Just want to let you guys know, I really appreciate and respect you guys standing up to the worldbuilding and lore of asoiaf. Especially the casting choices for the Voleryons. You definitely have my support and I will be buying the new illustration book.
Oh, one other thing, I thought at the beginning that they were juxtaposing Allicent's traditional women's approach (in Westeros) to gaining power vs. Rhaenyra's approach (more in the face of the patriarchy). So, it doesn't surprise me that Allicent is more "agency-constrained) as I suspect that was part of the point? I do agree with you all that it was more interesting (to me) when Allicent was fully invested in interrupting Viserys' wishes.
I’m angry the only reason they don’t have Rhaenys kill the greens is honor, but…it occurs to me that an outsider would say the exact same thing about Ned Stark sparing Cersei when he had the chance.
The ending of the episode was a standout moment in the show so far ...in a bad way. It was more GoT s5-8 style illogical spectacle than what we've seen so far from HOTD -generally a pretty smart show. I don't even see how Rhaenys herself survives bursting through that much stone... Rest of the episode was interesting enough (Aemond steals every scene he is in) but it felt rushed. GRRM has said he wants or wanted 13 episode seasons and I can see why. Please, HBO, listen to the man! TBH, my main criticism of eps1-8 would be that it has been a little rushed at times. More episodes would allow for some other characters to be fleshed out a little. For instance, the Council are all empty shells, basically glorified extras. Unlike in GoT, I could not name any of them bar 1 or 2.. I also wish they would do a better job of conveying which House this or that Lord is from.
When she burst through the floor and killed like 500+ random smallfolk I laughed out loud. Then she stared down her biggest foes and did nothing it gave me GOT seasons 6-8 vibes. Hilarious.
Yep I felt the same about the ending. I just started reading Fire & Blood so I'm not at that part yet, but I 100% knew that was not in the book because of how much it felt like later GoT seasons.
Dracerys is the only thing Rhaenyra should have done , I would have excepted if she slipped out of the coronation and you just saw her fly away towards Dragonstone on her dragon otherwise a solid episode
I don’t think I’ve ever been as frustrated by a TV show. Not even the original GoT. This episode is one of the most beautiful episodes of television I’ve ever seen but yet the writers seem intent on making everything as simple as possible, or indeed turned up to 11 for the sake of drama over everything else. It seems like every episode someone has a nonsensical outburst just for the sake of it - usually Criston Cole or a Velaryon. I mean the Beesbury death was ridiculous. And the dragon scene was one of those eye roll TV show scenes - where it can all be ended but the dutiful character decided to spare the villains which will of course lead to four seasons of horror! So trite. Also the writing. I mean must Alicent’s entire existence be about her being a woman? Must Criston Cole’s character now all be about duty? Can we have a little bit of nuance maybe?
I don't think Criston is motivated by duty at all. I think he is one of those people who have so much self-loathing that they project it onto others. Like the way that homophobic violence is often instigated by people who are same-sex attracted. He is horrendously violent for a man who claims to also be religious and dutiful.
I think the dragon crushing all those people while representatives of the blacks and greens glare at each other is an interesting metaphor for the Dance of the Dragons. This was probably my least favorite episode but I am looking forward to the final episode of this season.
The ending of this episode sacrificed all common sense for an exciting scene and reduced the plot to an unnecessary one. The Queen who never was is clearly choosing the blacks and instead of ending an inevitably long and bloody war by killing the Greens, she chooses to kill a hundred plus peasants and leave Kings Landing to eventually be killed by the Greens. The Greens kill or imprison anyone who doesn’t bend the knee at the Red Keep to King Aegon, but don’t think to secure the Dragon of the woman who’s children are betrothed to Rheanyra? Also apparently any tom dick or harry can just wander down to the Dragons without being stopped and the Greens have amnesia when they prevent anyone from leaving the Red Keep, but allow the Lord Commander of the King’s Guard to forsake his vows and wonder off into the night? Getting strong GOT season 8 vibes. Also.... the club foot has a foot fetish? A bit on the nose.....sorry.....need to vent.
An interesting episode. I do agree with many comments how there were too many points that made no sense. Whilst the final scene was cool to see, it went against logic. Is access to the dragon pit unguarded? the dragon pit has a changing room where riders store their armor? Smashing through the stone roof/floor and not getting hurt by all the falling debris. All the common folk dying in the process, only to give a bit of a roar and then fly off. Not to forget, she saw as she was saved from the red keep by one of the twins what the greens did to Lord Caswell. I find it hard to believe not one soldier had a ranged weapon or spear and wouldn't have just tried to hit the rider, everyone in that building and outside would have believed their life was about to end. The writing choices around her character are just bad. It played well with the general GOT/HOTD viewers, but it injects the later troubling GOT season writing into HOTD. Mysaria wanting to end the child situation. She could simply have all the people involved (non-royals) assassinated if she wanted. Having that as a bargaining point with Otto was silly. They mentioned in the meeting that some of the commanders of the city watch are still loyal to Daemon. Who ever decided to have Mysaria do that out of place accent needs to be stopped. The whole where's Aegon hunt felt like filler to make a few points but ended up burning valuable time when they are having only 10 episodes and are rushing through character development.
