Simon’s Incoherent Blog

House of the Dragon: Season 3, Episode 3 – Rhaenyra Triumphant

“The air is thick with ghosts.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

As expected after the shuffling of episodes between seasons, this week’s House of the Dragon came across very like a season opener, complete with a rather unusual (for this show) pre-credits scene. Rhaenyra has successfully taken King’s Landing. She sits on the Iron Throne. She has everything she ever wanted. And this week showed that, like so many conquerors before her, she’s finding actually running a kingdom even harder work than conquering it.

House of the Dragon: Season 3, Episode 2 – Queen’s Landing

“The boys who clung to me, who hid their little faces in my skirts – dead, so that I might sit on a throne of swords.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

It’s been a busy week, so I’m just now getting on to catching up with House of the Dragon – the very day the next episode goes out!

Continuing straight on from last week’s epic battle, this ep opens with a striking shot of its conclusion from below the waves; dragonfire flying everywhere, debris and bodies floating in the sea. But the battle’s nearly over – who has survived, and who has been horribly killed?

House of the Dragon: Season 3, Episode 1 – Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood

“We will all become beasts before our end.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

It’s been early two years since last we caught up with the ever-quarrelling Targaryen factions of House of the Dragon; and in the interim, its attempt to recreate the vibe of the original Game of Thrones has been challenged by the less complex (and more fun) Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Can the more dour original spinoff still compete?

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1, Episode 6 – The Morrow

“Every day, at evenfall, Ser Arlan would say, ‘I wonder what the morrow will bring…”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

As expected, it was a reflective final ep of the first season of A Knight of the Seven (or is it Nine?) Kingdoms. Well, the day after the end of a big festival (which this medieval tournament was pretty much shown to be) is always a time for coming down from all the excitement and taking stock. The more so for this one, which has, after all, seen the death of the heir to the Iron Throne defending a lowly hedge knight.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1, Episode 5 – In the Name of the Mother

“Get up! Get up, ser!”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Get up. Those two words echoed again and again through this week’s thrilling instalment of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, taking on a range of meanings from the despairing, to the inspiring. As I predicted last week, this was an incredibly violent episode. But, although I have now taken the opportunity to read all the books, even I wasn’t prepared for just how violent it would look onscreen.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1, Episode 4 – Seven

“Oak and iron, guard me well,
Or else I’m dead, and doomed to Hell.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After last week’s soap opera-like game-changing revelation, it was, perforce, a more serious tone in this week’s Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Dunk is languishing in a gloomy dungeon (though judging by the pouring rain outside, the Targaryens may have done him a favour there), while Egg’s Big Secret is out, and he’s had to go back to the less than welcoming arms of his family. Is this the end for our heroic buddies?

Hamnet (2025)

“To be, or not to be…”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

It’s my annual season for checking out the Oscar nominated movies before the ceremony. I never get through all of them, but I often encounter interesting films I wouldn’t otherwise have seen – this year, I was particularly impressed with Sirât, the Spanish movie in which a bunch of hippies in a pair of ancient Mercedes camper vans unwisely take on the punishing Moroccan desert in search of a rave. And of course I’d already seen Del Toro’s Frankenstein, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, and Ryan Coogler’s phenomenal Sinners – great movies all.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1, Episode 3 – The Squire

“Ser Duncan only has us. And if he loses, he won’t even have that.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

It wouldn’t be Westeros without some political intrigue, backstabbing and skulduggery; and after two relatively sedate instalments, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms this week saw all these reliable staples trotted out. On a smaller scale than usual, admittedly – this is a lighthearted comic romp, so we’re not looking at the fates of kingdoms being decided by the deaths of thousands here. Just some infighting and dishonesty at a medieval tournament that Dunk still naively believes will be fought according to the rules of chivalry.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1, Episode 2 – Hard Salt Beef

“All men are fools. All men are knights.”

(SPOILER WARNING – and probably NSFW!)

More fun Westeros-based shenanigans ensued in this week’s instalment of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which, suited to its lightweight comic style, was a mere 33 minutes long. Presumably after the hour long first ep, we’re looking at fairly short episodes compared to the often epic-length sister shows. That’s lucky, as having started to read the books they’re based on, they really are short – about 150 pages each. That’s not much plot even to fill three seasons.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1, Episode 1 – The Hedge Knight

“Every knight needs a squire. And you look like you need one more than most.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Yes, I know, it’s been months since I’ve written anything here. A combination of work, then the irritating recurrence of mental problems from the past… But it’s just excuses. I needed something to discipline me to write every week. And what better than HBO’s continued attempt to milk success from George RR Martin’s sprawling world of Westeros?