The best shot of the show was after the confrontation between Alicent and Rhaenyra. You get the two sides clearly facing each other and you see Viserys literally turn his back on it and walk away. It's such a fantastic metaphor for his handling of the situation in whole.
Viserys' dwindling authority as king was really palpable this episode. Alicent is glaringly disregarding his commands. His own son, tells him everyone knows about the bastards and he does nothing. His wife stabs the heir apparent, he does nothing. He has truly become weak as King and this episode made it obvious. Otto even implies as such to Alicent. How he returned as Hand of the King escapes me, it has Alicent written all over it. She is effectively the current ruler of Westeros.
It makes no sense to me at that "Conflict Avoider Extraordinaire" Viserys would bring back back a hand he had previously identified as an untrustworthy, self-serving partisan. He must be significantly more senile than current appearances suggest.
The Velaryons had openly sided against him with Aegon. The optics there are much worse. A Baratheon would have probably been the best call at that point.
I found it interesting, and a bit ironic, that Corlys is still furious about Rhaenys having been denied her crown (and by extension Laenor through her), yet he's refusing to allow his granddaughter to inherit Driftmark through his daughter's line because he's afraid of what people might think.
There is a bit of pride in the name - Baela is technically a Targaryen not a Velaryon - a bit of pragmatism - if he disinherits Laenor his grandson’s legitimacy can come into question - and a little bit of hipocrecy that is natural to all characters in HotD and GoT
@@qntonia Which is even more hypocritical because he was trying to push for Rhaenyra and Laenor's children to rule as Velaryons during betrothal negotiations lol. I like how nobody's hands are clean in this, no matter how "good" the character is.
The young actors they’ve managed to get this season have been fantastic. From the actress Milly Alcock to Emily Carey as Rhaenyra and Alicent and now the actor for Jacaerys and Aemond!!! The kids have been so talented
Don't agree on younger children, Aemond only had one good scene and it's the one where they fight and when he throws Aegon under bus instead of Alicent, every other scene is like watching school play, especially with Daemon's twins. But Emily and Milly were amazing.
For someone who seems so adamant about Rhaenyra succeeding him, Viserys sure does seem to be doing everything possible to interfere with that outcome. Simply remarrying in the first place (and thus potentially producing new heirs) had the immediate potential to muddy the succession. Now, he's letting Rhaenrya stay on Dragonstone, away from the seat of power, while the greens increasingly hold sway in King's Landing. Obviously the biggest blunder was bringing Otto back as Hand of the King, when he knew full well that Otto was plotting to have Aegon succeed to the throne. Imagine the different dynamic if Viserys had appointed someone like Corlys Velaryon as Hand instead. It's a bit hard to tell how much of this is Viserys increasingly losing his grip on power and Alicent increasingly making decisions for him, and how much is simply Viserys' naivete. Viserys constantly gives the impression that he seems to think Rhaenrya will automatically inherit the throne simply because he decreed it would be so. He seems to be almost completely blind to how much opposition has built up to that decision, which makes sense considering how blind he's been to the brewing conflicts and other important factors within his family.
Very insightful. While it did seem a good option to get Otto back, its true that the current situation would be way better if he chose Corlys or someone else. You are right. It doesn't make much sense from this perspective. Its a silly choice of him. Its hard to explain this but its possible that Alicent found a way to persuade Viserys to bring Otto back, even though it's not shown in the series which is a bummer. All we are left with is guessing, but it seems like an important plot point as it directly affects the future of King's Landing.
Aemond claiming Vhagar was without question one of the Blacks’ greatest defeats. If Laena hadn’t died or Rhaella had claimed her, Vhagar would have been a Black dragon and the Dance would have gone very differently.
I think an argument could be made that if Vhagar didn’t “change sides”, the Dance might not have even happened: I can’t imagine the greens daring to challenge the blacks if it was Sunfyre/Tessarion/Dreamfyre against Vhagar/Caracas/Maelys/Syrax, regardless of how many great houses sign on
@@MarcusGLovesWatches definitely. They could have just flown with all their Dragons to Kings Landing and Claim the throne (which they literally did at a later point) with Vhagar not being there
It is one of the laziest plot points from Fire & Flood that the show did not take its time to fix. Without Green Vhagar there is no war and therefore no conflict or plot. But it seems very stupid for House Targaryen (Black) and Valeryon to play so loose with the biggest dragon, it just does not make sense. As someone explained to me, we need to suspend our disbelief about the dragons in Westeros because with them there is no drama or stakes (dragons will always win), so both George and HBO need to dumb down everything about them in order to make the human conflicts relevant.
@@MarcusGLovesWatches Dragons don't have sides as far as I'm aware. They have an allegiance to their rider but that's it. It was a serious oversight on the behalf of the Blacks to give any one of their enemies a chance to claim Vhagar. Of course the war hadn't started properly at that point yet so it's quite understandable that they had other more pressing things to deal with.
@@daweithisisdavidinmandarin6121 My best argument would be that as the dragon chooses the rider and not the other way around it's quite risky to make anyone claim the biggest dragon on the planet unless they themselves choose to do so. Even then there is always the risk of death if the dragon doesn't cooperate. So I don't think it's really a plot point as dragons aren't mindless creatures that people can just put on a shelf and use whenever they want.
@@Captain_Insano_nomercy he's dying and she's a slut, nothing he can do now. Anyway he basically signed her death warrant when he named her as his heir and then proceeded to remarry and have sons.
Regarding the greyscale theory. After 10 years, it would have been probably very obvious if he had it and would have probably killed him or at least rendered him a stoneman. Not to mention it would have probably infected Laena and their children.
Another excellent HotD episode yet again. HotD has been incredibly consistent with the high level it created and maintains on practically every level in every episode. The pacing of E6 I thought was too quick and covered too much , I felt we needed another episode with Laena and Harwin and the dynamics around them. Here with E7, yes it covered a lot but was more in line with the better pacing of the first 4 or 5 episodes. HotD is near perfectly capturing the brewing tensions between the factions which at this point is actually beyond brewing. The tensions are quite palpable and shown in almost every interaction and keenly felt in the viewing experience. E7 also featured many great acting performances. Imo E7 had the most good performances we have seen from as many actors in just one episode thus far. And just so many epic memorable moments from this episode - RT & DT getting together & their very bloody Valyrian wedding , Aemond claiming Vhagar , Laenor’s supposed death turned disappearance , everything around Aemond losing an eye and RT's & AH's public confrontation to name a few. A lot of gold in this episode. Overall HotD has really impressed me in the rather balanced way they are presenting the factions , which was a key dynamic to get right. HotD has presented both sides / factions - their perspective, motivations , flaws and sympathetic aspects for both. Almost like a pendulum in terms in positives and negatives with RT & AH and their factions, either from one episode to the next or within the same episode showing good and bad on all sides. That was essential to present and has been spot on so far. Especially hard to do with the Greens imo but HotD is striking the balance near perfectly.
All the events from episode 6 as well as Aemond losing an eye actually happen AFTER Laenor's death. It was actually at his funeral that the cousin skirmish happened. So they put Harwen and Lyonel's deaths in prematurely. I kind of wished they hadn't as, as you said, it seemed rushed. I kind of do like the change to make Laenor's death faked. Other than some of the timeline changes, I have to say they are doing a bang up job of adapting Fire and Blood.
Despite Viserys' weakness, not how even Criston won't defy the direct word of the king, even when Alicent orders it. He points out he's sworn to protect her, not take out a prince's eye. Then, of course, when things get nuts, the Lord Commander makes sure Criston is stopped from taking and action.
He's weak and ineffectual when dealing with his family, but a non-member maiming the king's favorite child's son would probably be met with swift action.
