I’ve said it before, but it was at this moment everyone learned that dragon battles are more like dog fights than tank duels. They aren’t just machines, they’re living animals who are all related to each other just as much as the Targaryens are.
@@SpiralSine6, right? I felt really bad when the fight started because it reminded me of every dog fight I had to get in the middle of to stop it. Meleys look just before death broke my heart
That's how it is in real life. Namely, when it comes to war, not knowing the harsh and brutal realities of it all. From property damage to loss of life, the trauma is unbearable yet palpable. We see it now in the Ukraine and in Palestine, which affects us all as decent human beings.
I’m more into the magic/dragons/politics of everything, but I learned from GOT that I can’t stand or handle the dragons getting hurt. (Couldn’t stop crying when Viseryon and Rhaegal were hurt or died) I was so distraught over watching them fight. Men turned to ash? Limbs cut off? Beheadings? Whatever! It’s just what happens in war. Dragon (even one I barely know) gets a boo boo? “OH MY GOD HOW DARE THEY! I can’t! My baby!”
Lmao that was literally me. I was like “wow I’m ready to see carnage” and then when I found out Rooks Nest was happening in this episode I was like “oh no!”
26:37 This is why it is called the "Dance of Dragons." Dragons fight like Eagles. Lock talons, spin, and breathe fire while ripping and shredding with the claws of the free foot.
I... feel like one of those things is something that Eagles definitely don't do but besides that, yeah, apparently they actually studied how birds of prey fight in order to figure out how to animate the dragons fighting
@@Savage-nv6wr No one really it’s not relevant it’s just frustrating lore wise when someone is making a simple mistake you can correct. I’m just letting them know it’s a she dragon🤷♂️
If Rhaenys just crippled Vhagar enough to stop her from flying the greens would've lost their star player. She made the choice to go out trying. It's a valid play to be honest.
Either seriously injure Vhagar or lock on Aemond to kill or dismount him mid air. Still confused tho on how Aemond held onto Vhagar when they fell. His grip is something else.
@@lucasbelmonte2832 except Aemond (and Aegon) didn't use one the way Rhaenys did. They are just sitting on their saddles without any chains or bindings. Aemond was also seen halfway standing up multiple times during the battle sequence. He is purely only relying on his grip and upper body strength which is questionable considering his physique. I mean we feel the car's inertia when the car suddenly brakes even with seatbelts on. What more with Vhagar falling to the ground or even during their talon lock?
I loved when she strapped herself onto Meleys. She basically said if you go down I’m going with you ❤❤❤ ugh that last look they gave eachother gutted me. Great reaction guys ❤
@@AzkuulaKtaktu I think it was just an extra strap because soon after that she tried to attack Vhagar from below while flying upside down (probably to claw at her belly).
When so many people are getting upset and crying after seeing the dragons get injured and die you just know the people responsible for creating them did a really great job.
That look meleys gives back to Rhaenys, all i could imagine was that she was telepathically telling rhaenys "it was an honor getting to dance with you my Queen" just before her life is ended.
Rhaenys was not allowed to flee. She was the only defense for the castle, the only chance. And she was here on behalf of the queen. If Rhaenys had abandoned the castle, it would have looked really bad for Rhaenyra. Rhaenys went to her death with pride and courage. And Meleys still did a lot of damage. She decimated Criston's army and injured Vhagar considerably. Meleys was a fighter! Thank you for your reaction!!
@@TheYksuH there's also the fact that Meleys had a genuine chance against Vhagar (I would say roughly similar odds to Caraxes). If she just won that one battle she would basically win the entire war by taking out Aegon, Aemond (who is currently Aegon's heir), Vhagar, and Cole
@@Eclipsed_Embers I am green and yes, Melys could have defeated Vaghar and Aemond if she would have attacked differently, for example in open field only and with the distance, for that reason Aemond is such an idiot, he doesnt have many dragons at his side and is fucking around trying to kill the dragons of his side, he couldnt even defeat Daemon, how the hell is he going to defeat the rest of the blacks alone, the fuucker doesnt work for a king is too shycopath and cruel, Aegon arrived at the most incredible and perfect time for they both kill Melys easily and leave out of there almost ok but The big idiot betrayed him, it could have easily turn out to be so bad for Aemond coz it was just enough to kill him for the greens to lose vaghar, Aemond will have what is coming for him, I hope Aegon hits back somehow
@@Eclipsed_EmbersI have to disagree. She is maybe about the size of Caraxes, but probably smaller. Caraxes is half the size of Vhagar. Spoilers ahead! Even when Caraxes fights Vhagar it is only a matter of time before Caraxes loses. This prompts Daemon to kill Aemond by leaping of his dragon with his sword. Caraxes does the same and almost suicide bombs Vhagar prompting all four to die. Meleys is told to have grown lazy in the books. She also doesn't have battle experience. Caraxes is still fit and has battle experience and still struggled against Vhagar. In my mind there is no way Meleys could ever win. The books however I think, state that against Vhagar alone she might have stood a chance, but against Vhagar and Sunfyre together she would always lose.
@@movsss You probably mean Vermax. Yes, Tessarion essentially should be equal to Vermax, they are the same age. Moondancer is a bit younger and smaller than the two.
Of course Daemon knows what Aemond looks like. The visions are both prophetic and they dredge up subconscious ideas and desires. This one underlines the parallels between the two.
I was so ready to see this battle but then I suddenly wasn’t ready to see this battle lmao. I cried so hard even though I knew it was coming. I feel bad for Sunfyre too, he was so pretty.
