Also I’d like thank you both for the detailed, thoughtful, and candid review of S2 E3. I find that very few creators in the space are critiquing the work with the appropriate scrutiny it warrants, so I thank you for the unbiased and objective feedback. I’ll be watching your vids alongside the show(s) moving forward. Great work.
I absolutely loved the Harrenhal scenes! It seems like the show is fully embracing the Harrenhal curse idea from the books. I can't wait to see more of it in the next episode.
I do like how they show runners compared the Bracken & Blackwood rivalry to Hatfields & McCoys Feud. For those unfamiliar, it is a feud between two American families after the American Civil War. in the backcountry of West Virginia and Kentucky. It was incredible and those outside the region were shocked at the violence between two families that had known each other for decades over the smallest incident. Initially over a pig
I'd say was a fairly solid episode, probably Harrenhal scenes were likely my favorite ; though didn't care for certain elements and certainly comes up a bit short of the previous episode imo. The Rhaenyra sneaking into KL to speak with Alicent took the episode down a notch for me and nearly bordered on ridiculous imo. Just makes no sense to risk that or either would be receptive after losing children / killed by the other faction. And its far too risky , if RT was spotted by literally anyone thats the end of her claim / contestation ; even Alicent who seems quite regretful on the show all it would have taken was a raised voice for a guard to come over and end the war. Gave me vibes of was it S5 GoT Jaime and Bronn playing dress-up / dressing as Dornish sneaking about ; which is one of my least favorite parts of one of my least favorite seasons of GoT. HotD is obviously going a different way but there is almost no shred of the ruthless cunning scheming at work from RT or AH we see in the text. I also do think its becoming a bit much or believe you put it correctly as "heavy-handed" this the women seeking peace and its just the men getting in the way and pushing for war and if the men left the women to handle it everything would be sorted. I liked in the text the equal opportunity flawed , ambitious and ruthless characters regardless of gender. The women showed a lot of cunning , ruthlessness and decisiveness in the text ; that is hardly (if at all) being shown on HotD imo.
I’m really starting to hate this narrative that only Rhaenys and Rhaenyra and Alicent are the characters that see war could be bad and all of the men around them are bloodthirsty morons. It’s like the writers don’t trust the viewers to understand the nuances between medieval attitudes towards war vs modern takes, so they have to inject that into the show to lecture us. It’s also just annoying that they call all of the male characters reckless, when one scream to the guards could have crippled the blacks in this episode.
Love your show, I have not read the books, but find your details so fascinating! I do with they kept the violet eyes, I think it would have made dragon seeds in town a lot easier to distinguish. Does anyone recall in season one, the tiny white haired toddler in fighting pits, said to be fathered by Aemon I think, wonder what becomes of him, and others like him.
Scanned the banner in Harrenhall thinking I saw the grapes, ship, tree and bird of Hoare, the Strong shield was small. Reminded of Daenerys pulling down Stannis's banner. Aegon's brand management is strong
Did the showrunners ask you for help for this season? How much were you involved? I feel that some of the problems could have been avoided if you had been involved more.
I am 100% percent sure they haven’t’ asked them - why? What do they know about budgets and how to put a show together. Ryan Condal knows as much as anybody about George’s world and he will do his best.
They are going way overboard with their theme of "men are all bad, stupid perverts who want war and women are all wise, peace-loving victims of circumstance". It is so tired, so overdone, so unsubtle, and so untrue to both life and George's writings. Women can be just as flawed and hateful as men. The writers have also fully stripped Alicent and Rhaenyra of any agency whatsoever. Frankly, it's kind of insulting. Let women have ambition and flaws, and let them be decisive.
They really stripped all of the Baratheon out of Rhaenys. Every time I see her character I hear myself groaning “he we go again.” Insert fighting is bad speech.
This is hilarious. I keep seeing this type of comment from people who for some reason feel threatened or aggrieved from the mere idea that men might desire war more than women. First off, both Alicent and Rhaenyra are constantly making terrible decisions that will lead to massive casualties. It makes perfect sense that these two characters in this specific situation might be reticent to throw the land into total war. The show has laid the groundwork for why Alicent and Rhaenyra might be the two women with those specific positions of power would seek peace. Viserys (one's father, the other's husband) was committed to peace. Otto Hightower was opposed to war. It all works. That peace ended this week.