I liked that Daemon laughed because instead of sending his wife off to her resting place, Vaemond is making thinly-velied jabs at Rhaenyra and Laenor's children instead with the whole "blood being thick" business. And of course only the Valyrian houses even understand what he's saying at all so all the grandstanding is just for them. Up until Laena's funeral, someone is still politicking. It might not seem so, given the Targaryens at center stage, but with Laenor's sons not being trueborn, and Laena having daughters only, Driftmark is another high seat with a succession crisis looming in the distance.
I'm pretty sure Vaemond Velaryon has his sight set on Driftmark. His the younger brother of Corlys and as Corlys doesn't truly have any grandsons that are of his blood the inheritance of Drifmark becomes debatable.
I’m really loving the direction it’s going. At times I wish we got more detail between time jumps, but at the same time considering in world this is all maester recorded, it makes sense to not dwell on those smaller details. I look forward to your pre + post episode videos! Ps. Also LOVING Helaena’s parts, they’re so sweet yet eerie!
You also didn’t mention the scene where Jace stands next to Laena’s girls and one of them holds his hand. Then this is followed up on during the blinding fight. The next generation of Valeryons has voluntarily moved into the black camp.
I’m loving it, but I wish they slowed down with the time jumps. There were definitely episodes that could have been several episodes to flesh out characters and make us more invested in deaths, etc.
I have a theory that Laenor will return in Season Two as Addam of Hull. It was already rumored at that point that Addam was secretly Corlys' bastard. That rumor could be influenced by Addam bearing resemblance to Laenor. It would also explain how Addam would be able to mount SeaSmoke while it's original rider is still alive. Cause maybe.....Addam IS the original rider 👁👄👁
I could see him coming back to fight for his family if he heard that the hightowers stole the throne from his former wife. He would be outraged by that
I really hope they don't do this. It is clumsy writing and creates a lot of problems. I mean, his own father wouldn't recognize him? What was the point of all this scheme to fake his death then? Addam and Alyn are important characters, why mess this up?
This is why all the talk about how amazing cgi is to look at all falls away when you see that all you need to make a good show is a bunch of great actors standing around confidently delivering great dialogue...
Only GRRM can make us love and hate the characters at the same time. Bad people doing good and good people doing very bad things. And I'm all here for it
in this regard, GRRM is more like the ancient Chinese story tellers, Chinese myths are full of hypocritical "good guys" and heroic "villains". e.g. Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, The Epic War between Chu and Han. 🙂
Joe Abercrombie is pretty good at it as well, albeit on a much smaller scale. Logan Ninefingers is one of my favorite characters of all time, and... he's pretty grey.. lol..
I do wish we get to see more of the gray side of the stories and not the-Green- bad- Black-good right now. Maybe introduce Daeron as the good light of the Greens. Like not splitting the line between good and evil like GoT final seasons but HoTD could dance between the line, like everybody is bad, just who is worse
I was really curious about the wedding ceremony between Rhaenyra and Daemon. It was obviously Valyrian in culture but it seemed to be some kind of religious ceremony as well. The priest, however, was not a septon and neither the Targaryens nor the Valyrians as a whole had a strong sense of religion that they truly believed in. The gods that were worshipped in Valyria were only worshipped so by commoners but not by Dragonriders, who thought to be some kind of gods themselves which is also why only some names of these gods survived the doom of Valyria and nothing else. So who was the priest and under what faith did Rhaenyra and Daemon marry?
The faith of the seven doesn't approve of incest as far as I remember. So maybe a septon not doing the marriage makes perfect sense in universe. Targaryen incest was a sticking point between the crown and the faith of the seven.
You don't need any particular faith to do this, true Valyrians and by extension Targaryens doing an incest marriage take and do what they want, without needing to be flashy or even legal, they only needed valid witnesses from the royal family, and they did have those there. You can easily indeed say they thought themselves as gods, and above all laws, so all they wanted was a person to say some words at the end of the day.
I think the most significant interaction that Robert didn't mention was between Alicent and Otto Hightower. They are now firmly allied, whereas to now Alicent still seemed to be trying to be the dutiful Queen...
Note how in that scene, she becomes a little girl from the first couple episodes again. She becomes all anxious and nervous and is scratching her nailbeds again. In that scene, she is a just little girls who managed to finally get daddy to be proud of her.
I know Aemond's not really winning everyone over with his personality, but I gotta give the little dude some props. The absolute balls to approach Vhagar, to whom you probably just look like a teeny snack and then to just jump on, NOT SECURE YOURSELF PROPERLY, and WAHOOOO yourself all over Driftmark is, well, I felt like throwing up, obvs I would not be a dragon rider. LMAO. Also, the fact that he very clearly laid out a bit of a beatdown in 4 on 1 odds really shouldn't impress me. Children violence is not cool, like the adults totally failed them. but like, Aemond the Daring!! And getting the adults involved really didn't make anything better. Too much posturing by the adults lead by Rhaenyra and Alicent. Nothing was made of Baela and Rhaena's involvement or that Aemond may have broken Luke's nose. It was an absolute gong show and no justice was served. It was really just a foreshadowing of the Dance to come. Honestly, Daemon, Rhaenyra, Alicent, and Viserys were all disappointing as parents. Telling them to just get along and be a family won't work Viserys. sheesh.
I'm late to watching this episode but Aemond absolutely won me over! Not taking sides in the kids fight as they all had good reason to be upset, but Aemond was an absolute badass. I loved his courage approaching Vhagar, and the way he stood up for himself. The actor's facial expressions were great, and his line about losing his eye being a good trade for a dragon was awesome. Then him going to his mom and hugging her was so cute 🥺 mommy's Lil psycho 🥺 the actor did great! I'm too in love with Rhaenyra and Daemon to be team green but Aemond became one of my favorite characters this episode.
I thought Daemon’s intervention between Ser Criston Cole and the fight between the princess and queen was a weighty moment that cemented the ‘competing teams’ perfectly. First blood goes to team Red with the mutilation of the queens youngest son which will be the catalyst for Alicent’s unyielding and malevolent path to securing the throne.
I think they changed the order of Laenor's murder with Rhaenyra's wedding with Daemon is because in Fire and Blood Daemon is the obvious suspect in Laenor's death. I am fairly sure they are going to make it Larys.
I think this is the first episode Viserys really acted as a King but even then, he couldn't see it through. However, what I observed in this episode was a similarity to the incident in GoT when the Starks and the Lannisters first faced off after the maiming of Joffery by Nymeria, Arya's wolf. She also demanded her own justice since she wasn't satisfied by the King's justice.
This was/is my favorite AGOT/HOTD episode ever every scene was packed with everything that made the first sesons of AGOT amazing. I cant think of one weak second, a pure master class in tension.
The most impressive thing about this show it's the consistency and it's at a high level. Sure this show is very soap operaesque, but the writers have shown a high level of writing, unlike the abysmal rings of power
@@AngelaM-gr1tb the whole Targaryen is rumored to be bastard born. It is said Aegon was sterile and Rhaenys was known for cucking him. Whats your point? They defended the girls did they not?
This show is a testament to what happens when GRRM’s books get adapted to TV. Just like I’m GoT seasons 1-5, we are given some of the best film set to television, yet once the books were gone the writing crumbles into pieces. F&B has made HOTD a GOLDEN series allowing the writers to compliment the GENIUS story with BRILLIANT character and plot development. I think I speak for all of us when I say we want MORE OF THIS! Give us Aegon’s Conquest. Give us Dunc & Egg. Give us the Blackfyre, Robert’s and Greyjoy rebellions. Give us the Century of Blood, the Empire of the Dawn and Nymeria’s 10,000 ships. If it has a beginning , middle and end set to George’s cannon and it could be as good as this….. give us it now! Lol
The whole scene of Aemond claiming Vhaegar reminded me so much of Hiccup and Toothless' first flight together in How to Train Your Dragon. However, Hiccup loses a foot rather than an eye
Other than the obvious hard part of his body, there was no evidence of Greyscale on Deamon. Also, it's been over 10 years since that ill-advised bloodbath. His sickness would have shown by now.
