House of the Dragon spoiler thread

[payn]

Yeah, this show really doesn't benefit from being released so near to Rings of Power and Sandman, both of which are much, much better shows.

And I think the mean-spiritedness of this franchise may be a mismatch for a larger part of the audience nowadays, given how many mean-spirited years we've just been through.

It's not bad, but it's definitely in third place up against two other titans of fantasy, both of which have shows out this summer. It'd be better up against Wheel of Time, but I can't imagine Amazon cooperating with that match up.

I found plenty of mean-spiritedness in Sandman. Maybe even worse than anything we have seen in GoT. I think this might be a taste perspective on your part. Though, I do agree that these are all high quality well executed programs with HotD coming in third for my tastes.

The fantasy genre is getting difficult to parse. Sandman is clearly going with a dark fairy tale angle, RoP a high epic fantasy with the world at stake, and HotD palace intrigue slow burn into high fantasy. Violence and sexuality in RoP are dramatic high notes, in HotD they are ambiance, and in Sandman they are emotionally dramatic. They are more disparate than would seem at first glance, and shouldn't be compared so lightly, IMO.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I found plenty of mean-spiritedness in Sandman. Maybe even worse than anything we have seen in GoT. I think this might be a taste perspective on your part.

I think they're different. In Westeros, being violent and mean isn't seen, in an authorial sense, as incorrect. They're just things that happen (the fact that the author made them happen is a whole separate thread). In Sandman and Lord of the Rings, they are clearly seen as wrong.

When bad things happen in Sandman, they're the result of things going wrong and bad choices and there's almost always punishment for them, even if it is on a timeline that means only immortals see the punishment come to pass.

There is an intentional sense of morality in Gaiman's and JRRT's works, whereas GRRM was intentionally working against such notions.

 

[payn]

I think they're different. In Westeros, being violent and mean isn't seen, in an authorial sense, as incorrect. They're just things that happen (the fact that the author made them happen is a whole separate thread). In Sandman and Lord of the Rings, they are clearly seen as wrong.

When bad things happen in Sandman, they're the result of things going wrong and bad choices and there's almost always punishment for them, even if it is on a timeline that means only immortals see the punishment come to pass.

There is an intentional sense of morality in Gaiman's and JRRT's works, whereas GRRM was intentionally working against such notions.

I'm not sure we read and viewed the same Sandman.

 

[Zaukrie]

The commentary afterward said that, without the fresh troops attacking at the end, it would have been a loss. They did a bad job of conveying that within the episode, though.

There's commentary? They show didn't make that clear at all.

 

[wicked cool]

Yeah, this show really doesn't benefit from being released so near to Rings of Power and Sandman, both of which are much, much better shows.

And I think the mean-spiritedness of this franchise may be a mismatch for a larger part of the audience nowadays, given how many mean-spirited years we've just been through.

It's not bad, but it's definitely in third place up against two other titans of fantasy, both of which have shows out this summer. It'd be better up against Wheel of Time, but I can't imagine Amazon cooperating with that match up.

I disagree. Not seeing a clear front runner . All have flaws

 

[Marc Radle]

Interestingly, most other forums and YouTubers I tend to watch / read seem to feel House of the Dragon is better than Rings of Power, and I don’t really hear or see all that much discussion about Sandman at all …

 

[Zaukrie]

Interestingly, most other forums and YouTubers I tend to watch / read seem to feel House of the Dragon is better than Rings of Power, and I don’t really hear or see all that much discussion about Sandman at all …

Sandman might be top ten all time tv for me. No idea how you aren't hearing about it much.

 

[payn]

Sandman might be top ten all time tv for me. No idea how you aren't hearing about it much.

I dont go on twitter, or most social media, but I didnt even know Sandman was available until browsing NF. I am now hearing from a lot of people I know that they are watching and digging it. Everyone seems to know about RoP and certainly HotD as they have both strong media campaigns and word of mouth.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm not sure we read and viewed the same Sandman.

Sandman is a years-long story about the consequences of Morpheus' crappy decisions coming back to haunt him. There is a right and wrong in Gaiman's version of the universe, even if consequences take a while to arrive (a bit like real life that way).

 

[billd91]

There's commentary? They show didn't make that clear at all.

That is interesting. I was under the impression that the coming intervention by the crown may have goaded Daemon into going along with the Velaryon plan in order to resolve the situation without needing the save from his big brother.