HOTD Musings

[Lord Varys]

3 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

It sounds like we’re going to see very little of the North, which would explain why they haven’t been hyping it more. Jace is back at Dragonstone by whenever that dinner conversation is. If Sara Snow is involved, she’ll probably just be a cameo. 

What else should she be doing? With Jace not exactly being in he show for long she could no possibly have a big role unless hey were inventing stuff left and right.

3 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Cutting Nettles may be a way to whitewash Rhaenyra, but it’s probably also because they can’t think of a way to portray Daemon’s affair with a teenage girl as “redemptive.” They might even be trying to do a reverse-Aemond and have him eventually redeem himself through bonding with his daughters.

Cutting Nettles can make sense if they deem her Daemon's daughter - or if George told them point black that she is his daughter rather than an implausible lover. Daemon has two girls already, and there is literally no reason to give the character a third only for 'family time' scenes. 

3 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Do we think they’re just going to go ahead and cut Daeron at this point? It would be pretty silly to introduce him in S3.

That would be surprising as the character is rather important.

2 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

It doesn't look like the season will go as far as I had expected (Rhaenyra takes KL) unless they're cutting out the Battle of the Gullet and changing Jace's fate somewhat.

No chance that the Gullet is cut in light of the build-up for that since season 1 - and the confirmed build-up for it in season 2.

[The Bard of Banefort]

1 hour ago, The Dragon Demands said:

Sara Hess' comments are very confusing because they outright contradict what Ryan Condal and others say in the EW interviews and behind the scenes videos: Condal & cast insist that the story "widens out" in Season 2, i.e. introduces members of other Great Houses, while Hess insists "it's mostly focused on the Targaryens at Dragonstone, KL, and Harrenhal".

My HOPE is that this is merely a case of glass half full or half empty.

That is, Hess might be trying to urge "the Starks and Lannisters will never be as prominent as the Targaryens in this"...which is true. The way I've phrased it is that in ASOIAF terms, the Starks & Lannisters would be about as prominent as Margaery Tyrell or Theon Greyjoy - "prominent secondary characters". 

....they oddly acknowledge that Sara Snow exists only to then urge "expect very little" of Sara Snow?

It is PLAUSIBLE that Sara's only in one episode, maybe even sleeps with Jace....but Hess is stressing they didn't turn her into a new main character on the scale of Margaery Tyrell or Baela. 

Particularly in the context that she didn't just say "Sara Snow's not in it a lot" but needlessly stressed "we're focused on KL/Dragonstone/Harrenhal"....when we know there's significant focus at the Eyrie and Golden Tooth, etc.

I'll wait and see.

But the bigger problem are the rumors about Nettles.

I'm now 50/50 on whether an attack against KL happens in the finale. I used to think no, now I'm not sure.

What I WILL say is that if this was the last trailer they've done a very poor job of introducing the new characters - even Cregan is just a single flash with no dialogue? Well, the in-house behind the scenes promo videos are usually better.

Here's hoping we get a "meet the new characters" featurette in the coming weeks.

I think we’ll probably get a handful of scenes in new places in order to establish the new characters, but that the meat of the story will still take place at court.

 

One problem with cutting Nettles is that we’re losing a commoner’s perspective. Alyn/Addam don’t really count, since they’re noble bastards, and Hugh and Ulf are the traitors. S1 tried to set up the idea of Mysaria being the people’s champion, but that’s kind of hard to do considering she was pimping out young virgins in the very first episode.

The Daemyra stans see Daemon “not accepting Rhaenyra as queen” as slander, but that’s probably one of the more realistic elements to include. A lot of real-life prince/king consorts struggled with insecurity over being second to their wives.

[The Dragon Demands]

15 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I think we’ll probably get a handful of scenes in new places in order to establish the new characters, but that the meat of the story will still take place at court

I hope not. I really hope not.

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, The Dragon Demands said:

I hope not. I really hope not.

