00:00Welcome Back Everyone.
00:07It is Amelia.
00:08I hope you are fine.
00:09House of the Dragons Season 2 Episode 1 is finally here and it's mostly
00:14worth the wait.
00:15Picking things up just days after House of the Dragons Season 1's ending, the Season
00:192 premiere is about dealing with the fallout from Lucis Velaryon's death, getting various
00:24pieces back in place and properly beginning the Targaryen civil war.
00:28Although I felt there were a couple of missteps, it's a solid return and a promising sign
00:33of things to come.
00:34For much of its runtime, House of the Dragons Season 2 Episode 1 operates in similar fashion
00:39to many a Game of Thrones season premiere.
00:42It's about the slow build, setting up the board for the chess game to begin and it largely
00:46does a good job of that.
00:48The pace could be a little frustrating to some viewers after so much set up for the
00:52Dance of the Dragons already.
00:54But patience and caution are embedded into the story as some urge it and others demand
00:59swifter action helps the premiere.
01:01Because we do get some enjoyable scenes of strategy and battle tactics.
01:05I particularly liked Taemon Targaryen and Criston Cole planning out the war and what
01:10locations to target, which felt like getting into the kind of detailed George RR Martin
01:15lumps.
01:16The same is true for the brief scene with the small folk, too, which I hope it can find
01:20more room for amid the warring of the nobles.
01:23It makes the world feel so much deeper and more lived in, with a better sense of the
01:27consequences of the actions we're witnessing.
01:30House of the Dragons cast is impressive across the board.
01:33But there's one clear star in, a son for a son, and that's Emma Diarchy as Rhaenyra.
01:39They did excellent work in Season 1, of course, but take it to another level in the Season
01:442 premiere.
01:45Rhaenyra's grief is palpable, her pain so clearly etched into every fibre of Diarchy's
01:50performance, even as the Queen tries to keep it together, that you feel it through the
01:54screen.
01:55Rhaenyra has to balance being a mother in mourning with trying to rule, juggle vengeance
01:59with logic, and it results in a powerful performance from Diarchy.
02:03That it's so often silent, their face saying more than words could, just makes it even
02:08more impressive and means when Rhaenyra does really have a statement to make, such as,
02:13I want Taemon Targaryen, it lands perfectly.
02:16Things are a little more mixed with the rest of the cast.
02:18Olivia Cooke brings a lot of nuance to Alicent Hightower, which is much needed given her
02:23surprising relationship with Kristen Cole and her own role in starting the Civil War.
02:28Matt Smith as Daemon and even Mitchell as Aemon remain to devilishly magnetic sides
02:33of the same con, though neither quite shines here like they did in Season 1.
02:38And Tom Glinkani as Aegon makes a leap too.
02:40Give me some ideas related to my video in comments on below if you like this video and
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