Criston Cole is many things but this entire episode proves how good of a military commander and tactician he is - but your bias against the character makes you ignore one of his positive traits as a warrior. And to say he doesn't have a soul is ridiculous - look at the pain and horror on his face when he sees Aegon's body, it's almost the face of a father who hates himself for having failed to protect his son. There's complexity with Cole that so many people ignore. In almost every seen characters are pointing out how much of a threat his army is becoming. He's taken down multiple castles, tripled the size of his army, boosted support for the Greens in the crownlands AND now one of the best dragons/dragon riders is dead, a huge loss for the Black faction. Even when Aegon undermined his plans, he improvised and used the King's presence to hype up the army and now they've taken Rook's Rest.
Criston Cole is many things but being a real person is not one of them. I think its perfectly acceptable to trash talk a fictional character on a tv show
Vhagar broke meleys leg in the grapple, then tried to drag her down go the ground. Vhagar knew meleys wouldn't be able to take flight again with a broken leg, luckily Meleys was able to stay airborne. Meleys never really stood a chance in a 1v1 with vhagar.
Meleys appears to target her opponent dragon's abdominal area, as seen in her battles against Sunfyre and Vhagar. I love how swiftly she turned upside down to lock talons and ultimately avoid Vhagar's fatal bite. Despite the odds, Meleys and Rhaenys had a slight chance to injure Vhagar, which might explain why Rhaenys chose to turn back. Or Rhaenys's goal could have been to kill Aemond or somehow dismount him from Vhagar. It intrigued me tho how Aemond managed to stay mounted on Vhagar after they fell; without any straps, he was solely relying on his grip.
Thats not true at all even the book acknowledges that Meleys is a swifter dragon with a more experienced rider and if not already having to engage sunfyre beforehand would have stood a chance.
There's a beautiful little detail, where the actor who plays Aemond says he took the inspiration for the way he moves from Michael Myers in the Halloween movies. It's robotic, awkward... but menacing.
I haven't read the books, but from what I've seen in show Team Green has another dragon. Remember there's another son that lives in Old Town. He's the smart one getting raised by the elders
09:20 That's actually quite an accurate way of beheading someone with a short sword to ensure a clean cut - the blade alone wouldn't have enough weight to go through bone if body weight wasn't applied. The attention to detail on this show is phenomenal, just as how they mimicked bird of prey fights for the dragon battles.
You are wrong. Size does not equal success. Caraxes killed Vhagar in the books. Meleys was holding her own until Vhagar snuck on her. If you watch the scene, Meleys died of a sneak attack.
12:32 - No it isn't and neither did she cause this, that would imply the entire situation depended on her. You guys vastly overestimate Alicent's influence on things if you genuinely think she 's was a deciding factor in all this. Let's say she didn't mistake Viserys words and didn't say he changed his minds, would that in any way have prevented this entire situation? No, because as was made obvious after Viserys died, Otto and the small council had been plotting, without Alicent's knowledge mind you, to put Aegon on the throne. So what would her not saying he changed his mind have actually changed? Nothing really, the coup would have occured and Aegon would have been crowned and Otto and the others would likely just come up with a story of Viserys changing his will regardless. The most it would have changed would be Alicent not actively assisting but the end result would have remained and the events that start the war would have occured. Alicent was stating the plain truth, Viserys intentions died with him, she wasn't sweeping anything under the rug as you said, cause their was nothing to sweep under, she's merely understanding the truth for herself and this point, things were always going to go like this, regardless of what either her or Viserys wanted.
Sunfyre survived but is basically useless for most of the dance afterwards and haelena doesnt fight on dreamfyre so they have 2 dragons at best for alot of the dance
If Helaena was a warrior like Rhaenys Team Black would be in trouble. Dreamfyre is probably the 3rd biggest dragon. Vermithor I think is slightly bigger (the one Daemon sang too in season 1) and he is currently unclaimed. So they would have the two biggest claimed dragons and the story would be totally different.
VERMITHOR is Jahaerys’s dragon. Nicknamed The Bronze Fury. Definitely one of the strongest and most battle tested ones after Vhagar. Caraxes was Jahaerys’s firstborn’s dragon. Prince Aemon. I could honestly see him giving Vhagar a far tougher fight. Caraxes is a good one too. (No spoilers). Princess Rhaena, Jahaerys’ older sister rode Dreamfyre. Helaena owns her now Tessarion is Prince Daeron’s.
13:20 You have to remember that prophetic dreams usually have more than one meaning - well, dreams in general but that's beside the point. It could also mean that Aemond was dead right on his assessment that Daemon sees him as a big threat, so Daemon might see him as an equal, which in turn could mean several things but I'd say mostly an equal opposing force.
The special effects department essentially studied how bird's of prey like eagles, fight each other for dominance. They grab each other in midair essentially looking like a dance while scratching and clawing each other until one or both of them slams into the ground. Pretty cool to see them animate the dragon fighting very similarly.
Aegon is the older of the boys at 20ish, Aemond is supposed to be 16ish. The actors are just older and it shows. And team green has the other son of alicent and the old king who’s not been seen yet but has been mentioned.
@@seda6968 It doesn’t align with the timeline for Aemond to be 18. 16 years pass since Rhaenyra’s wedding to Laenor and he wasn’t even born at the time. If we wanna stretch it as far as we possibly can, he’d be 17, but not 18. The showrunners either messed up with the timeline or he just isn’t 18, idk.
Yes, the reason for all the off screen battles is because, unlike game of thrones, there are 2 sides to this war and there are so many battles that would take up an entire episode. If we saw all battles on screen we would be an episode behind from the burning mill and 3 episodes further behind from rosby, Stokeworth and duskendale. Rooks rest would have to be episode 7 or 8
Absolutely. With so many battles they are not going to spend their budget to show a battle, like Burning Mill, where the audience is not invested in the characters involved
In terms of experience, if we're adopting medieval values, a lot of soldiers back then were 16-18. It was actually very unusual for a fighting person to be Rhaenys' age. For example in real history Henry V of England started commanding forces when he was 14, went to battle at 17 and invaded France at 22. And that's because they started studying war and fighting at even younger ages.
