HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Episode 2 BREAKDOWN! Easter Eggs You Missed! (Opening Analysis)

welcome back to new rockstars i'm eric. voss and this is a breakdown of house of. the dragon episode 2 where marrying a 12. year old is unspeakable but a 15 year. old hey well so long as she brings you. toys viserys is like that's what i love. about these westeros girls man i get. older they stay the same age the look of. the series just gets better and better. so let's break down the cool visual. details the deeper layers of meaning you. might have missed starting with because. i am crazy what exactly is going on in. this opening title sequence it's set to. remain jawat's game of thrones theme. music using the same song does cynically.

suggest the petty games played by the. westerosians 200 years from now are the. same ones about to be played by these. a-holes compared to the map imagery of. the game of thrones opening this one. uses stone dials as blood snakes through. each dial forming a symbolic chain of. violence be getting violence but also a. family tree a literal bloodline each. dial represents a specific member of the. targaryen family tree the fact that it's. a dial that turns suggests that with. each link of this chain could. directionally change the vector of the. bloodline based on what their moral. alignment is notice the recurring crown.

on many of these dials this is the one. worn by viserys and before him jiharis. this is the crown of aegon the conqueror. this crown represents whoever the king. is on that generational tier and you'll. notice that crown is usually paired with. another dial representing a merit union. the blood drowning each dial represents. these rulers deaths but that death be. getting a new generation of bloody. rulers the first style of course is. aegon's dial depicting dragonstone. swarmed by dragons these dragons are not. a loving family but rather in combat. with each other according to the audio. description thus we are going to begin.

every episode of the show with dragon vs. dragon the gates of dragonstone pop. upward and the tableau sinks allowing. blood to pour in and blood to flood. outward to drown the whole realm this. blood river forks down a wall with. engravings showing dragons torching. infantry cavalry and archers this is. likely aegon's conquest and it flows. into two dials representing aegon's two. sisters rhaenys and visenya then onto. another dial that floods this is. rhaenys's son aenes now notice we do not. see a dial for megor the cruel as that. would be the zenith sun and be on the.

other side of that left dial that we saw. before then the bloodline zips to two. paired dials for jiharis and alisan the. blood explodes then into branches as the. targaryen family tree did at this point. we glide upward to two dials that are. already drowned in blood for jaehaerys's. late son balon and his wife alyssa who. are viserys parents the blood river now. pours off a ledge while in the. background it snakes toward a blue. colored wall with a dial showing the. valyrian sea horse for coreless velaryon. so the blood that the dial touches here. is rhaenys aemon's daughter the queen.

who never was who gets married to. corliss meanwhile another branch of the. river flows into a crown dial that does. not flood that represents the current. king viserys unflooded because he's. still alive for now beside him is. essential for house aaron flooded for. emma aaron his late wife who died in. episode one but notice though that. viserys's bloodline branches to the left. toward that green wall where the greens. aka the hightowers are we're telling. viserys moving on to alison in this. episode then we cut to a shot where the. bloodline flows into a dial with the. house hightower lighthouse representing.

alicent soon to be queen and you'll. notice that the level above her is a. dial representing her father otto now. next we see three interlocking circles. of the valerian steel necklace that. damon gave renera last episode this one. obviously representing renera this style. rising high above the blood to stay. untouched by it then we quickly pass. under a gate showing a dragon fanning. its wings over the houses of westeros. believe those sigils are baratheon. hightower blackwood dustin star pike. lannister valerion stark and then maybe. greyjoy some of these are important some. of them are lower houses whatever they. all look cool lastly we see that all of.

these dials rest upon the layers of. viserys's stone model of valyria proving. our theory correct last episode that. that model might be part of the new. opening title sequence running down the. middle of that model you can see. pairings representing the marriages. through the ages through which the royal. lineage ran but then closer to the. bottom of it a few isolated ones where. the bloodline ends because we are not. yet sure which of these characters will. bear the heirs to the crown but we are. sure if you look at a family tree just. don't you'll spoil yourself and yes i. will be monitoring the sequence closely. or updates to it as characters die or. produce new errors because i'm crazy and.

we end the main title showing the golden. targaryen sigil all of these blood. rivers feeding the fire beneath fire and. blood the targaryen house words in the. title the novel that this is based on. the opening shot shows two hands impaled. on wood as crabs picket them this. parallels the gnawing the flesh from. king viserys's hand by maggots later. from a nameless casualty to the king. himself these are all corpses on. borrowed time everybody knows that. mental health is important which is why. it's so frustrating that once you decide. to see a therapist finding one is so.

