget to catch our House of the Dragon After Show - Girls Go After HotD, streaming live at 10pm EST every Sunday on YouTube, Twitch & Facebook! Make sure to subscribe and turn your notifications on to get notified of when we’re going live!
Thank you so much, we love you. Now… on with the tea divination!)

Seen: Episode 1 The Heirs of the Dragon
Episode 2 The Rogue Prince
Episode 3 The Second of his Name
Episode 4 King of the Step Stones
Episode 5 We Light The Way
Episode 6 Princess and the Queen
Episode 7 Driftmark
Episode 8 Lord of the Tides
Episode 9 The Green Council
Episode 10 The Black Queen

(Please Listen on Spotify or anywhere else you enjoy podcasts to get these predictions 😊)

Final Note

Janae: So, now we pass the questions off to you guys.  What did you think of the characters? Did you enjoy the first episode? What did you think of that amazing reveal at the very end? Please tell us your opinions on social media, we are @GirlsGoBooksDeep on all social platforms. We love getting comments with your thoughts on the episodes. Let's Discuss!

Amanda: Check out our website, GirlsGoBooksDeep.com for more blog posts and updates.  And don’t forget to catch our House of the Dragon After Show - Girls Go After HotD, streaming live at 10pm EST every Sunday on YouTube, Twitch & Facebook! Make sure to subscribe and turn your notifications on to get notified of when we’re going live! 

What do you think, Janae - I think we should do a nice giveaway at the end of the Season…

*Outro Script*

Janae: That’s all we have for today, everyone.

Amanda: As always - Thank you for listening and subscribing to our weekly deep dives into the geeky culture we all love so much.

Janae: Talking with you guys is the best part of our week, so please stop by our Instagram or Twitter and say Hi

Amanda: And with that, we bid you wake up

Janae: take up all the space

Both: and we’ll see you next week.