“Just Don’t Lose This One Or Mom’ll Have My Head”

me, making this while in class: wow, im supposed to be super busy rn... anyways, im gonna make another tudor meme--

Let's talk about hotd's deleted scenes

Soo hotd has a lot of interesting scenes that were deleted. Some people love them, others believe that removing them was for the best.

Today I'll check em out and tell you how I feel about them, and how I think they could have benefited the show if kept in.

1. The infamous Daemon hug scene

Uhh I have.. feelings towards this.

And I already hear you go:

"How could you not like this, it's so wholesome!" Yeah I know I know, trust me, I think this is adorable, just a weird scene.

From what we know this shot was completely improvised by Matt and it shows.

Cause almost all of his character's nicer scenes that make people think "maybe he isn't that bad" were ideas Matt came up with. We can see throughout the show how the poor guy does his best to not make Daemon look like a psycho and it's nice on paper, but the contrast between his improvised scenes and the scripted ones is jarring.

I mean we go from him violently beating his first wife to death with a rock, to him tenderly breaking the news of Luke's death to Nyra or picking up Vizzy's crown and gently crowning him.

It does work more with his book characterization though so that's cool.

It's cute, it makes casual viewers go awww, but it's a bit inconsistent in the grand scheme of things.

I guess some people will interpret it as the softer spot Daemon has for the people he truly cares about, but knowing how he also treats them in other scenes...

Cough cough Rhaenyra choke scene cough cough.

I'm just left a bit confused.

Overall, I like it, but there's better.

7-/10

2. Criston taking his Kingsguard vows.

God I wanted this to make the cut soo bad.

It's just that in the past I've already talked about how dirty Criston is done in the fandom, and I truly believe he deserves more screentime, he's a very interesting character.

So getting a scene like this would have been awesome, and by showcasing the pride and happiness Criston felt at achieving his dream thanks to Rhae, her eventual treatment of him would have hurt even worse.

Personally I'm not sure if it could have swung more people to feel for him and criticize Nyra, but it would have generally enriched his character and relationship with the princess and I would have looved it.

Only point against it is that it's probably one of the least important deleted scenes.

It sucks to say it, but I didn't really feel it's absence, you know?

If I had to cut a scene, I too would have chosen this one, but with a veery heavy heart.

Really solid idea though.

8+/10

3. The Rhaenicent fight at the end of episode 2

Finally, we're moving onto Alicent related scenes.

And this... is my villain origin story.

I can't believe it was cut, wtf!

I get that maybe they wanted to stay loyal to the rule "show don't tell" cause it was already obvious that Rhae was mad at Alicent when she ran out of council meeting room after the announcement of her father's betrothal, but like... The possible angst!

Alicent crying, trying to explain the situation and appealing to their friendship to try and get Nyra to calm down while she screams at her and calls her names for not revealing the truth sooner, god this would have destroyed me even further!

The missed potential drives me insane, I would literally pay money to see how this scene was supposed to play out.

10/10

This awesome interaction would have also perfectly set up the hostility and tention that would characterize the next deleted gem...

4. Rhaenicent preparing for Ali's wedding

Godd, this is another one of those scenes that, in my humble opinion, should have stayed in the show.

Not only because of the possibility of more Rhaenicent angst to break my heart,(Yeess) but also because this is one of those scenes whose absence is really felt in the story for me.

We go from Ali and Viserys's betrothal to them being already married with a toddler and another baby on the way and even though I'm aware that hotd has a lot of time jumps, I do feel like we should at least have seen the wedding celebration before moving onto the future.

This event being glossed over really left a bad taste in my mouth.

9,5/10

I can just imagine the sad and awkward silence during that scene, poor girls.

5. Viserys testing Daemon regarding Aegon's prophecy

Soo, time to talk about the most incompetent targ king and his very problematic bro.

This scene had a loot of potential.

Apparently it was supposed to be about Viserys toying with the idea of revealing the Conquerer's prophecy to Daemon, but ultimately choosing not to after his brother showed little to no interest in what he was saying.

It would have been great to set up Daemyra's fight in the last episode

(honestly it would have been quite funny to see Daemon have a meltdown after hearing of the prophecy that he thinks his brother didn't trust him enough to tell him of, when he literally had the chance of knowing about it but threw it away lol)

And it also would have showcased how unfit Daemon is to rule, and given Viserys yet another reason to pick Rhaenyra as his heir over him.

9-/10

In conclusion:

Yes I know there are a lot more deleted scenes to discuss, but I really don't want this post to get too long, so I'm going to end it here.

Personally, I think all of these deleted scenes were good, and there genuinely wasn't a single one I would have hated to see on screen.

But what were your favourites? Please tell me, especially if they weren't featured in this post, I'm super curious to find out about more cut scenes to learn what we all missed lmao.

Aegon II Targaryen in House of the Dragon Season 2 Trailer

Alicole banging at the start of season 2?

Am I dreaming? (If I am, don't wake me up.)

Jokes aside, I am reaaally happy about this. Our girl Alicent deserves some joy in her life, especially knowing what is about to happen.

