HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - “Gods of Thrones” Vol. 2 Preview Podcast!

We’re so close we can feel the dragon fire! HBO dropped a brand new trailer for the long anticipated final season of Game of Thrones yesterday, and we’re here to discuss it, in tedious detail. Spoiler warning for anyone sitting the promotional material, because we’ll be analyzing this thing frame by frame! We’ll also be discussing our plans for coverage of season 8; which we hope will be the most current and comprehensive around. Does Jon become a dragon rider? What could possibly terrify Arya? Who is the mysterious leader of the Golden Company? Why does the Mountain look like a cross between a Kong-brand dog toy and a butt plug? All these questions and more are covered!

HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - Season 8 Trailer Breakdown!

We’re so close we can feel the dragon fire! HBO dropped an awesome new trailer for the long awaited final season of Game of Thrones, and we’re here to break it down in near-exhaustive detail. We’re letting you know our plans for coverage this year, which we’re aiming to be the most timely and comprehensive around. Instant takes, deep dives, and lore talk, a fantasy film festival, and a new book by A.Ron. The trailer showed us a lot of tantalizing details. What could possibly terrify Arya? Will Jon become a dragon rider? Who is the mysterious leader of the Golden Company? Why does the Mountain look like a human butt plug? All these topics and more are considered!

HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - “Gods of Thrones” – “Fire and Blood” – Part 1

My Gods of Thrones co-author Anthony is back once again as we do a deep dive on GRRM’s latest work, Fire & Blood! We talk about events up to but not including “Jaehaerys and Alysanne, Their Triumphs and Tragedies”. Next week we’ll be reading up to “The Dying of the Dragons, Rhaenyra Triumphant”, before finishing the book the week after. This week’s all about Aegon, Maegor, and the third generation Targaryen that really steals the show, Jaehaerys! We talk about the gossipy tone the Maester sometimes takes, the doctrinal concept of “Targaryen Exceptionalism”, missing dragon eggs, maester conspiracy theories, and that most well worn Thrones hobbyhorse, incest.

HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - “Gods of Thrones” – “Fire and Blood” Initial Thoughts

Anthony and I talk about GRRM’s latest book, Fire and Blood, which is a complete and in-depth historical account of the 300 year old Targaryen dynasty in Westeros. We discuss our initial thoughts, anything that might have changed some of our thoughts in Gods of Thrones, any intriguing jumping off points for theory-crafting, and consider fan feedback. Also, Anthony has some stunning revelations about the possible origins of the rib-bone that God took from Adam to make the first woman in the Genesis creation story. You don’t want to miss this!

HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - 310 – Mhysa

And just like that, we put HBO’s Game of Thrones season three into the Bald Move history books. Again. “Mhysa” is an excellent way to wrap up the season and set the table for season four, as we get great work out of all our star-crossed lovers; Tyrion, Shae, Sansa, Jon, and Ygritte. Arya has some fine work servicing the fan’s desire to see her be the terrifying little murder beast we know she can be while simultaneously making us feel really, really bad for her lot in life. Ramsay might be a total and complete bastard, but he does know how to work a pork sausage to get some laughs in an other wise pitch black scene. Finally, Dany attempts to end her season three arc on a note of triumph, but is hampered by the racial tone deafness of the show runners. Thanks for joining us on this ride! We’ll be back in November to discuss Martin’s new book on Targaryen history, Fire and Blood, as well as Anthony and I’s new book, Gods of Thrones. 

HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - 309 – The Rains of Castamere

This week we have the pleasure of talking about one of the best, and most gut wrenching episodes of HBO’s Game of Thrones, “The Rains of Castamere”. The Lannisters score a decisive victory against the Starks in surprising and brutal fashion. Particularly rough is Arya, who is forced to witness the destruction of her family when she was oh so close to being reunited with them. Over in Essos, Dany provides a lone bright point as her captains’ valor and her reputation as Breaker of Chains lays the slave city of Yunkai at her feet. We’ll be back next week to wrap this season up. See you then!

HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - 308 – Second Sons

Jim and A.Ron consider the latest episode in our summer re-watch of season three of HBO’s Game of Thrones. “Second Sons” features the second happiest wedding we’ve ever seen on Westeros (which is damning with non-existent praise), Arya swinging from utter despair to something approaching optimism in her captivity with the Hound (the sweet, summer child), as newcomer Daario Naharis steals into Dany’s camp attempts to steal Dany’s heart. We discuss all this and more!