nara

7 minutes ago, miyuki said:

Hmm let's see that fight

1. Rhaena attacks Aemond

2. Baela attacks Aemond

3. Jace attacks Aemond

4. Luke attacks Aemond

5. All four of them attack him at once and start pummeling him on the ground

6. Aemond fights them off

7. Picks up a rock and threatens them

8. Lowers the rock because he wasn't actually going to hit Luke.

9. Jace pulls a knife to stab him

10. Aemond finally uses the rock to hit Jace after Jace slashes at him with a knif

11. Jace throws sand in Aemon'd eyes

12. Luke stabs him in the face

They completely vindicated Aemond. Every level of escalation was done by the blacks

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…

14 minutes ago, HOTDfresher said:

Wouldn't her not having her own heirs give cause to the lords who are already opposed to her being future queen to refuse to accept her as their queen? I doubt anyone would let her rule at all & they would just demand Aegon II to be named as heir.  

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

2 minutes ago, Takiedevushkikakzvezdy said:

I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that Alicent and Criston get more hate for being unlikable douches than Daemon gets for killing his wife in cold blood so he can be free to remarry.

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

6 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

It was show, don't tell. Cole is outside Alicent's door now. And if that wasn't enough of a clue, the way he talks about Rhaenyra to Alicent should clarify it.

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. 
 

23 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

Is homosexuality considered a sin in Westeros?  I haven't seen it specifically defined as such.  

The takeaway I have is that Westeros really doesn't have a concept of a sexual identity.  At least not in the books.  I think there seems to be fairly nonchalant view of a person's sexual preferences (at least for the nobility).  I'm not sure anyone seems to really care that much as long as it doesn't get in the way of performing your duty to your House.

Now the commonfolk may have different issues.  We're not given much to go on there.

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

26 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Uh, so according to Emily Carey, Alicent is in love with Criston Cole? 

https://variety.com/2022/tv/actors/house-of-the-dragon-emily-carey-alicent-1235372115/amp/

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

1 hour ago, miyuki said:

I continue to appreciate the rats.

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.

I really love this series so far. Really gripping episode IMO and nice setup for blacks vs. greens in the future.

Gotta say, if I had not read the novella, I would be Team Alicent all the way. They have done a great job of making her someone sympathetic to root for.  At the same time, they have created enough doubt about Rhaenyra to make it a true choice between the two women.

I also like the Criston Cole storyline and how he became Team Alicent. Although I know the future, I was genuinely afraid he might kill himself. That’s good direction!  I’m so glad he offed Joffrey. I was thinking “that doofus gots to go!” But Laenor named his youngest after him, so I guess he does get to linger in that sense.

I gotta say that the changed/added storylines in this show seem much better than those in GoT. 

How the hell did Laena age so much when Rhaenyra and Alicent still look so young?

also Viserys looks too sick for someone who has to hang around for another 16 years!

Lots of insightful comments here but I am surprised at how many people thought Daemon’s violence against the criminals was random. Seems to me that they are paving the way for Blood and Cheese.

1 hour ago, EProduc said:

Jon being exiled feels just weird for me. He saved many lives by killing Dany, and he loved her, yet all the other lords, and especially Tyrion, Arya and Sansa knew that she eventually would have to be killed if she would continue her tyranny, and they too wanted her to be death. Yet Jon's the one doing it and he gets punished for it while Tyrion gets to be hand of the king? Idk it just feels like Tyrion used Jon to do the dirty work. I didn't like Tyrion this last episode, he basically betrayed Dany after being the one that has been counseling her extremely bad for two seasons and he's basically one of the reasons of her demise, only to betray her when things go bad and he's the one that gets Jon banished to the wall. And yeah Greyworm wanted Jon to be punished but then he left for Naath, so why would Sansa and Arya let Jon be punished when they too wanted Dany death?

I think they only punished Jon because that was the only way to keep him alive. And even if they wanted to renege after the Unsullied left. Jon is a man of honor to a fault and would not.

34 minutes ago, Jabar of House Titan said:

And that's problem.

Cersei got a nice cute little indirect eulogy from BRIENNE in Jaime's book. Whereas no one even acknowledges Daenerys for all the good she has done; no one ever thanks her for helping and saving them....

What the actual phuq

30 minutes ago, SeanF said:

That's the final insult.  Daenerys did a great deal wrong, but she did save the world and she smashed the slave trade - but still died in disgrace.  Sam Tarly will never write her up as anything other than a complete monster. 

 

Grey Worm and Yara were both pretty passionate supporters of Dany, I thought.

I agree that it’s sad that Sam will not write positive stories about Dany, but it’s a sad fact of life that history books are written by victors and are not always reflective of what really happened.

I wonder if they changed the ending when they realized in season 7 that there was no chemistry between Dany and Jon . They then gave a “romantic” ending to Jaime and Cersei (who, right or wrong, have good chemistry together) and the killing of the mad queen to Jon and Dany.

5 hours ago, briantw said:

I think the fates of the Starks will all be the same, or at least similar.  Just the paths to get there less shitty.

I think the fates of Jaime and Cersei will be radically different.  I think D&D fell in love with Lena and changed her end game because of it.

4 hours ago, Artcasur said:

 

I do think John would have stand against Danny but I can see him stabbing her like that. He has always been the one who resembles the most to lord Eddard, and he has show to have the same values carrying out the sentences by himself. The stabbing scene was more in the likes of Jaime Lannister the a kid rise by lord Eddard Stark

I actually thought the Jon/Dany stabbing scene was more suited to Jaime/Cersei. I didn’t really feel the sense of tragedy because Jon has only briefly loved Dany. Jaime stabbing Cersei is what I suspect will happen in the books, and it will be very sad because we know that he’s loved her all his life.