@@VictorDiGiovanni I just don't like unsubtle and repetitive themes that systematically portray one gender as stupid and violent and the other gender as peace-loving victims of circumstance. It's also just not interesting or realistic in this case, and it is insulting to the agency and intelligence of female characters. From Rhaenyra's perspective, Alicent did the following : - courted Viserys for 6 months while hiding it from Rhaenyra, who had told Alicent how much she didn't want her father to remarry, - spent 10 years spreading rumors about the parentage of Rhaenyra's sons, and demanded that baby Joffrey be brought to her immediately so she could inspect him, - drove Rhaenyra out of King's Landing by systematically undermining her position as heir, - raised her sons to hate Rhaenyra's sons, - demanded an eye for an eye when Luke wounded Aemond, - and told Rhaenyra she'd make a fine queen, and then usurped the throne the very next day. Not to mention Luke's death. Now, I understand why Alicent did all those things, but Rhaenyra had no idea about the misunderstanding of the king's dying words, and she had absolutely no reason to think that Alicent could be trusted or that she would ever negotiate in good faith. It simply makes no sense, given the deaths of Luke and Jahaerys, that either of these women would be seeking peace at this point. And the scene is useless because it changes nothing. It doesn't affect the plot. As Alicent said, it's too late. The scene only exists to morally absolve Alicent and Rhaenyra by indicating that they're actually decent people who tried to avoid war at all costs, and that it's the men's fault that it became unavoidable. Well, I'm sorry, but that's just not the story George wrote, and it's not a story that makes any sense, because if Rhaenyra really wanted to avoid war at all costs, then she would simply have accepted the peace terms at the end of Season 1 and abandoned her challenge. These women have been denied their ambition, their agency, and their flaws in an attempt to make them seem reasonable and good while the men are systematically shown to be cruel, irrational, perverted, impulsive, and violent. There is not one man on the show who is a good person (even Corlys is obsessed with legacy and power at the cost of his own family), and there is not one woman on the show who is a bad person. They may make strategic mistakes, they may misunderstand things sometimes, but they are always morally absolved by the writers. And I just don't think that's interesting, nuanced, or faithful to the story.
Good episode, however that last scene was pointless, to much stretching and frankly insulting the intelligence of the world GRR/HOTD writers setup for a scene that really was not needed...
I like it but I think it's too slow. And too tame. There was more forward movement in season 1 of GOT. And naked boobies! It's not just about boobs but maybe sexual tension? I think they will lose more and more viewers.
Disappointed Ryan is so dead set on Daenerys and trying to write around Nettles that he’s removing Rhaena’s biggest moment. She should have her dragon hatching scene with Morning and he would do the show a favor by introducing Nettles so Daemon’s character can grow past only having a relationship with two characters
Also I’d like thank you both for the detailed, thoughtful, and candid review of S2 E3. I find that very few creators in the space are critiquing the work with the appropriate scrutiny it warrants, so I thank you for the unbiased and objective feedback. I’ll be watching your vids alongside the show(s) moving forward. Great work.
Thank you very much!
I absolutely loved the Harrenhal scenes! It seems like the show is fully embracing the Harrenhal curse idea from the books. I can't wait to see more of it in the next episode.
Putting Alys rivers nearby was a nice touch to leave it ambiguous if it’s her or the castle
Harrenhal finally felt like Harrenhal, to me at least. Very cool.
Daemon's strangest vision was seeing the writer of the book he's a character in sitting at the table, acting as steward of the castle.
I do like how they show runners compared the Bracken & Blackwood rivalry to Hatfields & McCoys Feud. For those unfamiliar, it is a feud between two American families after the American Civil War. in the backcountry of West Virginia and Kentucky. It was incredible and those outside the region were shocked at the violence between two families that had known each other for decades over the smallest incident. Initially over a pig
18:00 I figure it’s a Frodo and Bilbo situation: everyone CALLS him “uncle” when he’s really an older cousin
We suspect Eddie Eyre (Gerold Hightower) has been cast as Ormund
I'd say was a fairly solid episode, probably Harrenhal scenes were likely my favorite ; though didn't care for certain elements and certainly comes up a bit short of the previous episode imo. The Rhaenyra sneaking into KL to speak with Alicent took the episode down a notch for me and nearly bordered on ridiculous imo. Just makes no sense to risk that or either would be receptive after losing children / killed by the other faction. And its far too risky , if RT was spotted by literally anyone thats the end of her claim / contestation ; even Alicent who seems quite regretful on the show all it would have taken was a raised voice for a guard to come over and end the war. Gave me vibes of was it S5 GoT Jaime and Bronn playing dress-up / dressing as Dornish sneaking about ; which is one of my least favorite parts of one of my least favorite seasons of GoT. HotD is obviously going a different way but there is almost no shred of the ruthless cunning scheming at work from RT or AH we see in the text.
I also do think its becoming a bit much or believe you put it correctly as "heavy-handed" this the women seeking peace and its just the men getting in the way and pushing for war and if the men left the women to handle it everything would be sorted. I liked in the text the equal opportunity flawed , ambitious and ruthless characters regardless of gender. The women showed a lot of cunning , ruthlessness and decisiveness in the text ; that is hardly (if at all) being shown on HotD imo.
Thank you for the insights! It was interesting to discover that Rhaenys is different in the books when it comes to war
I’m really starting to hate this narrative that only Rhaenys and Rhaenyra and Alicent are the characters that see war could be bad and all of the men around them are bloodthirsty morons. It’s like the writers don’t trust the viewers to understand the nuances between medieval attitudes towards war vs modern takes, so they have to inject that into the show to lecture us.
It’s also just annoying that they call all of the male characters reckless, when one scream to the guards could have crippled the blacks in this episode.
