Sunday’s House of the Dragon was a standout episode for HBO’s new Thrones present, turning the dial of courtroom intrigue all the approach to 11. There was the traditional succession drama, outdated rivals going through off for the first time in years, and an unexpectedly humorous decapitation.
You know, the traditional.
[Ed. note: Major spoilers follow for episode 8 of House of the Dragon.]
In the episode a petition has been referred to as for who will inherit Driftmark from Corlys Velaryon, who apparently suffered a nasty wound in the Stepstones. This petition was organized by Queen Alicent and her father, Hand of the King Ser Otto Hightower, and fairly a few potential heirs have been able to have their case made.
One of these heirs was Corlys’ youthful brother, Vaemond. Vaemond, performed with scene-stealing depth by Wil Johnson, has a notably inflammatory case, because it depends upon the illegitimacy of Princess Rhaenyra’s kids, a hot-button subject for the present and the courtroom.
Vaemond, like others, was anticipating to make his case earlier than Queen Alicent and Ser Otto. He did, however shortly after, King Viserys, sporting a sick gold face masks, makes a shock look on the Iron Throne. When he immediately shuts down the proceedings, stating that that is a determined situation and he has already decreed Rhaenyra his inheritor (and her kids the inheritor to Driftmark), this enrages Vaemond.
Vaemond not solely challenges the king’s proper to make such choices, he out-and-out calls Rhaenyra’s kids bastards and the princess herself a “whore.” Viserys responds, “I will have his tongue for that!” and, positive sufficient, his brother Daemon (now Rhaenyra’s consort, who had virtually begged Vaemond for the alternative to kill him) lops off Vaemond’s head from behind.
Vaemond’s physique collapses on the floor, and the digicam is angled in such a method that we see the open high of his now uncovered neck gap — exhibiting his still-wagging tongue and never a lot else. Daemon, in typical wisecracking vogue, retorts, “He can keep his tongue.”
It’s a brutally hilarious motion beat that effectively breaks the edge-of-your-seat stress of the scene with a visible punchline sandwiched by jokes in the dialogue. And the undeniable fact that the present was daring sufficient to pair the decapitation with a punchline shot from the digicam took it from vicious to transcendently humorous. The man is wagging his tongue at the king and is decreased to easily a wagging tongue. That’s gold, people.
The humor of the second can be considerably aided by Daemon’s complete deal. Matt Smith is at his finest as an imp. We’ve seen it in House of the Dragon, and we even noticed it in Morbius when he dances in his condominium. Here, he’s in a position to carry that vitality to the darker world of Thrones, goading a potential enemy into saying simply the proper factor to permit him to commit homicide with none blowback, all with a depraved smile on his face as he virtually begs Vaemond to Go There. Thank the gods he did, as a result of it delivered one of the most memorable moments of the present’s run up to now.
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