Well many of the main characters do stay put in the book. Alicent and Otto never leave KL. Same with Larys Strong. Rhaenyra doesn't leave Dragonstone until she and Daemon take KL by surprise. So really, Daemon, Aemond, and Criston are the main characters from season 1 who travel. The trailer has so far indicated that outside of the two courts, we will get Jace travelling to the North (and hopefully they show his pit stop in the Vale), Daemon at Harrenhal, the gathering of armies (we see Lannisters forces departing Casterly Rock and I think the Hightower army departing Oldtown), the battle of Rook's Rest, and possibly naval actions with the Velaryon fleet and the Triarchy. 

[The Bard of Banefort]

1 hour ago, The Dragon Demands said:

I hope not. I really hope not.

I watched your video on Dunk & Egg BTW and I disagree about the time skip. I think most of Egg’s “meddling” will take place during Maekar’s reign. There’s also his marriage to Betha and the birth of their children, plus Egg’s siblings’ marriages and deaths (and the potential romance between Dunk and Daella). There’s just no Blackfyre Rebellion to contend with.

[Lord Varys]

33 minutes ago, The Dragon Demands said:

I hope not. I really hope not.

Not sure why. I mean, the Dance was *never* an ensemble story where the needs, wants, and desires of the great houses counted or were even depicted. I hoped that within the shadow of the two big pretenders/factions others might come forth - hypothetical lesser branches of House Targaryen, royal bastards and their descendants, possibly even some secessionist desires (as the numbers of dragons declined), Dornish incursions, etc. ... but all that was put firmly to rest with FaB.

The way the story is written they either would have to invent sub-plots and new stories for the great houses and other characters or they would have to depict them as they are in the story - which is as featured guests who show up for one two lines/scenes.

It might be great for Black Aly or Bloody Ben or Jeyne Arryn to have stories of their own. But they don't.

And even in the royal family certain characters have little to no stories at certain points. Helaena is a non-character in FaB. That she is even a dragonrider is a joke as it has no bearing on the plot. Not sure why Dreamfyre is even in the show if a faithful adaptation will have her not mount her once during the Dance. Rhaena has no role in the Dance story as such aside from having a little dragon pet in the second to last scene. Baela shows up once for a battle scene and then goes away again.

The show has to focus and develop the characters they introduced in season 1. They can't (and shouldn't, really) bother with many others. And if they develop characters make it fit with established stories/characters.

Just think about what they will have to do with Otto after he is fired. What does this guy, a main character, do after he is no longer Hand? They will have to come up with something since he Alicent's father, Aegon's grandfather, and right there at court.

16 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I think we’ll probably get a handful of scenes in new places in order to establish the new characters, but that the meat of the story will still take place at court.

At court would be a too hard description as we can be sure that Harrenhal will be its own court with quite a few characters gathering there - Simon Strong (who might get along reasonably well with Daemon), Alys Rivers, eventually the Blackwoods and Brackens and other Riverlanders. 

But the core of the stories will revolve about the royals and their issues with themselves and each other. That's what this war is about, after all. And it is also what the show name makes clear.

16 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

One problem with cutting Nettles is that we’re losing a commoner’s perspective. Alyn/Addam don’t really count, since they’re noble bastards, and Hugh and Ulf are the traitors. S1 tried to set up the idea of Mysaria being the people’s champion, but that’s kind of hard to do considering she was pimping out young virgins in the very first episode.

Nettles was basically just another whore, and we already do have that perspective with Mysaria and, possibly, the Dyana character. Hugh and Ulf might work much better as commoner characters as they do not end up as Daemon's pets but enter the game with their own desires and goals. FaB presented them as the vilest of traitors, but even Gyldayn makes it clear that this is because they couldn't write and didn't leave written accounts of their motivations. Their reputation was determined by the noble opportunists and thugs who first used and then discarded them. The scum that were the Caltrops, etc.

