C.T. Phipps

Yes, she has no failings except all the failings shown. Which I'd mention but you just dismiss it.

I admit, I do hope they amp up Aegon's unworthiness in the next season. Maybe they can make him the absolute monster that Joffrey was in the public consciousness then exceed him. It'd be interesting to see Aemond also be someone who could be a much-much better king but is ruined by his kinslaying. Like Jaime, he's now someone who will never escape that label.

Well, the show did what it set out to do. Greens and Blacks are fighting online. It's just both sides agree the show aren't doing the other justice.

I'm notably someone who hopes we skip the Blackfyre Rebellion for Dunk and Egg to do the aftermath. Seeing it would seriously underestimate the mystery of it in the second novella's adaptation of it. Mind you, I feel like the same "problems" of HOTD would be there. Because I believe the Blackfyres should be portrayed as pure evil, morons, dishonorable, and everything wrong with Westeros. And I see the EXACT arguments happening again.

The only two genuinely evil characters seem to be Larys and Otto who plan evil and do it. Oddly, the showrunners seem to want to AVOID humanizing Daemon as they've deleted huge numbers of Matt Smith scenes where he shows his softer side. And yeah, there's a list of all the deleted scenes like the wedding of Viserys and Alicent, the claiming by Laena, Daemon mourning his wife, and so on.

https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2022/10/house-of-dragon-1x10-black-queen-review.html Do you hate the Greens? I know I do. George R.R. Martin stated when he wrote The Dance of the Dragons, he expected fans to be divided on which side to support. Then he found out that it was something like 90% in support of the Blacks and 10% in support of the Greens. The show has actually probably modified those numbers but it's now, 80% support of the Blacks and 20% people who think the Greens aren't being portrayed right due to treating them as the scumbags they are. I admit, if you couldn't tell, I'm a bit biased in my Pro-Rhaenyra support. I think the Greens being a bunch of scheming evil bastards is one of the things necessary to give any weight to the Dance of the Dragons. I feel like they should be the most contemptible scummy monsters imaginable while the Blacks should be antiheroes who are facing someone worse with just a DASH of a question whether it matters which side is on the throne because the common people will suffer the most no matter what. However, whether or not you support #TeamAlicent or #TeamRhaenyra, the fact is you've been waiting for the civil war to happen between House Targaryen's three branches. Yes, I'm throwing in the Velaryons there. Everyone knew there was eventually going to be a war between the dragonriders and we all just wanted to see how it would come about. Indeed, HBO executives reportedly wanted to start with the Dance of the Dragons and had to be persuaded by George R.R. Martin to give it a season of build-up. The premise is that Rhaenys arrived at Dragonstone and tells Daemon and Rhaenyra that Aegon has crowned himself King of Westeros. Rhaneyra is furious but not quite ready to start a war since it's clear that not nearly the level of support she expects is available and House Velayron is an uncertain ally at best. Corys and Rhaenys decide to throw their lot in with Rhaenyra anyway, mostly because Rhaenyra is showing restraint, but Otto provides an unexpected offer of terms that would allow her to back down with dignity. Daemon, of course, is furious and almost strangles his wife over it. What follows is an interesting depiction of Rhaenyra's mindset as she really does want to be a good ruler and not tear the realm apart. I like Daemon's reaction, though, because he points out Viserys may have been a fan of omens as well as prophecies because it allowed him to think he was more important than he was--a mediocore king over an utterly uninteresting time. However, the losses she suffers in this episode pile up with her father dying, her baby being stillborn, and the horrifying death of one of her sons. I can understand when and where she breaks in deciding to burn them all ala Aerys II. Speaking of which, the actual beginning of the Dance is interesting to interpret from the perspective that Aemond didn't intend to kill his nephew. He was clearly interested in scaring the living crap out of him by chasing him down but lost control of the world's largest dragon. Which is a a nice callback to Viserys trying to warn everyone that the dragons are not really under their control. It's also still Aemond's fault, like aiming a gun at his nephew to scare him only for it to go off. This episode was tense and built on a lot of the things I liked about the previous episodes. As stated, without the time jumps, the show feels much-much stronger. We needed the cast to be able to follow-up on events from story to story. Plot elements are also not being tossed away like Corys thinking Rhaenyra had something to do with Laenor's death. I'm not sure I quite buy the fact that he still intends to support her but since he does view her children as his grandchildren, maybe that's enough. Overall, I've had my issues with the season. I've felt the time-jumps have absolutely killed the pacing, that some of the plot twists were unnecessary (like Viserys' delerium being misinterpreted or Criston Cole not getting any punishment for multiple murders), Alicent's characterization has been all over the place, and way too many deleted scenes. They cut away a lot of scenes that deserved to be in the story. Still, I think we've finally reached a point where actions can be properly followed up on.