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chamber later at the end of the episode. this dramatic crucifixion imagery we are. seeing now is really through corliss's. existential fear this is his song of ice. and fire or really we should say i guess. his song of sea and crabs crabs pick at. a gash on a man's foot his bone is. exposed but he stirs he's still alive. he's being eaten alive by crabs as a. victim of kragus the crab theater leader. of the triarchy ravaging the stepstones. currently the wide shot shows that these. stakes are set up in the path of the. tidal river where crabs would come in. like the opening titles a river of blood.

bringing death but we smash cut to. another red river an overhead shot of an. empty cup as rhaenyra pours in wine the. red liquid pouring into a golden pit. like the blood pouring into the. targaryen sigil in the opening credits. the small council is discussing the. death of sir ryan redwine that bearded. lord commander of the kingsguard who. appeared in the background last episode. corliss comes in late wanting to hit. back at craigs and his triarchy who are. funded by the free cities many of which. we saw in game of thrones including. braavos lorath leese mir norvos pentos. cohort tyrosh and volantis notice how. master of coin lyman beesberry says in.

all of its history my lord the seven. kingdoms have never entered open wall. with the free cities what reason does. the crab feeder have to fear us. yeah corliss is focusing his anger on. moneybags beastbury a man who likely. takes money from the iron bank located. where the free city of braavos major. conflict of interest on this small. council and notice throughout this. meeting corliss's punch card ball stays. on the centerpiece it's never moved to. his plate reflecting how he was never.

really part of this meeting and at the. end of this episode we'll leave this. council when ronira gets booted from the. meeting for pitching the one good idea. the doors are shut behind her closing. her out and homage to the final shot of. the godfather where michael shuts out k. sir harold goes through the kingsguard. candidates each represented by a. figurine some ornamented ceremony to. mark the seriousness of the king's guard. in this era consistent with the way the. show uses dials and balls and other. tokens to represent people everyone is a. piece on a game board there's sir. desmond karen sir raymond mallister. house corbre house craicall and house.

tarly otto reminds us the malistas of. seaguard protect against the reavers. from the iron islands referring to the. greyjoys sir kristin has no heraldry. because while he comes from house coal. of the stormlands he's actually a. dornishman notice how his figurine is a. simple pillar unadorned otto lurks in. from behind while rainey swatches from. the balcony more interested in how the. named heir makes her first official. decision in all the shots of raniero. with otto rhaenys can be seen snooping. in the background because this queen who. never was is deducing that if rhaenyra. was booted from the small council.

meeting she and her husband cordless. might be able to play to the king's. succession anxieties get our 12 year old. in a hair and make up stat rainier. inquires you saw combat in the. stormlands dornish marches princess i. fought for a year as a foot soldier. against the dornish incursions siral and. dondarrion knighted me after we raised. two of the watchtowers along the burnway. the dornish marches are areas between. the stormlands and dorne the boneway is. a treacherous pass to the red mountains. aegon the conquerors attempt to conquer. dorne actually failed this campaign. killed his sister wife ray niece and her. dragon miraxis and now rhaenyra offering.

cyrax to the stepstones and wanting a. kingsguard has actually seen combat. rhaenyra is a natural wartime ruler. viserys describes valyria the. dragonlord's the highest of the nobility. lived here. the volcanic face closest to the source. of their magic and power and this was. the inaugural where the blood mages. worked their craft the doom of illyria. was believed to be an eruption of the 14. flames a chain of volcanoes. interconnected by mines that all erupted. simultaneously and sunk the whole. peninsula many believe this might have. been triggered by magic either by.

accident or by design the zera says the. glory of old valyria will never be seen. again. so viserys bleakly believes that. humanity's best days are behind them. while breaking a dragon figurine. reflecting his house's broken future he. dropped it though because of his wounded. finger which is also visible bandaged. during his speech to raniere at the end. of last episode a literal form of his. family's unhealable wound the lie of. their dragon power and their mad dreams. but the low sun silhouettes viserys and. allison here it actually hangs low.

throughout the episode foreshadowing. viserys's sun setting rain and nearly. every shot of viserys even in the. close-ups the hilt of his valerian steel. dagger pokes up in the frame aegon's. song of ice and fire always on his mind. alice and rhaenyra prey in the sept. above the altar is a statue of one of. the seven the audio description calls it. a woman suggesting this is the mother. which makes sense because they are both. praying to their dead moms at times we. cut to a high angle of these two with. the mother statue not visible in these. frames meaning we are seeing these two. daughters from the point of view of the. mother above alison places her hand on.

