EggBlue

so , photos of ep7 : https://watchersonthewall.com/new-photos-episode-7/ any idea what Corlys might be saying to little Luke? by the way , aren't Baella and Rhaena twins in the show?

I've seen that too . however , I cannot see why , no matter how much I try ! I mean first of all, dragonriders don't get roasted , they burn the others . then , it appears that Daemon wasn't going to make Viserys's choice (which would have explained why Laena would prefer getting roasted than letting Daemon decide her sacrifice whether she would have wanted to give her life for uncertain life of her child or not) . additionally, with how little screen time they have given Laena , they have completely lost the only characterization she gets in the book: that she is adventurous , bold and loves flying . her conversation with Daemon about Pentosi offer was a good opportunity to have her talk of why she married him (likely for adventure) , why she prefers life of a traveler rather than country life and that if she had to stop her travels , she'd rather be in Driftmark where her daughters can have their birthrights ( in the book she and Rhaenyra made the match between their children) . and in the end, you could have her go to Vhaegar for one last fight. heck, she could actually fly to Driftmark and we didn't have to think of how Daemon will bring Vhagar back! not to mention , in this mess , they have left out another one of few redeemable qualities in Daemon! that instead of standing there seemingly unbothered with the pain his wife is going through , he'd fly to another island to get another maester so that he may be able to give her a chance of survival! this Daemon seemed to be just waiting to go back to bed!

I would have said no , there's no chance , he won't leave all his family when he is already with Qarl anyways and he has to keep it a secret anywhere else! but I've already seen the silliness of Laena , Rhea and Joffrey's deaths

for all we know they had sex a dozen times or so over the years and ,heck , it might be that even she hadn't known the parentage before they were born! but in any case , it's not like she could predict they will all turn out to be mini-Harwins! all Alicent's children have silver hair!

don't worry about it . he's just a Targaryen king

you should be an Aegon III fan , my friend. that guy's policy was full bellies and dancing bears!

with any other two houses , Alicent's advice is actually pretty decent . but it's Blackwoods and Brackens and their liege is weak Tully of pre-Dance . we explicitly know that Tullys become more powerful in Riverrun after the Dance (thanks to Kermit) and Blackwood/Bracken feud is known among us . Rhaenyra's advice to directly investigate the case is a great idea, long term.

has anyone noticed that there's a bunch of furniture casually laid in Rhaenyra's front door?! what's happened there? did the evil step mother put her in the garage?

it's not a mystery for the reader . but it seems foolish to me that so many characters were reluctant to see the truth if there were no reason for them to convince themselves that boys are Laenor's.... especially the people who have absolutely no gain to dismiss the rumors , for example someone like Eustace .

again , grandma problem ! they should have given Baratheon looks to Rhaenys and Arryn looks to Aemma . I mean .. in the book only Green faction were so sure about boys' parentage and even among them someone like Eustace (who had every reason to despise Blacks after he was made to WALK to Oldtown ) fully believe the boys are Laenor's.

funny thing is that Tyrion did manage to get rid of both Daenerys and Jon in one move and he did install his own chosen king in another!

even in the book she said that after Alicent brought forth the "eye for an eye" argument.

well, it was 7 yr old Laenor who lost to adult Viserys . but either way , when it comes to women succession in Westeros , it's a matter of preference rather than acceptance .considering a daughter comes before a brother in lordships and looking at the facts that I explained in my previous post , it's clear that Westeros was more open to the idea of a ruling queen in that time in history and it was Jaeherys's decision in 92 that set the stage for future succession crisis, whether in 101 , Rhaenyra/Aegon , Viserys/Daena and so on . even in the Dance , despite 101 and 92 precedent and despite the fact that Aegon was Rhaenyra's brother rather than an uncle , half the realm rose for Rhaenyra.

what makes you so sure that Westeros society of 92 wouldn't have accepted a woman? they were used to Rhaenys and Visenya . then both Maegor and Jaeherys named Aerea as heir (with zero objection) . and then Alyssane became a hugely influential and popular queen consort who could make it easier to accept a ruling queen . not that Westerosi society had much to say in the matter at that point in history . they were crushed by Aegon and his sisters , Maegor and Jaeherys's propaganda and dragon show off and thus the king's word was law at that point. I understand you were addressing 101 but in the end of the day it was Jaeherys himself to put himself in 101 situation where there were no good answers . in 92 , while it's somewhat understandable with your logic , I think Jaeherys was a sexist from the beginning which is clear in how he treats his daughters . this problem could go back to how he viewed his mother ( a weak woman who had given in to Rogar ) and his older sister ( a mad woman ) . while his acceptance of Alyssane's counsel seems to mostly stem from his love for her , an exception. Baelon was a grown man but unlike Aemon , he was not trained to rule and despite the small age difference never sat in the small council before becoming heir . so there is no indication that he had any merit besides flying his dragon and torching ships . meanwhile , Rhaenys was his father's only child and it was all but guaranteed that she would succeed him. one would imagine the able prince of Dragonstone had put some effort in teaching her the job . in her wedding , Rhaenys shows the same care for perception and show of power as her grandfather as she decides to put up a huge affair and fly her dragon for all the attendants to see. and as far as Baelon's experience against Rhaenys's goes , she had Corlys to more than make up for it !