Given the first episode making the point that the dragons stink and you can smell when someone has ridden them, I'm actually not bothered by the idea that each rider has changes of clothes, armor meant for dragon riding, etc. on site at the Dragonpit.
18:38 haha very true, esp. in Westeros where mass murder seems to be a rite of passage for women of high standing, Rhaenyrs now joining Dany and Cersei in making as big a bloody mess as possible lol
It was shaping up to be a pretty good episode with only Lord Beesbury's death and Rhaenys' escape from the dragon pit marring it... Both were comical but the latter was just too over the top.
For some reason…the gathering of all the great (European) ASOIAF commentators in Caceres reminds me of the scene from Godfather 2 where all the mob bosses meet in Havana, and talk about how great it is to have the local government in their pocket
Not our favorite. We can kind of see where they were going but it would have been better if Rhaenys escaped as the Dragonpit was emptying, leading to many fewer deaths and no "I'm going to maybe roast you" confrontation. The two acts in isolation I'm fine with, but all those people dying felt like it made sense if she was planning to end the war then and there. The answer from the writer, "It's Game of Thrones, civilians don't matter!" in an interview with THR felt very facile to me. Hess has done very well and to a certain degree there's something to it, but... there's no Rhaenys, once having reached Meleys, _couldn't_ have waited a bit for the crowd to disperse. If they find her, what are they going to do? She's got a honking huge dragon and she can bust out. But this was a choice she made.
@@WesterosTV We've already seen there are other ways dragons can get in/out and how did she even survive that Impact with all the rubble. I guess they just wanted their "Girl Boss Moment" to please twitter crowd. Shame they went spactacle over logic just like later thrones Seasons.
I think we touched on Meleys in a past episode when we discussed the fact that Meleys had been Alyssa's dragon, with Alyssa being the mother of Viserys and Daemon. She was the first Targaryen to claim the dragon, who was considered one of the swiftest of the Targaryen dragons around 75 AC. By 129 she's grown a bit old and lazy, but is still ferocious.
Noted that in the description! We got new lav mics to attach to our wireless system, and in the process of getting set up, I got those sorted... but kind of forgot to plug in the wireless receiver into the camera. Oops! Won't happen again! (I hope!)
I haven't started in on the books yet, but I thought it was interesting in the show, how Vhagar was riderless for a long time. Do Dragons require riders? Will they go, feral after a while or something like that, if they remain unclaimed? I imagine that would wreak havoc lol.
We've discussed doing a discussion about the first season, but we really aren't planning to review it because we feel a bit odd about doing that. That said, we'll discuss aspects we liked and disliked, I think. Overall, though, I should emphasize that Linda and I both enjoy the show, even if there are things we don't love about it at times. It's really brought Westeros to life visually in a way that GoT never quite did because it was wedded to a very different aesthetic in some ways.
I haven't read the books but when Rhaenys appeared on dragonback at the sept and then just bailed i was like "i liked it better in the books" lol .. i don't think it's a good sign for the show that any time i dislike something and then watch the reviews i find out it's a change from the source material.
@@WesterosTV dragonstone-obsidian-volcanic - makes sense all creatures have their environmental niches' and why the dragons cant thrive in Kings Landing. The dragon crashing through the floor without rider being utterly crushed by falling giant rubble and masonry is patently absurd... the foot fetish scene was purile and weird. A lot was off with this episode. Although in general it's still a great interpretation. Thanks for covering it and all the nuanced commentary, I could listen to you both for hours.
In the previous intros we could see 4 bloodlines coming from Alicent's symbol. The last episode's intro updated it, it shows 4 bloodlines again, now reaching 4 symbols, a crowned naked woman ( Aegon ), a bug ( Helaena ), a sapphire ( Aemond ) and what it seems to be a cup, which is Daeron. Though it's indeed weird that they won't be mentioning him this season.
