The Reel Rejects - REJECT RECAP: House of the Dragon SERIES PREMIERE - REVIEW!!

Episode Date: August 22, 2022

WHAT A PREMIERE! House Of The Dragon “Heirs Of The Dragon” Episode 1 Reaction, Recap, Breakdown, & Full Review for The Game Of Thrones spin-off adaptation of "Fire & Blood" by George R.R. Martin focusing on House Targaryen (before Daenerys), with Matt Smith Daemon & MORE in the HBO series filled with plenty of Easter Eggs & References #HouseOfTheDragon #GameOfThrones #HBO #HBOMax Watch Along with Us!! Become A Super Sexy Reject For Full-Length T.V. & Movie Reactions! https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects Support The Channel By Checking Out Our High-Quality Merch: http://shopzeroedition.com/collections/reel-rejects-merch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-reel-rejects/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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And welcome to our House of the Dragon season one premiere. Review, recap, thoughts, and opinions. Thank you for joining us. This is, I mean, this thing shattered records, and I hope it just gets better from here. You know, it would be really satisfying if this show managed to really kind of, you know, pour some gold into the cracks of the way Game of Thrones ended and maybe, you know, turn the overall into the show.

something beautiful over time. Anyway, obtuse thoughts aside, if you would like to join us for the reaction highlights to the first episode, those can be found on our YouTube channel, YouTube.com slash the real rejects. Or if you want to get the full experience, come along and, you know,

join us in real time. Yeah, that makes sense. Come on over to our Patreon page, patreon.com slash the real rejects. We got full-length watchalongs over there where you'll sync up with your own copy to House of the Dragon, as well as various other films and shows.

with reaction highlights and watch-alongs all bundled up over there. It's a lot of fun. We got a lot of variety at this point, and the library is ever growing. And if you'd like to support the channel, consider visiting our... I'm just so excited for more. This is the most unhinged intro. But anyway, check out our shop zeroedition.com store. Maybe if the show is going well enough, we'll do some kind of GOT thing.

But anyway, that's all the housekeeping for right now. This was quite, like I said, quite a premiere, and we're about to get into our thoughts. Here we go. All right, that was heavy. It was heavy. Heavy, Doc. Great Scott.

I was like, all right. Setup episode, let's go. day one reintroduction so I was not expecting anything like that violent yeah I wasn't her

I wasn't expecting like the full prologue yeah while there's like it's like a bunch of it's a decent amount more it is a lot more action I was expecting for a first episode yeah I mean from the jousting alone a lot more violence is in fact in some ways

there's more violence than there's action yeah yeah yeah yeah because it's not necessarily like an ongoing battle so much it's just a lot of people get slaughtered at different points yeah i liked you a lot i thought it was a really great first episode yeah i did too solid is very intimate and personal and um it goes like when they're starting off with all the political talk okay get accustomed getting acquainted here's where you are with targaryans at this point in time all right i got it i got it i got it that's real simple story of again who's going to see at the iron throne but it's not like hopping around like to a bunch of different locations or whatever it's all focused very much so on king's landing and over the course

just a couple of days really yeah and this very immediate moment and conflict of who's going to be announced to be heir to the throne it's a really like simple to latch onto concept and having the familiarity of Game of Thrones. You get the fun Easter eggs and all the houses and stuff like that and it's just a part of the world. But what they built here with the characters, it does create this sense of

fear of oh my God, what's this daming guy going to do? Because I don't know the outcome. Yeah. Like I don't, in terms of who dies, I mean, obviously they all eventually don't, but like

how deaths are going to a her, who to really trust, likes. What becomes a Rainera? Like, is that I pronounce her name? Rainira? Reneer? I think. I know. What becomes a Rainer in terms of

does she get slaughtered? Does she die? Yeah, I think of fake us out right now. I think that she's going to be the main character. They could kill her next episode. Or does she fake her death and get away? Yeah. You know, like, how does she escape this situation? because it does sort of feel like the rise of the mad king in the bloodline of Targaryens.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely it feels like that. Like, I don't know what the actual outcome is for, there's a lot to not know. It's like, yeah, okay, we all know what happens in Game of Thrones and that and that story of a song of ice and fire. I wonder just, yeah, yeah, it's like, this is the first solely question. And like, the song of fire, no, that's, this is fire and blow. It's a prequel. Yeah. So, yeah, like having, I, I think the thing that with a good prequel is that's what they have to have you do is while they're talking about things, especially in the ending moment of, guys, this is important to give the throats.

