Preston's House of the Dragon Watch - Season 2, Episode 4, The Red Dragon and the Gold
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ส.ค. 2024
- Sweetrobin, Brandon Nightsking and Chad Summerchild are back for House of the Dragon Season 2!!! Here is their breakdown, review and analysis of HOTD episode S02E04 The Red Dragon and the Gold. Why is Rook's Rest a secret again?
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House of the Dragon is an upcoming American fantasy drama television series created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan J. Condal for HBO. It is a prequel to the television series Game of Thrones (2011-2019) and is based on Martin's 2018 novel Fire & Blood. Set two hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones the series chronicles the beginning of the end of House Targaryen, the events leading up to the Targaryen civil war, known as the "Dance of the Dragons", and the war itself. House of the Dragon received a straight-to-series order in October 2019 with casting beginning in July 2020 and principal photography beginning in April 2021 in the United Kingdom. The first season of the series is scheduled to premiere in 2022 and will consist of ten episodes.
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![ไม่พูดหน่อยเหรอ (Say Something) - PECK PALITCHOKE [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GkAA6TR97GM/mqdefault.jpg)
Preston makes fun of Daemon for putting on a cloak to solve all his problems. Meanwhile, everytime Cole takes his cloak off, problems. Always wear a cloak, lads.
Vaeghar was wearing a cloak, bro.
I was fine with it tbh, reminded me of this mobile game infinity blade where theres like a moss giant disguised as a tree
lvl 99.99 stealth
The blue whale is known for it's stealth 🐋
I assume they would actually be quite stealthy if necessary. I mean - they are under water 😁
its* ^^
I've never seen one
Clearly Brann was warging both Sunfyre and Meleys to make sure they arrived at the right time
Ok but real talk... the idea of a "Faceless Whale" assassin is both horrifying and hilarious
When the All Druid Party plans an assassination attempt^^
Imagine a faceless skinchanging assassin who wargs into whales to plummet any and all enemy ships in open seas. Now that's scary.
Black and white whale = KILLER whale 🐳 COINCIDENCE?????
oh no no no... new nightmare thought created
Justice for the Muppet Tullys
Summon Maester Oscar!!!
I wanted Elmo and Kermit damn it😠
That's how I know George wasn't expecting this to be a tv show.
Nah, fuck them. Muppet Tullys were bad and GRRM should feel bad.
@@zaja2418 He was just plucking names out of the air to fill his book with. It wasn't supposed to be a tv show.
Alicent rubs her belly to show shes pregnant
Or just bad gas?
She rubs her belly to show she has pain - maybe pregnant, maybe other issues (my wife is in significant pain there once a month...)
Moontea
It was a peach soup aftermath
She is obviously pregnant, her belly is poking out a bit as well
Faceless whales are extremely costly to hire, but the results speak for themselves.
They speak "waaoaoooooooooooaoaoo"
i love how the tree is hiding the giant wale
The irony is that whales can be perfectly unseen in the water that is, you know, literally transparent
What giant whale?
The whale noices are killing me xD
Had me thinking of the Skyrim Macho Man Mod
The one at the end
ooooooo000000OOOOOOO
So good 👌
There's nothing more dangerous than a faceless whale.
I am both thrilled on Preston's behalf that his theories are getting more validation from the show and devistated that the "Minds of Wolves and Robins" series is apparently over 8 years old.
Right? I remember watching those as they came out...
I have no idea how you find time for this, considering you have a job and a young child. You sound remarkably well rested. God bless you, Preston Jacobs.
The energy of Chad Summerchild enters him and fills him with immense joy
Whenever Alyn isn’t on screen the other characters should be saying ‘where’s Alyn?’
Thats basically the entire regency
There only one Alyn.
Wheres Poochie??
Alyn? Alyn? Who the fuck is Alyn?
7:00 I have a sort of crackpot theory that might explain all the secrecy and weirdness of everything about Criston's plans. it seems like Cole and Aemond started plotting together in secret at some point, we're shown this several times during season 2, and there are even scenes where they seem to intentionally deflect or hide information from the small Council during the meetings. there's a particularly weird scene where the idea of bringing Vhagar to support Cole is floated, and then Cole says that Vhagar needs to remain in King's Landing..... then Aemond becomes weirdly silent and the two share a look. it's almost like Cole and Aemond are intentionally trying to make the Council members THINK that Vhagar will remain in the city, but they've already planned in secret to send Vhagar out with Cole's host, and Cole is reminding Aemond not to leak this information to anyone else.
after Jahaerys was beheaded, Aegon brings up during the Small Council meeting that there might even be people "in this very room" working against him. now, we don't know if this is true or not. Otto seems like he wants to pin the whole thing on Rhanaerya and not bother investigating the matter any further. if Aegon, Aemond, and/or Cole were genuinely concerned about potential double agents on the Council, it might explain why they've been keeping things secret from the other Council members.