Overall I liked the episode, I thought it was a good episode, but this is the first episode where I really object to two of the changes. I was actually okay with the Laenor change, for example. But I feel like Cole simply murdering Beesbury was kind of necessary. I feel like that was Cole's like big moment. He IS "the kingmaker" after all. And other than that he wasn't really that important in driving the action in this episode either. He mostly functioned as a servant to Alicent. And it all makes me feel like he didn't really deserve his nickname. This was Cole's episode to shine and I feel like he didn't, in part because he didn't get his big moment. And then secondly I didn't like how they didn't give Aegon the line of "What kind of man steals his sister's throne?" I feel like that was one of the few redeeming aspects of the character in the books, that he's at least honourable enough to object. But here he's just kind of avoiding it because he doesn't want the responsibility. And this episode also shows that he likes to watch children fight, including one of his own sons. And then last episode had the rape... I feel like they're turning Aegon into too much of a Joffrey-like figure. When I feel like he'd be more interesting if he were a bit more grey. And him showing just that little bit of honour and shame would've helped there, imo. And, this isn't a change, but I did find it a little bit implausible that Rhaenys didn't fry them all at the end. Sure, she doesn't want to be a kinslayer and she had a heart-to-heart with Alicent earlier and all of that stuff. But she literally could've ended the Dance of the Dragons before it even started here. Aegon, Aemond, Heleana, Alicent, Otto and Criston were ALL there. She could've ended all of it without a single dracarys and she didn't. I do find that a little bit of a stretch, personally. Although the shot of her on that dragon was really cool. I like that they gave her armour and I loved the actress' acting there. She looked very regal and like she had a lot of power and authority. Fitting for the Queen Who Never Was.
Some how rheanys manages to not only find and mount her dragon in a matter of minutes but also manages to find and put on herself a full set of personal armor…….additionally it feels like everytime alicent or rhyaenera does anything that might be bad the show finds a a way to make it not so bad after all. Rheaynera kills leanor(but not really) alicent usurps the throne(but viserys told her too so not really) feels like they are afraid to make the women like George wrote them simply because they want the audience to like them more, or that despite the book showing us how women can be just as ruthless as men they want to show us a version where the women are just forced into it by men
Given the first episode making the point that the dragons stink and you can smell when someone has ridden them, I'm actually not bothered by the idea that each rider has changes of clothes, armor meant for dragon riding, etc. on site at the Dragonpit. Probably in a chamber attached to the lair their dragon has beneath the Dragonpit.
Alicent might say that @16:00 in order to justify her wishes. But that she truly believes Viserys wanted Aegon on the throne, is not credible at all. It negates everything that Viserys has said and done, especially in the previous episode. What they are doing, with both Alicent and Rhaenyra, gives me Dany's vibes all over again. 'They are good, but they are bad. And they are good, again, maybe? It's not their fault. It's a men's world. They have no ambition or agenda. A woman can't be ruthless or manipulative. They want to do the right thing. No, wait, they are bad and it's your fault if you thought they were good, or more complex, to begin with. Don't you remember what happened in the first season? Don't you remember what they did, audience? *wink, wink*' Rhaenyra has been given a justification (TPTWP prophecy) for wanting the throne. As if she needed a justification to want the throne. As if she wouldn't desire it, or simply think and believe that it's her birth right. We can't have that in 2022. God forbid!
That was a good episode but not the best and definitely didn't reach the expectations given the fact that it's the ninth episode of the season. I feel like they could have handled the rhaenys scene better with Alicent, aegon, aemond, etc. running away from her or hide so to make it harder for her to attack them or maybe aegon or haelena call their dragons ( they're also supposed to be in the dragon pit ) so rhaenys realize that there would be a fight with another dragon or aemond call vhgar and thus she will have to flee now or there won't be another chance to escape with meleys, this would be more logical instead of just let's make main characters stare into each others eyes without saying anything 😂😂 I hope they don't focus on the TH-cam reactions so much, we don't want this show to go the same way the other show went because of focusing on the audience more than the story itself ... I liked the cinematography so much and the director in this episode and episode 4 really brought the atmosphere of kings landing and its streets from the books . Btw I read something about the last episode, would really like to know what you think of it, it's said that the song that was played during the supper in ep 8 while viserys was watching his family, is a poem about two lovers who die during the doom of Valeria , the dragons kinda got extinct and died during the doom and now they'll die again during the dance. It's a parallel between the doom and the dance and daemon & rhaenyra are the two lovers who will also die during the dance . I liked that parallel if it's actually true, it would be poetic and beautiful, what do you think ??
This episode really annoyed me, everything from inserting Rhaenys and Meleys into the coronation to Larys having a foot fetish...there was very little that happened in this episode that wasn't "additional" content - at least in the past, you could see where the "additional" content would add something to the story...this stuff just seemed unnecessary and even silly. For instance, why in the world would Aegon not immediately try to have Mysaria killed for kidnapping and ransoming him once he is crowned king?
