zajaz

I'm going to say (or, write) something that is going to bother a lot of people, I'm sure, but reading your post I have to say it: hearing the words "the evils of the Patriarchy" or "women for Trump" coming from a white dude's mouth is something that I find as laughable as it is pandering. It's like some of the writers are trying way too hard to be seen as "good white guys, totally not bigots".

Robert the Based: A thousand deaths will still be less than they deserve.

I'm sure the smallfolk will appreciate the sight of dragons in King's Landing from now on. It's not like they would have any reason to fear them or hate them after what Rhaenys and Meleys did. I'm sure only good things will come out of it.

Also, I just thought about this: is Vaemond supposed to be a dark foil to Ned? Losing his head and all? It's a shame that, unlike Ned, he does not have a daughter who then vows vengeance against Daemon.

Also, was it just me, or did it look like Ser Crispin Cole was sparring with Aemond as played by Crispin Glover for a second there?

I kinda prefer the book version of Viserys dying because he got obese. Show Viserys looks like he was cursed to turn into the love child of the Cryptkeeper and the Phantom of the Opera. Also, this episode just convinced me into ignoring the first five episodes of this show. Emily Carey's more naive and vulnerable version of Alicent (or, as I call her now, Alisaint) just seems like a waste of time in hindsight. Also, am I misremembering, or did Rhaenyra had Daemon kill Vaemond and then feed his corpse to Syrax in the books?

I feel DMC post's tone might come off as somewhat rude. It's true there are people that are always looking something to complain about (who are as annoying as they come), but I feel we should not consider all posters who complain here about certain aspects concerning logic to be whining. That's all I'm going to say. I'll sign off for now.

Alicent is the opposite. I said it last week, and I'll say it again: Olivia Cooke is playing Alicent 5/5 stars, just like I imagined her to be in F&B... but it's hard for me to see her as being the same person as her younger whitewashed version played by Emily Carey. They really should have credited them as: Alicent Hightower (played by Olivia Cooke) Alisaint Hightower (played by Emily Carey).

Also, the bias towards the Blacks is, if anything, GRRM's fault. Remember the laughable 11-year old seasoned commander Benjicot Blackwood?

So with Laenor suriving (despite F&B making it quite clear that, yes, he did die), do you guys think there is a possibility that the writers will have Daemon surviving his fight with Aemond and running away with Nettles? If so...

Yeah, maybe it's just me. There is just something that I can't quite connect regarding Emily Carey's and Olivia Cooke's respective performances. As I said, perhaps starting from this episode (and pretending the previous five do not exist) when re-watching the series would be a better course of action (to me, that is).

So, re-watching the episode again. Acting is top-notch and it was overall quite good... save for fricking Alicent. Don't get me wrong (I don't mean to sound whinny), I'm not questioning Olivia Cooke Alicent, quite the opossite, in fact. She's playing her exactly how I imagined book Alicent to be (5 out of 5 stars)... but I can't see anything at first glance that makes me go: "Yeah, that's Emily Carey grown up, alright". Why did the writers decided to have Alicent being around the same age as Rhaenyra, with this almost Sansa-like vulnerability to her, I will never understand. More drama? Sure, that could have worked for me if we had spent some more time with her, seeing her become this bitter woman. With such a drastic time jump, though... I'm just having some trouble convincing myself that Emily Carey and Olivia Cooke are one and the same (in-universe, that is), even considering that around 10 years have passed, with lots of conflicts in between. You know what? On a re-watch I might try to start the series on this episode. Who knows? It might help to keep some backstory from episodes 1-5 vague (just like F&B).

So, Cole kills a noble knight during a wedding feast and punches the groom (the heir to Driftmark, no less), and we never saw anyone say anything to him. Meanwhile, Harwin Strong (the heir to Harrenhal, and son of the Hand of the King) punches a Kingsguard and is banished from King's Landing? Also, just as a feared, I think the writers made a mistake in casting Emily Carey and having her play Alicent as almost Sansa-like; I found it somewhat hard to convince myself that Olivia Cooke was supposed to be playing the same character. I think Olivia Cooke should have been the only Alicent on the show. Her interacting with Milly Alcock's Rhaenyra would have been truer to the text, I feel.

I mean, I thought it was possible for her to have a crush on Crispin (more than her being in love with Rhaenyra, tbh), so it's not out of the left field. Then again, if you were having sex with Show Viserys for years without an end in sight, wouldn't you start to fantasize about the dashing (and literal) knight in shining armor?

I seem to recall having read in a book that, back in the Middle Ages, being gay (not that such term existed for medieval people in the first place) was something you did, not something you were, so maybe Corlys thought that Laenor was just having some sausage party fun.

I, for my part, just want to know what kind of potion Rhaenys drank in order to gain eternal youth; seriously, I swear that lady does not age. At this point, I'm wonder why they even bothered with Milly and Emily (but I'm glad they did) when they have Eve Best, Matt Smith, etc, looking the exact same age even in-universe decades later.

I mean Lucamore Strong did, and he didn't kill another knight at a wedding feast, AFAIK. Also, the Kingsguard being a law enforcement institution? I thought they were just glorified bodyguards. The Gold Cloaks fit the bill much better, I would think.

Also, Ser Crispin "the Nice Guy" Cole being cringey over Rhaenyra is (ironically) him representing her stans.

So, the writers seem to continue going for espectacle and drama over internal consistency. Criston would have been thrown out of the Kingsguard for doing something like this in the books, right? At a wedding reception, no less. A tourney is more acceptable because "accidents happen", but... this?

"An elected legislature can trample a man's rights as easily as a King can". -Some shitty movie.

Weirdly, GRRM also has lines saying that the Smallfolk loved (and I mean loved, like, so in love) Jaehaerys, despite him being as noble as you can get. It appears that GRRM seems to think that most people just want to live in peace, political model of their society (democracy, monarchy, etc) be damned. If that is so, I agree with him.

Also, regarding GRRM and his thoughts on monarchy (whatever those might be), perhaps he is a follower of Aristotle? Aristotle did believe in three good and the three bad forms and government: Monarchy > Aristocracy > Polity > Democracy > Oligarchy > Tyranny.

I'm sure the Westerlands smallfolk that suffered under the Northerner invasion cheered when they heard that the evil "King" Robb Stark and his cronies died like dogs, so I guess you are right.

Well, this show is a prequel to a series that treated a Big Brother-like figure ending up as King as a good thing, so...

If the show has Criston Cole believe that he can run away with Rhaenyra and marry her, then he'd be an idiot of gigantic proportions (a naive or lovestruck idiot, but an idiot, in the end), which is funny, since my initial reading of his character was either a guy who had a serious Madonna-Whore complex (to the point a girl expressing sexual interest in him was a sign that she was wanton or a whore), or a potential predator that wanted to bang the princess he had been guarding since she was a little girl. My initial reading of the guy might have been more sinister than the one the show is apparently leaning on as of now (not that keeping a grudge this big against a girl just because she used you a fling is not sinister). Then again, the writers might have whitewashed his character just as they have done so with others.