Even with the apparent scarring, it’s mentioned a lot how many battles he’s been in, I always just assumed that it was plain ‘ol scarring and maybe even burns? I can’t see how grayscale would add to the plot
@@Vangaurd_tiger I get that but at the same time Laena was burned and she was half Targaryen and bonded, I think the show might be taking liberties either with dragon scale or fire immunity
This has made following the show both easy and fun. I look forward to this after each episode. Would love more lore content to expand the world, like your videos on the Strongs and Brackens for example
I would argue that Alicent’s kryptonite isn’t her love for her children but her misdirected anger and resentment towards Rhaenyra. She parents like her father, though she is more disconnected from her own motives than he is it seems and more demonstrative with her feelings. I wouldn’t characterize him as being motivated by love for his daughter and same for Alicent re: her kids. Sure love is in there but her parenting decisions aren’t in their best interest because she’s so consumed with hatred towards Rhaenyra and it drives so many of her actions
I agree. You can tell how poorly her children have been parented compared to R. R’s kids show compassion and tenderness-you don’t see that with A’s. She also does not correct them for their misbehavior.
Right. In the previous episode, Alicente basically says it's okay if Aegon treats Aemon like crap as long as he supports him publicly. Then the daughter visibly recoiled when Alicente touched her.
@@riccardocirielli only after Aemon resorted to picking up a rock threating to "kill the bastard". If he would have stuck to fists he wouldn't have lost an eye.
Viserys often being compared to Robert Baratheon is very hard for me to understand. Robert was the figure of the great authority with the little regard to his family. Viserys is the king with no authority but truly loves and cares about his family. Yes, both king's deaths were followed by a war and both loved wine, but that's it. As far as character comparison goes, two guys are almost mere opposites of each other.
I suspect Seasmoke will follow Leanor, discretely. There will be rumors of someone with a dragon out there, but he'll be in disguise. No way would they just disconnect. I think he's an ace for Rhaenyra. He can recover from his losses and bad feelings and live the life he wants, and then, he can show up later to help, and no one on the other side will be expecting him. He may also still need to step in to fill any losses from the fight.
Couldn't agree more, HBO standards for acting is honestly as always going far and beyond, they seem to have no competition when it comes to this. Simply the best of the best.
Sir you don't miss anything, you explain things we have missed. Every Video I learn some detail from you that I missed to see! Thank you so much, hard to believe it's been years since you've given us smarts.
Someone _seriously_ needs to follow that weird "dreamer," (spider/centipede,) Targaryen girl around with a pen and paper lol they should hire someone just for that single purpose!
Rhaenys and Corlys are heartbroken and lost their remaining child right after the first one was buried. Rhaenyra and Daemon are extremely dangerous together.
My main gripe with this episode is Otto Hightower being hand of the king again as if nothing happened. I guess it's obvious that Alicent convinced Viserys somehow but it's this "somehow" that disappoints me because it gets used by the writers way too many times to glance over important plot points, in my opinion. I understand they may try and "respect" the viewers and their intelligence by not spoon feeding them every detail (except when it comes to "hinting" at who the real father of Rhaenyra's children is, lol) but I look at other media like 'No Country for Old Man' that do the same much, MUCH better and can't help but feel that it's ultimately just a very dumb excuse to get away with poor and very lazy writing.
Aemond is so freaking badass. He's like the Daemon of the Green Faction. Does what he wants, gets what he wants, and doesn't take sh*t from anyone. Just straight up taking the girl's dead mother's dragon and blaming it on her not getting it fast enough. So metal.
How can Viserys not see the true chaos he is leaving behind after that altercation between the 2 families? He should see the knives being thrown at the wall and insist Rheanyra be at the red keep, by his side ready to take power. Viserys should abdicate and allow Rheneayra to be Queen Regent until he dies then Queen Regnant. Its so hard to watch all this go down and no one stopping it lol ay ay ay
@@goodfella1234 Modern succession games are more well-planned. But a lot of the intrigues of Martin's world have their historical antecedents. (Just not so packed together as they are here.)
It was basically Rhanyra's choice to leave from king's landing to protect her children after Harwin's death and a clever one at that. People calling them bastards was already a huge enough reason to wanting to be out of the picture, as it brought insane danger for her very young kids. She would not be able to protect them as well if she stayed at king's landing. Can't protect even herself there, from a potential behind the scenes backstab. Very dangerous place. In constrast, Dragonstone has all the protection she would ever need until her kids grew to adulthood, or until the right time came to get the throne back. But you are right its a valid concern that she would lose "sway" to the ruling houses over time. I don't think she cared for that, maybe she put too much trust on her dragon and daemon's strength.
A lot of good stuff in the episode, but you almost have to have CC on to make out low-talker dialogue and the use of night filter for a huge chunk of it was really distracting. All the footage of Vhagar was great though - right down to the holes in her wings as an old dragon.
Another amazing episode although I still feel the series is maybe going faster than I wanted it to go ! oh well! It will be interesting to see how the new alliances will eventually clash. The bond with Vhagar still seemed "easy" to me, in terms of how the show showed it, although I don't know how much differently these things go down in the book, or if they are ever described in full detail or just left to imagination of the readers.
Apart from the awful color of the visuals, what a masterclass in writing. Phenomenal episode. Oh how oh how I wish HBO would have got their hands on the Ring of Power.
Breath of fresh air in comparison to ROP. I hesitate to call HOTD phenomenal just yet .. but the pieces are all there. Great starting point. One question. Did Rhaenyra know Laenor was to live and escape with Qarl?
From what I've understood by the books, is that as long as you ride your Dragon you have an immunity of thw dragon. I took it Damon had scars from from the arrows and battle of the Step stones. As far as I understand as well the dragon also cant be claimed by someone else until the rider is dead. The dragon retreats in slumber until the rider calls to it, or the rider is dead. They would know since they have a bond bound in power and magic.
While we now know Daemon didnt catch greyscale, given what he did he probably should have. He touched the crabfeeder's body barehanded, he was covered in infected blood. Its always felt like there's a lot of inconsistency in how easy it is to catch the disease, honestly. Stannis's daughter caught it from an object that had been touched by an infected person, and yet people repeatedly handle objects that have been in contact with the disease and dont catch it. Jorah repeatedly touches the infected area of his arm and it doesnt spread to his other hand. There is no logical consistency with greyscale in the shows honestly.
Definitely looked like Viserys called Alicent "Aemma" on purpose. To spite her. He immediately, without confusion, knew who Harold Westerling was. And Alicent even chuckled after Viserys walked away... Almost as if she knew he did that just to mess with her.
Lannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, Stark, Tyrell, they're all just spokes on a wheel. This one's on top, then that one's on top, and on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground.
I dont know if i just didnt hear it, but Im suprised you missed that Helaena said to Aemon "to claim vhagar you'll need to close an eye." but then again maybe i missed it. Just found that really interesting she seems to have that Targaryen gift of "dreams" or visions that Viserys mentioned early on.
Honestly I have a feeling they are going to cut out Addam and Alyn Velaryon and probably have Laenor come back with seasmoke during the battle of tumbleton to save the day
I can see them cutting out Addam and Alyn, but i dont think theyll bring Leanor back. It doesnt change the story that much wether he dies or goes to Essos, presumed dead by basically everyone and never to be seen again, but bringing him back with a role so crucial for the story just is just too far off from the books in my opinion. But well have to wait and see ...
Good summary, Robert. Catching up a few weeks late. This is a dark episode - literally. For roughly ten minutes I couldn't see what was going on. And somehow I missed the switcheroo at the end.