Didn't like this one. I really like this more nuanced more humane Alicent, but I didn't like that she didn't know about the plan to crown Aegon...that has no sense. I don't like all the "he changed his will in the last moment". There is no need of that! she is a mother, she wants her son to be king, and above all, she thinks he deserves it because he is the firstborn male. Rhaenyra is a female and her son's are bastards, and it is unfair that Viserys broke the law and tradition to favor his favourite child. End of discussion. And she thinks it is worth risking a war to ensure that justice is done. That doesn't make her less likeable! which I think it is the reason they felt they needed to add that new "twist" I didn't like Rhaenys killing a big bunch of smallfolk but not burning down the enemies.... has no sense at all..... felt very GoT last seasons.... she should have died crushed against the ceiling - Otto not knowing who the silk worm was is also pretty stupid...the hand of the king accepting blackmail to get the king to be himself (!!) as if it is ok and not killing her is... unbelievable Worst episode so far
When rheanyra was forced to marry a gay man who couldn't give her heirs and is also motivated by the long night prophecy and protecting her children bastard or not the she also has the right to risk all out war just like you say alicent has the right to fight for her own kids
Honestly the episode to me was probably one of the weakest (still ok) because of how different it was to the book. The Green Council, Otto Plotting behind Alicent's back, Rhaenys and Meleys in the dragonpit, the drawn out plot to find Aegon. It just felt a bit jarring. That Rhaenys and Meleys scene felt like more style over substance to me (GOT season 8) I do love the complexity of Alicent's character though.
I didn't like the vibe of the last couple of episodes. The whole innocent peaceful Alicent terrible men. I tried to not take it too personally as a guy but after watching the cast interviews I feel like the enemy. 😂
I do feel they're gilding the lily here. She's made a choice that's going to lead to bloodshed. They can't keep foisting her agency on other people, it's regressive.
I liked a lot of it but it had some very clumsy pieces (like the point we kept picking at, Aemond and Criston Cole just stumbling across Otto and Mysaria).
@@WesterosTV I felt they should have kept everything in the Red Keep and ramp up the tensions there. The hunt to find Aegon in the city did not work at all. And the last scene, while a spectacle, was ridiculous.
I enjoyed the episode but it's the weakest yet, the writing wasn't that good, especially the last scene which is unforgiveable, so beneath the quality this book adaptation deserves. It was surface level spectacle devoid of any logic or reason. This should be prestige tv but it's being held back by some people on the writing team, they lack vision and creativity, it's instead George's writing that's carrying the series. I hope we have better writing going forward.
Um... did anyone catch Malificent and Larys' sort of strange, "alone time" scene (socks off, feet up, _you get the jist..._ ) I mean, WOAH! Larys is coming off as a mind-control 3EC huge here. Didn't care about his family (neither did "Bran"/3EC), loyalties all over the place, apparently enjoying playing "destroyer" with "the simpleton humans"?! 😱 Larys isn't like Varys and "for the realm" 😱 (Sorry, refuse to read any more asoiaf until GRRM gets off his fat rear and do his duty with TWOW, don't know anything about this series, won't read a dictionary/whatever F&B is.) Malificent/Larys were "doing it" in the same room as each other! 😱 😱 😱 That's my takeaway (plus the end dragon scene was WOAH!) I detest Cole, too.
Just want to let you guys know, I really appreciate and respect you guys standing up to the worldbuilding and lore of asoiaf. Especially the casting choices for the Voleryons. You definitely have my support and I will be buying the new illustration book.
Casting says that third pro-Rhaenyra lord who refused to bend the knee was Merryweather.
Oh, one other thing, I thought at the beginning that they were juxtaposing Allicent's traditional women's approach (in Westeros) to gaining power vs. Rhaenyra's approach (more in the face of the patriarchy). So, it doesn't surprise me that Allicent is more "agency-constrained) as I suspect that was part of the point? I do agree with you all that it was more interesting (to me) when Allicent was fully invested in interrupting Viserys' wishes.
I’m angry the only reason they don’t have Rhaenys kill the greens is honor, but…it occurs to me that an outsider would say the exact same thing about Ned Stark sparing Cersei when he had the chance.
SHE FUCKING KILLED A THOUSAND PEOPLE. It’s not the same, episode was a shit show.
There is also the whole kinslaying taboo "Old gods or new, it makes no matter, no man is so accursed as the kinslayer."
She murdered all those innocent people. Honor? 🤣
The ending of the episode was a standout moment in the show so far ...in a bad way. It was more GoT s5-8 style illogical spectacle than what we've seen so far from HOTD -generally a pretty smart show. I don't even see how Rhaenys herself survives bursting through that much stone...
