Ser Not Appearing

I'm 9th place in both leagues. Don't be jealous.

Finally, something that might keep me out of last place. Probably not. But maybe.

Every week that passes, I'm more and more upset that I was 2 minutes late for the draft and it bid the running back from the Colts for me ... and so expensively. I'm a Titan fan and didn't trust him and wouldn't have bid on him at all, let alone at that price. And then all he does is prove me right. Pain.

I thought it was pretty good. As always, the most notable things to me are the things that didn't land and among those include random strangulation from Daemon that goes unaddressed and then a rather standard complaint that they are far too willing to sacrifice logic and a sense of realism ... like Rhaenys being undeclared generally but participating in all war councils, specifically. Probably a 7 or 8. It wasn't bad but it didn't capture anything for me. ... I'm also somewhat mixed on Aemond not intentionally killing. It certainly makes the situation more tragic but also removes a significant portion of autonomy and blame from those involved. In the end, I don't think it factors much in my rating.

I tend to think we get generally caught up to current day and finish that story but the frame leaves off on a decent cliffhanger with no great resolution.

No. I'm talking about something entirely different and you keep bringing this up for some reason. Besides, Allicent wasn't against it. She was against it as a first measure.

Practically speaking, and assuming characters act in a way that is consistent with how they have been portrayed, of course the Blacks should have Rhaenyra and all of her children killed. It's not about what I want as a matter of rooting interest, it's about internal consistency in the narrative. This show, in many and sundry ways, often chooses spectacle over consistency. They rely on that spectacle and strongly communicated emotional markers to cover for the absence of more intricately written portrayals of events and it is, in my opinion, a subpar, aggravating and nonsensical approach to storytelling.

Is it nonsensical? Let me preface this by saying that I might use definitive language because it's definitive in my opinion ... but others are allowed to disagree and that's the entire point of discussing. Yes. Yes, it was nonsensical. Instead of ending the threat to herself and her loved ones and whatever else she holds dear in the world, she is now personally responsible for the continuance of that threat and it's likely execution to at least some of those loved ones. She didn't choose not to kill a couple of people. She chose to kill thousands through war, some of whom are people who she wouldn't want to die. I'm sure she'll argue against war next episode and when she does I'll be thankful that they're at least consistent in that small way... but she knows the players involved and she knows exactly what is going to happen. She has been built as the most perceptive and the one who truly knows how the world works. For me to now accept that she would be so naive as to think that she could actually help avoid war is an insulting proposition from the writers. Of course it's nonsensical.

Another excellent episode overall with a gigantic wart at the end. Drama with the dragon breaking through blah blah blah, nice stare down, fine ... you get a cool scene. But the idea should wouldn't have simply killed them all is asinine and their explanation post-episode is frankly embarrassing. They knew people would recognize the stupidity and the explanation is so incredibly strained that it lands with a thud. The decision rivals anything D&D did in the final few seasons of GOT. It's a case in point of how bad the show structures storytelling ever since they got past scene-by scene and conversation by conversation source material. It's a scene at the cost of sense and I despise it. I pray to God GRRM doesn't defend it. Aaaaanyway, I hate that moment, as I hated the end of last episode, but it simply can't detract from an otherwise great episode. You pretty much have to accept this nonsense at this point. We've got years of proof on that front. This one is a 9, I think. I enjoyed the tone and pacing thoroughly. Larys having a foot fetish, btw, and (even worse) a foot fetish that Allicent participates in (and is familiar with and had been participating in for quite some time) is hilariously dumb but it's so dumb it's almost excusable. They want him to do something other than stomping around, whispering and furrowing his brow, I guess. HBO is gonna HBO. I almost can't complain because, again, it's so outrageous that it's almost a caricature of what people expect from HBO.

Out of curiosity, did Rothfuss ever release that chapter or are donators still waiting on follow through?

Exactly. Either the prophecy was necessary and that's dumb or it wasn't necessary and they added it anyway and that's also dumb. Anyway, it was clear that Allicent had put away her strife and was going to move forward with honoring her husband's wishes that Rhaenyra be queen. That's what they showed us and people can deny it if they want it was clear that things had changed and Allicent was prepared to move forward with friendship. And it is only because of the prophecy misunderstanding that Allicent will follow through with ursurping Rhaenyra. She now thinks it was her husband's dying wish that Aegon be king. That's what they put on the screen and there's no uncertainty to this. It's the clear story they told - all else equal, the prophecy misunderstanding is what prevents Allicent from supporting Rhaenyra.

For my own part, I despise their use of Allicent misunderstand the prophecy. It's terrible storytelling and thoroughly umsatisfying for that to be a motivation and the deciding factor in her going through with things.

Regarding Viserys' illness, one of the post-show interviews from the earlier episodes had them say that he has a form of leprosy. So, yes, leprosy is what they intended.