Daemon Targaryen hasn't age at all but his brother king Viserys is falling completely apart. I guess it is true, that it is heavy the head that wears the crown
From realpolitik point of view a betrothal of Luke to Baela would have been a perfect move. Daemon and Rhaenyra have an excuse to be together, Corlys gets dragon-riding great-grandsons of his blood and his name on the Driftwood Throne
I dont think "Laenor abandons his dragon" is the only possible solution. Considering Laenor's lust for battle, I think there's honestly a good chance he just dies in Essos as a sellsword or something, and maybe Addam claiming Seasmoke will be the only hint we get that he died. But given how this show likes to change character ages, I think the more likely solution will be that Seasmoke's new rider is Laenor in disguise, especially since Addam is already a Velaryon bastard in the books, so Laenor could get away with it without his Velaryon features being suspicious, and basically everything that happens with Addam would be consistent with this solution, the only necessary change would be his age.
Valarian weddings of fire and blood. Dragon glass used to cut for the blood bond. Dragon glass a product of volcanoes, fire, also the "cold fire" of glass candles...definitely very magical in this world.
Helaena casually saying prophetic stuff which no one pays attention to kinda makes her the Patchface of this show. About Daemon maybe getting greyscale, I thought that what we saw on his arm is more consistent with being burn scars from the fire arrow that got through his armor in the beginning of episode 3. I would have preferred if Larys' symbol was the bee. It would be a good nod to his description by Mushroom, "The words dripped from his lips like honey from a comb, and never did poison taste so sweet".
Tin Foil: Distraught by being abandon by Laenor, Seasmoke leaves Driftmark and becomes a wild dragon....one so elusive, they start calling him The Grey Ghost...a dragon nobody every sees but his wails of sadness can be heard in the calm of night.
Thank you for these videos! I enjoy the show, however, the writing for certain plot points (luckily not the main ones for the most part) is quite poor at times and your excellent videos help make sense of these holes, especially since I haven't read the book.
I wouldnt say Greens had that much support from Westerosi establishment at all. In fact they had weirdly low support for what they represent. As evidenced by the fact how quickly they got overwhelmed once the Blacks actually formed their army. It was mostly these singular figures that kept Greens going, like the Lads.
I never thought I could ever hate anybody more than I hate Cersei Lannister but apparently I was incorrect. Allicent Hightower is probably now the most hated character in Game of Thrones.
I think the Greens being based in King’s Landing is also a massive advantage. It lends them legitimacy and makes them less isolated from other houses than the Blacks.
I wish they hadn't portrayed Leanor's death like that. In the book he dies in a quarrel between him and Qarl, but with no specific involvement from anyone else. Sure, it could be that GRR Martin wanted to leave that open to the reader and something such as what we've seen on the series could have been the reality. But I wish they hadn't added more sinister doings to Rahenyra and Daemon. It could have been as simple as Laenor talking to Qarl saying he wouldn't be joining the next expedition, Qarl getting mad, they start arguing, pushing each other out of love and disappointent, and then Laenor dying as an accident. Then, as a producer, I would have definitely left the remarrying story for the next episode. Maybe just me.
13:19 based on photos, that is most probably a bee, with the discernible stripes. Fireflies have opaque, black wings that sit side by side, covering the body. It does not reveal stripes under them.
It might not have been in good taste what Aemond did but he certainly had every right to claim Vhagar. If Laena's girl wanted to do so she should have acted sooner.
This is a bit off topic, but I've been thinking about if since reading Blood and Fire and a few things in ASoIF. Has GRRM implied that the dragons are a creation made by mixing humans with gods know what, using "magick" and/or technology lost in the Doom of Valeria? There are a bunch of things that would be spoilers to many, so I don't want to list them but I'm sure other readers will recall the very arresting tidbits if they've read BaF, they're not subtle but are also mysterious.
Great episode the nuance and the strategy! I disagree Robert Real politic in full effect enhanced with a bit of blood lust granted! Off topic Robert if Sauron lost his body in Nuemenor how did he keep the 1 ring and return to mordor with it?
![SAFEPLANET - ดาวเคราะห์ [ THE PLANET ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4X1XL3I_k3c/mqdefault.jpg)
The best shot of the show was after the confrontation between Alicent and Rhaenyra. You get the two sides clearly facing each other and you see Viserys literally turn his back on it and walk away. It's such a fantastic metaphor for his handling of the situation in whole.
Viserys' dwindling authority as king was really palpable this episode. Alicent is glaringly disregarding his commands. His own son, tells him everyone knows about the bastards and he does nothing. His wife stabs the heir apparent, he does nothing.
He has truly become weak as King and this episode made it obvious. Otto even implies as such to Alicent. How he returned as Hand of the King escapes me, it has Alicent written all over it. She is effectively the current ruler of Westeros.
It makes no sense to me at that "Conflict Avoider Extraordinaire" Viserys would bring back back a hand he had previously identified as an untrustworthy, self-serving partisan. He must be significantly more senile than current appearances suggest.
@@borkmister Yeah, that didn't make sense. He should have made his daughter's father-in-law the Hand.
If she was the effective ruler, considering how upset she was with her son's assault the bastard would have lost an eye.
To be honest, it was painful to watch Viserys deal with state affairs back in episode 2.
The Velaryons had openly sided against him with Aegon. The optics there are much worse. A Baratheon would have probably been the best call at that point.
Poor Vhagar just wants to sleep and people keep waking her up with their bullshit
I was laughing about that too. The subtitles for Vhagar were: "grumbling".
I was translated that to: 'I'm trying to nap, you little upstart!' 🤣🤣
😂this is the best comment I’ve seen all day
LMAO Had she totally not been a morning dragon, she would've lost her fire at him when he bothered her like that.
Vhagar most relatable character 🐉
So how come Daenerys can't be burned but all these other dragon people can?
I found it interesting, and a bit ironic, that Corlys is still furious about Rhaenys having been denied her crown (and by extension Laenor through her), yet he's refusing to allow his granddaughter to inherit Driftmark through his daughter's line because he's afraid of what people might think.
Pride.
I think that's more due to the kids' surnames. Luke is a Velaryon, whereas Baela is a Targaryen. Corlys wants a Velaryon to rule over Driftmark.
he's a hypocrite just like everyone else on this show lmfao
There is a bit of pride in the name - Baela is technically a Targaryen not a Velaryon - a bit of pragmatism - if he disinherits Laenor his grandson’s legitimacy can come into question - and a little bit of hipocrecy that is natural to all characters in HotD and GoT
@@qntonia Which is even more hypocritical because he was trying to push for Rhaenyra and Laenor's children to rule as Velaryons during betrothal negotiations lol. I like how nobody's hands are clean in this, no matter how "good" the character is.
The young actors they’ve managed to get this season have been fantastic. From the actress Milly Alcock to Emily Carey as Rhaenyra and Alicent and now the actor for Jacaerys and Aemond!!! The kids have been so talented
Absolutely! And they're all well written. It's so rare to find child characters who are not portrayed as weirdly immature or obnoxiously precocious.
Don't agree on younger children, Aemond only had one good scene and it's the one where they fight and when he throws Aegon under bus instead of Alicent, every other scene is like watching school play, especially with Daemon's twins.
But Emily and Milly were amazing.
im really not looking forward to them all being recast next episode. the new actors look nothing like some of them T_T
My only complaint is that Rhaenyra's kids desperately need a haircut!
Terrible actors lol
For someone who seems so adamant about Rhaenyra succeeding him, Viserys sure does seem to be doing everything possible to interfere with that outcome. Simply remarrying in the first place (and thus potentially producing new heirs) had the immediate potential to muddy the succession. Now, he's letting Rhaenrya stay on Dragonstone, away from the seat of power, while the greens increasingly hold sway in King's Landing. Obviously the biggest blunder was bringing Otto back as Hand of the King, when he knew full well that Otto was plotting to have Aegon succeed to the throne. Imagine the different dynamic if Viserys had appointed someone like Corlys Velaryon as Hand instead.
It's a bit hard to tell how much of this is Viserys increasingly losing his grip on power and Alicent increasingly making decisions for him, and how much is simply Viserys' naivete. Viserys constantly gives the impression that he seems to think Rhaenrya will automatically inherit the throne simply because he decreed it would be so. He seems to be almost completely blind to how much opposition has built up to that decision, which makes sense considering how blind he's been to the brewing conflicts and other important factors within his family.