a feint to harrenhal, with no declared Vhagar, would ensure that if any council members intend to betray Aegon/Cole, they might set a trap or start plotting with minor houses in the lands on the route to Harrenhal. this leaves the path to Rook's Rest clear of any potential betrayals. then, once Cole is already on the road, he redirects his army to Rook's Rest. by the time Aemond reveals this information to the Council, it'd be too late for them to do anything to double cross Cole. then, during the next Small Council meeting, nobody seems to notice the significance of the fact that Aemond is already gone. again, the councilors are a step behind Cole and Aemond; they haven't realized that Aemond took Vhagar out of the city, so there's no time for them to warn Rhanaerya that King's Landing is left undefended.
it's all about the illusion of making it seem like Vhagar will always remain in the city, so that any spies or double agents will be unable to leak information like "hey Vhagar is going to be gone and King's Landing is undefended." they gain the advantage of putting Vhagar out in the field, only letting the most essential people know about it, while making it seem to everyone else that King's Landing is always being protected by their strongest dragon. I have no answer to the logistics of ACTUALLY keeping Vhagar hidden in the field. that's just TV writing I suppose.
I think this is quite plausible.
Aemond and Crispy are both secretive distrustful people and I can well believe they would deceive their own Council because *security*.
I think this is correct, and fits their characters and political inexperience.
The loss of Otto is being felt.
Thank you for the detialed post.
None of the people complaining are cknsiderjng double agents in the council
The double agent is the Grand Maester. He wants Vhagar out of the city so the Blacks will release their dragons. If this was all a play by the maesters & I suspect the Hightowers & it has/was executed perfectly. They were multiple steps ahead of the gentry the whole time. I mean how many dragons have already perished? Three at least. The Hightowers & maesters put this all in motion. They knew King Aegon II was soft. After he’s Anakin’d, now they influence Aemond to attack Harrenhal & Daemon. Both egomaniacs perish along with the two deadliest dragons that remained. It emboldens the small folk & just like that….POOF they’re gone.
Fuck dude, that faceless whale joke in the end made me spit my drink
"The weirwood bed gives you weird dreams," Alys said, washing her hands of something extremely blood like as Daemon happened to wake up with blood on his hands.
Me: Oh Preston is gonna like this
Watching this and my 15 year old special needs blind daughter was busting up at Preston’s blue whale noise. 0:41
❤
The Harrenhal feint makes perfect sense imo. They wanted to lay a trap for a dragon, if the blacks knew with more time they were going for Rook's Rest they could potentially send an army instead of a dragon (from either Harrenhal or by ship). But with less time to prepare, they have to send a Dragon.
And tbf, the hiding Vhagar for the trap thing is from the book, only the timing is a bigass coincidence, which could have been better addressed witn Aegon finding Cole before the battle and Cole not telling him about Aemond because he's afraid Aegon won't like to be out of the loop or something like that. Aegon can arrive first but not learn about Aemond being there and the rest still pans out the same
Aegon flew directly over Aemond and Vhagar, how would he not see at least Vhagar ? It's not like you would miss a giant clearing in the middle of a forest.
@@darj617 yeah, they should probably also change Vhagar's hiding spot. Not just because of Aegon, you can argue he wasn't looking, but because or their army. Vhagar should be hiding far from their army path imo
I think the orgy joke is everyone starts disentangling at the end. I didnt really like the joke, it really just showed how much the "council" was not in control without Rhaenyra there
Aemond did not want Aegon dead "because he teased him at a brothel". Aegon has been bullying Aemond since they were children. He's been the main adversary in Aemonds life. I can understand questioning if Aemond would be willing to take a life after accidently killing Luke and feeling bad about it, but I have no idea how someone could watch their relationship in season one and two and conclude that the only reason Aemond tried to kill Aegon was what happened in the brothel.
The same teasing brother that defended Aemond from Otto and Alicent when they asked why is he taking part in the council meeting that Aegon invited him to. Aemond is just too sensitive.
@@davidcook8065 I agree. I think the most important scene that builds towards this is in Season 1 Episode 9 when Aemond tells Cole he would be a better king than Aegon. It's obvious he considers himself better suited for the job and contemptful of how Aegon rules as king.
The build up is just so weak though . Yeah there isnt much love between them but to try to kill him came out of nowhere .
The show really doesn’t justify that relationship, aemond feels guilt over killing lucerys, who maimed him, but will happily try to murder his own brother, king, and one of the few dragon riders on his faction? Because aegon fucked with him?
What more do you need. He doesnt like the guy, he doesnt think hes fit for the position and he wants it for himself. Now he gets the opportunity and strikes.
Weird battle timings and coincidences happen a lot in asoiaf.
You have Tywin and the Tyrells arriving exactly when needed during Stannis' attack on King's Landing. You have Bran being inside the same tower where Jon and Ygritte are outside of. Bran and Sam meeting at the Nightfort. You have Arya arriving at the Twins while the Red Wedding happens. Victarion arriving in Meereen during Barristan's charge.