Thus the show could portray them in a much more nuanced version. As could it, say, Ser Alfred Broom. That guy is just an asshole in the book, but with the show introducing him early his motivation to betray Rhaenyra might be more complex than 'the whore queen passed me over for the undeserving fat guy'. Just wildly speculating here - but what if Rhaenyra's marriage is effectively over by the time Daemon leaves for Harrenhal (with them reconciling at the end of the season) and good Ser Alfred warms the bed of the queen for a time? Or what if Hugh is allowed to do that, for a time?

Also, of course, they should build up the Shepherd early on and, especially, Gaemon Palehair.

A way to give the commoners more space could also be to have Daemon's forces in the Riverlands be made up first and mostly, originally, from common men-at-arms, and humble knights, with the highborn taking time to decide which way to go.

16 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

The Daemyra stans see Daemon “not accepting Rhaenyra as queen” as slander, but that’s probably one of the more realistic elements to include. A lot of real-life prince/king consorts struggled with insecurity over being second to their wives.

That is actually more an English phenomenon as 'the unwritten constitution' has literally no role/place for the consort of a queen regnant unlike for a queen consort, unlike other monarchies. But to be sure, George himself kind of dropped the ball on Daemon's role at Rhaenyra's side as he apparently had him just as a prince consort while, in Meereen, Dany's husband Hizdahr zo Loraq becomes the king consort at her side. And strangely enough, HotD also talks about Laenor as Rhaenyra's future king consort rather than prince consort. Why wasn't Daemon Rhaenyra's first Hand, with Jace only naming Corlys in the wake of Daemon effectively moving permanently to Harrenhal?

The one little tidbit indicating that Daemon was more powerful than the average royal consort is that, in the book, Rhaenyra did not keep the 'Protector of the Realm' title but granted it to Daemon upon her coronation - but in the show she kept that.

I also do like how the show seems to have Aemond look down/despise Alicent for her weakness. One expects it will include Aegon as well after his injuries. The big reason why the show will hopefully include Maelor is that Aegon II having a surviving son will make it clear that not only a heavily injured, possibly eventually dying Aegon stands between Aemond and the throne but, technically, also his remaining nephew. The way they portray Aemond it would be hard to imagine he were content with the Prince Regent thing if only Aegon was between him and the throne at that point. They could just easily enough depose Aegon because he cannot rule/lead a war and then crown Aemond (or Aegon could simply never recover). But with Maelor existing Aemond would have to murder his child nephew as well.

The way the show set up things it was clear that there would be a continuous struggle between Rhaenyra's leadership style and what Daemon thinks is necessary - however, if he ends up telling her point blank that he doesn't accept her as his 'queen and ruler' then, well, their marriage and partnership should be over then and there. Rhaenyra could not possibly allow her armies be commanded by a man who doesn't actually work for her. That is - unless she isn't as weak as to take that kind of abuse in private and then pretend it never happened.

So whatever his answer will be it might be a bit more nuanced - say, something along the lines of 'You are as weak and craven as my brother, you don't have it what it takes to rule, but I will show you the way. You can either allow me to do things the way they have to be done (as per my judgment) or you can kiss your throne goodbye. But I won't allow you to back down. You are my wife and we have sons. We have a duty to them.'

In the context of the source material Rhaenyra should be indecisive and weak-willed up until the Gullet. A faithful adaptation would have her half-mad with depression in her chambers for months, unable and unwilling to decide anything. They are not doing that, but they might still have er as one who is truly grief-stricken by Luke's loss and by the feeling - real or imagined - that the men around her still don't respect her or take her seriously. That is their take on Rhaenyra, after all, that she is deeply insecure about her role as ruler because she is a woman. Which I think is a wrong take on her character as I don't think that she could have been even a figurehead pretender of her faction if she had no strong desire/ambition to rule and the means to control the people around her.