Very insightful. While it did seem a good option to get Otto back, its true that the current situation would be way better if he chose Corlys or someone else. You are right. It doesn't make much sense from this perspective. Its a silly choice of him. Its hard to explain this but its possible that Alicent found a way to persuade Viserys to bring Otto back, even though it's not shown in the series which is a bummer. All we are left with is guessing, but it seems like an important plot point as it directly affects the future of King's Landing.
I’m so glad I found this channel. So nice to see a channel that is informative and have such high quality content.
Aemond claiming Vhagar was without question one of the Blacks’ greatest defeats. If Laena hadn’t died or Rhaella had claimed her, Vhagar would have been a Black dragon and the Dance would have gone very differently.
I think an argument could be made that if Vhagar didn’t “change sides”, the Dance might not have even happened: I can’t imagine the greens daring to challenge the blacks if it was Sunfyre/Tessarion/Dreamfyre against Vhagar/Caracas/Maelys/Syrax, regardless of how many great houses sign on
@@MarcusGLovesWatches definitely. They could have just flown with all their Dragons to Kings Landing and Claim the throne (which they literally did at a later point) with Vhagar not being there
It is one of the laziest plot points from Fire & Flood that the show did not take its time to fix. Without Green Vhagar there is no war and therefore no conflict or plot. But it seems very stupid for House Targaryen (Black) and Valeryon to play so loose with the biggest dragon, it just does not make sense. As someone explained to me, we need to suspend our disbelief about the dragons in Westeros because with them there is no drama or stakes (dragons will always win), so both George and HBO need to dumb down everything about them in order to make the human conflicts relevant.
@@MarcusGLovesWatches Dragons don't have sides as far as I'm aware. They have an allegiance to their rider but that's it. It was a serious oversight on the behalf of the Blacks to give any one of their enemies a chance to claim Vhagar. Of course the war hadn't started properly at that point yet so it's quite understandable that they had other more pressing things to deal with.
@@daweithisisdavidinmandarin6121 My best argument would be that as the dragon chooses the rider and not the other way around it's quite risky to make anyone claim the biggest dragon on the planet unless they themselves choose to do so. Even then there is always the risk of death if the dragon doesn't cooperate.
So I don't think it's really a plot point as dragons aren't mindless creatures that people can just put on a shelf and use whenever they want.
The fact that Vicerys looked RIGHT AT Alicent when he said that anyone who calls the boys bastards will have their tongue taken out, I DIED 🤣☠
They'll just comment on how STRONG the boys are. That way people can convey that they are bastards without saying they are bastards.
She should lose hers.
Bruh should be more focused on his lying daughter than TRUTHFUL wife
His wife is a vile, jealous snake
@@Captain_Insano_nomercy he's dying and she's a slut, nothing he can do now. Anyway he basically signed her death warrant when he named her as his heir and then proceeded to remarry and have sons.
“Everyone wins” in the Leanor ruse EXCEPT Leanor’s parents and his boys, who are allowed to think he is dead.
Regarding the greyscale theory.
After 10 years, it would have been probably very obvious if he had it and would have probably killed him or at least rendered him a stoneman. Not to mention it would have probably infected Laena and their children.
Yh your right
he has blood of the dragon, he cant get sick.
@@candydandy2694 That's not full-proof because look at Viserys then. Clearly dying of a disease himself.
Definitely not a real thing
@@markbrennan212 Viserys is rotting from the cuts of the iron throne. (Because he's a weak leader). I don't think it's a disease.
Another excellent HotD episode yet again. HotD has been incredibly consistent with the high level it created and maintains on practically every level in every episode. The pacing of E6 I thought was too quick and covered too much , I felt we needed another episode with Laena and Harwin and the dynamics around them. Here with E7, yes it covered a lot but was more in line with the better pacing of the first 4 or 5 episodes.
HotD is near perfectly capturing the brewing tensions between the factions which at this point is actually beyond brewing. The tensions are quite palpable and shown in almost every interaction and keenly felt in the viewing experience. E7 also featured many great acting performances. Imo E7 had the most good performances we have seen from as many actors in just one episode thus far. And just so many epic memorable moments from this episode - RT & DT getting together & their very bloody Valyrian wedding , Aemond claiming Vhagar , Laenor’s supposed death turned disappearance , everything around Aemond losing an eye and RT's & AH's public confrontation to name a few. A lot of gold in this episode.
Overall HotD has really impressed me in the rather balanced way they are presenting the factions , which was a key dynamic to get right. HotD has presented both sides / factions - their perspective, motivations , flaws and sympathetic aspects for both. Almost like a pendulum in terms in positives and negatives with RT & AH and their factions, either from one episode to the next or within the same episode showing good and bad on all sides. That was essential to present and has been spot on so far. Especially hard to do with the Greens imo but HotD is striking the balance near perfectly.
All the events from episode 6 as well as Aemond losing an eye actually happen AFTER Laenor's death. It was actually at his funeral that the cousin skirmish happened. So they put Harwen and Lyonel's deaths in prematurely. I kind of wished they hadn't as, as you said, it seemed rushed. I kind of do like the change to make Laenor's death faked. Other than some of the timeline changes, I have to say they are doing a bang up job of adapting Fire and Blood.
It was a great episode and I've been patiently waiting for your breakdown Robert. Love your channel.
Despite Viserys' weakness, not how even Criston won't defy the direct word of the king, even when Alicent orders it. He points out he's sworn to protect her, not take out a prince's eye. Then, of course, when things get nuts, the Lord Commander makes sure Criston is stopped from taking and action.
He's weak and ineffectual when dealing with his family, but a non-member maiming the king's favorite child's son would probably be met with swift action.
the lord commander gonna lose his head. his first line in the series was “my head will be in a spike” or something like that
I liked that Daemon laughed because instead of sending his wife off to her resting place, Vaemond is making thinly-velied jabs at Rhaenyra and Laenor's children instead with the whole "blood being thick" business. And of course only the Valyrian houses even understand what he's saying at all so all the grandstanding is just for them. Up until Laena's funeral, someone is still politicking.
It might not seem so, given the Targaryens at center stage, but with Laenor's sons not being trueborn, and Laena having daughters only, Driftmark is another high seat with a succession crisis looming in the distance.
I'm pretty sure Vaemond Velaryon has his sight set on Driftmark. His the younger brother of Corlys and as Corlys doesn't truly have any grandsons that are of his blood the inheritance of Drifmark becomes debatable.
Driftmark would go to his brother or one of his own bastard sons.
Vaemond isn't her husband, he's her uncle, he is brother to Corlys
And yeah the succession on Driftmark becomes an issue
I’m really loving the direction it’s going. At times I wish we got more detail between time jumps, but at the same time considering in world this is all maester recorded, it makes sense to not dwell on those smaller details.
I look forward to your pre + post episode videos!
Ps. Also LOVING Helaena’s parts, they’re so sweet yet eerie!
You also didn’t mention the scene where Jace stands next to Laena’s girls and one of them holds his hand. Then this is followed up on during the blinding fight. The next generation of Valeryons has voluntarily moved into the black camp.
Is anyone else LOVING this show??!!! Thank you for the videos Robert 😊
My wife HATED GoT, but loves this show. I don't get it, but I am not going to fight it.
Better than Ring of Power. Ive all but given up on that one.
I’m loving it, but I wish they slowed down with the time jumps. There were definitely episodes that could have been several episodes to flesh out characters and make us more invested in deaths, etc.
It’s my favorite.
It's watchable. I didn't like the tempo of first couple of episodes. But know its start to be intresting.
