A Son for a Son

Decent and impressive first episode of the second season about the internal succession war within House Targaryen. It happens many years before the death of the Mad King, Aerys, and the birth of his daughter, Princess Daenerys Targaryen. It is said that the only two claims to succeed King Jaehaerys seriously considered at the Great Council of 101 were Rhaenys and Viserys. This is an in intense epic concerning the internal succession war within House Targaryen at the height of its power, many years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. In the previous season the Targaryen dynasty is at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 10 dragons under their yoke. Most empires crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins when King Viserys (Paddy Considine) breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. Viserys tells Rhaenyra that she must keep Aegon's secret just like every heir before her has done and he insists Rhaenyra must promise him that she will guard this secret. Rhaenrya is the third person to utter the iconic "Dracarys" line made famous by Daenerys (Game of thrones,2011), the second was Missandei and first was Daenerys herself. And Rhaenyra rides a yellow she-dragon named Syrax. But when Viserys later fathers a son, with the daughter of the king's hand, Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm, with intervention of ambicious aspirants to the throne as king's brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) or Lord Corlys 'The Sea Snake' Velaryon (Steve Toussaint). The confrontation takes place when the king names his daughter Rhaenyra as his heir and after his death things go wrong.

This is a spectacular season dealing with friction nearly two hundred years before Game of Thrones (dealt with conflicts between the houses Stark, Lannister, Baratheon and Targaryen and with the remaining great houses Greyjoy, Tully, Arryn,Tyrell and Martell), now emerges a sucession dispute between Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen: Emma D'Arcy and Queen Alicent Hightower: Olivia Cooke ; it sets in motion a series of events that many years in the future will lead to a bitter feud over who should sit on the Iron Throne. In this episode Alicent grows concerned by Aegon's Small Council, and Rhaenyra arrives at a fateful decision. An impressive season dealing with inheritance disputes, court intrigues, treasons, vengeance, in which political and sexual intrigue is pervasive ; all of them will lead to full-scale war in the following entries. Breathtaking epic version based on George R. R. Martin novels with exciting drama and overwhelming power fights, his stories are imaginatively brought to life on groundbreaking images with great production values and outstanding scenarios. To date, 18 episodes have been filmed and this A Son for a Son(Jun 16, 2024) is the number 11 of three seasons. Intense court drama, nudism , sexual scenes, great appearance of the giant dragons, and bloody fights abound in this spellbinding adaptation. It contains magnificent production design and spectacular exteriors shot on location in Monsanto, Castelo Branco, Portugal ; and adding colorful computer generator images including the enormous firing dragons.

The series is well written by an excellent plethora of screenwriters as Ryan J. Condal, Sara Hess, Fonseca, Kevin Lai , Ira Parker, Eileen Shim under supervision by the great creator George R. R. Martin. The music in the end credits is "A Song of Ice and Fire" by Ramin Djawadi, which is also the music from the closing credits of the series finale of "Game of Thrones". This first episode in the second season to be well directed by Alan Taylor, that previously directed 7 episodes in the original 'Game of Thrones' series. Alan Taylor is a craftsman who's directed some films : Thor: The dark world , Terminator Genisys and hit series : Game of thrones , Rubicon , Boardwalk Empire , Interview with the Vampire and The many Saints of Newark . And he was nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series category for Beyond the Wall (2017), but lost to Stephen Daldry for Paterfamilias (2017). Rating : 7.5/10 . Notable episode, not extraordinary .

Wow, absolutely blown away. The cinematography was absolutely stunning. The pieces are being set in motion, hailing back to its tried and true game of thrones. Both parties vying for control over the lands and the houses within them. KEY houses being mentioned and even shown, putting big players into place for the upcoming war. The acting was phenomenal as usual, with a scene of grievance bringing a tear to myself and my friend's eye while watching. Seeing the way the different characters dealt with the events of the end of season 2 was beautiful to watch. But the real showstopper is the events that took place after all that. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING. My jaw was on the floor. What. A. Way. To. Start. A. Season.

I could give a 9, but I save it for later, even though this was probably one of the best episodes so far, I have a feeling that there is still room for better episodes, the worm-up round was intense and full of good scenes, but as the plot thickens there will be more great episodes to enjoy in the future... This is a very well made series, and the acting is good. I definitely enjoy this very much, and waiting for the next episode.

The story is interesting, and the main characters are really funny, they all give their personal twist to the story, with their harsh language and personal traits, some are mad and others dramatic... Great show.

Been waiting for ages for season two and boy oh boy it did not disappoint! The episode kicks off with an emotional punch with Rhaenyra mourns about what happened in season1 last episode. The grief is noticeable, and it sets the tone for what's to come in this show.

The political strategies are intense, with alliances shifting and betrayals happening everywhere. And of course the most important thing is the dragon action scenes that are literally breathtaking!!

As a reader of the books the characters are brilliantly played, each driven by their own goals and haunted by their past mistakes.

A 9 out of a 10 is simply because of the last 7 minutes of the episode, didn't find it so convincing but the story must keep going!

The buzz around this show when it was originally coming out was huge and quite insane on social media. Not a lot of people were as neutral on that season in the end as I was, but it does seem like it quickly found the spark that was missing for a lot of fans of this epic type of television storytelling. I was very excited about this season, because it seemed like they were going to be more focused and not jump around in time constantly. And already with the first episode, the show has upped its own standards and provided a great season opener.

The pacing of this episode is very methodical and akin to the previous episodes of the best "Game of Thrones" seasons. It takes its time to set up all of its pieces and get the audience onboard with the current state of things, quickly reminding us of what happened previously so that everyone is onboard. It takes its time and that's what the first season severely lacked as it felt like every piece was rushed to make sure that we got to the stuff that we wanted to see quickly. The episode plays around with grief a lot, and it all leads to a beautiful funeral scene that is wonderfully edited and an emotional piece of storytelling told almost without any words. It makes us wait for some of the highlights, but the episode is full of them, and especially the last act of the episode carries a huge punch that shows the early stages of war in all of its ugliest forms. It shows how the circle of vengeance and hatred has overtaken morale and common sense in this time and this show could end up becoming a truly breathtaking exploration of war and the effect it has on people involved, told through the veil of a fantasy show. The character work is done sparingly but effectively in this episode, and especially Rhaenyra's arc, which is small as she rarely appears throughout the episode, but it still gets the emotions stirring because of great writing, and especially because of Emma D'Arcy's continued supreme acting.

"A Son for a Son" makes for a thrilling return to Westeros and sets up the game pieces for a truly remarkable and gripping season. It features the slow, yet deliberate pace that made its predecessor such an engaging show, and its character work is truly remarkable, achieved through some great writing and excellent performances.