A big potential issue between Rhaenyra and Daemon in episode 1 could be how to deal with the Baratheons in the aftermath of Luke's death. We know Storm's End wasn't torched ... but why? Daemon could want to turn it into another Harrenhal, with Rhaenyra not wanting to do this because she doesn't want to be a monster, etc. After all, even if you grant Borros that he wasn't involved in Luke's death, his house still rejected Rhaenyra and actively declared for Aegon II. So they are traitors, and actually more than others due to the close kinship to Rhaenys and Laenor.

Her collapse after Luke's death in the book should be read, I think, as an uncharacteristic episode. If she had been that ineffective for the last two decades she wouldn't have had her own court faction.

One imagines that both Blood & Cheese and the Cargyll incident will have effects on her. Obviously the best way to make the latter more effective is if it happens in Rhaenyra's bedroom shortly before she is slain - or in the bedroom of Aegon and Viserys.

41 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Well many of the main characters do stay put in the book. Alicent and Otto never leave KL. Same with Larys Strong. Rhaenyra doesn't leave Dragonstone until she and Daemon take KL by surprise. So really, Daemon, Aemond, and Criston are the main characters from season 1 who travel. The trailer has so far indicated that outside of the two courts, we will get Jace travelling to the North (and hopefully they show his pit stop in the Vale), Daemon at Harrenhal, the gathering of armies (we see Lannisters forces departing Casterly Rock and I think the Hightower army departing Oldtown), the battle of Rook's Rest, and possibly naval actions with the Velaryon fleet and the Triarchy. 

Yes. Chances they would want to waste a lot of time at, say, Casterly Rock and Winterfell if nothing important happens there (yet) are very low. The West should feature somewhat during the Ironborn invasion if they are doing that, but not before. Although even that could be done mostly through talking about it. No Targaryen ever bothers with Dalton Greyjoy, after all. And Johanna Lannister only interacts with them at the very end of the Dance.

The one place which could have been a big place this season is Oldtown due to Daeron and the Hightower kin there. But that seems to be postponed for now (or cut).

[Corvinus85]

I think the show would do well to not follow in the footsteps of GoT and forget about the existence of entire regions or various important houses. So even if the fighting in the Reach or the Greyjoy raids aren't a focus, it would be nice if there are some cameos and lines of dialogues about what's going on. The battle of the Honeywine may not be that important, but keeping Daeron and the Hightower forces in the audience's mind would help with the much more important battles of Tumbleton in season 3. Same thing with the Lannisters and the river lords later, when it comes to Criston Cole's fate, and Harrenhal changing hands.

[The Dragon Demands]

Oh cool... Abu Bakar Salim (Alyn of Hull) answered a question I asked about obscure trivia for book fans - would Peterson make "trade talk" for the show? (I linked to the wiki article) -- not in Season 2 of course but maybe later. Read the whole thread: 

@ran

[The Dragon Demands]

A thought occurs: there's some slim chance that "merge Rhaena and Nettles" was a FALLBACK PLAN in case they only got 3 seasons, but which was later dropped after they got season renewal.

This would explain the rumors about it, without NECESSARILY being true...

[Lord Varys]

22 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

I think the show would do well to not follow in the footsteps of GoT and forget about the existence of entire regions or various important houses. So even if the fighting in the Reach or the Greyjoy raids aren't a focus, it would be nice if there are some cameos and lines of dialogues about what's going on. The battle of the Honeywine may not be that important, but keeping Daeron and the Hightower forces in the audience's mind would help with the much more important battles of Tumbleton in season 3. Same thing with the Lannisters and the river lords later, when it comes to Criston Cole's fate, and Harrenhal changing hands.

It seems that the show kind of does that. I mean, I was hugely surprised by the prominence of Lord Jason Lannister in season 1 as a serious contender for Rhaenyra's hand. That was nicely done, just as them having the hunting party effectively being the proto-Greens (Hightowers, Lannisters, and Redwynes). The same way it seems that Simon Strong is going to be prominent as a member of a well-established house in season 1 - something George kind glossed over in the book as Rhaenyra's ties with Harwin actually do help explain why Daemon is rather lenient towards old Ser Simon (while Aemond's eradication of House Strong is much more irrational in light of the services rendered to the Greens by Lord Larys).