In your own fanfic, you have Tyrion and Jorah trying to save Daario at the same time the Dothraki arrive and help them. In the same chapter, you have Quentyn opening the gates of Meereen just as Tyrion is about to pass them. And Arianne going to Storm's End while Connington engages the Tyrells.
This is just how stories with multiple main characters spread out accross the world happen sometime. When you want those characters to meet in a big event or to have that event shown in different perspectives, some contrived coincidences and timings are needed to make the characters meet and interact in interesting contexts, like a grand battle.
It's also not that crazy of a coincidence for aegon to show up when he did. Personally i don't even see it as a plot hole.
Yeah, that was really weak and weird criticism by Preston
You're right, those are all contrived, none of those is good. Them being that way in ASOIAF doesn't make contrivances here any better though.
PJ IS BACK FOMOS
SHARKVADERS IS BACK SAYING PJ IS BACK MOFOS
we eating good this week!
I have no problem with Vhagar being hidden. He was multiple horn blasts away from the fight.
Later he hides behind the castle and jumps out.
@@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin that did annoy.
Maybe Rhaynera had her headphones in
@@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin In all fairness she was below the cliff. Shes far too large and not nimble enough for an attack from above. Instead she attacks like a great white shark, using her powerful jaws to knock the life out of her prey.
I can buy it, many large lizards are ambush predators and I can imagine Vhagar been somewhat slow but capable of sudden bursts of speed
"two personality overhauls" lmao.
That's a humpback whale, not a blue whale. Immersion ruined.
WOKE
Justice for Kermit and Elmo! 3:55
Maybe they were wearing cloaks the entire journey, Preston
Finally someone else is saying Daemon had Weirwood Paste
What are your thoughts on GRRM giving a whole dissertation on dragons today on his not a blog?
I would argue that the feint keeps Daemon occupied. If it was clear that Rooks Rest was in danger Daemon might have gone there to head them off instead of dawdling in Harrenhal. The greens are working under the assumption that Daemon and Raenyra communicate.
No one would have guessed that Daemon would become lost in dreams and and drop out of the war for a while.
Oh common Preston! Alicent is berating Aegon because he fired Otto, and basically said as much.
She doesn't give a damn about Aemond and Criston. That whole bit about men who earned their seats was because he needlessly fired Otto and is now whining about consequences of firing Otto
Maybe they knew Larys was listening after all and decided to talk about taking Harrenhal just to spite him
They probably know there is a spy, but now sure it is Larys
Could be ironic that he is a black’s double agent and Mysaria is double agent of greens
....you know....im finally getting smart enough to understand these videos 😅😂
Same. They even sound normal to me now
So far none of the small folk have brought up Rhaenys & Meleys' massacre in the dragon pit last season. Shouldn’t more people be talking about it?
This episode was sooooo good. Hope we get more cloaks next episode though.
Bring back GoT s6-8. This watch along was a lot more fun when dragon show was bad.
episode 2 is preston's Daeron
I have not read these books but regarding the dragon Meleys being battle tested. Can't it be in Essos or on the ocean defending Velaryon ships? Battles that not really counts as real wars?
The dragon fights was cool and all, but I agree with RTR that it was a bit lame to have Vhagar do the same finishing move two times. A move that not really fits a larger, slower fighter.
A nice refreshing glass of Jojen Reed 🤣
Almond controls the strongest dragon in the world. There's no way he couldn't be on the counsel
Still doesnt mean he earned it
@sagebauer1077 Well ge got the dragon himself
@@TheEnecca
At the cost of his eye.
I mean, Alicent is there for no reason, might as well include Almond.
@@VinnieMF She ruled the realm for years together with Otto.
Christon Cole proved to be yet another military commander without a viable pullout strategy
I’m looking forward to the next asoif spinoff: The Tullys take Manhattan.
Hey Preston! It’s my birthday today. I won’t claim to be a long term fan, I’ve found your stuff fairly recently, but I’ve had the time of my life catching up on your content! Cheers.
If they wanted Aemond getting ideas about replacing his brother, they could've done it reasonably (the way it was done in the source material) and made it opportunistic: Once Aegon is badly wounded, Aemond steps in as de facto regent and decides the crown fits him well.
That would have caused the trap at Rook's Rest to make some sense: green bros attack together, massively disadvantaging Rhaenys and her solitary dragon. Yes, it still fucks the king up, but not due poor planning or ridiculous timing, just through the sheer unpredictability of combat.
Also, the Harrenhall "feint" would work better: luring Daemon away would be what provides the two-on-one advantage that the Greens have at Rook's Rest.