Cole and Aemond planned it perfectly. They'll lure a dragon out and Vhagar would take care of that. Unfortunately, Aegon felt that he needed to prove himself. Cole has done nothing but win since he left King's Landing. And here too. He got the castle and got Rhaenys and Meleys out of the equation.
I like to think that as Rhaenys saw Meleys' life fade out of her eyes she thought "so this is what Viserys and Luke felt", a part of the Queen who never was dying even before she hit the ground. Before the Dance, only three dragonriders outlived their dragons: two of them likely by mere moments (Meraxes was killed in the first war for Dorne and their rider Rhaenys, wife of Aegon the conqueror, likely died in the fall; Quicksilver and his rider Aegon the uncrowned fought against Maegor on Balerion), and the third was Viserys, who watched Balerion die slowly and painfully from old age and wounds he sustained in his and Aerea's disastrous flight to ruins of Valyria
Team Black: 1. Syrax with Rhaenyra 2. Caraxes with Daemon 3. Vermax with Jace 4. Moondancer with Baela There are also other dragons on Dragonstone, which are unclaimed - so in order to fight, they need a rider and 3 wild dragons which need to be tamed. These are: 1. Vermithor 2. Seasmoke 3. Silverwing And the wild dragons: 1. Sheepstealer 2. Cannibal 3. Grey Ghost The Greens have: 1. Vhagar with Aemond 2. Sunfyre with Aegon - Sunfyre survived the fight with a broken wing and ribs - he will have to heal for a while but can still fight in a few months 3. Dreamfyre with Heleana (neither of them are fighters though) 4. Tessarion with Daeron
Greens also has Daeron’s dragon Tessarion. Blacks’ only remaining adult dragon at Dragonstone with Caraxes away is Syrax. The rest are juveniles, riderless or wild.
Dragons in the books are described as having “smoking wounds” during battle. Love the touch that the blood itself is hot because I don’t think that specifically is mentioned, but that dude who looked up and got his face melted by DRAGONS BLOOD, how metal is that!!!😂
idk man, that has to be one of the worst fates in this battle. You’re just some random dude trying not to be shot with an arrow and not be burned well-done, and then you just get doused in boiling hot dragon blood.
The Greens have Helaena's dragon, Aemond's dragon Vhagar, Aegon has Sunfyre and Daeron (which we havent seen just mentioned in the show) has a dragon. Then the babies of Aegon and Helaena have 2 small dragons too. So Greens have 5 and the blacks (taking out the unclaimed ones) have 6 now after Rhaenys and Meley's dearh (the dragons of Rhaenyra, Daemon, Jace, Baela, Joffrey and Aegon the small kid)
except helaena’s dragon doesn’t fight in the war at all, sunfyre is still heavily injured, tesserion is months away (we won’t see him or his dragon this season) and in the show jaehaera doesn’t have a dragon (that we’ve seen) and aegon doesn’t have any more kids. so right now they’re down to one useful dragon.
Queen Helena has dragon, "Dreamfyre". Don't forget Rhayenera has those 3 or 4 wild dragons living at Dragons tone. One of them is "Cannable" who eats other dragons..laterally. He has also eaten other Targaryens who tried to ride him. Vermithor is the one Daeman tried to tame last season. He is almost as big as Vhagar.
They showed Laenor's dragon, Seasmoke, in the previous two episodes and Mysaria's comment, "Maybe he's lonely.", makes me think either Laenor returns or the dragon gets a new rider. There's also that giant unclaimed dragon, Vermithor, we saw Daemon singing to last season. That dragon is bigger than Melys.
Why everyone keep saying Alicent and Ser Cole are liars? What have they lied about? The characters are written for you not to like to some degree but really what have they lied about? Everything Alicent has done she's believed was true at the time from her perspective. The audience has the luxury of seeing both sides at the same time.
Sunfyre was a beautiful dragon with gleaming gold scales and pale pink wing membranes. In the sunlight his scales shone like beaten gold. - Fire and Blood
The hightower dude did survive the dragon part of the fight. He is the one you hear yelling to storm inside the castle right before cole starts moving towards aegons location.
Aegon is older than Aemond (hence why he is king). He is supposed to be very early 20s while Aemond is supposed to be around 18-20. They have also mentioned several times this season that Alicent has a third son named Daeron that is living in Oldtown. And he has a dragon that is near fighting age.
Aemond cannot feasibly be older than 18. By Rhaenyra’s wedding, he wasn’t even born, and only 16 years have passed since then. 17, perhaps, with the months that are going by. Aegon is at most 21 and Aemond 18, but more realistically they’re 19/20 and 16/17.
@@OneDrinight in the books, Aegon II(The Usurper) is 22 when he takes the throne. Aemond is 19. But the show seems to have slightly different ages. Like Alicent is like 10 years older than Rhaenyra, but they aged Alicent down.
@@MalamuteX Yes, I’m referring to the show timeline. I haven’t read the book, but I know that Rhaenyra and Aegon are 10 years apart in Fire and Blood, whole they’re 15 years apart in HoTD. That would make Aegon around 20 and Rhaenyra around 35 in the show, is what I meant :)
VERMITHOR is Jahaerys’s dragon. Nicknamed The Bronze Fury. Definitely one of the strongest and most battle tested ones after Vhagar. Caraxes was Jahaerys’s firstborn’s dragon. Prince Aemon. I could honestly see him giving Vhagar a far tougher fight. Caraxes is a good one too. (No spoilers). Princess Rhaena, Jahaerys’ older sister rode Dreamfyre. Helaena owns her now Tessarion is Prince Daeron’s.