It was less well done in relation to House Baratheon as Borros should have been right there at Storm's End during Rhaenyra's courtship progress, possibly as a contender for her hand.

We also got some build-up for Brackens-Blackwoods in the show as well as Tully build-up thanks to Lord Grover being mentioned repeatedly. The huge letdown in this regard was the total absence of House Arryn. Lady Jeyne Arryn or other relations should have been right there in the pilot when Queen Aemma was expecting her child as well as attending Rhaenyra's wedding to Laenor. They are the king's own in-laws and could expect to hold high positions at court.

Daeron/Oldtown won't work if there is no build-up for that in season 2. And sure enough - Daeron and Ormund should not just be mentioned, they should be in season 2.

But postponing them could work as well. For instance, a slow escalation of the war could work easily enough. Start with fighting in the Crownlands and Riverlands close to KL, and then have other regions to join the fray as an attempt to deal with local/regional threats. The groundwork for the Reach plot could easily be in season 2 by way of having the Tyrells suddenly and unexpectedly declaring neutrality, with certain Reach houses eventually declaring for Rhaenyra. The Hightowers assembling their army to defeat the Black Reach lords could easily start only in season 3. And there is ample evidence that they are planning something like that as we already got the Caswells as crucial Black supporters in season 1. Once the news about Lord Caswells reaches Bitterbridge his widow is likely going to be among the first big players in the Reach to declare for Rhaenyra. And the Merryweathers could be another such case. The Tarlys and Rowans being the most crucial houses of the Reach to declare for Rhaenyra could also easily happen in season 2 through talks with actual Tarlys and Rowans only to feature in season 2.

The Beesbury murder is also something the show had and which can have similar repercussions as it had in the book. The Battle of the Honeywine is about Oldtown being attacked by two Hightower bannermen as well as the Tarlys and Rowans. So Gwayne Hightower could show up in KL telling Alicent and Otto that cousin Ormund has to tread very gently for the time being in support of Aegon II as several of his own bannermen are very pissed about the death of old Lord Lyman.

Season 3 could then have the Battle of the Honeywine as a result of KL insisting that Lord Ormund march against numerous Blacks in the Reach.

After all, starting the Reach plot early would mean they would have to drag the army's march through multiple seasons as well as having them, potentially, do little or nothing at Tumbleton. Making this whole a less drawn out plotline (but still one spreading through 1-2 seasons in total) might be a better take. 

6 minutes ago, The Dragon Demands said:

A thought occurs: there's some slim chance that "merge Rhaena and Nettles" was a FALLBACK PLAN in case they only got 3 seasons, but which was later dropped after they got season renewal.

This would explain the rumors about it, without NECESSARILY being true...

Having a wild dragon in the Mountains of the Moon just comes entirely out of the left field. We had Vale scenes and talk in season 1 but no talk of dragons being there. Yes, the show established that dragons are more left alone in the wild than in the book, with Seasmoke remaining behind on Driftmark in the wake of Laenor's 'death' as well as Vhagar being allowed to settle on Driftmark, too, after Baelon's death, but the Vale would be much farther away.

And, in fact, the notion of Sheepstealer as a wild dragon from the Vale goes specifically against dialogue from 'The Black Queen' which has Daemon say the three wild dragons all 'nest here' [i.e. Dragonstone].

They would have to make Sheepstealer 'a fourth wild dragon' or come up with another scenario where a wild dragon from Dragonstone is somehow drawn to the Vale. Not entirely impossible but hugely implausible.

Even more so as the best way to make Rhaena a dragonrider (and soon) would be to urge her to try to mount Vermithor or Silverwing rather than for her to chance on a wild dragon (and much less to have her try her luck with one of those). I mean, Daemon singing to Vermithor most certainly isn't supposed for him to make the old beast ready for some random bastard to claim him ... but rather to prepare him for his dragonless daughter.