Now I want Ryan Condal to add a surprise faceless man to the story
The way I would have handled the whole "Rook's Rest Ruse" would be like this:
Have Cole openly and earnestly march on Rook's Rest and make as much noise as possible on the way. When he gets there, have a maester send a raven back to King's Landing a few hours before the attack a la The Night's Watch during their Great Ranging. Maester Orwyle is told by Aemond to expect a raven earlier in the episode and when it gets there, bring him the letter immediately.
After the chat with Alicent, Aegon is super sad. He feels inferior and he thinks he needs to prove himself. Along comes Orwyle with a letter saying Rook's Rest is under siege. He asks if Aegon's seen his brother lately because he has a message from Cole. Aegon is pissed that he isn't even being consulted on the siege, rushes off to the Dragonpit, and takes off.
Aemond is halfway up Rhaenys' Hill when he sees a dragon depart. He gets PISSED when he realizes which direction Sunfyre is going and gallops off to fetch Vhagar.
Rhaenys and Meleys launch their attack on Cole's forces when Aegon attacks and the episode basically plays out like it did in the episode. Only difference is Aemond and Vhagar are a little late to the party, which leads to a massive loss of life on the side of the Greens but also causes Meleys, the swiftest dragon in the world, to become too tired to fly away and forces Rhaenys to fight it out. None of that "I guess this is as good a shot as any" banzai charging she did in the episode, which I found incredibly stupid because why did she not cut her loses and retreat back to where she had dragon reinforcements?
Just my two cents. There is a very easy way to make this not ridiculous with camouflaged dragon. It's like the US Navy trying to hide the USS Ronald Reagan supercarrier in the middle of the Hudson Bay. So silly.
It does make more sense and ties the episode together better.
The hidden dragon was cool but the big tactical advantage of dragons is that they move very fast.
As an alternative Larys could have told Aegon about Crispy's nefarious plan.
@@alanpennie8013 Actually wait yeah that's better. I still think Larys undermining the family because Alicent was banging another guy is infinitely better than "Daemon is actually evil tehehe" in regards to Blood and Cheese. I wrote the idea with a sort of "Vegeta is jealous of Goku and throws his own health under the bus to try to prove he's better than him" thought process.
Only issue I can think of is Larys would rather Cole be dead because he's banging Alicent and the only way that happens is if Aemond never gets the letter that Cole arrived and Aegon doesn't fly off to help. So sending the King he can control off to possibly die isn't the smart move to make.
@@manband20
This is a fair point.
Larys knows he can manipulate Aegon so he would prefer to keep the king safe.
Unless he prefers causing chaos to securing power for himself.
Maybe Christian Cole wanted to ensure Daemon thought he was going to Harrenhal so Daemon wouldn't fly to Rook's Rest and reinforce it with a dragon.
I laughed WAYYY TO HARD at this lmfao
I don't think Vhagar stealth mission is impossible. I just want a 5-minute video of Aemond flying on Vhagar at night over the water, landing in some uninhabited region of Cracklaw Point, making Vhagar lie still and camouflaging her with dirt and bushes for the rest of the night.
Why is there no video on episode 2? It had some stupid stuff in it too.
Like Rhaenyra not giving one of the twins a different set of armor because his twin is literally on the enemy team thus preparing specifically for that obvious plan? They both died because of this
Maybe the burning mill was the friends we made along the way.
7:10 what happened is that Aemond and Cole planned independently from the small council and the king.
Cole is secretive bc his plan is to against the sanctioned plan, it's effectively treason, endangering a royal prince (who's also the heir unless Maelor is in the show after all) even
I think Jaehaera is heir.
@@alanpennie8013 It would be ironic to support Jaehaera over Aemond when they are supporting Aegon over Rhaenyra.
@@gokbay3057No it wouldn’t be, that’s just the line of succession according to male-preference.
I thought Darklyn called Cole Kingmaker sarcastically, with a bit of a scoff. Not using the word as a slur
I don’t think the timing is that ridiculous. Stuff like that happens all the time like the assassination of arch duke Ferdinand. Also I’m pretty sure the point of the feint is to keep Daemon frozen at Harenhall expecting an attack so that way they can avoid having Cyraxies being the dragon they lure out which would be the most dangerous for Vagar. Plus I assumed he said the end of a lysene orgy because for one it makes it rhyme more with the phrase “the end of the knot” which is what everyone expects him to say making the joke hit a bit harder, but also when you finish the orgy is when you have all the detangling to do. Everyone detangles at the end. They don’t detangle in the middle of the orgy
The assassination of arch duke Ferdinand is famous for being such a coincidence. It doesn't happen all the time
yeah when you start peeling layers off that battle scene it falls apart pretty quickly. Ryan is not a details-oriented showrunner, as long as it looks cool he is happy, logic be damned
Why does this smell like got season 6 writing
Just like The battle of the blackwater where Tywin arrives in the exact second to prevent Cersei from killing Tommen. Why wasnt that a big problem back then?
@@TheEnecca because it make sense in the story ?