I have a theory that Laenor will return in Season Two as Addam of Hull. It was already rumored at that point that Addam was secretly Corlys' bastard. That rumor could be influenced by Addam bearing resemblance to Laenor. It would also explain how Addam would be able to mount SeaSmoke while it's original rider is still alive. Cause maybe.....Addam IS the original rider
👁👄👁
I could see him coming back to fight for his family if he heard that the hightowers stole the throne from his former wife. He would be outraged by that
Seems a bit farfetched. Too many people know Laenor
@@carlrood4457 Then there's the question of his younger brother Alyn Oakenfist
He's too old to be Addam or Alyn. They are both teenagers at the time of the Dance.
I really hope they don't do this. It is clumsy writing and creates a lot of problems. I mean, his own father wouldn't recognize him? What was the point of all this scheme to fake his death then? Addam and Alyn are important characters, why mess this up?
This is why all the talk about how amazing cgi is to look at all falls away when you see that all you need to make a good show is a bunch of great actors standing around confidently delivering great dialogue...
I felt that Otto was trying to mock daemon when he said "Sorry for your loss".
Trying to get back at all the times daemon mocked Otto's late wife.
Joke’s on Otto, because Daemon doesn’t give a f about her lol
Only GRRM can make us love and hate the characters at the same time. Bad people doing good and good people doing very bad things. And I'm all here for it
in this regard, GRRM is more like the ancient Chinese story tellers, Chinese myths are full of hypocritical "good guys" and heroic "villains".
e.g. Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, The Epic War between Chu and Han. 🙂
Joe Abercrombie is pretty good at it as well, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Logan Ninefingers is one of my favorite characters of all time, and... he's pretty grey.. lol..
Next episode is a bunch of posturing with Viserys passing at the end
@@hyr1972 GRRM is deeply inspired by real world history. Especially ancient china/East.
I do wish we get to see more of the gray side of the stories and not the-Green- bad- Black-good right now. Maybe introduce Daeron as the good light of the Greens. Like not splitting the line between good and evil like GoT final seasons but HoTD could dance between the line, like everybody is bad, just who is worse
I was really curious about the wedding ceremony between Rhaenyra and Daemon. It was obviously Valyrian in culture but it seemed to be some kind of religious ceremony as well. The priest, however, was not a septon and neither the Targaryens nor the Valyrians as a whole had a strong sense of religion that they truly believed in. The gods that were worshipped in Valyria were only worshipped so by commoners but not by Dragonriders, who thought to be some kind of gods themselves which is also why only some names of these gods survived the doom of Valyria and nothing else. So who was the priest and under what faith did Rhaenyra and Daemon marry?
The Seven don't like incestuous marriages
Over thinking, lol
Because since the king didn’t approve it first accepting couldn’t do it
The faith of the seven doesn't approve of incest as far as I remember. So maybe a septon not doing the marriage makes perfect sense in universe. Targaryen incest was a sticking point between the crown and the faith of the seven.
You don't need any particular faith to do this, true Valyrians and by extension Targaryens doing an incest marriage take and do what they want, without needing to be flashy or even legal, they only needed valid witnesses from the royal family, and they did have those there. You can easily indeed say they thought themselves as gods, and above all laws, so all they wanted was a person to say some words at the end of the day.
Alicent said that her father would be partial to her during the last episode and the pay off was really well done.
I think the most significant interaction that Robert didn't mention was between Alicent and Otto Hightower. They are now firmly allied, whereas to now Alicent still seemed to be trying to be the dutiful Queen...
I don't like Alicent but she is right that her son should be the heir and Rhaenyra has brought shame to the family with her bastard children.
Note how in that scene, she becomes a little girl from the first couple episodes again. She becomes all anxious and nervous and is scratching her nailbeds again. In that scene, she is a just little girls who managed to finally get daddy to be proud of her.
If this is how Alicent reacted to Aemond losing his eye, just imagine what the horror of Blood and Cheese will unleash.
How was she supposed to react? At that time, a wound like that would be deadly.
I mean she ordered the death of their entire families and had blood tortured for days, not much more one can do.
Episode 1 S2. She’s going off.
This season has been amazing and I can only imagine that next season will be even better! If only George had at least written Winds of Winter ❄️!
I know Aemond's not really winning everyone over with his personality, but I gotta give the little dude some props. The absolute balls to approach Vhagar, to whom you probably just look like a teeny snack and then to just jump on, NOT SECURE YOURSELF PROPERLY, and WAHOOOO yourself all over Driftmark is, well, I felt like throwing up, obvs I would not be a dragon rider. LMAO. Also, the fact that he very clearly laid out a bit of a beatdown in 4 on 1 odds really shouldn't impress me. Children violence is not cool, like the adults totally failed them. but like, Aemond the Daring!! And getting the adults involved really didn't make anything better. Too much posturing by the adults lead by Rhaenyra and Alicent. Nothing was made of Baela and Rhaena's involvement or that Aemond may have broken Luke's nose. It was an absolute gong show and no justice was served. It was really just a foreshadowing of the Dance to come. Honestly, Daemon, Rhaenyra, Alicent, and Viserys were all disappointing as parents. Telling them to just get along and be a family won't work Viserys. sheesh.
I'm late to watching this episode but Aemond absolutely won me over! Not taking sides in the kids fight as they all had good reason to be upset, but Aemond was an absolute badass. I loved his courage approaching Vhagar, and the way he stood up for himself. The actor's facial expressions were great, and his line about losing his eye being a good trade for a dragon was awesome. Then him going to his mom and hugging her was so cute 🥺 mommy's Lil psycho 🥺 the actor did great! I'm too in love with Rhaenyra and Daemon to be team green but Aemond became one of my favorite characters this episode.
I thought Daemon’s intervention between Ser Criston Cole and the fight between the princess and queen was a weighty moment that cemented the ‘competing teams’ perfectly. First blood goes to team Red with the mutilation of the queens youngest son which will be the catalyst for Alicent’s unyielding and malevolent path to securing the throne.
I think they changed the order of Laenor's murder with Rhaenyra's wedding with Daemon is because in Fire and Blood Daemon is the obvious suspect in Laenor's death. I am fairly sure they are going to make it Larys.
I think this is the first episode Viserys really acted as a King but even then, he couldn't see it through. However, what I observed in this episode was a similarity to the incident in GoT when the Starks and the Lannisters first faced off after the maiming of Joffery by Nymeria, Arya's wolf. She also demanded her own justice since she wasn't satisfied by the King's justice.
This was/is my favorite AGOT/HOTD episode ever every scene was packed with everything that made the first sesons of AGOT amazing. I cant think of one weak second, a pure master class in tension.
The most impressive thing about this show it's the consistency and it's at a high level. Sure this show is very soap operaesque, but the writers have shown a high level of writing, unlike the abysmal rings of power
I dont care if the boys are Strong... The fact that they defended the twins from One Eye Arsehole was something I respect.
Too bad the strong bastards don't do a good job of defending themselves.
@@AngelaM-gr1tb the whole Targaryen is rumored to be bastard born. It is said Aegon was sterile and Rhaenys was known for cucking him. Whats your point? They defended the girls did they not?
This show is a testament to what happens when GRRM’s books get adapted to TV. Just like I’m GoT seasons 1-5, we are given some of the best film set to television, yet once the books were gone the writing crumbles into pieces. F&B has made HOTD a GOLDEN series allowing the writers to compliment the GENIUS story with BRILLIANT character and plot development. I think I speak for all of us when I say we want MORE OF THIS! Give us Aegon’s Conquest. Give us Dunc & Egg. Give us the Blackfyre, Robert’s and Greyjoy rebellions. Give us the Century of Blood, the Empire of the Dawn and Nymeria’s 10,000 ships. If it has a beginning , middle and end set to George’s cannon and it could be as good as this….. give us it now! Lol
The whole scene of Aemond claiming Vhaegar reminded me so much of Hiccup and Toothless' first flight together in How to Train Your Dragon. However, Hiccup loses a foot rather than an eye
You mean Aemond?
