C.T. Phipps

Aegon the Unworthy and Maegor both being inspired by Henry the Eighth. Which I mentioned. Martin draws far-far heavier from the latter absolute monarch periods of English history than he does from the Anarchy or War of the Roses. The Anarchy/Dance of the Dragons also appears to have the same structure as centuries later during the War of Five Kings.

Depends on where you are and what you're preaching. Throughout the Middle Ages, for example, England's early propaganda machine was constantly shitting on France for it. And Westeros is more properly inspired by the Renaissance, which absolutely was decadent. (We have no less than TWO Henry the Eighth figures in Westeros history after all)

I mean, it's an idea as old as Sparta that the Romans loved. Except the Romans explicitly would have kicked the shit out of the Spartans and did a lot of very "strong simple living" folk. And as we know, technology and logistics is now (one of) the greatest deciding element in warfare. But yes, I think there's a good sense of foreboding in the show that the times are nice, the wealth is abundant, and yet there's a simmering nasty bubbling undercurrent of violence that is waiting to bust out. It's all throughout the episode, not just the tournament (that people complain about). The Goldcloaks are ready to murder anyone they can get their hands on. Westeros is a country about to explode into violence for reasons that aren't immediately clear.

It's a fascist talking point. There's a lot of talk about how "traditional values" need to be culturally enforced or the culture will collapse as a force. Gibbon is the most famous historical example of decadence being used as an argument for the fall of an Empire (and he actually included CHRISTIANITY) as a primary reason for it. However, Gibbon famously went from one of the most famous historians of the Enlightenment to someone barely taken seriously once his views were put under scrutiny like, say, the Roman Empire actually even fell versus moved to Constantinople.

I mean that's not a retcon. Fire and Blood makes it clear that:

Which is why he's going to reject her until she's Emma D'Arcy.

It oddly says she's fifteen here but other places get it wrong. But I think it was a 16 year time skip from the Great Council so that would be appropriate if she was the baby that Aemma was pregnant with. https://www.thefocus.news/celebrity/milly-alcocks-age-revealed-to-be-much-older-than-rhaenyra-targaryen/

Actually, I suppose the question is how much of a time skip is going on. She's sixteen in episode 1 but the Council happens and Daemon is banished. She could well be significantly older by the time of....ahem. At least 2 years or so given the War of the Stepstones happened. The actress is 22 after all.

Sixteen. I suspect it's more likely the context was lost.

Some acting thoughts: Well generally I think everyone did an okay job with the standouts being Paddy Considine who plays a nuanced and likable guy who is stuck with a job he is manifestly unqualified for but is managing to not fuck it up nearly as much as most kings by simply avoiding getting into any wars or major conflicts. However, the standout performance of the episode is definitely the throne room scene where he completely loses his shit. The thing is, we KNOW that he's being manipulated into all of this by his creepy advisor but it's still nice to see him stand up for himself. Daemon Targaryen as Matt Smith feels very much like someone created a character deliberately to be a likable bad boy who fills the Jaime Lannister and Tyrion role. The thing is that there's a lot of ways they can play it as either a villain or antihero and Matt Smith manages to thread the needle of him having done some reprehensible shit on screen but to make him enough of a guy who loves his family that you sympathize with him. Oddly, I don't have a problem with the dragons (the fact they have breathing movements is a major plus for me) but I do think his armor looked fucking ridiculous. Everyone else is...fine. The teenage girls seem likeable enough but there's not enough contrast between them versus, say, Arya and Sansa. Both of the are highborn ladies even if one is more bookish and the other is a dragonriding badass in the making. Rhys Ifans' Ser Otto Hightower is probably the best actor after Paddy and Matt Smith but he is pretty understated so far with only the fact he's willing to pimp his own daughter giving a sense of just how skeevy he really is. I'm a little disappointed that Sonoya Mizuno's Mysaria doesn't get more than a couple of scenes where she's mostly just saying generic dialogue (which is not normally how I'd catalog soliciting a threesome). I'd like to know more about her and Daemon's relationship. She seems to be the one who is genuinely happy Daemon's nephew died at the party, which he is having none of, but not much else. Shae got a massive upgrade in character in the show and I hope the same would be here. Like I said there's some good acting here but there's not enough character beats so far to really be quite there up with GOT's pilot. You fell in love with virtually everyone in the first episode of GOT from Tyrion to Arya to even Catelyn. So that's a bit disappointing but it's still much-much-much better than the latter seasons.

And it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

I mean, it's horrible but I truly want Aegon II's line exterminated. It should not carry on and we're better off with the Hightower/Targaryens ended. And yes, I understand how ridiculous that is but this is Westeros. Archaic and insane codes of justice are the order of the day. It also makes a nice tragedy that the entire Dance was for nothing on their part.

My biggest hope for SNOW will be that it will be where they use as much of the discarded Martin material as possible.

I mean, they're not going to redo it. They're probably going to continue with it in Snow, though.

I feel like he completely ignores that what people want is more Game of Thrones and a single show isn't going to have that.

I have no idea what that even means and I don't want to give them clicks.

One of the big changes of the show is that it seems that Daemon is going to push her into Criston Cole's arms rather than moving for himself.

I've found it to be so. Albeit a lot more so with HOTD awake and running.

I really liked Daemon in HOTD where he manages to very subtly head off the problem of Rhaenyra and Viserys, which his brother will never know about. Proving that Viserys' claim that Daemon WASNT there for either of them was bullshit. Mind you, that is the exact opposite of Rhaena as she chooses to kick a grieving husband and blame him for Alyssa's death as if she didn't have any choice (and making her, as the article says, nothing more than a passive participant).

I mean, yes, but not in this show.

Like...the other Targaryen Prince?

Do you have links?

I mean, I 100% believe they won't show Daemon grooming her.

I dunno, he pointed out it was also used in THE HEDGE KNIGHT graphic novel.

I think there's WAY too much story for that but I think Aegon III is already a king over a ruined kingdom, most of the dragons dead, and most of House Targareyn destroyed. BTW, at 24:00, KNIGHTS WATCH talks about how the Tournament violence and cheating...may not be cheating at all.