@@lolilol5346 Just like two dragons arriving at the same time to a battle they knew is happening. Both are incredible coincidences.
@@TheEnecca well yeah but in hotd these coincidence happens all the time , see the difference ?
A nice refreshing glass of Jojen Reed 🤣🤣
okay, random comments on youtube videos dont' actually matter but I've been listening to Preston try and deconstruct the writing in House of the Dragon and really I'm sick of it, these are not substantive criticisms. You do need to analyze something to an insane level of detail to get these take-offs but taking the same insane level of detail easily reveals their resolutions. Let's go thorugh one by one
1. Daemon actualy does have a perishingly small window of time to raise an army, the other castles have levys at the ready like Rosby and Stokeworth sure but if you consult the map they are all near the same distance from Harrenhal or marginally closer than the crown lands and the asumption is that Cole will march immediatly west from Duskendale as Rooks Rest is such a trivial prize. The trident offering improved transportation has less import when you consider the need for ships and river barges to make that journey on mass in a substantive way and that they would let them out a fair march north of the castle in question after a fair march to the trident itself and the time it would take to marshal the river-based transports for such a meneuver. Also the difficulty is in overcomming the River Lords conflicts whith each other whcih they are tempted to indulge in along the same lines of the burning mill while multiple houses are wavering between the black and green camps and each need a kind of hand holding to bring them to heel which Daemon intends to rip thorugh like a gordian knot thorugh drgon-based threats (Kermit and Elmo actually are distracting names for the standar audience viewers its a fair consoldation of characters)
2. There seems to be a mocking reference to Alicent waiting 6 weeks after her last sexual encounter with Christon to see her period is missing before asking for an abortifacient when a mentral cycle is on a four week clock, but Criston has only been on the march for two weeks not six; being impregnated just after your last cycle is entirely plausible and missing your period and then fretting over it for two weeks before resorting to a very risky request from the Grand Maester would be entirely understandable behavior anyway.
3. An orgy is difficult to disentangle at the end because there are various phallic objects in various holes with various liquids around them and they all need to be extracted.
4. Kingmaker is said with Ironic derision as Aegon is no rightful King to Lord Darklyn and Criston has made him one by fiat at the coronation and again by taking castles by force in his name (though I don't know if this is an honest cirticism or just another reach for humor wihtout real comment on illogicality in the writing its hard to tell with this bit he does)
5. The greens did not plan an "attack on their own castle" in the prior episode they expressed a plan to garrison that castle with a dragon and a small host in order to use it as a hub for rallying the Riverlands to their cause and crating a strtegic chocke poing in the continent.
6. Criston moving to Rooks Rest was a change in Iternary suggested by Aemond as you can see when he is handed a note form his page and then decarles their (new) destination to Sir Gwain where the orginal plan had them heading west from Duskendale. Baela had been drawn to sight out Criston on Moondancer and so was not sighting Vhaegar at the capitol so Aemodn was satisfied that he could meneauver her within flying distance of Rooks Rest unsighted (by night) and attack any dragon sent by Drgonstone or Driftmark just across the bay. The ambush was opportunism invented by Aemond in conjuction with Cole not some hidden plot from the beginning.
7. Of course the writiers know that Larys was lord of Harrnhal, that doesn't effect their deicion making, having legal title to a castle is different from having a garrison or a dragon there which is what they were discussing in the prior coucnil meetings.
[random disjointed sexual humor not actual critisism]
8. Alicent does think that Cole and Aemond are too eager for battle and bloodshed but she doesn't think they lack in strategic knowlege or tactical insight like Aegon most definately does, these assessments are not contradictory. "The plot demands" usually implies that its not justified by what was shown naritively but in this case it is justified; Alicent is drunk, lonely, suffering from the effects of an abortifacient, thinking about her culpability in declaring Viserys "choice" of Aegon as heir and ruminating on how much of a dissapointment he is as a projection of her guilt, it makes complete sense for her to snap at him in this state of mind.
9. "The premise of the battle is honestly one of the most illogical and contrived things ever seen in game of thrones, it is seriosuly on par with North of the Wall"; U FOOKIN WOT MATE?! no just no to this. The objections here are just off the wall unwarranted. Thousands of soldiers in the woods using provisons they brought and could hunt for and "siege engines" (here read wooden ladders and Chevals de frise) being hidden from an enemy whose only sourse of communcation is by one dragon covering thousands of square miles and operating on incorrect assumptions about their destination or by ships covering hundreds of square miles of open sea over the sea for somehting more or less than a week is not unrealistic
10. Dragons only need to gorge intermittently and don't need constant provisions, can move unsighted by night (espeically in a new moon whcih they took the time and care to establsih in dialogue) and Vhaegar only needed a day or three of laying in wait to pull this off, Criston moved by cover of woods so the attack on Rooks Rest would only be known about by the Black Council as it was alread in progress inticing them to send a dragon to resolve it quickly. Again moving to Harrenhal was not a feignt it was the orignal plan to march there after taking Duskindale, the change to Rooks Rest was suggested to Cole by Aemond opportunisticly after the Blacks only scouting Dragon was preoccupied looking for him and not tracking Vhaegar's movements.