Rest of the episode was interesting enough (Aemond steals every scene he is in) but it felt rushed. GRRM has said he wants or wanted 13 episode seasons and I can see why. Please, HBO, listen to the man!
TBH, my main criticism of eps1-8 would be that it has been a little rushed at times. More episodes would allow for some other characters to be fleshed out a little. For instance, the Council are all empty shells, basically glorified extras. Unlike in GoT, I could not name any of them bar 1 or 2.. I also wish they would do a better job of conveying which House this or that Lord is from.
Indeed
When she burst through the floor and killed like 500+ random smallfolk I laughed out loud. Then she stared down her biggest foes and did nothing it gave me GOT seasons 6-8 vibes. Hilarious.
Yep I felt the same about the ending. I just started reading Fire & Blood so I'm not at that part yet, but I 100% knew that was not in the book because of how much it felt like later GoT seasons.
Dracerys is the only thing Rhaenyra should have done , I would have excepted if she slipped out of the coronation and you just saw her fly away towards Dragonstone on her dragon otherwise a solid episode
Elio will you be vlogging your trip? That would be interesting, enjoy & travel safe. Looking forward to the final episode with Linda.
I'm terrible at vlogging, but have posted some photos and videos on the Westeros page on Facebook and the westerosorg Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Alicent doesn’t seem shy about murder…
Larys asks her if she wants the white worm dead and she’s like heck yea go do it…
Cáceres event will be amazing! Thanks a lot for mentioning it!
I don’t think I’ve ever been as frustrated by a TV show. Not even the original GoT. This episode is one of the most beautiful episodes of television I’ve ever seen but yet the writers seem intent on making everything as simple as possible, or indeed turned up to 11 for the sake of drama over everything else. It seems like every episode someone has a nonsensical outburst just for the sake of it - usually Criston Cole or a Velaryon. I mean the Beesbury death was ridiculous. And the dragon scene was one of those eye roll TV show scenes - where it can all be ended but the dutiful character decided to spare the villains which will of course lead to four seasons of horror! So trite.
Also the writing. I mean must Alicent’s entire existence be about her being a woman? Must Criston Cole’s character now all be about duty? Can we have a little bit of nuance maybe?
I don't think Criston is motivated by duty at all. I think he is one of those people who have so much self-loathing that they project it onto others. Like the way that homophobic violence is often instigated by people who are same-sex attracted. He is horrendously violent for a man who claims to also be religious and dutiful.
I think the dragon crushing all those people while representatives of the blacks and greens glare at each other is an interesting metaphor for the Dance of the Dragons. This was probably my least favorite episode but I am looking forward to the final episode of this season.
How did Rhaenys survive crashing through that floor ontop of the dragon though? I'm not sure armour can deal with hundreds of tons of masonry
The ending of this episode sacrificed all common sense for an exciting scene and reduced the plot to an unnecessary one. The Queen who never was is clearly choosing the blacks and instead of ending an inevitably long and bloody war by killing the Greens, she chooses to kill a hundred plus peasants and leave Kings Landing to eventually be killed by the Greens. The Greens kill or imprison anyone who doesn’t bend the knee at the Red Keep to King Aegon, but don’t think to secure the Dragon of the woman who’s children are betrothed to Rheanyra? Also apparently any tom dick or harry can just wander down to the Dragons without being stopped and the Greens have amnesia when they prevent anyone from leaving the Red Keep, but allow the Lord Commander of the King’s Guard to forsake his vows and wonder off into the night? Getting strong GOT season 8 vibes. Also.... the club foot has a foot fetish? A bit on the nose.....sorry.....need to vent.
An interesting episode. I do agree with many comments how there were too many points that made no sense. Whilst the final scene was cool to see, it went against logic. Is access to the dragon pit unguarded? the dragon pit has a changing room where riders store their armor? Smashing through the stone roof/floor and not getting hurt by all the falling debris. All the common folk dying in the process, only to give a bit of a roar and then fly off. Not to forget, she saw as she was saved from the red keep by one of the twins what the greens did to Lord Caswell. I find it hard to believe not one soldier had a ranged weapon or spear and wouldn't have just tried to hit the rider, everyone in that building and outside would have believed their life was about to end. The writing choices around her character are just bad.
It played well with the general GOT/HOTD viewers, but it injects the later troubling GOT season writing into HOTD.
Mysaria wanting to end the child situation. She could simply have all the people involved (non-royals) assassinated if she wanted. Having that as a bargaining point with Otto was silly. They mentioned in the meeting that some of the commanders of the city watch are still loyal to Daemon. Who ever decided to have Mysaria do that out of place accent needs to be stopped. The whole where's Aegon hunt felt like filler to make a few points but ended up burning valuable time when they are having only 10 episodes and are rushing through character development.