giving Aemma and Rhaenys silver hair was the mistake . in the book , grandmothers' ancestry could play a huge role in the fact that people like Eustace and the boys themselves believe Velaryon parentage . @The Grey Wolf Strikes Back Jaeherys put himself in that situation when he named Baelon heir . Rhaenys was by all Westerosi standards a grown woman and a capable one .

thank U Ran. I think it's safe to say the season as a whole will be a solid 7 . hopefully , season 2 will reach 8 . next season will be a bigger challenge in terms of characters but with less plot points to rush through , there's more opportunity for them . I also hope they forget about what seems to be surprise of the week thing Joff and Laena's changed deaths certainly did not sit well with me.

I don't get the editor of this show ! they've cut so many scenes that could give some humanity to the characters. this Daemon scene , Cole's vow scene and Alicent/Rhaenyra first fight among them!

what a hypocrite Daemon is by ignoring Rhaena? his own dragon wasn't hatched in the cradle , he'd claimed his uncle's dragon ! I forgot to mention how I appreciate it that I can easily start hating Cole and Alicent as I did in the book by the way , does anyone know if the rooftop scene was cut or the released photos of Daemon and girls were just behind the scenes?

I mean , all she talks and thinks of is Rhaenyra! she is declaring war with every breath

this show is very good at getting just near where you think it could be a great episode , just to bring it down in the last minutes! I loved how the children are established . I surprisingly liked Aemond and I felt for teenage Aegon when his mom walked in on him ... I mean he is definitely a bit of a bully , he mocks his brother , he pushes little Luke around and he is kidding no one when he fights 10 yr old Jace . but come on! these kids could be friends if not for Alicent and Criston Cole :/ Rhaenyra and Laenor were also highlights for me . BUT some frustrating parts: Laena's death sucked the most , however this time it was the concept that was terrible , instead of execution (which was the case in Joff's death) . I mean if they wanted so much to go for a "heroic death" , why didn't they have her claim her choice in the matter ? Strongs death was also rushed . this week 3 major characters died and yet , it didn't feel like it. no episode felt to suffer from rushing through the plot like this one. like, what is up with Larys? ... the man is clearly obsessed with Alicent . but the problem is we haven't seen him slowly get obsessed over the episodes and we don't know how and when he stopped caring about his own family! Rhaenyra's transition was good , you still see young Rhaenyra underneath when she is in the council or when she smiles at lord Beesbury situation . but Alicent's isn't all that good. if they wanted to have pre-Dance in two seasons , having Alicent-Rhaenyra friendship was a good idea . that kinda thing needs a slow transition . Alicent seems to completely despise Rhaenyra by now . honestly it would have been better if they used teenage versions only for Rhaenyra and Velaryons and left Olivia Cooke as Alicent: a young woman who likes teenage Rhaenyra enough but she is not her best friend. now I think with the structure they have chosen some of their ideas is over-ambitious , namely the girls' friendship , addressing child bride issue in form of 12 yr old Laena Velaryon ,and Larys. the lack of material in Strong household is frustrating . Laena-Daemon relationship is barely shown and I wonder if the casual viewer would ask about the son of Sealord the council was concerned about? ps. by the way , it's really funny how we discussed that book-Daemon might be a good father considering every one of his 7 children turn out great and here show-Daemon is even worse than Otto . so he leaves his wife's burned body there and takes his kids up on the roof where they can see it ? instead of you know.. protecting them from seeing such horror?

considering Rhaena and Rhea ...even Ryam Redwyne and Melos are not cut , I think it's doubtful that Daeron gets cut . he'll probably be treated like Stannis in GoT . there will be mentions of his existence , till we meet him in season two.