Meyles was the fastest dragon in the world. They could have easily gone to Dragonstone or Driftmark but knew Vhagar would follow them and destroy anything they found.
Otto and the small council were going to crown Aegon anyway, this becomes explicit in episode 9. Alicent's mistake did not interfere in anything, other than becoming her motivation in accepting their plans.
Dragon sizes matters to a certIan extent but the rider’s experience and the dragon’s ferocity and youth also matters.that is what we will see in the future without spoiling anything!!!
Hi guys! Wanted to add a few things on dragon loyalty, previous experience with dragon battles and dragon counts, that I think you guys missed on this reaction. NO SPOILERS, promise. First off, dragon loyalty. A dragon is loyal to its bonded rider, we all know that. But the tragedy is that they face a unique challenge when their current riders make them go against their previous dragon-friend. For example, in this episode, Vhagar and Meleys fight to death without hesitation based on their respective riders' commands. However, if you go back some time, Vhagar was ridden by Baelon (Vicerys' father) and Meleys was ridden by the love of his life, Alyssa (Vicerys' mother). So, these dragons have ridden together for many, many years. There had to have been a bond between them as well. Which makes this fight ever more tragic. But the thought is that when dragons were created in Old Valyria out of Blood Magic, they were never created with the intention of potentially fighting one another. They were made to fight and destroy others without dragons so that the Valyrians could be the "dragon lords". They used their dragons to burn down cities in the east, recruit slaves and increase their power and wealth, all the way to conquering Westeros. I think GRRM thought of dragons as working police dogs. If their partner dies in the line of duty, they can be claimed by another handler and continue to do their job as told, respectfully and loyally. But what happens if a new officer that has claimed a dog then goes rogue and sets the dog against another offer's dog? Would the dog choose command over bond to a fellow dog/officer? I guess no one really thought about that with dragons :) Just like how Sir Erryk says to Daemon -- "we were brought into the kingsguard pretty young and swore to protect the royal family. What were we to do when they go against each other?" Which takes me to my second point, experience with dragon battles. The straight-forward answer here is no one has any experience fighting another dragon whatsoever, because dragons have never fought each other before the dance of the dragons. Vhagar is very experienced with many battles under her belt and has had experienced riders as well, like Visenya (during Aegon's conquest), Baelon and now Aemond. But none of those battles were against another dragon. Meyles has been to a few small skirmishes and one battle in Dorne with Alyssa. But that's it. Rhaenys is a very experienced rider, in fact, she was with Meyles for 42 frikkin' years, but has never been to any battle. So, when we talk about dragon and rider combo, it is more of the intensity, attitude and bravery of the rider that makes a dragon react in the same manner, more so than previous battle experience. Because as I said, most of the dragons have ever fought in a battle, let alone fought another dragon. And that's what makes characters like Aemond, Rhaenys and Daemon so dangerous. Well, RIP Rhaenys, one of my favorite characters in the books/show 😢 Ok last thing, about dragon count ... leaving out the ones that are in the book by now but not in the show to avoid any potential spoilers. *BATTLE READY* Greens: Vhagar (largest), Dreamfyre (larger than sunfyre), Sunfyre (severely injured, possibly dead?) Blacks: Meyles (RIP), Caraxes (waiting aimlessly for Daemon to stop tripping), Syrax, Vermax, Moondancer, Arrax (RIP) *SENT AWAY AND/OR WAY TOO SMALL TO CARRY A RIDER* Greens: Shrykos (Of Prince Jaehaerys', RIP), Morghul (of Princess Jaehaera's) Blacks: Stormcloud (Little Prince Aegon), Tyraxes (Prince Joffery), 4 eggs *UNCLAIMED/WILD* Cannibal (rumored to be even larger than Baleion), Vermithor (technically, 2nd largest after Vhagar), Sheepstealer, Grey Ghost, Silverwing (Alysanne's), Seasmoke (Laenor's) And finally, awesome reactions! Keep up the good work :)
The greens have Vhagar fir Aemond, Dreamfyre fir halaena, Tessarion for Daeron(Alicent's youngest son). There are baby dragons in the dragon pit for Aegon's twin children jahaera and jahaerys. Sunfyre may also survive.
Daemon was right in the beginning when he said caraxes and meleys can put vhagar down because meleys herself almost did but damn vhagar is too big even tho she’s old and slow. Credits to meleys for doing her best. 😢 RIP to the Red Queen & The Queen who never was . Died like a real Targaryen. RESPECT to all the dragons! 🙏🏻 cant believe I had a panic attack over fake dragons dying lol… I am team black but i Kinda felt bad for aegon too because he never wanted to rule but he also wants to impress his family eventho he has never been trained to be a king…and the way alicent spoke to him is kinda painful to watch plus his beother wanting to kill him. 😥 And sunfyre loved aegon more than his family loves him…. the look between meleys and rhaenys broke me as well 😢
I think the reason Aegon is so upset about not being listened to is because as Corlys once said "History doesn't remember blood, it remembers names." If he sits back and does nothing all everyone will speak about is how great Cole was in battle and how formidable Ameond was on Vhagar - just like they were saying at the council meeting before he left. He will be forgotten in history if he cannot make a notable contribution. I actually felt bad for him. He didn't want this, he never did. They never even trained him secretly to do the job correctly if they wanted him to have it. And now they belittle him for not knowing enough. He only started wanting to be King during the coronation because the people applauded and praised him, something he never got at home from his family. Alicent is a terrible mother. She didn't even comfort him when his son died and now when she actually speaks to him it is only to make him feel useless and worthless. I know people say that is because she got that from her father but that's not true because other people can go through those same experiences and choose to be much better as parents than their own parents were to them. Simply because they understand how bad it made them feel growing up in a household like that - they overcompensate for it. She is cruel because she wants to be nothing more.