Given the first episode making the point that the dragons stink and you can smell when someone has ridden them, I'm actually not bothered by the idea that each rider has changes of clothes, armor meant for dragon riding, etc. on site at the Dragonpit.
18:38 haha very true, esp. in Westeros where mass murder seems to be a rite of passage for women of high standing, Rhaenyrs now joining Dany and Cersei in making as big a bloody mess as possible lol
It was shaping up to be a pretty good episode with only Lord Beesbury's death and Rhaenys' escape from the dragon pit marring it... Both were comical but the latter was just too over the top.
For some reason…the gathering of all the great (European) ASOIAF commentators in Caceres reminds me of the scene from Godfather 2 where all the mob bosses meet in Havana, and talk about how great it is to have the local government in their pocket
I really thought for the past 5 weeks 4chan were meming about the Larys feet thing.
Lol, That ending was farcical. Season 7-8 level of bad.
Not our favorite. We can kind of see where they were going but it would have been better if Rhaenys escaped as the Dragonpit was emptying, leading to many fewer deaths and no "I'm going to maybe roast you" confrontation. The two acts in isolation I'm fine with, but all those people dying felt like it made sense if she was planning to end the war then and there. The answer from the writer, "It's Game of Thrones, civilians don't matter!" in an interview with THR felt very facile to me. Hess has done very well and to a certain degree there's something to it, but... there's no Rhaenys, once having reached Meleys, _couldn't_ have waited a bit for the crowd to disperse. If they find her, what are they going to do? She's got a honking huge dragon and she can bust out. But this was a choice she made.
@@WesterosTV We've already seen there are other ways dragons can get in/out and how did she even survive that Impact with all the rubble. I guess they just wanted their "Girl Boss Moment" to please twitter crowd. Shame they went spactacle over logic just like later thrones Seasons.
No Meleys info?! 😟 would love to hear what you know about the red Queen. She’s the dragon I’ve loved the look of the most in the show so far…. X
I think we touched on Meleys in a past episode when we discussed the fact that Meleys had been Alyssa's dragon, with Alyssa being the mother of Viserys and Daemon. She was the first Targaryen to claim the dragon, who was considered one of the swiftest of the Targaryen dragons around 75 AC. By 129 she's grown a bit old and lazy, but is still ferocious.
I think the wrong mic was selected during the record. Just fyi for next time.
Noted that in the description! We got new lav mics to attach to our wireless system, and in the process of getting set up, I got those sorted... but kind of forgot to plug in the wireless receiver into the camera. Oops! Won't happen again! (I hope!)
I haven't started in on the books yet, but I thought it was interesting in the show, how Vhagar was riderless for a long time. Do Dragons require riders? Will they go, feral after a while or something like that, if they remain unclaimed? I imagine that would wreak havoc lol.
We don't have any example of a dragon going feral from being unridden for too long, but one dragon does indeed turn feral...
That ending was truly awful.
Thanks to Rhaenys, we'll have a season 2.
Will miss you Elio!
Next week might feel like GoT reviews with just Linda lol
Do you guys plan on doing a full season review complete with eye rolls?
We've discussed doing a discussion about the first season, but we really aren't planning to review it because we feel a bit odd about doing that. That said, we'll discuss aspects we liked and disliked, I think. Overall, though, I should emphasize that Linda and I both enjoy the show, even if there are things we don't love about it at times. It's really brought Westeros to life visually in a way that GoT never quite did because it was wedded to a very different aesthetic in some ways.
@@WesterosTV i totally agree. Most episodes are amazing with just a couple weird things
I still feel that Elio should watch the last seasons of Game of Thrones and do reaction videos! I feel he pussied out there a bit (no offense!).
I haven't read the books but when Rhaenys appeared on dragonback at the sept and then just bailed i was like "i liked it better in the books" lol .. i don't think it's a good sign for the show that any time i dislike something and then watch the reviews i find out it's a change from the source material.
40:00 oh they explain that in the behind the scenes video for the last episode: the “dragon goo sack” inspired by Ridley Scott’s Alien.
Ahhhhj. For some reason that aren't airing these in Europe.
@@WesterosTV strange
Dragons grow best around dragonglass?
Also an interesting idea!
@@WesterosTV dragonstone-obsidian-volcanic - makes sense all creatures have their environmental niches' and why the dragons cant thrive in Kings Landing.