Rhaenys is the only character that I really dislike this season. I am a woman, and I cannot stand her character. 😹
Love your show, I have not read the books, but find your details so fascinating! I do with they kept the violet eyes, I think it would have made dragon seeds in town a lot easier to distinguish. Does anyone recall in season one, the tiny white haired toddler in fighting pits, said to be fathered by Aemon I think, wonder what becomes of him, and others like him.
Keep watching!
Scanned the banner in Harrenhall thinking I saw the grapes, ship, tree and bird of Hoare, the Strong shield was small. Reminded of Daenerys pulling down Stannis's banner. Aegon's brand management is strong
Did the showrunners ask you for help for this season? How much were you involved? I feel that some of the problems could have been avoided if you had been involved more.
I am 100% percent sure they haven’t’ asked them - why? What do they know about budgets and how to put a show together. Ryan Condal knows as much as anybody about George’s world and he will do his best.
what did you make of Daemon insisting to be addressed as 'your grace'?
An interesting choice. Strange that the histories don't recount this, but not entirely out of step with his character.
Naked Aemond what's my favorite scene not going to lie lol
They are going way overboard with their theme of "men are all bad, stupid perverts who want war and women are all wise, peace-loving victims of circumstance". It is so tired, so overdone, so unsubtle, and so untrue to both life and George's writings. Women can be just as flawed and hateful as men. The writers have also fully stripped Alicent and Rhaenyra of any agency whatsoever. Frankly, it's kind of insulting. Let women have ambition and flaws, and let them be decisive.
They really stripped all of the Baratheon out of Rhaenys. Every time I see her character I hear myself groaning “he we go again.” Insert fighting is bad speech.
This is hilarious. I keep seeing this type of comment from people who for some reason feel threatened or aggrieved from the mere idea that men might desire war more than women. First off, both Alicent and Rhaenyra are constantly making terrible decisions that will lead to massive casualties. It makes perfect sense that these two characters in this specific situation might be reticent to throw the land into total war. The show has laid the groundwork for why Alicent and Rhaenyra might be the two women with those specific positions of power would seek peace. Viserys (one's father, the other's husband) was committed to peace. Otto Hightower was opposed to war. It all works. That peace ended this week.
@@VictorDiGiovanni I just don't like unsubtle and repetitive themes that systematically portray one gender as stupid and violent and the other gender as peace-loving victims of circumstance. It's also just not interesting or realistic in this case, and it is insulting to the agency and intelligence of female characters. From Rhaenyra's perspective, Alicent did the following :
- courted Viserys for 6 months while hiding it from Rhaenyra, who had told Alicent how much she didn't want her father to remarry,
- spent 10 years spreading rumors about the parentage of Rhaenyra's sons, and demanded that baby Joffrey be brought to her immediately so she could inspect him,
- drove Rhaenyra out of King's Landing by systematically undermining her position as heir,
- raised her sons to hate Rhaenyra's sons,
- demanded an eye for an eye when Luke wounded Aemond,
- and told Rhaenyra she'd make a fine queen, and then usurped the throne the very next day.
Not to mention Luke's death. Now, I understand why Alicent did all those things, but Rhaenyra had no idea about the misunderstanding of the king's dying words, and she had absolutely no reason to think that Alicent could be trusted or that she would ever negotiate in good faith. It simply makes no sense, given the deaths of Luke and Jahaerys, that either of these women would be seeking peace at this point.
And the scene is useless because it changes nothing. It doesn't affect the plot. As Alicent said, it's too late. The scene only exists to morally absolve Alicent and Rhaenyra by indicating that they're actually decent people who tried to avoid war at all costs, and that it's the men's fault that it became unavoidable.
Well, I'm sorry, but that's just not the story George wrote, and it's not a story that makes any sense, because if Rhaenyra really wanted to avoid war at all costs, then she would simply have accepted the peace terms at the end of Season 1 and abandoned her challenge.
These women have been denied their ambition, their agency, and their flaws in an attempt to make them seem reasonable and good while the men are systematically shown to be cruel, irrational, perverted, impulsive, and violent.
There is not one man on the show who is a good person (even Corlys is obsessed with legacy and power at the cost of his own family), and there is not one woman on the show who is a bad person. They may make strategic mistakes, they may misunderstand things sometimes, but they are always morally absolved by the writers.
And I just don't think that's interesting, nuanced, or faithful to the story.
Good episode, however that last scene was pointless, to much stretching and frankly insulting the intelligence of the world GRR/HOTD writers setup for a scene that really was not needed...
I like it but I think it's too slow. And too tame. There was more forward movement in season 1 of GOT. And naked boobies! It's not just about boobs but maybe sexual tension? I think they will lose more and more viewers.
Boobs weren’t all that was naked in this episode
Disappointed Ryan is so dead set on Daenerys and trying to write around Nettles that he’s removing Rhaena’s biggest moment. She should have her dragon hatching scene with Morning and he would do the show a favor by introducing Nettles so Daemon’s character can grow past only having a relationship with two characters
We don’t know that for sure