Thus I'd take this whole thing with more than a grain of salt at that point, regardless of the source.

Whatever Rhaena's story is going to be - they have to explain why she doesn't bond with Vermithor and Silverwing at least (Seasmoke might only be tried in earnest after it becomes evident that Laenor is gone) before she leaves the Vale. And if they have Stormcloud hatch from one of the eggs we might have a succession of scenes there where Rhaena first tries her luck with the adult dragons, then hopes for an egg dragon after Aegon got one, resulting in her taking promising eggs to the Vale.

[Lord Varys]

Having just rewatched the scene in episode 10, the camera moving to Rhaena who even looks a bit embarrassed/ashamed when Daemon mentioned Seasmoke, Vermithor, and Silverwing are yet riderless could not only imply she yet lacks a dragon, but also that she may have tried to mount one or all of those dragons between episodes. Baela was with Rhaenys at High Tide, but Rhaena was with her father and stepmother on Dragonstone - with access to both the riderless dragons and whatever eggs were produced on the island.

Rhaena's desire to have a dragon of her own was first established in episode 6 and reinforced in episode 7 ... the idea that she made no attempts in that direction after Aemond claimed Vhagar might be wrong.

But then ... perhaps the plot will show that she is somewhat timid and has to be pushed to make attempts with adult dragons. That's then what Daemon might be preparing Vermithor for.

Really hard to guess at. But her ending up with Sheepstealer would be totally weird.

[The Bard of Banefort]

I very much disagree with the notion that Nettles was “basically just another whore.” 

[Lord Varys]

29 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I very much disagree with the notion that Nettles was “basically just another whore.” 

You went on about her being important for the commoner perspective ... yet the 'commoner whore' we already have with Mysaria, not to mention other such characters in the larger ASoIaF context (and presumably in the show with Essie/Sylvenna if they include them, the Dyana character to a point, the madam Aemond seems to be sleeping with in the trailer, eventually Alys Rivers, etc.). And in connection to Daemon she can either be his daughter (of which he already has two) or another lover with a prostitute background ... of which he already has one, too. What is the point of Nettles for Daemon in that setting? Mysaria could be his other lover if that ends his relationship with Rhaenyra for good ... or Rhaena could be the daughter he favors more than his other children/family if that is what's his motivation. We don't need Nettles for that.

Insofar as plot and character development are concerned there is little to be gained from that character. In fact, if one looks at FaB there isn't much of a character or a story. Nettles is only a catalyst for Daemon's later behavior - we have no clue who she is, what she was about, what she wants. She has no agency nor a story of her own.

As a character, she could only work in the show if they gave her a personality, agency, and a proper story. The story she is part of in the book can't possibly happen as it does in this show. And not only because of the changes to the characters of Daemon, Rhaenyra, Mysaria, etc. ... but because it doesn't make much sense in general.

Ulf and Hugh are potentially more interesting as commoner characters as they actually do have an agenda in the book. We don't know much about their motivations and why they were as twisted and cruel as they (supposedly) are or became ... but there is a lot of story potential there.

Nettles is either an old man having the hots for a strange girl ... or an old man preferring one (abandoned) daughter to his other children. Great story.

That said - cutting her would still be a mistake and nothing I'd like them to do. But if she were cut, the general plot and character development of the entire FaB outline could be followed closely enough without many changes. We could even have the entire Mooton/Maidenpool plot if Daemon's hunting companion were Addam of Hull rather than Nettles. Rhaenyra commands he be executed instead of Nettles, and we have Daemon fly to Harrenhal while Addam proves his loyalty the way he does in the book. Works just as smoothly as the other version.

And the funny thing about Nettles' 'special way of dragonbonding' is that this is the one detail that makes her commoner background implausible. The child of a dockside whore doesn't have the funds to buy dozens or scores of sheep to feed and tame a dragon. We know that Dunk could live sell one of his horses and live like a rich man for quite some time, so sheep wouldn't come cheap, either. Cheaper than a horse bred for war and tourney, to be sure, but not cheap enough so that a common whore can throw dozens at a wild dragon.