@@michaelfinnerty7240 I'm pretty sure it's Almond
@@michaelfinnerty7240 Oh yeah my autocorrect must have done that without me noticing oops
Other than the obvious hard part of his body, there was no evidence of Greyscale on Deamon. Also, it's been over 10 years since that ill-advised bloodbath. His sickness would have shown by now.
Even with the apparent scarring, it’s mentioned a lot how many battles he’s been in, I always just assumed that it was plain ‘ol scarring and maybe even burns? I can’t see how grayscale would add to the plot
Taegaryrean with a dragon bond is immune.
@@Vangaurd_tiger I get that but at the same time Laena was burned and she was half Targaryen and bonded, I think the show might be taking liberties either with dragon scale or fire immunity
@@amylsmith No one is fire proof. That was just a Dany only ability, she isn't even fire proof in the books as she's left bald twice.
This has made following the show both easy and fun. I look forward to this after each episode. Would love more lore content to expand the world, like your videos on the Strongs and Brackens for example
They could solve the Seasmoke issue by having Leanor die off screen in Essos and his dragon feel his death. Thus it is free to bond with another
This is what I was thinking
Is it necessary for seasmoke to bond with another rider,? Aren’t there multiple dragons that haven’t even been shown yet?
@@pstratos7 Well … book readers kinda know
@@SeeFair23 that’s what I was assuming, thanks
The show could invent a new dragon to replace Seasmoke’s role in the story
I would argue that Alicent’s kryptonite isn’t her love for her children but her misdirected anger and resentment towards Rhaenyra. She parents like her father, though she is more disconnected from her own motives than he is it seems and more demonstrative with her feelings. I wouldn’t characterize him as being motivated by love for his daughter and same for Alicent re: her kids. Sure love is in there but her parenting decisions aren’t in their best interest because she’s so consumed with hatred towards Rhaenyra and it drives so many of her actions
I agree. You can tell how poorly her children have been parented compared to R. R’s kids show compassion and tenderness-you don’t see that with A’s. She also does not correct them for their misbehavior.
Right. In the previous episode, Alicente basically says it's okay if Aegon treats Aemon like crap as long as he supports him publicly. Then the daughter visibly recoiled when Alicente touched her.
@@melissasmeltzer6078 compassion?? they attacked Aemond with a knife and cut out his eye!!
@@riccardocirielli only after Aemon resorted to picking up a rock threating to "kill the bastard". If he would have stuck to fists he wouldn't have lost an eye.
@@93peterbilt19 They attacked him first, Aemond was literally defending himself
Viserys often being compared to Robert Baratheon is very hard for me to understand. Robert was the figure of the great authority with the little regard to his family. Viserys is the king with no authority but truly loves and cares about his family.
Yes, both king's deaths were followed by a war and both loved wine, but that's it.
As far as character comparison goes, two guys are almost mere opposites of each other.
Is Helaena basically Cassandra from the Trojan myths? The seer who no one listens to.
You should really pursue a career in vocal work, really could see you killing it in the audio book market
I suspect Seasmoke will follow Leanor, discretely. There will be rumors of someone with a dragon out there, but he'll be in disguise. No way would they just disconnect. I think he's an ace for Rhaenyra. He can recover from his losses and bad feelings and live the life he wants, and then, he can show up later to help, and no one on the other side will be expecting him. He may also still need to step in to fill any losses from the fight.
Biggest difference in quality between this and rings of power is the acting. Hotd is so good and rop is soap actors
Couldn't agree more, HBO standards for acting is honestly as always going far and beyond, they seem to have no competition when it comes to this. Simply the best of the best.
Sir you don't miss anything, you explain things we have missed. Every Video I learn some detail from you that I missed to see!
Thank you so much, hard to believe it's been years since you've given us smarts.
Targaryens doing what they do best... keeping it in the family.
🤣
This was my fave episode! Gonna watch it again tomorrow!
Someone _seriously_ needs to follow that weird "dreamer," (spider/centipede,) Targaryen girl around with a pen and paper lol they should hire someone just for that single purpose!
A dance of dragons… if only we listened to the girl who plays with worms
Beware, "@@jamesalston8156," there's a beast beneath the boards... 🐉
"Everybody wins" I think the driftmark guard would disagree
Rhaenys and Corlys are heartbroken and lost their remaining child right after the first one was buried. Rhaenyra and Daemon are extremely dangerous together.
😂
My main gripe with this episode is Otto Hightower being hand of the king again as if nothing happened. I guess it's obvious that Alicent convinced Viserys somehow but it's this "somehow" that disappoints me because it gets used by the writers way too many times to glance over important plot points, in my opinion.
I understand they may try and "respect" the viewers and their intelligence by not spoon feeding them every detail (except when it comes to "hinting" at who the real father of Rhaenyra's children is, lol) but I look at other media like 'No Country for Old Man' that do the same much, MUCH better and can't help but feel that it's ultimately just a very dumb excuse to get away with poor and very lazy writing.
Man thanks for not trying to spoil hotd for those of us that haven’t read the books. U the real MVP🙏🏽 subbed!
Aemond is so freaking badass. He's like the Daemon of the Green Faction. Does what he wants, gets what he wants, and doesn't take sh*t from anyone. Just straight up taking the girl's dead mother's dragon and blaming it on her not getting it fast enough. So metal.
Your classy approach is appreciated
How can Viserys not see the true chaos he is leaving behind after that altercation between the 2 families? He should see the knives being thrown at the wall and insist Rheanyra be at the red keep, by his side ready to take power. Viserys should abdicate and allow Rheneayra to be Queen Regent until he dies then Queen Regnant. Its so hard to watch all this go down and no one stopping it lol ay ay ay
That's a tv drama, it needs conflict to draw viewers. In reality royal succession games are played in a more logical way.
@@goodfella1234 Modern succession games are more well-planned. But a lot of the intrigues of Martin's world have their historical antecedents. (Just not so packed together as they are here.)
It was basically Rhanyra's choice to leave from king's landing to protect her children after Harwin's death and a clever one at that. People calling them bastards was already a huge enough reason to wanting to be out of the picture, as it brought insane danger for her very young kids. She would not be able to protect them as well if she stayed at king's landing. Can't protect even herself there, from a potential behind the scenes backstab. Very dangerous place. In constrast, Dragonstone has all the protection she would ever need until her kids grew to adulthood, or until the right time came to get the throne back. But you are right its a valid concern that she would lose "sway" to the ruling houses over time. I don't think she cared for that, maybe she put too much trust on her dragon and daemon's strength.
Someone: How would you describe the climax of this episode?
Me: Allicent clearly and completely lost her shit....
This was an excellent episode 👏
"Everyone wins" by faking Laenor's death? Yeah, tell that to the anonymous guard they murder.
And Leanors parents
😂
A lot of good stuff in the episode, but you almost have to have CC on to make out low-talker dialogue and the use of night filter for a huge chunk of it was really distracting. All the footage of Vhagar was great though - right down to the holes in her wings as an old dragon.
I didn’t have any issues seeing the episode, light or dark.
Another amazing episode although I still feel the series is maybe going faster than I wanted it to go ! oh well!
It will be interesting to see how the new alliances will eventually clash.
The bond with Vhagar still seemed "easy" to me, in terms of how the show showed it, although I don't know how much differently these things go down in the book, or if they are ever described in full detail or just left to imagination of the readers.
Apart from the awful color of the visuals, what a masterclass in writing. Phenomenal episode. Oh how oh how I wish HBO would have got their hands on the Ring of Power.
Breath of fresh air in comparison to ROP. I hesitate to call HOTD phenomenal just yet .. but the pieces are all there. Great starting point.
One question. Did Rhaenyra know Laenor was to live and escape with Qarl?
Yes.
I kinda wondered how many caskets are down there? 🤷 Wouldn't they start to pile up?
Love how quick you get these videos out
Wow! I'm impressed! Yet another channel that pronounces; "Valaryon," correctly! 👍
Viserys was The Old King’s grandson. Not his son. I love your channel. Thanks for the deep dives!
