nara

Honestly, I didn’t feel the urgency coming out of the meeting, the frantic need to find allies before the Princess even realized her father was even dead. I thought more debate about who could and couldn’t be counted on, when to send a raven, etc might have helped.

But most of the sexism issues were related showing women naked and sexualized on screen far more than men. Ros and the sexposition scenes, the on screen rape of Craster’s daughters, and cave sex are examples of that. It explains why there is much less nudity in this show but it doesn’t explain making the queens less evil. It could be worse. (I’m looking at you, The Green Knight.)

Was anyone else yelling Dracarys? How easily war could have been ended right then and there…though I do appreciate the badassness of Rhaenys God, I hope someone smashes Criston Cole’s head with something. He has gone from sexy to tedious so quickly. And I am tIred of the Aegon vice story. I do enjoy the Alicent-Otto tension and the Aegon-Aemond rivalry. Also liked Mysaria the child advocate. Somehow, I didn’t feel the the suspense in this episode. Will be interesting to see how non book readers reacted. The council meeting that resulted in the death of Lord Beesbury should have gone on longer and had more debate. Instead tHey invested time in the search for Aegon.

Meanwhile, they haven’t figured out how to help women give birth safely. In this universe a lot of mother die in childbirth (Aema, Lyanna Stark, Dany’s mom, Joanna Lannister, etc.) They did a better job matching the actors’ buttocks than their faces or builds!

I think it’s also an HBO thing. After the GOT season 8 backlash, they couldn’t be sure that this show would find an audience. Therefore, it was essential for the show runners to get to the action quickly in order to get the series greenlit, and the result is they moved faster than we would have liked. Sadly, we’ve lost some good characterization and storytelling in the process.

Nicely done. Related but not humorous—The Hightowers have always been close to the Faith, right? It seems pretty natural that she would lean towards religion without it being a bad thing. However, taking down Targaryen heraldry was sketchy.

I half expected Alicent to smother Viserys with a pillow…

First, glad to see a fellow woman of Indian descent as director! Recasts: Love the new Jace and Baela! Ok with new Luke and Rhaena (though the latter seems to be wearing a very heavy wig for her small head and delicate neck! That’s gotta violate some labor law…) Why does Aemond look so old? And frankly, if they are trying to create some doubt as to whether Viserys or Daemon is his father, they’ve done a good job with casting someone who looks a lot like the latter. Hate the new Aegon. He looks too young and doesn’t resemble the previous one. Not issue with the actor himself, but he looks much younger than Aemond . No real opinion on Helaena since they have barely included her. Little Aegon and Viserys are cuties l, of course. Moving on… Jace is my favorite character in the book and he did not disappoint. I really appreciate his commitment to learning his duties and behaving like a king. I guess a little strong blood is a good thing. Diplomacy, baby. Aemond has now eroded any admiration and sympathy I had for him. That was quick. Viserys was the man in this episode. Will miss him! The lost eye was a shocker though. The end of Vaemond took me by surprise. RIP-once again, honesty=death in Westeros. Was I the only one pissed that no one bent the knee when the king entered? Daemon’s sensitivity was strong this episode (except for when he chopped most of a head off). Interesting what they did with Alicent and making her believe in Viserys’s true wishes. I am curious as to what the at poster who thinks the show favors The Blacks thinks about that. Enjoyed the family dinner, but I wish they gave Aegon some redeeming value. Speaking of which, rape? He was already unlikeable… And I confess to being a total mark in believing that Alicent was being kind to Dyana.

My bad. She intends to go from Dorne to Winterfell, etc and break the wheel and liberate anyone. Given that she destroyed KL, my assumed that she would do the same to Winterfell. Arya, John and Tyrion all had the same look of fear when she made that speech.

I don’t think so. Aemond is not a man grown but he’s at least 3 years older than Jace in the show (4 in the book) based on how old he was when Rhaenyra got married. In all fairness, Dany intended to destroy Winterfell and perhaps Sansa had an instinct that Dany was more dangerous and competent than Cersei.

Jace is my favorite in the book, followed by Luke. I was genuinely sad for them. Jace showed signs of young Jaehaerys’s wisdom in my opinion. Do we ever find out in World of Ice and Fire the original cause of the feud? It would be interesting if Brackens were in the right originally and therefore justified their unwillingness to compromise. Or maybe 3 Eyed Bran zoomed back in time and accidentally caused the Feud. I think Viserys knew Aegon was playing him but he was once again turning a blind eye to the facts. The credits are terrible. They tried to be too clever for their own good. I thought the prank was pretty cruel. Aemond was very sensitive about not yet having a dragon when his younger nephews did, so they made fun of him for it. Luke was too young perhaps to know better, but Aegon and even Jace were not. I agree. Laenor is pretty light skinned so adding Rhaenyra into the mix could make their kids pretty light skinned.