Since you asked: Team Green _Vhagar_ rider is Aemond, _Dreamfyre_ rider is Helena _Tessarion_ , rider is Dearon (younger bro of Aegon /Aemond/Helena) _Shrykos_ hatchling dragon belonged to Jahareys, _Morghul_ , hatchling dragon belongs to Jahaera Team Black _Syrax_ rider Rhanerya, _Vermax_ rider Jacareys, _Moondancer_ rider Baela, _Ceraxes_ rider Deamon (stuck in cutscenes from his sidequests), Unclaimed dragons on DS _Vermithor_ formerly bonded to King Jahaerys, _Silverwing_ formerly bonded to Good Queen Alysaane, _Seasmoke_ formerly bonded to Leanor Velaryon Wild adult dragons _Cannibal_ _Grey Ghost_ _Sheepstealer_ Regarding the Meleys va Vhagar fight- Rhaenys fastened herself to the saddle b/c she was planning to fly inverted, she wanted to make sure she wouldn't be unseated. Meyles flipped upsidedown, grabbed Vhagar's leg, and forced the larger dragon into that death spiral. Meyles used her own momentum to to position Vhagar so she would slam into the ground-you can see her let go of Vhagars leg just before Vhagar eats it. Basically They PITT maneuvered the largest living dragon, who is a damn Kaiju, out of the sky. That's DAMN impressive flying and shows what an experienced dragon/rider can accomplish together as a team.
It’s extra heartbreaking that it was Aemond (and Aegon I guess) who killed Rhaenys, and that it was Vhagar who killed Meleys. Rhaenys’ father was Aemon, heir to the throne during Jaehaerys’ reign. His younger brother was Baelon, father of Viserys and Daemon. The closest of siblings and best of friends, and now all this time later, Aemon’s daughter is killed by Baelon’s grandsons. Baelon was happily married to Alyssa, and they were both dragon riders. Their dragons? Vhagar and Meleys.
As far as battle scenes, I will take battles with stakes and meaning as opposed to just spectacle…I appreciate the show’s perspective that a dragon war is utter devastation
Cannot wait for the first full shot of Vermithor. He's the second largest behind Big V. That'll give the black side size to counter Vhaegar. Plus he's mean AF 😁. Cheers all! Great vid
Vhagar sees a blimp flying by and gets self-conscious. Aemond spends the rest of the series consoling her and trying to improve her self esteem. Aemond: "Oh nonsense. Dragonriders prefer dragons with your body type. It's harder to fall off. Oh no, don't cry again!"
Young Rhaenyra picking Criston as kingsguard, was her worst decision. Criston isn't a politician, he's always come off as a commander. Aegon naming Criston a steel fist as hand was absolutely on the money, because he's very tactically capable.
I love that we were all like "I want dragon battles!" and then when we get the dragon battles we're all like "nooooo" lol
I’ve said it before, but it was at this moment everyone learned that dragon battles are more like dog fights than tank duels. They aren’t just machines, they’re living animals who are all related to each other just as much as the Targaryens are.
@@SpiralSine6, right? I felt really bad when the fight started because it reminded me of every dog fight I had to get in the middle of to stop it. Meleys look just before death broke my heart
That's how it is in real life. Namely, when it comes to war, not knowing the harsh and brutal realities of it all. From property damage to loss of life, the trauma is unbearable yet palpable. We see it now in the Ukraine and in Palestine, which affects us all as decent human beings.
I’m more into the magic/dragons/politics of everything, but I learned from GOT that I can’t stand or handle the dragons getting hurt. (Couldn’t stop crying when Viseryon and Rhaegal were hurt or died) I was so distraught over watching them fight.
Men turned to ash? Limbs cut off? Beheadings? Whatever! It’s just what happens in war.
Dragon (even one I barely know) gets a boo boo? “OH MY GOD HOW DARE THEY! I can’t! My baby!”
Lmao that was literally me. I was like “wow I’m ready to see carnage” and then when I found out Rooks Nest was happening in this episode I was like “oh no!”
26:37 This is why it is called the "Dance of Dragons." Dragons fight like Eagles. Lock talons, spin, and breathe fire while ripping and shredding with the claws of the free foot.
I... feel like one of those things is something that Eagles definitely don't do
but besides that, yeah, apparently they actually studied how birds of prey fight in order to figure out how to animate the dragons fighting
@@Eclipsed_Embers What do you mean? Here in Scotland where our official national animal is the UNICORN, our Eagles absolutely breathe fire. Yep.
I mean….they fight however GRRM says they fight….what are you even saying lol.
watch eagles fights then @@Eclipsed_Embers
Greens, Blacks and the viewers are so divided but we unite at one thing: Aegon is a cat. 🤣
A very, very singed cat.
Quick correction Vhagar is a female dragon not a male. She’s the oldest living Dragon at the time around 180 years old!
..totally assumed her gender.. smdh..
Yeah. She’s called the Queen of the dragons for a reason
Quick correction, it’s "she-dragon" not female dragon.
Who tf cares about a dragon's pronouns 😂😂
@@Savage-nv6wr No one really it’s not relevant it’s just frustrating lore wise when someone is making a simple mistake you can correct. I’m just letting them know it’s a she dragon🤷♂️
If Rhaenys just crippled Vhagar enough to stop her from flying the greens would've lost their star player.
She made the choice to go out trying. It's a valid play to be honest.
Plus she knows that if she doesn’t try, her grandchildren will be next
Either seriously injure Vhagar or lock on Aemond to kill or dismount him mid air. Still confused tho on how Aemond held onto Vhagar when they fell. His grip is something else.
If she ran all of Rhaneyras followers woulda turned coat as they can’t rely on her for protection. At least rhaneys gave all she could
@@retrograde9053 Because the saddles have chains and straps to keep the riders in place.