This is going to lead to the white walkers for a company. You got to worry we first saw the white walkers. Yeah. like a Targaryen on the throne is the only way to save you know everybody for mass destruction yeah so uh i i i like like yeah it's but even without having to tie it into the the future of what we know of what's to come i i like these characters quite a bit you know like matt smith i think elevates anything he's in i liked him in morbius despite the fact no one seems to really like morbius you didn't buy the collector's edition DVD.

He's my favorite doctor we've had so far. I've seen so far. I think you've shared the same sentiment. I think, yeah. Last night at Soho, he's awesome. I did not know Damon was going to be a villain. Or at least that much of a villain, yeah.

I mean, no, I didn't. I just had no idea. His name is Damon. He's fucking a walking heavy metal cover. I know. There's just always a lightning bulking behind him. Look at my red dragon. Look at my helmet with bat wings.

Dragon wings on it. Just always, yeah, a girl strapped to his holding on to his leg as he does a wicked guitar solo on Dragonback. This is a Game of Thrones world, so they could do something. We're like, oh, no, I really care about this guy.

Well, I saw it. That's the thing is, at least in the trailer, yeah, I got the vibe of like, okay, he's going to be the more cutthroat, the more, like, vicious character. At least that's the vibe I get. But in this episode, even though he very much lives up to that. There is that moment where

they're at the funeral pyre, and when he's talking to Reneira, like, I actually bought that moment of like, you've got to be here for your dad. Like, you know, this is a really tough time he's going through. And as conniving as he is, and as much as, you know, I'm sure he's at that moment,

string pulling or, you know, conniving to some degree. It felt like a real moment and that moment made me go, okay, I'm anticipating now the moments further on to the show where, yeah, they make him feel more human. Or like that reversal with Hightower, with Otto, where it's like that nothing icky came of that. But it's still, I feel like the suggestion is intentional.

That we know. That we know of, yes. And I feel like. Part of me was wondering, was Otto trying to get his daughter pregnant to make her have that. I know. Yeah, to take his mind off the tragedy of his family by giving him a new opportunity for a male air. Because right now is just air. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So they could denounce that. Wow. That's crazy. Yeah. That's really crazy. So on IMDB, you got two Rayneros listed.

Yeah. Is one like a younger? Is there going to be a flashback or something like that? Or do we? Is one the mom? No, it's Emma, right? That's a great way. Yeah, what is?

Because, yeah, that's the other thing, too, is in Game of Thrones. And I'm sure anybody who's read the book is probably sitting there going, it's not that hard. He's got to commit it to memory. But, like, so many of the names do get similar and, and as they would in, like, a family lineage where the whole point is to make everybody remember the lineage. So, yeah. No, it says she's listed. They said two Rayneros are listed in 10 episodes.

We had the IMDB pulled up in front of us for a name reference. I don't know That's bizarre Maybe she's just credited Maybe a flash forward Could be Maybe just spoil some heavy shit First of what's going on here

It makes me wonder Because I mean at least looking at this page Everyone's listed for 10 episodes And that makes me Wonder two things One You know like if it's your main cast Oftentimes even if they're not in an episode

If it's the season that they're in They'll get credit But This is a good They have the same name And one is that we've been hanging out with is specifically listed as young, so maybe there's going to be a time jump.

A time jump, yeah. I don't know if they're trying to throw us off on IMB because, you know, that can be a spoiler when you see like, oh, this character is only listed for four episodes, so they're either going to leave or die. And that's one thing that I am very curious about with this show because Game of Thrones, I think one of the biggest pieces of the Game of Thrones reputation as a book

and as a piece of television was that, yeah, you never know who is safe, who's going to die. It's a cutthroat world. that will not give you what is just dramatically satisfying off the bat. And I wonder if this show is going to do that as much. Well, what I really like about this, because with getting a refresher on some history with the Targaryens, you know, like the path that they carved out for themselves

with having a premonition and then fleeing, Valeria, having Dragonstone then, and then, which now they have Kings Landing. so having the premonitions or the foresight or whatever this get i don't say i don't run these dreams i haven't seen um i haven't seen game of throne since it aired yeah yeah so i don't know i don't recall denaris having she have like dreams that that became true i think so i feel like she there's a dream element yes yeah yeah but but having uh sorry guys we are we are not the go-to experts we are your your

your average audience member we will have all the books read by next week so yeah but with having with having the qualities of these characters I totally forgot what were my train of thought was going on where are we at we were trying to figure out if De Niro's had

visions or dreams time travel back in the conversation where were we let's see different is there going to be a time jump four hours asleep John help my brain out I was doing great until five minutes ago help me out is this going to be the kind of Game of Thrones world where they, you know, like, kill a lot of people.

Keep going. Keep going, John. History. You could do it. It doesn't matter. I'll think of a different points to bring up. They got Kings Landing. Yeah.