yes . that is something that's not being addressed enough . the whole Rhaenyra's betrayal for lying to her friend is played up so much ( never mind that it was clear that the way Alicent was talking about it with disgust surely had a role in Rhaenyra's mistrust of her) , while Alicent herself had been hiding the fact that she'd been visiting Rhaenyra's father ever since queen Aemma's death. (the king asked her to hide it only after 6 months when he apparently felt something more than just companionship!) besides , if we are going to go deep, in ep 2 when Otto is leaving at night he asks Alicent if she'll visit the king tonight , to which she answers "if you wish it" the next time we see Viserys and Alicent in the same room , he announces their wedding plan . now, that's a good implication that Alicent had spent the night with Viserys , if anything !

regarding Daemon in Vale , I think what makes people (including myself) question the logistics of Daemon's presence in Vale and his plan is not just about Caraxes or the horse or lack of imagination, no , when a scene doesn't have much to achieve in storytelling , then people start nitpicking at whereabouts of Caraxes and such.... and as us book readers know , there won't be the smallest consequence for Daemon . quite the opposite ! Vale , and house Royce as the second most powerful Arryn bannerman, will be one of the most loyal kingdoms to Rhaenyra . now, they could try to make Daemon a bit gray by giving him regret this as one of his many mistakes. but that won't mean much anyway , Rhea didn't mean shit to him in any case and he'll have more than that to regret , say, Blood and Cheese. furthermore, if we are to accept that Daemon decided to kill his wife after 20yrs to be with Rhaenyra ,then how the hell did it take so long to get back to her and even then won't take her to Dragonstone and marry her as she dared him? a raven had taken some time to deliver the sad news to Driftmark when Rhaenyra and Viserys arrived , so let's say the whole trip was in one day. but then it takes some time to get ready for the feast .. in fact, at least as much time that Lord of Casterly Rock and lord of Oldtown had arrived ... two weeks? so , it took Daemon something like at least 2/5 weeks to get to Kingslanding after his freedom in marriage is secured?! what was the point of that scene ? really ? regarding Dragon presence in the show, to bring up budget problem is pretty much missing the point . the problem is not that we don't SEE the cool expensive CGI creatures . it's that they don't seem to have much impact on politics or decision making in dragon age court as they should. after all , "dreams didn't make us kings, dragons did"! dragons place this family closer to gods than men , dragons made doctrine of faith possible to allow them all the incest and it's only losing dragons that marks the beginning of the end for House Targaryen ... right? we don't need to SEE Meleys and Vhaegar if there's no budget , all we need is Strong's concern that house Velaryon is more powerful than house Targaryan with just Syrax . we need an egg in baby Aegon hands to see how Targaryens give their kids dragons instead of toys and pets (and all was needed was a prop) .we need mentions here and there that Targaryens tend to go to their dragons and fly when something troubles them just as a reminder that there's connection between dragon riders and their dragons so that when Joffrey Velaryon decides to save Tyraxec , it makes more sense . that Aegon II's grief over Sunfyre seem as more than loss of his power and Dreamfyre's suicide parallels Haelena's .

episode 6 released photos: https://watchersonthewall.com/house-dragon-episode-6-photos/ I'm mostly curious about two photos: 1. what is Aegon saying to Cole (hope he's gonna be a fun character before he becomes the drunken jerk that he is) 2. what are the twins so afraid of in the last photo? I sincerely hope Laena won't die in the next episode ... it's wayyyy too soon and she should die in Driftmark ... I so wanna see the scene where Daemon flies to get a new maester (that's one of the few moments where I feel for Daemon) by the way, does any other Harry Potter fan here gets Luna Lovegood vibes from Helaena?

I fully agree about the dragon issue . I understand that it may have been a budget thing , but this project was a dragon ambitious one from the start . if they didn't have the budget , they should have gone to Blackfyre rebellion or something. there were many occasions they could use dragons to show dragons are more than killing devices . the Craxes-Daemon moment in ep 1 was promising . they could show Rhaenys and Corlys's talk beside Meleys where Rhaenys likely would be when she is anxious and worried . they should have had Rhaenyra fly on Syrax in her tour and they could show that she and Laenor had flew to their beach by showing the dragons in distant or something . knowing Daemon , he probably would have been attracted to Laena seeing she rides Vhaegar rather than she is almost as pretty as her brother . but even without all that and with budget limits , they could show how dragons affect everything in this age of dragons . Strong should be the one who brings up Velaryon powers with their dragon number . instead of having Daemon show up in the middle of King's speech , we should see a servant informing Viserys (or Strong) that people have seen Caraxes , then have Daemon show up . and finally , if they have trouble giving "conquer babe " a baby Sunfyre , they can just give him a dragon egg to play with... and I'm not getting into Daemon-Vale nonsense ! and on that note, I think we are ready to have our House of the Dragon Rant and Rave thread!