@@lucasbelmonte2832 except Aemond (and Aegon) didn't use one the way Rhaenys did. They are just sitting on their saddles without any chains or bindings. Aemond was also seen halfway standing up multiple times during the battle sequence. He is purely only relying on his grip and upper body strength which is questionable considering his physique. I mean we feel the car's inertia when the car suddenly brakes even with seatbelts on. What more with Vhagar falling to the ground or even during their talon lock?
I loved when she strapped herself onto Meleys. She basically said if you go down I’m going with you ❤❤❤ ugh that last look they gave eachother gutted me. Great reaction guys ❤
I kinda hated that. Like why was she not buckled in before?
@@AzkuulaKtaktu I think it was just an extra strap because soon after that she tried to attack Vhagar from below while flying upside down (probably to claw at her belly).
@@SerianoBuenoJunioryep, the director said was for that tactic 100%
Kudos to the actors and crew and effects artists that brought this episode to life!
When so many people are getting upset and crying after seeing the dragons get injured and die you just know the people responsible for creating them did a really great job.
“When you suddenly become the king of Westeros but you have ADHD” is crazy 💀
That look meleys gives back to Rhaenys, all i could imagine was that she was telepathically telling rhaenys "it was an honor getting to dance with you my Queen" just before her life is ended.
Beautifully put.
Ser Cole's actor is GREAT! If you hate the character, then the actor was GREAT!
I have read all of these books and knew what to expect. But I'm with you.The sound of dragons screaming was horrifying
Heart wrenching that Sunfyre is the only one that truly loves Aegon.
Rhaenys was not allowed to flee. She was the only defense for the castle, the only chance. And she was here on behalf of the queen. If Rhaenys had abandoned the castle, it would have looked really bad for Rhaenyra. Rhaenys went to her death with pride and courage. And Meleys still did a lot of damage. She decimated Criston's army and injured Vhagar considerably. Meleys was a fighter!
Thank you for your reaction!!
@@TheYksuH there's also the fact that Meleys had a genuine chance against Vhagar (I would say roughly similar odds to Caraxes). If she just won that one battle she would basically win the entire war by taking out Aegon, Aemond (who is currently Aegon's heir), Vhagar, and Cole
@@Eclipsed_Embers I am green and yes, Melys could have defeated Vaghar and Aemond if she would have attacked differently, for example in open field only and with the distance, for that reason Aemond is such an idiot, he doesnt have many dragons at his side and is fucking around trying to kill the dragons of his side, he couldnt even defeat Daemon, how the hell is he going to defeat the rest of the blacks alone, the fuucker doesnt work for a king is too shycopath and cruel, Aegon arrived at the most incredible and perfect time for they both kill Melys easily and leave out of there almost ok but The big idiot betrayed him, it could have easily turn out to be so bad for Aemond coz it was just enough to kill him for the greens to lose vaghar, Aemond will have what is coming for him, I hope Aegon hits back somehow
@@Eclipsed_EmbersI have to disagree. She is maybe about the size of Caraxes, but probably smaller. Caraxes is half the size of Vhagar.
Spoilers ahead!
Even when Caraxes fights Vhagar it is only a matter of time before Caraxes loses. This prompts Daemon to kill Aemond by leaping of his dragon with his sword. Caraxes does the same and almost suicide bombs Vhagar prompting all four to die. Meleys is told to have grown lazy in the books. She also doesn't have battle experience. Caraxes is still fit and has battle experience and still struggled against Vhagar. In my mind there is no way Meleys could ever win. The books however I think, state that against Vhagar alone she might have stood a chance, but against Vhagar and Sunfyre together she would always lose.
The two of you were in sync this episode and reacting with so much gusto. Bravo!
Greens have:
Vhagar - Aemond.
Dreamfyre - Helaena (she essentially never rides and she certainly doesn't fight).
Tessarion - Daeron (yes, the elusive Daeron). Tessarion is young, but already reached fighting size.
Sunfyre - Aegon (out of commission now).
Blacks have:
Caraxes - Daemon.
Syrax - Rhaenyra.
Vermax - Jacaerys (young dragon, just reached fighting size).
Moondancer - Baela (very young).
Blacks also have access to potential dragons:
Seasmoke - only if Laenor died already, which, considering Seasmoke's disquiet, is likely.
Vermithor - king Jaehaerys's old mount.
Silverwing - queen Alysanne's old mount.
And 3 wild dragons: Sheepstealer, Cannibal, Grey Ghost.
Sunfyre is still too young but with the difference that his growth is anormal, it was said he was going to reach the size of Belaryon the black
I think they’e going to make Tessarion either the same size as Arrax and Moondancer or a little bit smaller.
@@movsss You probably mean Vermax. Yes, Tessarion essentially should be equal to Vermax, they are the same age. Moondancer is a bit younger and smaller than the two.
@@hedinsee6830 your right. I always switch them cause of the sameness of the name
@@hedinsee6830in the books it is said Tessarion is more alike the size of Seasmoke. At least that is what awoiaf says. And they are pretty accurate.
Fun fact: Grover and Oscar Tully are named after Muppets. In Fire and Blood, this era also has a Kermit and Elmo Tully.
Loved this reaction haha! I feel like you both are really getting into House of the Dragon even more this season! Its delightful
Rhaenys wanted what is called a dragon riders death
"I wont leave Meleys"
Rip to the queen who never was and the red queen. Both were awesome in that final fight and went out together
Of course Daemon knows what Aemond looks like. The visions are both prophetic and they dredge up subconscious ideas and desires. This one underlines the parallels between the two.
I'm 100% with Hera. I cried like a baby watching this with you guys. RIP to that beautiful creature 😭💔
This is why I always felt uncomfortable when y’all said you wanted to get to dragon action. Me knowing what’s coming, for me it’s like, no we don’t.