11. When Aegon arrived wasn't coincidental, he knew exaclty when Cole was set to attack Rooks Rest as Cole had been giving updates to the Green Council and he was contemplating whether to jump onto the window of time needed to arrive as he attacked while he was drinking and teetering his flagon on the table's edge (also there would be some flexibility in arrival as Aegon sighted the battlefield on dragonback and waited for the ambush to occur before flying in heroically to win the battle for his army). This is also why Vahaegar was in position to attack as Aegon arrived they were both initated by the same thing, the start of the siege. What was not told to Aegon was that Aemond planned to support them as in the past this had triggred Aegon to try and join the battle himself out of bruised ego and it is also Aemond who is the gobetween for Cole and the Council. Aegon didn't happened to get bored he has been belitttled by his brother in the prior counicl meeting making him over cognizant of how illsuited and unheeded he was and his mothers comments were not illogical but perfeclty rooted in her expereince and state of mind at the time. There is a tragic alingment of circumstances to lead to this outcome, but not only is this set up a completely necessary and conventional aspect of story telling especailly tragic and dramatic story-telling but all of the alignments we were shown were perfeclty rooted in what characters had been experiencing and what followed form decisions they made before. It actually takes a lot of craft to get things to line up like this and dismissing it as a coincidence of timeing is some austic screeching
12. Aemond didn't want his brother dead for hazing him at a brothel that was an experience which sapped the last modicum of patience he had with Aegon's bullshit, Aegon had been tormentening a subtly bullying Aemond all his life, its almost his core character motivation was showing up his brother who had the hopes of their branch of the family heaped on him despite Aemond being the greatest warrior, the most studied ruler, and the rider of the strongest dragon. All of Aemond's insecurities stem from how his brother would simultaneously berate him almost unthinkingly and then prove himself a fool who Aemond still had to play second fiddle to because of birth order, at that point when he threw himself into danger despite all the effert Aemodn especially played in preventing that and setting himself up once again to demean Aemond and steal the glory put Aemond over the edge and it was actually really well built up and justified by the scarecely hour long amount of screen time each we've had with them. Rhaenys saw battle on Melys in the Meerish Bloodbath when she was just a teenager after her father was killed by Myrish exiles who had invaded Eastermont, the peace of Jaehaerys was a peace between the Houses of the Realm there were still external threats dealt with swiftly like the Third Dornish "War" and Piracy in the Narrow Sea.
Looking these over they are not well condidered takes, these are the kind of misanthropic criticisms found by zooming into a great level of detail to find things that activate an OCD twitch in the brain without ever zooming out to see how they fit into the context I'm tempted to go through the other videos and see if there is anything substantive about the prior episodes from Ice & Fire's most unhinged austistic theorist
Cole needed to travel in secret and during the night because if they marched openly they could be attacked at any moment by a dragon. Aemond could not follow them from a distance for a month and stay hidden exactly because Vhagar is almost impossible to hide. The only way for the trap to work was for Aemond to get close to the army and hide the previous night and then Cole to reveal himself and provoke the other side to send a dragon. The exact timing of Aegon's arrival is total BS I have to agree.
I expect it was prophesied so it had to happen like that.
The whale noises 😂. Honestly, though, Vhagar's ninja stealth attacks are begining to enrage me now.
🤣🤣🤣 You're *ucking nuts! That opening.
Still waiting for episode 2 review!
These are better than the actual show
Why do you think and imply that Helaena was lying? She's completely guileless and only speaks exactly what she thinks regardless of whether it's off-putting or inappropriate.
Holy Toledo that ending is a serious call back...
I don't think the contrivance if Aegon and Rhaenys showing up around the same time matters takes away from the episode much. If I was in the writing room I would have put it in. It adds a lot to the story.
Ohhh that’s why there was so many reshoots
Gotcha
All of us boys have been guilty of following a one eyed version of ourselves. I also love Ninja Dragons.
The thing that troubled me most about the episode is that Aemond attempted to assassinate his brother in front of thousands of people
Nobody but Rhaenys, and probably Cole, could possibly know for that certain, these "thousands of people" are also all soldiers fighting for their lives, while on the ground; the dragon battle was too far to be accurately seen. Judging on the ep5 preview propoganda about Aegon killing Melys, they might as just just try to spin it as Aemond valiantly trying to save the good king from the clutches of the evil dragon queen-who-never-was.
@@DmitriVanderbilt "Nobody but Rhaenys, and probably Cole, could possibly know for that certain" ITs a giant firebreathing lizard throwing fire at Rhaenys and Aegon while they are in the middle of battle.