[The Dragon Demands]

2 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I very much disagree with the notion that Nettles was “basically just another whore.” 

Then how did she get the sheep?

How did she get the sheep?

 

 

(sarcasm)

[The Dragon Demands]

Wake the Dragon has been a reliable leaker, but she’s now implying that Cregan and Jace were good friends the way that Jon Connington and Rhaegar were…good friends.

 

 

[The Bard of Banefort]

2 hours ago, The Dragon Demands said:

Wake the Dragon has been a reliable leaker, but she’s now implying that Cregan and Jace were good friends the way that Jon Connington and Rhaegar were…good friends.

 

 

Bruh JonCon was in the friendzone.

If Jace/Cregan is true, I’m not sure how I feel about it. It all depends on the execution, I suppose. They’re not really hyping up their relationship though.

 

On a different note, someone on Reddit was able to figure out that the woman comforting Aemond in the trailer is the brothel Madame from last season based on a scar on her hand. Gotta love the internet.

[Lord Varys]

9 hours ago, The Dragon Demands said:

Then how did she get the sheep?

How did she get the sheep?

(sarcasm)

That ain't the big thing. It is just silly.

The big thing is that the story is pointless. Like Viserion or Rhaegal just flying out of the books with a random character like Plumm or Longwaters. There is more than enough such silliness in this story. The Cannibal and Dreamfyre doing nothing, the death of the Grey Ghost, the dancing dragons of Second Tumbleton, etc.

And the entire jealousy angle of the Nettles' story just makes no sense with the show characters. Mysaria doesn't care about Daemon deeply (or at all at that point), Rhaenyra doesn't loathe bastards nor is she likely to want to murder lovers of her husband as take on Laenor showed.

No writer is going to be keen to make sense of this mess.

Jace/Cregan would be as pointless as Jace/Sara unless the characters remain in the story. Would Cregan have casual sex and then stay behind for the harvest like a peasant?

7 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Someone on Reddit was able to figure out that the woman comforting Aemond in the trailer is the brothel Madame from last season based on a scar on her hand. Gotta love the internet.

Seems to be to their way to set up Aemond's emotional vulnerability which Alys is going to exploit. The character was not only bullied as a child by his brother and nephews, he was also abused by the whore his brother took him to. And their angle seems to be that since then he only/mainly feels safe and secure with older, motherly women. Alicent abandoned him to Aegon's non-existent mercy, so no mommy issues there, I think, but a focus on mature women.

And, hell, the actor looks very much like an older version of young Aemond in that trailer scene. That is brilliant.

[The Dragon Demands]

Ahhh… 

Turns out Wake the Dragon was junk yanking my chain about Jace/Cregan. Damned AO3 fan-ficers

 

[Lord Varys]

1 hour ago, The Dragon Demands said:

Ahhh… 

Turns out Wake the Dragon was junk yanking my chain about Jace/Cregan. Damned AO3 fan-ficers 

No surprise there, lol. A fling wih Sara could, perhaps, work if done gently and Jace being sill very much hurt after Luke's death, looking for comfort etc. Bu an affair with a great lord they actually need in war when there is so far no indication that Jace is into men would come completely out of the left field. After all, Aegon makes fun of Jace's ability o perform, but neither he nor Aemond ever indicate their nephew is Laenor 2.0.

With Nettles one can actually see why they might have made Rhaena the younger daughter and added the 'daddy doesn't like me' plot if she was conceived as a replacement Nettles. The story here would be for her to finally win the love/respect of her father, something twin Rhaena would never have to do.  

[The Bard of Banefort]

I think the whole point of Jace/Sara in the books was to foreshadow Rhaegar and Lyanna (and further plant the seeds of dragon eggs in Winterfell, if GRRM decides to go that route).