This episode was great ... with a pretty big blah in letting Alicent off the hook as an usurper. Dragging the prophecy line and the dagger through this show has always been a bit awkward and now I know why they chose to do it and now I hate it. It's not enough to really drag the episode down to bad overall but, for me, that narrative choice is quite distasteful. Thanks, I hate it. I mean, it fundamentally undercuts the importance of everything else we just witnessed over 7+ episodes. Just crap, cowardly storytelling. Pick motivations, build on them and own it. This was a cop-out from hell. With that said, Viserys went out strong. He was such a likeable guy in a show devoid of any levity or likeable people and the acting / makeup / CGI was superb this episode. His frailty and pain and personal fortitude was spot on. It's sad that it's something of a trope how the best, most empathetic people sometimes make the worst impact but I think they did a really good job of building on that theme and demonstrating it through these episodes. It's perhaps one of the few things they really built out beyond moments of conflict that we must assume simmered and crystallized over each time jump. I honestly loved the way this episode finished his arc. It's a highlight of the show and storytelling so far (minus the BS Aegon confusion). Arryk and Erryk being introduced right before they matter with no character development (something this show sorely lacks due to time jumps and how they handled buildup and backstory for the war) is par for the course. Hopefully they get more than that passing mention. They did maybe too much to ensure we know Aemond is a badass, and the choice to cast the young "Strongs" as shorter softies stands out a bit much for me. The younger one seems 13. Just a bit of overkill for me. I think they could have been more subtle but that's not what they chose to do so it's ... fine. We know he's a badass and the Strongs are not and here we are. Right now, I feel like it's a 9 for largely nailing the end of the Viserys arc but I'll probably settle in around an 8 or a 7 once I brood more on the Aegon confusion nonsense.

I find "justice" for Aemond to be a damn weak claim given four other children disputing the events, their injuries corroborating and their status as more important in the line of succession (something that frustrates me in general because they don't seem to ever play into this and actually treat it as the opposite because that's convenient) ... but there is the continued portrayal of Allicent lying to herself about not being blind to her children like Viserys is with Rhaenyra. Still, the length she went to was tough to swallow and removed me from the story somewhat. Oh well, fairly small complaint ... as are many of the other bits I could mention. Maybe an 8/10. Nice to be moving towards truer conflict.

I'm going to acknowledge that this is partly a dumb question / point just because of religion and men controlling bed chambers and other power dynamics ... But there's an aspect of this that I think should mitigate some of the standard concerns and I'm curious what others think: In a patriarchy, the Kings blood is what must continue the line. It's the male who matters and so you want his natural born children. For this reason, a woman giving birth to a child that doesn't resemble the father (King) comes with some significant problems. Even worse if she is drugged to be begging with other men. In a matriarchy (something that westeros is allegedly moving towards for at least one generation at the time of the show) it is the Queen's blood that matters. You want a Targaryen on the throne and so Rhaenyra's children, regardless of the father, fulfill that need. Shouldn't this mitigate at least some of the concerns? I feel like it merits at least mentioning ("hey they're Targaryen, they're my babies, I birthed them") ... though, again it's only so relevant for the reasons mentioned at the outset. Dunno, just a thought I had, harkening back to some of the sociology classes I once took in college.

I feel like there's only so much info in book 1 regarding the overall plot and connections. Book 2 is the cypher ... but I could also be way off.

I thought the masturbation scene was both character for Aegon (term it what you want but it undermines him in the eyes of the viewer) and an add-in to the contrast of Allicent blaming the prank on the other boys, not Aegon, but then telling Larys she wouldn't be blind to her own sons like Viserys is to his daughter ... Aegon is a fuckup in the making in multiple ways and she literally ignores it.

Probably their best episode so far. The fewest eyerolls for sure.

I really should have reread books one and two before I read this book. Having now read it, I probably still need to go back to the other two books ... or at least the second one.

I'm about halfway through and enjoying this one quite a lot. There's a really nice balance of naivety, curiosity and mystery in the perspective of Nona. In some ways it feels like little has happened but I'm sure many things will have been revealed as more important than expected once I get to the end; lots of little arrows pointing a direction I didn't fully pick up on.

If that's the entirety of her complaint in an age of decadence, it's exceedingly flimsy and, again, was not presented well.

Exactly. Just poorly done. Criston Cole's admission should have mollified her somewhat. Instead they decide to have it crystallize her anger. It's really goofy.

Holy crap, the Allicent heel turn makes absolutely no sense as they did it on screen. That's ... disappointing. ... and then they just decide not to address fallout or explain Criston Cole murdering Leanor's boyfriend? Baffling, to be honest. There's a lot of good mixed in but I increasingly don't think they do the greatest job of actually telling a story in a satisfying way. It fails in the details on a consistent basis ... but so does almost every show in one way or another. Really goes to show how great the book-driven GOT seasons were. I think it deserves a 7 but I'm frustrated enough that I'd like to give it a 5.

Sweet! I hadn't thought it would be, but this is available on Scribd already. Gonna Give it a listen.