"while on the ground; the dragon battle was too far to be accurately seen"
No it wasn't, because Cole was on the ground and he saw it. There is no reason why no one else should have saw it.
@@DmitriVanderbilt "Nobody but Rhaenys, and probably Cole, could possibly know for that certain, these "thousands of people" are also all soldiers fighting for their lives, while on the ground; the dragon battle was too far to be accurately seen."
That is quite literally the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
3.37 this makes sense, the week the book dropped this was probably one of the most talked about thing across the entire book
The ending made me choke
I'd have to watch the episodes again, but I don't think the Green plan is to specifically attack Harrenhal, but to establish it as a toe-hold in the Riverlands. They need it to garrison their troops; the show establishes that it is the only castle in the area large enough to do so. And since Larys has probably informed them that it is currently occupied by five men, a barn owl in human form, three hounds, and a black goat, it stands to reason to think that any Rhaenyra-supporting forces in the Riverlands (say, the Blackwoods) could quite easily take it. Granted, I do not know how well-known the information is that Harrenhal has basically no defences. TLDR; I don't think the plan was to attack Harrenhal, but to secure it as a place to garrison their army.
Makes sense.
Harrenhal isn't really very defensible but it would make a convenient base.
The Brackens are team Green. The Blackwoods are the ones on Rhaenyra’s side. I mix it up all the time it seems like it should be the other way around in my head.
@@whatsthejokersname Ack! Of course! The reason behind my thinking there is lost in time, I fear. Thanks, I fixed it.
The premise of the battle actually makes sense, even the secrecy of moving through the woods to avoid DRAGONS, not the small folk. Since episode 1 aemond and Cole have wanted to seek glory and violence by killing the blacks dragons. Alicent spurning her son to go fight is also pretty in character, she is just repeating Otto’s own care for her issues. The timing is whatever, aegon knew the battle was going on and so did rhaenys
I don’t enjoy these videos ALMOST as much I enjoy them.
Maybe I missed something but Amond following the army from far away is the easiest explainable point you brought up. Cole probably sent Amond a letter so that Amond could just fly over there by night, land in the forest nearby and be ready for when the battle begins. No need for food or dragon shit. But yeah I agree that they made up dumb reasons for why and how the battle happened. Also Alicent shitting on Agon was such a weird scene. That could have been her moment to influence the king who was starting to listen and even asked "what should I do?". I mean, wasn't that at least one of her big problems, that she didn't have any power anymore in this conflict?
Almond
Fire take you’re right literally last episode she bitched about not being able to do anything and how it’s everyone else’s decision now
but she is! she's trying to make Aegon realize he's a dumbass and should listen to her and to others in his council.
@@alexsnewhandle well no that’s not what happened at all She didn’t say listen to me She literally said i have no power and listen to your counselors who are trying to insight a war and finish their military coup
@@hudsonlewer7486
Alicent has become very bitter about the way Aemond and Cole ignore and is taking her frustration out on poor Aegon.
So did Jojen Reed time travel, or was there another Reed named Jojen a couple hundred years before the main series? Do the fathers name their son Jojen knowing he will be sacrificed?
“The Minds of Wolves and Robins” is probably Preston’s best work, even if he’s probably wrong about half of it. Loved the callout to it. Hot take: “The Secrets of Craster’s Keep” is a close 2nd.
The timing is convenient?
That's how fiction works
The faint would serve to prevent any dragon from showing up during the march.
You would want to keep the army safe.
Shade of the lamp segments are instant funny
You've outdone yourself!
After watching episode 5, now i am sure that the showrunners hate Daemon. They did everything to discredit him. Every bad thing that in the book you are uncertain that he did or not in the show he does it. And they try so hard to make Rhaenyra flawless, it's never her fault, her decision are good but the small council is always in her way, it's so annoying. And the way every character gets to talk back to their superiors is the most aggravating. Imagine you are in front of the queen or the king and you spit back at them remarks and all kinds of problems, it's so obvious the writers have never been in a hierarchy system, or at least in the army or something close to it.
god damn he's not killing him over the brothel thing. Aemond is ambitious and Aegon has always been an useless joker asshole that can't rule or leave the city, might as well seize power since he's already the most powerful being on the planet basically. Its a big risk to take because Sunfyre can be useful but Aemond probably thinks he can solo the entire war and do a Maegor and be the king au passage.
But Aegon and Rhaenys did not arrive at the same exact time. Rhaenys was already done torching the big portion of Green vanguard when he arrived.
Yay!
Dont forget episode 2
I think it was well established that Vhagar was at least multiple hornblows away from the battle wasnt it? And honestly I think people are overblowing Vhagar hiding behind the cliff, we get a shot of Melys flying over it from the sea when she arrives to show us how it could be used to hide. But in both cases Preston you are right, the timing is beyond lucky and pretty dumb.
This show needs a party room, there aren't enough expositional areas... long live the party room.