Nope, don't have it. It'll come back to you. Yeah, the way it intertwines with what may come in the future. And that's, I don't know, like part of me. Oh, what I was saying. Wait, I got it. I forgot how I was going to take those points and bring it to this point, but I got my point. Here we are.

is you know when watching Game of Thrones they always made it sound like well fucking if they only didn't have that mad king Targaryans would be in power yeah yeah they want to have all this terrible loss or the position

right like it always seemed like it was linked to that which it is however you're we're watching here because they've carved this path and they become dominant and they're literally like the fucking rulers of everything

and this is this the start of when the shift began with the Targaryans of not following tradition, announcing the daughter to be heir instead trying to embrace a queen. You can feel the discomfort in the room with everyone. So I really like this plot setup. It's more interesting than me than let's do a Mad King show. I like this setup of, oh, there was something much more pivotal before that that started the Targaryens down a questionable path.

And, you know, it's like you have Damon who's like, look, brother, they don't, they don't fear us. They don't respect us, really. Yeah. We're not as cool as we should be allowed to be perceived as. They just take advantage of you for their own gain. Yeah. And then, you know, you have, oh, there's always a difference of philosophies. But then you have Rainera who clearly doesn't give a shit about this.

Yeah, it doesn't want this, but also doesn't have the station to be like, no. Yeah, and Damon craves power. Yeah. But he would be a tyrant of a leader. He would be a mad king. Yeah, he would be a mad king. And then it seems like when you got people like Otto Hightower who are very friendly and whatever, you could still see there's perhaps a conniving quality, you know.

And even with the sister who didn't get announced, it's like, oh, this is where the plotting against. It seems like there was a lot of respect for the Targary. and their legacy. Yeah. But here is where the stabbing's in the back and all that started to occur. Starts to taint the legacy. That's interesting. Like I think that's really interesting because it always just sounded to me that once

they got to Mad King, that's when the shit went downhill. Yeah, but there had to be, yeah, some chain reaction that gets us there. Yeah. Yeah. Starts the downward spiral. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And that, yeah, that does seem like a fascinating place to go and a way to, I mean, I know

it's based on novel. it's all there. But, you know, just like, if you're just a show viewer coming out of Game of Thrones, it's like, oh, prequel, they could do anything. Yeah, no, exactly. But this feels like a natural extension of that lore without having to bend over backwards.

Like, you know, if you've only seen the show, this feels like a natural part of that story to shine a light on and explore it and that will then enrich what's coming in the future. And that makes it not feel so like Mickey Mousey when they're like, and eventually, you know, like from the north, there's going to come, you know, white walkers and stuff.

You know, like that actually feels a, more appropriate than just like, eh, Game of Thrones, you know, in a setting like this and with the context that is here. Yeah. And so, yeah, it's like you are, you know, 175, 200 years in the past,

but it doesn't feel quite so distant as that sounds just when you hear that number. And I think that's, you know, it still feels like, that's the thing, coming back to Game of Thrones, coming into a new series, like I've had my cynicism just based on how the show the original run of Game of Thrones ended.

But this, at least as an outset, at least as a setting of all the table, it did feel like you mentioned the big production value. Like it really feels like you're there in the world and it feels like they are still very much concerned with the political and the sordid emotional aspects just as much as everything else. Yeah. I think it's a great set. Like, it's way more so much than me than Mad King and like Young De Nairis. Yeah. Oh, God, no. Yeah.

And I mean, we've already done Young Dineris. but this seems like uh because the trailer sort of hint at a potential civil war and i and i love them like not knowing you know what's to happen how the fates of these characters unfold yeah i i really i really like being in that position and i like that it's just targary in focus i'm sure we'll get the explore the other houses as things progress and stuff oh yeah but there's something that again the word that keeps coming in mind is intimate there's something that yields very intimate about this journey. I mean, they use that sense of intimacy to enhance most everything,

and especially like that whole birthing scene is so horrible because of how intimate it. Like, you're right there for like the most anguished final moments of this woman's life. Like, it's, yeah, it's really striking. The way that they're able to do that to have like the big crazy production spectacle, but maintain that focus, it makes it all hurt that much more. yeah that was truly disturbing that was awful yeah like that was you come back to the battlefield you're like i could watch this is fine man smash a dude's face in but yeah like this this this this it's just such a cruel cold scary sad end to that character like i felt so bad for her

and i mean you know viseras is a relatively sympathetic character but even in that moment you're like oh my god like the math and like he's the one who's like guys my wife and son just died but even in that in the moment when they're in the birthing room you can tell those wheels are spinning like but i could save my hair though you know well i think what they did that they painted out really well is the optics around visceris is he's not he might be overly compassionate in an overly sensitive king and then you have damon who's too unhinged right that's that's the perception yet i think we got scenes of both of those characters that don't feel like that's their only note.