Maybe she’s learned some discretion and composure since her sulky, whiny teen days?

I didn’t get the impression that she was suggesting torture, just questions. In any case, it was a deflection tactic, not a real interest in questioning him. She knows who is influencing him.

Forgot to mention earlier…sometime between Rhaenyra suggesting Jace marry Helaena and now, Alicent overcame her dislike of strange Targaryen customs enough to betroth Aegon to Helaena. Someone mentioned that Alicent is beginning to show signs of madness in the episode. Honestly, I think her reaction to her son’s eye being gouged out is pretty natural. However, I wonder if Daemon giggling is just another sign of his impending madness. Related, “an eye for an eye” is foreshadowing “a son for a son”, which I find interesting. Separately, did Helaena end up killing that spider? I couldn’t tell what she did.

You missed the part about Aemond threatening to have his dragon burn them. Not a big deal for most people but Vhagar just burned the girls’ mother so that was pretty vicious. I do think the Blacks children and portrayed more favorably in general, but it makes sense. Luke and Jace have not been taught to hate their uncles, while Aemond and Aegon have. Naturally the younger ones are not as viscous. They did bully Aemond in the previous episode, but I got the sense that they learned that from Aegon, not their mother.

They might replace Addam with Laenor returning.

Just as I was complaining (yelling at the tv because I am watching alone) about the murder of Laenor and the speed of Rhaenyra and Daemon getting remarried, they completely threw me for a loop with the last scene. Might be the happiest ending possible, but could in the future raise questions about the legitimacy of Rhaenyra and Daemon’s children. Very sad funeral for Laena. I liked Jace going to comfort his cousins, even if he had to be prodded to do so. But someone needs to take scissors to the boy’s bangs… Daemon giggling was stupid and unnecessary. Apparently Alicent is talking openly to both her sons about Aegon becoming king, since Aemond referred to Helaena as Aegon’s future queen… Really enjoyed Aemond claiming the dragon. I think it made more sense to show this one than Laena’s claiming. It gave me more respect for the boy and was reminiscent of Harry Potter first flying his broom. The fight that led to the maiming was well done. Even though I knew what would happen, it was suspenseful. The aftermath was also suspenseful, but once again, someone gets away with treason— l this time Alicent. At least this time Criston showed a lick of sense. By the way, Graham McTavish is criminally underutilized…

They would probably say it’s a sign that the gods are against her and use that to justify disinheritance

I think it’s because Daemon was introduced as a jerk whereas the others were treated more gently at the start of the series

Yes, but that’s a big deal isn’t it? It’s one thing for everyone to know about the affair with Harwin, but for Criston to change loyalties without everyone knowing there was a story behind it and discussing it is strange. And there is an easy logic to it too. Alicent pleaded his case after the wedding and in return he became her shield. But I think that should be mentioned.

Like some others, I felt the time skip was a little too much because it missed showing the relationship between Rhaenyra and Harwin and Daemon and Laena, as well as Laenor’s depression over Joffrey and Alicent’s descent into bitchiness. An episode in between would have been good. 6 pregnancies and a masturbation scene. Somewhere, D&D are shaking their heads at the missed opportunities for graphic sex scenes… The ladies aged up so much but Criston Cole looks the same? I think a few grey hairs would have been in order. Speaking of him, I take it he is no longer Rhaenyra’s sworn shield? He wasn’t outside her bedchamber and he didn’t go with her to Dragonstone. But it’s strange that it’s not mentioned at all. Another thing they could have covered in missing episode. I liked the introduction of the boys. Jace is my favorite character in the book so I look forward to seeing him. I did feel sorry for Aemond being bullied—I do like the fact that they have created some empathy for characters that I found insufferable in book. I did have expect his eye to go in this episode, but I guess Rhaenyra and family can come for a visit later on. I liked Laena and Harwin but I agree that their deaths lacked the emotional punch because we didn’t see them long enough to get attached.

Didn’t the High Septon nab Loras Tyrell for it in GoT?

To be fair, who wouldn’t be? Man is hot and her husband is old!

Paving the way for Cheese’s grand entrance into the story

Btw, I was not able to post on previous episodes due to account issues so I will say it here. The opening credits would be better if they displayed a family tree from Aegon the conqueror down to this generation and added children as they were born.