https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2022/10/house-of-dragon-1x10-black-queen-review.html Do you hate the Greens? I know I do. George R.R. Martin stated when he wrote The Dance of the Dragons, he expected fans to be divided on which side to support. Then he found out that it was something like 90% in support of the Blacks and 10% in support of the Greens. The show has actually probably modified those numbers but it's now, 80% support of the Blacks and 20% people who think the Greens aren't being portrayed right due to treating them as the scumbags they are. I admit, if you couldn't tell, I'm a bit biased in my Pro-Rhaenyra support. I think the Greens being a bunch of scheming evil bastards is one of the things necessary to give any weight to the Dance of the Dragons. I feel like they should be the most contemptible scummy monsters imaginable while the Blacks should be antiheroes who are facing someone worse with just a DASH of a question whether it matters which side is on the throne because the common people will suffer the most no matter what. However, whether or not you support #TeamAlicent or #TeamRhaenyra, the fact is you've been waiting for the civil war to happen between House Targaryen's three branches. Yes, I'm throwing in the Velaryons there. Everyone knew there was eventually going to be a war between the dragonriders and we all just wanted to see how it would come about. Indeed, HBO executives reportedly wanted to start with the Dance of the Dragons and had to be persuaded by George R.R. Martin to give it a season of build-up. The premise is that Rhaenys arrived at Dragonstone and tells Daemon and Rhaenyra that Aegon has crowned himself King of Westeros. Rhaneyra is furious but not quite ready to start a war since it's clear that not nearly the level of support she expects is available and House Velayron is an uncertain ally at best. Corys and Rhaenys decide to throw their lot in with Rhaenyra anyway, mostly because Rhaenyra is showing restraint, but Otto provides an unexpected offer of terms that would allow her to back down with dignity. Daemon, of course, is furious and almost strangles his wife over it. What follows is an interesting depiction of Rhaenyra's mindset as she really does want to be a good ruler and not tear the realm apart. I like Daemon's reaction, though, because he points out Viserys may have been a fan of omens as well as prophecies because it allowed him to think he was more important than he was--a mediocore king over an utterly uninteresting time. However, the losses she suffers in this episode pile up with her father dying, her baby being stillborn, and the horrifying death of one of her sons. I can understand when and where she breaks in deciding to burn them all ala Aerys II. Speaking of which, the actual beginning of the Dance is interesting to interpret from the perspective that Aemond didn't intend to kill his nephew. He was clearly interested in scaring the living crap out of him by chasing him down but lost control of the world's largest dragon. Which is a a nice callback to Viserys trying to warn everyone that the dragons are not really under their control. It's also still Aemond's fault, like aiming a gun at his nephew to scare him only for it to go off. This episode was tense and built on a lot of the things I liked about the previous episodes. As stated, without the time jumps, the show feels much-much stronger. We needed the cast to be able to follow-up on events from story to story. Plot elements are also not being tossed away like Corys thinking Rhaenyra had something to do with Laenor's death. I'm not sure I quite buy the fact that he still intends to support her but since he does view her children as his grandchildren, maybe that's enough. Overall, I've had my issues with the season. I've felt the time-jumps have absolutely killed the pacing, that some of the plot twists were unnecessary (like Viserys' delerium being misinterpreted or Criston Cole not getting any punishment for multiple murders), Alicent's characterization has been all over the place, and way too many deleted scenes. They cut away a lot of scenes that deserved to be in the story. Still, I think we've finally reached a point where actions can be properly followed up on.