raniere's arm and you could see. allison's thumb is still raw from her. picking at it these past six months of. lying to her friend about moving in on. her dad have filled her with anxiety. even this supposedly sweet moment. between the two friends is actually. manipulation that was at vazaris request. when i wish to talk with him. i know that i must make the effort. corliss asks viserys again to intervene. at the step zones dropping this line to. elude a storm you can either sail into. it. or around it.

but you must never await its coming it's. a really great analogy for a seafarer. who's adrift on a vessel but not for a. land-bound castle dweller like viserys. the guy who gave up dragon riding years. ago and now just sits in place in fear. of a blizzard that is unavoidable. according to his. great-great-grandfather's dream while. viserys and rhaenyra dine his model of. valyria frames them in the foreground. viserys is trying to prop up his dynasty. upon the ruins of valyria also the. secret moments that he's been sharing. with allison is what is bringing this. father and daughter together it's almost. like allison is in the room with them.

chaperoning them now viserys's small cut. last episode has completely festered. into this infection do they not have. bandages seriously a freaking paper cut. but no this is further proof that the. cuts from the iron throne are uniquely. unhealable and cursed in a way there. actually is a long-running theory that. the archmaesters who hail from old town. along with the hightowers old town being. the former seat of power and westeros. before the targaryens arrived these. maesters could be conspiring in an. illuminati type plot to weaken the power. of the dragons and the influence of. magic in the world with science-backed. duplicitous advice and medical.

malpractice think about it there is a. maester in every castle and they all. talk to each other could that be. connected to the message that otto sent. back to old town now now now we hear new. rock stars have to admit that what we. call conspiracy is often more likely. incompetence but i don't know the king's. slow rot could be one of these deaths by. design that melos warned of last episode. otto's necklace is a chain it's designed. reminiscent of the chains worn by the. citadel maesters maybe he is another. link in the chain and that all of these. old town oldies are connected but i do.

like how we see the difference in his. tactics compared to his rival corliss. they both have the same strategy. ultimately they're both trying to push. their two young daughters on the widower. king to raise their family station but. while corliss aggressively pushes his. agenda and doesn't make any secrets. about it otto is sneaky he just kind of. slips his daughter into the room and. uses his own dead wife to appeal to. viserys grief and to be compelled to. replace her for duty's sake. you are the king. but i do not envy you in rhetorical.

criticism this tactic is called. enthymeme it's an art of persuasion in. which you never explicitly state what. you want the person to do you just use a. highly charged emotional argument so. that they draw the conclusion in their. own heads and they think it was their. own idea so the two young liana chats. with viserys about the lost dragon. veigar that was a massive still-alive. dragon written by aegon's sister white. vizinia but vague arsenal lives. somewhere the workers of spice town. reports hearing her song at times. they say it is a sad thing.

i imagine even dragons get lonely now of. course cesaros is actually talking about. his own loneliness and these talking. points were truly fed to lana by her. father corliss who falsely assumes that. viserys is lonely because he no longer. rides a dragon valerion so maybe by. hinting driftmart folk know where vegar. is that could be a benefit that house. valerion could give the crown but not so. fast because what the valyrians don't. really realize is that viserys thinks. dragons shouldn't exist at all they're. all too large for the world behind. rainer and rhaenys is more smutty. artwork what looks like a hookup between.

humans and a dragon it was actually. believed that among the dark magic. practiced by the blood mages of old. valyria was cross-breeding humans with. dragons so all that messed up stuff that. led to the doom of valyria is now being. celebrated by their doomed descendants. and the red keep allison's gift of the. fixed dragon figurine is perfect for. viserys a symbol of her ability to mend. the fractures of his family but also it. represents dragons as he wishes they. would be lifeless cast in stone and. small enough to fit in his hands as he. holds a figurine notice how it covers.

the hilt of aegon's dagger but when duty. comes to knock him viserys stiffens and. the dagger sticks out now and he deepens. his voice come. i mean come on this castle has literal. bestiality porn on every surface don't. tell me that there's not sexual. undertones to otto walking in on these. two the dragon keeper reports in. delirian. yes there's a westerosi custom of naming. the hours of the night after animals the. hour of the bat is right after sunset so.

after we saw the master of sneaks. sneaking around last episode demon. proves once again that he knows maegor's. secret passageways in king's landing. that no one else does rainier asks. scorio drum monday men light us. so dream fire was a dragon ridden by. rayna older sister to jiharis reyna. married their brother aegon and they. were attacked by maegor when he made a. bid for the throne when aegon died. maegor took reina as one of his black. brides so there is a history and dream.