Like you have scenes at Damon where you do see a bit of a softer side. You have scenes of Damon where in his quieter moments, he looks conflicted about this path that he's on. He's not mustache twirling, you know? Yeah. Like he made a good, like that scene where he's arguing with his brother is really solid. And then Vassaris, you could feel the ruling hand of a king in that moment. So I think that the way the actors have done it, because like when you look at Game of Thrones, you know, I've only seen that pilot one, the first episode one time, but it's like an ugly world, but here's the best family in that ugly world.

Here's the Starks. Get on board and here's Lannisters. This is the fun of disgusting ones. Yeah. But here, you know, you're just, you're in the muck of what you know is kind of a messy, a gross situation. like and that like that coldness to to watching the violence unfold like everyone in the crowd just a reaction channel well yeah it's just like oh we're killing though you know do it like yeah yeah yeah totally oh gross next no yeah I mean that's what we like back then and it's funny I liked to the way that they handled both of those sequences with between yeah the tournament but also the um you know when he takes the city guard in and he's I like the way they unfold that because at first you're like it's so

immediate that it almost throws you to be like they're slaughtering these people it's so cruel and then you start to realize how they're slaughtering them suggests what their crimes were and it's just like so gut-wrenching in that moment and and yeah that you realize that like it's a thin line between what violence people in this world deem horrific versus what they deem as entertainment and oftentimes the act is almost the same yeah Yeah, a thousand percent. Yeah, it's just about, you know, oh, well, you know, the king drew us together to celebrate today. So this is great violence, and we love it.

And, yeah, like, it without, yeah, it's that greatness, like you said. It's even the common folk have an aspect of that sort of bloodlust within them that seems to really affect every part of this world. Yeah. They managed to make dross, and that feels very personal. You know, are they trying to hit to an area as, I couldn't tell if they were like, okay, they're just, they're just close friends. You know, with girls, you can just be super close friends with land each other's love. I get that. Oh, yeah.

But are they also like, what is there, a bit of something more here? Because I can't be. I can't tell. It's too much wellness for one show. I don't want a son. I want to just love my Alice or whatever name is. Allison, Alecant. Ah, so is her name.

Her name should be on this freaking thing. Alicein sounds right. Yeah, Allison Highsauer. There you go. There you go. I don't know. I mean, I could see it. I could imagine it happening.

It's because, you know, as much as, you know, Game of Thrones is well known, I think, among, you know, readers and fans for having, you know, like a pretty good grip on making characters, whatever their gender or background, just real characters. But, you know, I don't know if people would be able to handle that in this day and age. in the you know everybody gets freaked out about wokeness and stuff and it's already like we're arguing about can a queen take the throne if she was a lesbian too man I think people would explode who knows but I'm for it

let's do it and also Risa Fons who I'm so used to playing like sleazy or a villain or just somebody off putting and unsettling yeah I was watching him here and I was like you know it's nice to see him play someone who's doesn't really have the most power but yeah you know he's like a good guy he's good he's doing what he can in a harsh world he's a good dude yeah but oh no risa funds of course that's what they don't yeah yeah don't say for the creepiness

lurking just beneath the surface yeah i knew there was a reason they got you because anytime you see you're either like sleazy guy if it's just real world you're just a sleazy guy or you know you know yeah yeah yeah yeah Or if it's a heightened world, then you're like an outlandish, amoral, whatever character. Yeah. All right, guys. Well, House of the Dragon, what did you all think? Leave your thoughts down below.

Hey, let's end this with a Patreon. Mark Leach, my buddy, we talked a little bit. I got to follow up with you again some more. I don't want to talk too much about what you've been having to deal with as a late. that's your decision what to talk about so i i just wanted to say though that from everything we've and i mean this sincerely from everything that we have discussed um about personal lives prior to the experiences that you've had recently you've always displayed being a like a really sympathetic and empathetic nurturing individual a sensitive individual too with a very shining sense of

humor as well so I'm sorry for what you've had to deal with as of late and I'm hoping that right now you're surrounded by tons of love and support and as easy as it can be for people to just say, you know, it gets easier with time. It does. And I also wanted to say that the most important, I know I messages to you, but the most important thing you can do in situations like this is really just feel your feelings, be honest with yourself, even when you're having a hard time feeling your feelings, even if you just want to escape, you know. just really you know like if you don't be afraid or if you are afraid just be honest just be willing to talk with people and reach out and that the more you do that the more

the easier it gets to get to a place of true acceptance to keep moving one step at a time so I'm going to message you back right after this. But thank you for being here. And, yeah. If anyone can get through it, see you, buddy.