Overall, I've had my issues with the season. I've felt the time-jumps have absolutely killed the pacing, that some of the plot twists were unnecessary (like Viserys' delirium being misinterpreted or Criston Cole not getting any punishment for multiple murders), Alicent's characterization has been all over the place, and way too many deleted scenes. They cut away a lot of scenes that deserved to be in the story. Still, I think we've finally reached a point where actions can be properly followed up on.

It's actually telling that none of the accounts actually disagree with Mushroom's account. They just give a weak defense that he was with a "proper" mistress rather than a child. Which is about the only time everyone agrees in the story, so Aegon must have been a royal piece of crap. Mallory/Alicent: You were with a 12 year old prostitute when your father died!? Archer/Aegon: She was fifteen and a merchant's daughter! Mallory/Alicent: I suppose you think that's better! Archer/Aegon: I dunno, isn't it?

Vhagar: YAY, VISENYA! WE FINALLY CONQUERED DORNE! Aemond: What? Vhagar: When did you lose an eye and when did they get dragons?

Aegon II has always been completely unsympathetic. It was Helena, her children, and Daeron who were sympathetic on the Greens. Fuck, Aemond is a war criminal even by Westerosi standards and he's more sympathetic than the way Aegon II was. I'm confused at the idea the show should go out and make him sympathetic when he was never written as anything remotely resembling it.

Which, again, is the same as taking Mushroom's account as gospel for both of them. Which we always knew they would because Game of Thrones is built on the shocking and lurid. Martin is the one who made Aegon II a scumbag.

I mean, on these forums, the sheer volume of people calling her a fool and incompetent for endangering her claim through her actions is without limit.

I think everyone knows that the description is Westeros' insulting perception of her. Basically, Mushroom draws a horrible picture of her by the standards of the time and the show goes with that. People act like that doesn't count, though. Because they want to say she's a saint and perfect to complain about the Greens.

She might have if she found out no one supported her claim.

Yes but Mushroom is also someone who has access to sources the others don't. Also, this is something I've noticed. Whenever Mushroom suggests Rhaenyra is a whore, cheated on her husband, cheated with Criston Cole, and mothered three bastards--it's never complained about and that's fine when on screen. Whenever Mushroom says something awful about the Greens, everyone thinks he's unreliable and baseless in his accusations.

Seriously, I would pay good money to HBO for "Director's Cuts" of every episode.

You mean being book accurate? No, sorry, you're right. They softened Aegon by not making him a pedophile.

I dunno, that's a weird remark to make when the biggest change of this episode is that a male character known as a Complete MonsterTM who massacres entire towns is shown to have not intended to do one of his most infamous acts.

I assume that the books are completely accurate in the Game of Thrones timeline. Which this is, not A Song of Ice and Fire.

Yes and he's sworn to Rhaenyra as the one true queen. Swearing one to Aegon II would be treason.

Are we assuming he didn't want to kill him? Because, he was chasing him down. What did people think he thought would happen? That he'd pull over and surrender? No, he meant to kill him and the dragon knew it. I think he was amazed at his own handiwork.

They're not oathbreaking scum who betrayed their one true queen?

I mean, the killing of the Smallfolk was justified. They were all traitors.

I think the show isn't demonstrating that they don't need to offer peace terms because Rhaenys demonstrates IMMEDIATELY that they do not have nearly the advantage they think they do.