"When you play the Game of Thrones, You win or you Die. There is no middle ground" - Cersei Lannister.
Alicents brother was literally sounding the charge he's not dead
Sunfyre has never been in a war or conflict only about 20 years old, for all he knew; they were going out for a walk, or I guess fly
I was so ready to see this battle but then I suddenly wasn’t ready to see this battle lmao. I cried so hard even though I knew it was coming. I feel bad for Sunfyre too, he was so pretty.
Criston Cole is many things but this entire episode proves how good of a military commander and tactician he is - but your bias against the character makes you ignore one of his positive traits as a warrior. And to say he doesn't have a soul is ridiculous - look at the pain and horror on his face when he sees Aegon's body, it's almost the face of a father who hates himself for having failed to protect his son. There's complexity with Cole that so many people ignore.
In almost every seen characters are pointing out how much of a threat his army is becoming. He's taken down multiple castles, tripled the size of his army, boosted support for the Greens in the crownlands AND now one of the best dragons/dragon riders is dead, a huge loss for the Black faction. Even when Aegon undermined his plans, he improvised and used the King's presence to hype up the army and now they've taken Rook's Rest.
But we don't LIKE him and therefore he's ineffectual.
Criston Cole is many things but being a real person is not one of them. I think its perfectly acceptable to trash talk a fictional character on a tv show
There's trash talking, and then there's being a blindered audience.
He will die in Butcher's Ball
@@itsthatgirl98_ Oh yeah, and I look forward to it. It's a good and poetic death for his character, like many deaths in the book.
Fun fact: vhagar is actually a female dragon. And sunfyre survived with a broken wing and ribs according to the book at least.
Survived but is crippled and basically never flies again
1st here and i had to sub because this girl on cam is crying for a dragon, how touching😍
Vhagar broke meleys leg in the grapple, then tried to drag her down go the ground. Vhagar knew meleys wouldn't be able to take flight again with a broken leg, luckily Meleys was able to stay airborne.
Meleys never really stood a chance in a 1v1 with vhagar.
Meleys appears to target her opponent dragon's abdominal area, as seen in her battles against Sunfyre and Vhagar. I love how swiftly she turned upside down to lock talons and ultimately avoid Vhagar's fatal bite. Despite the odds, Meleys and Rhaenys had a slight chance to injure Vhagar, which might explain why Rhaenys chose to turn back. Or Rhaenys's goal could have been to kill Aemond or somehow dismount him from Vhagar. It intrigued me tho how Aemond managed to stay mounted on Vhagar after they fell; without any straps, he was solely relying on his grip.
@@retrograde9053in this case you have to go for the rider ……
Thats not true at all even the book acknowledges that Meleys is a swifter dragon with a more experienced rider and if not already having to engage sunfyre beforehand would have stood a chance.
tell me you didnt read the book without telling me xD
There's a beautiful little detail, where the actor who plays Aemond says he took the inspiration for the way he moves from Michael Myers in the Halloween movies. It's robotic, awkward... but menacing.
I haven't read the books, but from what I've seen in show Team Green has another dragon. Remember there's another son that lives in Old Town. He's the smart one getting raised by the elders
09:20 That's actually quite an accurate way of beheading someone with a short sword to ensure a clean cut - the blade alone wouldn't have enough weight to go through bone if body weight wasn't applied. The attention to detail on this show is phenomenal, just as how they mimicked bird of prey fights for the dragon battles.
You are wrong. Size does not equal success. Caraxes killed Vhagar in the books. Meleys was holding her own until Vhagar snuck on her. If you watch the scene, Meleys died of a sneak attack.
Why t f would you spoil dude?
@@MAC-xd8vs aur naur 🥲 sowry 😬
You guys weren't listening daemonds bed is made of werewood trees the whole castle is built upon a chopped down Grove of them
The Greens still have Dreamfyre, Tessarion, Vhaegar, and Sunfyre (he lives)
No team green will only have 3 dragons during the dance
@@etc8217 not really. they'll have a couple of more actually
@@jademonolith thats not tell daeron gets the dragon seeds to switch im talking about rn before rooks rest and the rest of the season.
@@jademonolithwell they will get some turn coats but pretty much all of them get killed
12:32 - No it isn't and neither did she cause this, that would imply the entire situation depended on her. You guys vastly overestimate Alicent's influence on things if you genuinely think she 's was a deciding factor in all this. Let's say she didn't mistake Viserys words and didn't say he changed his minds, would that in any way have prevented this entire situation?
No, because as was made obvious after Viserys died, Otto and the small council had been plotting, without Alicent's knowledge mind you, to put Aegon on the throne. So what would her not saying he changed his mind have actually changed? Nothing really, the coup would have occured and Aegon would have been crowned and Otto and the others would likely just come up with a story of Viserys changing his will regardless. The most it would have changed would be Alicent not actively assisting but the end result would have remained and the events that start the war would have occured.
Alicent was stating the plain truth, Viserys intentions died with him, she wasn't sweeping anything under the rug as you said, cause their was nothing to sweep under, she's merely understanding the truth for herself and this point, things were always going to go like this, regardless of what either her or Viserys wanted.
FYI Ser Gwayne (Alicent's brother) was the one commanding the royal army to storm the castle just as Cole woke up
Team green has 4 dragon currently, sunfyre survived, the other 3 is vhagar, dreamfyre, tessarion. 4 hightower siblings have 4 dragons
Team green basically have 3 dragons during the dance
targtowers*
@@nikitasingh0412 Targtowers and Strong boysss.