"Hand Turns Loom..." might indicate Otto Hightower, the Hand of the king. The Hand is the one who weaves the oncoming war.
From what I've understood by the books, is that as long as you ride your Dragon you have an immunity of thw dragon. I took it Damon had scars from from the arrows and battle of the Step stones. As far as I understand as well the dragon also cant be claimed by someone else until the rider is dead. The dragon retreats in slumber until the rider calls to it, or the rider is dead. They would know since they have a bond bound in power and magic.
While we now know Daemon didnt catch greyscale, given what he did he probably should have. He touched the crabfeeder's body barehanded, he was covered in infected blood. Its always felt like there's a lot of inconsistency in how easy it is to catch the disease, honestly. Stannis's daughter caught it from an object that had been touched by an infected person, and yet people repeatedly handle objects that have been in contact with the disease and dont catch it. Jorah repeatedly touches the infected area of his arm and it doesnt spread to his other hand. There is no logical consistency with greyscale in the shows honestly.
At least Daemon will give Rhaenyra legitimate sons.
Heleana Targaryen reminds me so much of Cassandra in Greek Mythology. She has the gift of prophecy but no one believes/understands her.
A 10/10 episode, Finally HOTD is worth his soundtrack theme song
The thing that stood out to me was that impish little giggle Daemon let out at the funeral. It seemed rather out of place.
Definitely looked like Viserys called Alicent "Aemma" on purpose. To spite her. He immediately, without confusion, knew who Harold Westerling was. And Alicent even chuckled after Viserys walked away... Almost as if she knew he did that just to mess with her.
No, it was a mistake. He's coked up on milk of the poppy too.
Lannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, Stark, Tyrell, they're all just spokes on a wheel. This one's on top, then that one's on top, and on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground.
I love a happy ending for Leanor
@@Alice_Long?
I dont know if i just didnt hear it, but Im suprised you missed that Helaena said to Aemon "to claim vhagar you'll need to close an eye." but then again maybe i missed it. Just found that really interesting she seems to have that Targaryen gift of "dreams" or visions that Viserys mentioned early on.
Honestly I have a feeling they are going to cut out Addam and Alyn Velaryon and probably have Laenor come back with seasmoke during the battle of tumbleton to save the day
I can see them cutting out Addam and Alyn, but i dont think theyll bring Leanor back. It doesnt change the story that much wether he dies or goes to Essos, presumed dead by basically everyone and never to be seen again, but bringing him back with a role so crucial for the story just is just too far off from the books in my opinion. But well have to wait and see ...
Good summary, Robert. Catching up a few weeks late. This is a dark episode - literally. For roughly ten minutes I couldn't see what was going on. And somehow I missed the switcheroo at the end.
Daemon Targaryen hasn't age at all but his brother king Viserys is falling completely apart. I guess it is true, that it is heavy the head that wears the crown
Viserys has a form of leprosy.
Daemon is pretty active , whereas Viserys is lazy.
From realpolitik point of view a betrothal of Luke to Baela would have been a perfect move.
Daemon and Rhaenyra have an excuse to be together, Corlys gets dragon-riding great-grandsons of his blood and his name on the Driftwood Throne
Those little kids were vicious.
I dont think "Laenor abandons his dragon" is the only possible solution. Considering Laenor's lust for battle, I think there's honestly a good chance he just dies in Essos as a sellsword or something, and maybe Addam claiming Seasmoke will be the only hint we get that he died. But given how this show likes to change character ages, I think the more likely solution will be that Seasmoke's new rider is Laenor in disguise, especially since Addam is already a Velaryon bastard in the books, so Laenor could get away with it without his Velaryon features being suspicious, and basically everything that happens with Addam would be consistent with this solution, the only necessary change would be his age.
Valarian weddings of fire and blood. Dragon glass used to cut for the blood bond. Dragon glass a product of volcanoes, fire, also the "cold fire" of glass candles...definitely very magical in this world.
Helaena casually saying prophetic stuff which no one pays attention to kinda makes her the Patchface of this show. About Daemon maybe getting greyscale, I thought that what we saw on his arm is more consistent with being burn scars from the fire arrow that got through his armor in the beginning of episode 3. I would have preferred if Larys' symbol was the bee. It would be a good nod to his description by Mushroom, "The words dripped from his lips like honey from a comb, and never did poison taste so sweet".
It confused me last week as there is a house with a bee sigil - Beesbury if I recall correctly.
@@jawjagrrl The Beesbury sigil shouldn't feature bees though, theirs have three beehives.
Helaena is cassandra of Game of throne
Tin Foil: Distraught by being abandon by Laenor, Seasmoke leaves Driftmark and becomes a wild dragon....one so elusive, they start calling him The Grey Ghost...a dragon nobody every sees but his wails of sadness can be heard in the calm of night.
IDG: What happened in episode 7?
Me: Sh!t just got real, that's what!
Thank you for these videos! I enjoy the show, however, the writing for certain plot points (luckily not the main ones for the most part) is quite poor at times and your excellent videos help make sense of these holes, especially since I haven't read the book.
I wouldnt say Greens had that much support from Westerosi establishment at all. In fact they had weirdly low support for what they represent. As evidenced by the fact how quickly they got overwhelmed once the Blacks actually formed their army. It was mostly these singular figures that kept Greens going, like the Lads.
I never thought I could ever hate anybody more than I hate Cersei Lannister but apparently I was incorrect. Allicent Hightower is probably now the most hated character in Game of Thrones.
Really??
Man im with you. I almost prefer Cercei because she didn't hide her awfulness. Alicent is such a self righteous hypocrite.
I think Rhaenarya is way worse than Alicent. Alicent at least understands duty and responsibility, while Rhaenarya is just impulsive and destructive.
@@MrMasterKaio maybe that was true when she was younger, definitely not the case when they're older though.
I think the Greens being based in King’s Landing is also a massive advantage. It lends them legitimacy and makes them less isolated from other houses than the Blacks.
Yay for nerdy detail 😍
I wish they hadn't portrayed Leanor's death like that. In the book he dies in a quarrel between him and Qarl, but with no specific involvement from anyone else.
Sure, it could be that GRR Martin wanted to leave that open to the reader and something such as what we've seen on the series could have been the reality. But I wish they hadn't added more sinister doings to Rahenyra and Daemon.
It could have been as simple as Laenor talking to Qarl saying he wouldn't be joining the next expedition, Qarl getting mad, they start arguing, pushing each other out of love and disappointent, and then Laenor dying as an accident.
Then, as a producer, I would have definitely left the remarrying story for the next episode.
Maybe just me.
13:19 based on photos, that is most probably a bee, with the discernible stripes. Fireflies have opaque, black wings that sit side by side, covering the body. It does not reveal stripes under them.
It's a firefly, may not be biologically accurate, but it's meant to be a firefly.
It might not have been in good taste what Aemond did but he certainly had every right to claim Vhagar. If Laena's girl wanted to do so she should have acted sooner.
True, and the dragons have a big say in who claims them, if Vhagar didn't want to bond with Aemond then she wouldn't have.
Eve Best owned this episode. ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾
Helaena reminds me of Cassandra from Greek myth
i was think samething
This is a bit off topic, but I've been thinking about if since reading Blood and Fire and a few things in ASoIF. Has GRRM implied that the dragons are a creation made by mixing humans with gods know what, using "magick" and/or technology lost in the Doom of Valeria? There are a bunch of things that would be spoilers to many, so I don't want to list them but I'm sure other readers will recall the very arresting tidbits if they've read BaF, they're not subtle but are also mysterious.
Great episode the nuance and the strategy! I disagree Robert Real politic in full effect enhanced with a bit of blood lust granted! Off topic Robert if Sauron lost his body in Nuemenor how did he keep the 1 ring and return to mordor with it?
Amazing video, very good analysis.