The dragon crashing through the floor without rider being utterly crushed by falling giant rubble and masonry is patently absurd... the foot fetish scene was purile and weird. A lot was off with this episode. Although in general it's still a great interpretation. Thanks for covering it and all the nuanced commentary, I could listen to you both for hours.
I'm so glad Miguel Sapochnik is leaving after hearing his ridiculous explanation for that nonsensical ending.
In the previous intros we could see 4 bloodlines coming from Alicent's symbol.
The last episode's intro updated it, it shows 4 bloodlines again, now reaching 4 symbols, a crowned naked woman ( Aegon ), a bug ( Helaena ), a sapphire ( Aemond ) and what it seems to be a cup, which is Daeron.
Though it's indeed weird that they won't be mentioning him this season.
Overall I liked the episode, I thought it was a good episode, but this is the first episode where I really object to two of the changes. I was actually okay with the Laenor change, for example.
But I feel like Cole simply murdering Beesbury was kind of necessary. I feel like that was Cole's like big moment. He IS "the kingmaker" after all. And other than that he wasn't really that important in driving the action in this episode either. He mostly functioned as a servant to Alicent. And it all makes me feel like he didn't really deserve his nickname. This was Cole's episode to shine and I feel like he didn't, in part because he didn't get his big moment.
And then secondly I didn't like how they didn't give Aegon the line of "What kind of man steals his sister's throne?" I feel like that was one of the few redeeming aspects of the character in the books, that he's at least honourable enough to object. But here he's just kind of avoiding it because he doesn't want the responsibility. And this episode also shows that he likes to watch children fight, including one of his own sons. And then last episode had the rape... I feel like they're turning Aegon into too much of a Joffrey-like figure. When I feel like he'd be more interesting if he were a bit more grey. And him showing just that little bit of honour and shame would've helped there, imo.
And, this isn't a change, but I did find it a little bit implausible that Rhaenys didn't fry them all at the end. Sure, she doesn't want to be a kinslayer and she had a heart-to-heart with Alicent earlier and all of that stuff. But she literally could've ended the Dance of the Dragons before it even started here. Aegon, Aemond, Heleana, Alicent, Otto and Criston were ALL there. She could've ended all of it without a single dracarys and she didn't. I do find that a little bit of a stretch, personally. Although the shot of her on that dragon was really cool. I like that they gave her armour and I loved the actress' acting there. She looked very regal and like she had a lot of power and authority. Fitting for the Queen Who Never Was.
Some how rheanys manages to not only find and mount her dragon in a matter of minutes but also manages to find and put on herself a full set of personal armor…….additionally it feels like everytime alicent or rhyaenera does anything that might be bad the show finds a a way to make it not so bad after all. Rheaynera kills leanor(but not really) alicent usurps the throne(but viserys told her too so not really) feels like they are afraid to make the women like George wrote them simply because they want the audience to like them more, or that despite the book showing us how women can be just as ruthless as men they want to show us a version where the women are just forced into it by men
Given the first episode making the point that the dragons stink and you can smell when someone has ridden them, I'm actually not bothered by the idea that each rider has changes of clothes, armor meant for dragon riding, etc. on site at the Dragonpit. Probably in a chamber attached to the lair their dragon has beneath the Dragonpit.
Alicent might say that @16:00 in order to justify her wishes. But that she truly believes Viserys wanted Aegon on the throne, is not credible at all. It negates everything that Viserys has said and done, especially in the previous episode. What they are doing, with both Alicent and Rhaenyra, gives me Dany's vibes all over again.
'They are good, but they are bad. And they are good, again, maybe? It's not their fault. It's a men's world. They have no ambition or agenda. A woman can't be ruthless or manipulative. They want to do the right thing. No, wait, they are bad and it's your fault if you thought they were good, or more complex, to begin with. Don't you remember what happened in the first season? Don't you remember what they did, audience? *wink, wink*'
Rhaenyra has been given a justification (TPTWP prophecy) for wanting the throne. As if she needed a justification to want the throne. As if she wouldn't desire it, or simply think and believe that it's her birth right. We can't have that in 2022. God forbid!
10/10 episode the dragon at the end -5 points so unnecessary
That was a good episode but not the best and definitely didn't reach the expectations given the fact that it's the ninth episode of the season. I feel like they could have handled the rhaenys scene better with Alicent, aegon, aemond, etc. running away from her or hide so to make it harder for her to attack them or maybe aegon or haelena call their dragons ( they're also supposed to be in the dragon pit ) so rhaenys realize that there would be a fight with another dragon or aemond call vhgar and thus she will have to flee now or there won't be another chance to escape with meleys, this would be more logical instead of just let's make main characters stare into each others eyes without saying anything 😂😂 I hope they don't focus on the TH-cam reactions so much, we don't want this show to go the same way the other show went because of focusing on the audience more than the story itself ... I liked the cinematography so much and the director in this episode and episode 4 really brought the atmosphere of kings landing and its streets from the books .