fire being used as a kind of pawn in. these games by these rogue princes. grasping for the throne as we swoop into. the foggy dragonstone we pass the crown. flagship with a mounted dragon head on. the bow as well as grasping dragon claws. maybe these help prevent the ship from. crashing against the rocks this meetup. on the bridge between otto's detachment. and demon's gold cloaks is framed from. overhead almost like two bloodlines. meeting midstream like in the opening. credits only one bloodline could. ultimately flow forth the other is. damned like you saw what i did there. like you know damned up but also like in.

damnation notice how damon's first. gesture here is to toss the egg casually. from one hand to the other if he truly. cared about this egg as a nest mate for. his baby he would not be so loose with. it proving that this is all really a. stunt he asks where is the king i don't. see him his grace would never lower. himself to entertain such a mum as fast. ah the reaction shots sir harold was in. frame when otto stopped viserys from. going himself now he notes that otto. wanted the win for himself or maybe otto. really wanted the king to be left alone.

with his daughter for a night but then. the dragon karaxis enters. so this series distinguishes its dragons. much better than game of thrones did not. only by appearance and color but in the. way they sound our colleague joanna. robinson on the ring verse podcast. quoted paula fairfield who created the. dragon sound design for both game of. thrones and house of the dragon. fairfield said caraxie's whistles and. clicks were based on a specific mix that. she made for young drogon in that.

episode of astapor in game of thrones. [Music]. fairfield also said that miguel. sapochnick said caraxies should sound. like a dragon with a deviated septum she. actually expanded with her own hilarious. backstory for the dragon notice as. karaxi's roars he can actually see down. his gullet and how his windpipe quivers. in this awkward way to produce this. sound as a deviated septum would but the. fact that sound designer considered this. a pathetic love song for cyrax tells us.

that damon's true affections may reside. with his niece notice how crazy still. wears his targaryen mark saddle these. dragons are always wearing their saddles. even when they're not being ridden in. that moment as an attempt to tame them. but also to let all others know who. these wmds answer to or at least they. want them to think they answer to them. then we hear a second roar. the fog parts like ocean waves like the.

crestine of a great white shark or. godzilla as cyrax passes the low sun the. sun's dim light peeks through its. translucent wings a visual effect. interacting with the physical. environment to make it more lifelike i. love it rhaenyra confronts her uncle. siculant. rasilati to me. earlier otto called this a mummer's. farce and rhaenyra sees right through. these theatrics mazaria is not pregnant. therefore there's no crib for the dragon.

egg this is actually a change from the. book where mazzaria is with child so. this way damon is more of an agitator. and rhaenyra is a bolder fixer damon. consoles mazaria in a room that actually. looks a lot like the one in game of. thrones that contains aegon's painted. table of the map of westeros that table. would exist at this point in history it. was created by aegon but it's not in. this room right now maybe it's a. different room that just looks a lot. like it or there's a shop from a glassy. surface in the foreground maybe that is. a painted table it's just tucked in a. corner before announcing his marriage. intentions to the small council notice. viserys is gazing out the window at the.

dragonpit we're telling how this. decision will lead to the dance of the. dragons that will turn dragon against. dragon in the years to come viserys. first checks in with his daughter good. gods once again the reaction shots are. perfect i intend to marry. the lady alison hightower. yes just by how long her father's. looking at her you can see the smile. just slightly fade from her near his. face as she suspects something but then. viserys looks at allison and alison.

looks at renera and from that rainier. already knows before he says anything. that these two formed a relationship. without her knowing and as the tears. well up in her eyes rhaenyra connects. the dots allison's constellations of the. sept were all manipulations she has no. friend her father didn't really know her. at all and even the hall she storms out. into is lying to her because they forgot. to digitally remove some of the blue. screen there then on a drift mark on. corliss's desk are sea maps with. compasses there's a dragon skull various. seashells then this barnacled bust that. i mentioned before a visual reminder for.

corliss of the fate of his men in the. stepstones which this episode circles. back to as craigs nails a man to the. stake to feed it to the crabs cordless. says. we are the realm's second son stamen. our worth is not given. it must be made. now corliss does not have an older. brother but he's referring to house. velaryon being the metaphorical younger. brother to house targaryen the valerians. passed over because they are not dragon. lords now this episode's title is the. rogue prince from george rr martin's.

2014 novellette about prince damon and. his relationship with viserys this. episode's new bloodline themed opening. suggests that this dynasty was formed by. marriages but really if anything stable. marriages have been the exception to the. rule maegor was a rogue prince who stole. the iron throne from its rightful. lineage the rightful reignist was passed. over for another rogue prince viserys so. damon really knows that his is a family. of rogue princes and ultimately fortune. will favor the bold follow me on tik tok. instagram and twitter at voss subscribe. to rockstars for more analysis of.

everything you love thanks for watching. bye. [Music]. you.