There was 80 years of peace IN Westeros, but there was the war in the Stepstones where it can be assumed Rhaenys fought on her dragon alongside her husband, son and Daemon. While we didn't see her fight on screen, it wouldn't be illogical for her to fight one or two battles against the Triarchy.
Incredible cope and headcannon
Lmao so Baela just stops tracking Ser Criston's army after one fly-by? Black Small Council is right again! Good ep but many more plotholes/contrivances than normal
HERE WE GO!!
Vhagar is a stealth bomber, those are big!
Also the biggest gripe is that Aegon is only burned by Vhagar and not Meleys at all. And Rhaenys should have gotten at least a little burned.
A stealth bomber is stealthy because it is quiet and avoids radar not because it can't be seen
@@FencingMessiah I know I'm joking. A stealth bomber is loud as fuck, just not as loud as a normal one I guess.
@@psevdhome oh ok my bad
@@FencingMessiah no problem. Stealth Vhagar is pretty stupid.
I repeat, when will HBO just hire Preston already so he can’t make them look like total morons when it comes to the source material!?!
@@ProudPapaJD You probably shouldn't hire someone who hates the source material (Preston to Fire and Blood) to adapt it rather than someone who likes it.
@@gokbay3057 Well there's that.... or maybe, counterpoint, that is the perfect person to hire to ensure it is at least consistent with the inconsistent source material! HAHA! One of Preston's big gripes was confirmed in episode five, Aegon's VALERYIAN STEEL armor was melted to his body but that soldier who was burnt to dust in his armor that Crispy Cole knocked over was incinerated while his armor was still shiny. So apparently Valeryian Steel has a lower melting point than the regular armor a foot soldier wears?
I honestly thought Preston was screwing with us when he mentioned Elmo and Kermit… Nope… colour me surprised when I learned those were real names of real characters 😂
The timing is a bit overly coincidental, however from an editing standpoint, it really adds a sense of urgency and intensity to the battle. I feel it's fair to trade one for the other, though the build-up to all of this could've been better thought out and brought us to near enough the same sequence of events.
Cole looks awfully clean for weeks out in the wild.
crazy world we live in, i remember the time 600lb andre the giant sneaked up on 130lb rey mysterio and snapped his neck, what a satisyfying and great ending to a wrestling match that was! best wrestlemania ever!
Shade of the Lamp got a glow-up!
How will allyn and adam ride dragons if they are corlys velaryon bastards and not a targarye's (leanor)
Valyrian blood is Valyrian blood.
Are we thinking the show will break the lore regarding a dragon takes on no new rider, if the old one still lives? Unless Laenor died off screen. Which makes his faking his death a bit pointless
@@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin velaryons have never been drangonlords only targaryens and targy adjacent
@@rodesvilobo8670they have never been Dragonlords but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t capable. We don’t know exactly who was permitted to ride or not a dragon in Valyria. It may have been that only certain families could ride it
@@laningsmith9163 we dont know who was permit....!!?????? The DragonLords, those were!! Of course only certain fams could..the targys could, not the velarys
Yes!
Imo the ruse of going for Harrenhal then going for Rook's Rest was to keep Daemon at Harrenhal.
Criston clearly keeps the plan from his troops until the last minute. So it seems Aemond and Criston are taking precautions in case they have spies in their army (which is incredibly likely given a decent portion of their troops only bent the knee after being defeated by Criston's army).
If Criston is clear they're going to Rook's Rest from the start, it gives time for Meleys and Caraxes to end up in the same place. Given the plan is to ambush with Vhagar, the best option is to split them up. And sure, only Caraxes was at Harrenhal, but if Criston goes for Harrenhal, Meleys can overtake them to link up with Daemon.
And sure, Caraxes could fly from Harrenhal to Rook's Rest (since Criston and Aemond have no way to know he and Rhaenyra are split right now), but given Criston was making an effort to hide his army, odds are Dragonstone would know about Rook's Rest being under siege well before Daemon would. Lord Staunton would send ravens and Dragonstone is closer. If Dragonstone thinks Vhagar's still at King's Landing, it makes sense they wouldn't wait for Daemon before attacking.
And yes, I know in the books Rook's Rest was under siege for days... but Vhagar and Sunfyre (who is way easier to see) somehow ambush Meleys in the books. Tbh it seems like that plothole originated in the books and the show is trying to patch it, not the other way around. Plus if Vhagar flies by night, the night before Criston is supposed to arrive, you sidestep the issue of feeding Vhagar giving away her position. Vhagar just has to forgo eating for like 12 hours. Give her a big dinner. Given Aemond wasn't travelling with the army until Rook's Rest he was waiting until the last minute in case Moondancer spotted him.
And Caraxes didn't turn up despite having days to do so in the books. Making it a ruse and all immediate gives a logical reason for Daemon and Caraxes to not come to Rook's Rest.