Btw I read something about the last episode, would really like to know what you think of it,
it's said that the song that was played during the supper in ep 8 while viserys was watching his family, is a poem about two lovers who die during the doom of Valeria , the dragons kinda got extinct and died during the doom and now they'll die again during the dance. It's a parallel between the doom and the dance and daemon & rhaenyra are the two lovers who will also die during the dance . I liked that parallel if it's actually true, it would be poetic and beautiful, what do you think ??
This episode really annoyed me, everything from inserting Rhaenys and Meleys into the coronation to Larys having a foot fetish...there was very little that happened in this episode that wasn't "additional" content - at least in the past, you could see where the "additional" content would add something to the story...this stuff just seemed unnecessary and even silly. For instance, why in the world would Aegon not immediately try to have Mysaria killed for kidnapping and ransoming him once he is crowned king?
Didn't like this one. I really like this more nuanced more humane Alicent, but I didn't like that she didn't know about the plan to crown Aegon...that has no sense.
I don't like all the "he changed his will in the last moment". There is no need of that! she is a mother, she wants her son to be king, and above all, she thinks he deserves it because he is the firstborn male. Rhaenyra is a female and her son's are bastards, and it is unfair that Viserys broke the law and tradition to favor his favourite child. End of discussion. And she thinks it is worth risking a war to ensure that justice is done. That doesn't make her less likeable! which I think it is the reason they felt they needed to add that new "twist"
I didn't like Rhaenys killing a big bunch of smallfolk but not burning down the enemies.... has no sense at all..... felt very GoT last seasons.... she should have died crushed against the ceiling
- Otto not knowing who the silk worm was is also pretty stupid...the hand of the king accepting blackmail to get the king to be himself (!!) as if it is ok and not killing her is... unbelievable
Worst episode so far
When rheanyra was forced to marry a gay man who couldn't give her heirs and is also motivated by the long night prophecy and protecting her children bastard or not the she also has the right to risk all out war just like you say alicent has the right to fight for her own kids
@@psycho9815 it's almost like she should of picked her own husband when she had a chance.
Honestly the episode to me was probably one of the weakest (still ok) because of how different it was to the book. The Green Council, Otto Plotting behind Alicent's back, Rhaenys and Meleys in the dragonpit, the drawn out plot to find Aegon. It just felt a bit jarring. That Rhaenys and Meleys scene felt like more style over substance to me (GOT season 8) I do love the complexity of Alicent's character though.
I didn't like the vibe of the last couple of episodes. The whole innocent peaceful Alicent terrible men. I tried to not take it too personally as a guy but after watching the cast interviews I feel like the enemy. 😂
I do feel they're gilding the lily here. She's made a choice that's going to lead to bloodshed. They can't keep foisting her agency on other people, it's regressive.
This was a bad episode. What a dud.
I liked a lot of it but it had some very clumsy pieces (like the point we kept picking at, Aemond and Criston Cole just stumbling across Otto and Mysaria).
@@WesterosTV I felt they should have kept everything in the Red Keep and ramp up the tensions there. The hunt to find Aegon in the city did not work at all. And the last scene, while a spectacle, was ridiculous.
I hated this episode so dissapointed
I enjoyed the episode but it's the weakest yet, the writing wasn't that good, especially the last scene which is unforgiveable, so beneath the quality this book adaptation deserves. It was surface level spectacle devoid of any logic or reason.
This should be prestige tv but it's being held back by some people on the writing team, they lack vision and creativity, it's instead George's writing that's carrying the series.
I hope we have better writing going forward.
Um... did anyone catch Malificent and Larys' sort of strange, "alone time" scene (socks off, feet up, _you get the jist..._ ) I mean, WOAH! Larys is coming off as a mind-control 3EC huge here. Didn't care about his family (neither did "Bran"/3EC), loyalties all over the place, apparently enjoying playing "destroyer" with "the simpleton humans"?! 😱 Larys isn't like Varys and "for the realm" 😱 (Sorry, refuse to read any more asoiaf until GRRM gets off his fat rear and do his duty with TWOW, don't know anything about this series, won't read a dictionary/whatever F&B is.) Malificent/Larys were "doing it" in the same room as each other! 😱 😱 😱 That's my takeaway (plus the end dragon scene was WOAH!) I detest Cole, too.
Sorry, you hit it at 24:00 with alicent/larys. Larys is like, BRAN! 😱 (3EC) EEeeeeekkkkk!
Not really