Though I do pray that whatever goes on between them occurs after b&c, or at the very least, not during it.

The last thing I want to see is Ali being horrendously punished for thinking about herself for the first time. Also, you know, Alicole, Alicent and Criston antis would have a field day, hating on them for getting it on as Helaena and her kids suffered.

(As if their beloved blacks weren't responsible for this tragedy in the first place but whatever.)

We should also take into account the fact that Alicole acting on their feelings after b&c would add a lot more meaning to their relationship in general.

Two souls broken by grief, finding comfort in one another by completely forgetting about their duties and positions after years of repressing what they felt.

I'm all for it

"I hate Alicunt, religious bitch took down the targ tapestries"

Oh? Religious? So you hate my mother? She's religious and took down some of my dad's things to put up some of her religious stuff because it's her house too. You hate me? I'm religious. Or are you just looking for something even remotely valid to pinpoint your hate to so you don't seen like a misogynistic twat?

You really chose to speak factss

when aot was just abt to end, there were leaks ofc as there always are lol abt eren not really achieving any of his plans. and so much of the aot fandom, who have never lived through war, were genuinely upset over this. eren literally commits global genocide, he and his plan doesn’t deserve to achieve anything. especially not anything that would benefit him.

eren wasn’t one of my favorites until season 4 because of how utterly fucked up he is. he was a tragic MC who started off as a hero and as the story progressed, became a monster. even though we know what leads to his corruption, genocide is still wrong actually and having a characters worst fear come to life due to their own actions is the sort of tragic irony isayama loves. we’ve already seen isayama do this with reiner, zeke and grisha. it’s satisfying yet devastating at the same time how harsh the story is on them.

and the story should’ve been a lot more harsher to eren instead of the positive reaffirmation he got in 139 and from most of the fandom. eren claims the rumbling was for paradis, like thst shit didn’t kill off most of paradis’ population, and than he claims that it was for his friends (like pieck, who he has never even had a conversation with) but than he admits it was for himself - and it wasn’t satisfying at all because isayama wanted us to feel bad for eren and it worked. never mind the fact that eren killed his own mom, that he manipulated his own father for taking the FT for his own gain, that he annihilated 80% of the world - he did it for his friends 😊 so it’s okay! friendship >>>> genocide 😝

aot taking a very strong stance against eren’s actions and plan, denouncing them as wrong (bc they are) and showing them that nothing good comes out of them is wayyyyyy better the woobification and the mini redemption arc we got from him in the last chapter.

this is why i hate it when aot fans talk abt aot like it’s the greatest anti-war anime ever made. i think majority of aot fans are westerners or come from developed countries. it’s easier to understand war when ur watching cartoons of it instead of actually living through it. a huge part of the fandom justifies eren’s genocide, even with characters explicitly condemning him. do you really think it’s clear with its anti-war message when all we got was a few sad faces and a huge thank you from the main cast? one of the main themes in aot is the moral grayness of the world. the warriors did what they did because they were child soldiers trying to protect their families, EMA would’ve done the same. the scouts raided liberio (and were heavily against it). and masses of innocent people died in the name of other groups interests. there were literally no winners in this at all.

but why have characters that should’ve narratively and thematically been against eren suddenly forgive and praise him?

why break all the characterization, break all those different point of views, for the warriors specifically, if not for the final woobification of eren?

eren could’ve had one of the most extraordinary corruption arcs in all of anime just for that to be ruined and i will forever be mad abt it

Do you know what infuriates me the most about Rhaenyra?

No, it's not her entitlement, her spoiled princess behavior and surprisingly not even her insufferable stans.

It's her complete lack of action after she marries Daemon. She finds herself in a situation where her father's health is declining at a steady pace and is as such incapable of ruling and in need of a regency. This is her big moment right? Historically when an old king/queen needed a regent their heir always stepped up to fulfill that role, to start taking the crown and testing the waters while their parent was still alive and show the council, the nobles and the people what kind of ruler they were going to be after their mom/dad died.

But not Rhaenyra. Who loved to talk about the things she was going to do after becoming queen, who loved to remind everyone that she was still the heir in spite of Aegon's birth.

This is her occasion, her opportunity to take power and start ruling, to hold her first meeting with the small council, to begin making allies at court and establish her authority and gain respect as future queen.

But no for some reason she decides to fuck off to Dragonstone and leave all the politics, all the big decisions and royal duties to the greens.

And after that not only has the audacity to complain that Alicent and Otto are the real power behind the feeble Viserys, but to get mad after being "usurped".

Like girl you literally handed them the chance to dismiss you and crown Aegon in your place on a silver plate, you don't have the right to react like this, cause unlike you they can actually recognize an opportunity and seize it lmao.

do you guys like five nights at freddy's

Oh god literally none of them are good dads lmao

The only one who's possibly decent is Lyonel, but that's mainly because he's almost never on screen. Oh wait he's Larys' father never mind

No one ever said Aegon or Otto are ideal fathers, mind you. However, just remember that Daemon, Viserys and Corlys are exemplary fathers! This is why I don't take this fandom seriously.