5 hours ago, Johan Wehtje said:

Benioff and Weiss make an attempt to put a narrative justification for Dany's action in Tyrions mouth with the stuff about the slavers, the Mereenese nobles and the Khals. And it just made me even more angry about the face heel turn they inflicted on Dany. To try and justify the character turn as if these examples foreshadowed what happened next is to add an absurd moral equivalence to the steaming pile that they they have made of this season. Just to take the liberation of Astapor as an example - the orders where extremely specific, harm no child, only attack the masters. It seriously is not anything like the burning of a city after it's surrender - which of course the characters in world knew - Tyrion and Varys joined after most of these acts and had no problem until an episode ago, when suddenly Varys is required to worry about a mad Queen. This is ret conning and for all the incredible cinematography and acting and productions values the end became hollow because how spectaculalry they messed up both the NK story and Dany's arc.

I think the fact that those other killings were not a problem for Tyrion and us was exactly the point. Killing the slaver and reneging on the bargain was dishonorable but we didn’t care because he was a slaver. Same with the masters who were crucified—they were just awful. It reminds me of the “first they came for...” posts that you see all the time. Of course, some people have questioned Dany’s acts right from the beginning, so my comment doesn’t apply to everyone.

35 minutes ago, divica said:

he was setenced to the NW and then he runs away with the wildlings?

WTF!?!?!?!?!

My thought was that he was escorting the wildlings back home

7 minutes ago, TheFirstofHerName said:

I thought it was a good episode.  The scene with Jon and Daenerys was particularly good.  Can’t help but wonder where Drogon took Daenerys.  Also.....did Bran plan or know this all along?  I was happy to see Jon reunited with Ghost and going north with the wildlings.  It seems odd that Bronn would be Master of Coin.

I thought Drogon took her to Dragonstone, where she was born. There is no new lord there so she can Rest In Peace.

7 minutes ago, Higgins86 said:

My favorite part was when they offered the unsullied a House if their own. You know the guys without dicks.

” I am Greyworm the first and absolutely last of his name, lord of the unsullied “

I laughed too. Their house will be gone in one generation 

1 hour ago, nymeria_2321 said:

I am so conflicted / confused how I feel about this episode , Dany, Jamie all of it but I want to know, and Maybe this has already been discussed , why were so many civilians going into the city???

like there’s an army bearing down on KL and a dragon queen coming why would you think that THAT city is the safe place to be ??? It was t even just the inner wall around the red keep but showed dozens/hundreds/thousands pouring into the city from outside of it. Why? 

 They are used to defending themselves with strong city and castle walls and no one has adapted to the fact that they are dealing with a dragon, not soldiers on foot or horse.  Cersei invited them in to protect themselves by coming within castle walls, so they are all doing so. Normally, people out in the open would be at risk, but instead they have become sitting ducks for Drogon to burn.

20 minutes ago, madprofessah said:

I think he was leaving  the rings for his little spiders. Also, did people think that Varys had already started to make a move against Dany, by potentially poisoning her food? Or was the fact that he was told by the little girl "[Dany] hasn't eaten anything for days"  merely information? If so, why did he tell the little girl that rick and reward are commensurate?

I agree regarding his rings. The little spiders can get good money for those rings.

I think he was having Martha poison Dany. He said something about trying again at dinner time.

42 minutes ago, SeanF said:

You may still get your wish.

Except now, killing the child would have no purpose for the plot.

11 minutes ago, Red Dragon10 said:

This may be super obvious to everyone else...but, were we supposed to understand that Varys was trying to have Daenerys poisoned, at the beginning of the episode?  I'll have to rewatch; that is the feeling I got, but maybe I read too much into it.  

That was my takeaway. Actually, I wish Dany had executed Martha too. That could have led to her believing that even children are not innocent. In turn that could have led to her justification (to herself) of the massacre.

I enjoyed CleganeBowl, but only because it was impossible for Sandor to succeed without dying himself. He had to “dig two graves...”

I have always been a fan of Jaime and Cersei dying together, but imagined a murder suicide situation. To make it work, they should have skipped the Jaime/Brienne sex or given him some sort of jolt to make him realize that although he liked and admired Brienne, he belonged with Cersei. I also did not like Cersei ‘s blubbering at the end. I am fine with her showing some emotion to her twin that she would never show others, but this was uncharacteristic. Also, she should have been looking for Jaime in the crowd. One of the things I really liked in AFFC was that Cersei never lost faith that Jaime would return to save her, even though we knew he crumpled up her letter. More of that feeling would have made their end work better. This felt unearned. I also agree with others that she needed a monologue and a bigger belly.

6 hours ago, mcbigski said:

Only in proportion to the needs of plot.

I got the impression that their strength was related to Dany’s feelings. Here, she’s furious, so Drogon’s flames are powerful. In the previous episode she is victorious and complacent, and Rhaegal and Drogon are weak.

5 hours ago, Forlong the Fat said:

I suspect that he’s going back to save her but will find her doing something so terrible he has to kill her. He’s conflicted but he’s grown enough to not go along with her killing a bunch of innocent people. 

Maybe not save her, but to give her a less painful death than Dragon fire?

2 hours ago, Elayis said:

 Of course Missendei's final wish is for Dany to burn thousands of innocent people for revenge.

 

I didn’t get the impression that Missendei wants  KL to be set on fire. I saw it as a rallying cry (vs. begging for mercy). One last shout out of her loyalty to Dany.

18 minutes ago, valgrel said:

 

- : Too many teleportations once again, dragons unable to fly high enough to spot an ennemy fleet,  went out like a bitch, but I can't find the will to care about any of the rest. 

Well, Rhaegal was injured, which is why Jon didn’t ride him, but I agree that team Dany tends to do a lousy job of keeping an eye out for danger