Sunfyre survived but is basically useless for most of the dance afterwards and haelena doesnt fight on dreamfyre so they have 2 dragons at best for alot of the dance
@@danno1375 sunfyre and aegon literally had a whole arc after they heal lol
If Helaena was a warrior like Rhaenys Team Black would be in trouble. Dreamfyre is probably the 3rd biggest dragon. Vermithor I think is slightly bigger (the one Daemon sang too in season 1) and he is currently unclaimed. So they would have the two biggest claimed dragons and the story would be totally different.
VERMITHOR is Jahaerys’s dragon. Nicknamed The Bronze Fury. Definitely one of the strongest and most battle tested ones after Vhagar. Caraxes was Jahaerys’s firstborn’s dragon. Prince Aemon. I could honestly see him giving Vhagar a far tougher fight.
Caraxes is a good one too. (No spoilers).
Princess Rhaena, Jahaerys’ older sister rode Dreamfyre. Helaena owns her now
Tessarion is Prince Daeron’s.
13:20 You have to remember that prophetic dreams usually have more than one meaning - well, dreams in general but that's beside the point. It could also mean that Aemond was dead right on his assessment that Daemon sees him as a big threat, so Daemon might see him as an equal, which in turn could mean several things but I'd say mostly an equal opposing force.
The special effects department essentially studied how bird's of prey like eagles, fight each other for dominance. They grab each other in midair essentially looking like a dance while scratching and clawing each other until one or both of them slams into the ground. Pretty cool to see them animate the dragon fighting very similarly.
Cole sent all the former rahnera loyalists into battle first what a dick move
Aegon is the older of the boys at 20ish, Aemond is supposed to be 16ish. The actors are just older and it shows. And team green has the other son of alicent and the old king who’s not been seen yet but has been mentioned.
I believe Aegon and Aemond are 3 years apart so Aegon’s around 19-20 while Aemond’s 16-17.
Aemond is 18+ confirmed now because he had a full nude scene, cant legally have a character below that age.
@@seda6968 The actor is 27… But the character is not.
@@OneDrinight Im saying you cant have a fictional character under 18.
@@seda6968 It doesn’t align with the timeline for Aemond to be 18. 16 years pass since Rhaenyra’s wedding to Laenor and he wasn’t even born at the time. If we wanna stretch it as far as we possibly can, he’d be 17, but not 18. The showrunners either messed up with the timeline or he just isn’t 18, idk.
31:09 Aegon survived but was left with broken ribs, a broken pelvis and the armor fused into the skin.
Yes, the reason for all the off screen battles is because, unlike game of thrones, there are 2 sides to this war and there are so many battles that would take up an entire episode. If we saw all battles on screen we would be an episode behind from the burning mill and 3 episodes further behind from rosby, Stokeworth and duskendale. Rooks rest would have to be episode 7 or 8
Absolutely. With so many battles they are not going to spend their budget to show a battle, like Burning Mill, where the audience is not invested in the characters involved
Myles and Princess Rhaenys was together for 42 years.That is pretty long time for dragon and rider.
Myles?
@@AzkuulaKtaktu Yes,why?
@@МерлинФюсеинова Meleys
@@МерлинФюсеинова meleys, some people can't forgive if you misspell any character name in the show
@@askyeyv7039 My apologies i didn't know that is a grave mistake 😂.How many dragons are named like her.I shall say The Red Queen then.
In terms of experience, if we're adopting medieval values, a lot of soldiers back then were 16-18. It was actually very unusual for a fighting person to be Rhaenys' age. For example in real history Henry V of England started commanding forces when he was 14, went to battle at 17 and invaded France at 22. And that's because they started studying war and fighting at even younger ages.
Yeah, Aegon (19) and Aemond (15) are the expected ages.
In westeros the boys go to war at 12.
Cole and Aemond planned it perfectly. They'll lure a dragon out and Vhagar would take care of that. Unfortunately, Aegon felt that he needed to prove himself. Cole has done nothing but win since he left King's Landing. And here too. He got the castle and got Rhaenys and Meleys out of the equation.
I like to think that as Rhaenys saw Meleys' life fade out of her eyes she thought "so this is what Viserys and Luke felt", a part of the Queen who never was dying even before she hit the ground. Before the Dance, only three dragonriders outlived their dragons: two of them likely by mere moments (Meraxes was killed in the first war for Dorne and their rider Rhaenys, wife of Aegon the conqueror, likely died in the fall; Quicksilver and his rider Aegon the uncrowned fought against Maegor on Balerion), and the third was Viserys, who watched Balerion die slowly and painfully from old age and wounds he sustained in his and Aerea's disastrous flight to ruins of Valyria
Team Black:
1. Syrax with Rhaenyra
2. Caraxes with Daemon
3. Vermax with Jace
4. Moondancer with Baela
There are also other dragons on Dragonstone, which are unclaimed - so in order to fight, they need a rider and 3 wild dragons which need to be tamed.
These are:
1. Vermithor
2. Seasmoke
3. Silverwing
And the wild dragons:
1. Sheepstealer
2. Cannibal
3. Grey Ghost
The Greens have:
1. Vhagar with Aemond
2. Sunfyre with Aegon - Sunfyre survived the fight with a broken wing and ribs - he will have to heal for a while but can still fight in a few months
3. Dreamfyre with Heleana (neither of them are fighters though)
4. Tessarion with Daeron
Greens also has Daeron’s dragon Tessarion.
Blacks’ only remaining adult dragon at Dragonstone with Caraxes away is Syrax. The rest are juveniles, riderless or wild.
Dragons in the books are described as having “smoking wounds” during battle. Love the touch that the blood itself is hot because I don’t think that specifically is mentioned, but that dude who looked up and got his face melted by DRAGONS BLOOD, how metal is that!!!😂
idk man, that has to be one of the worst fates in this battle. You’re just some random dude trying not to be shot with an arrow and not be burned well-done, and then you just get doused in boiling hot dragon blood.
@@SpiralSine6and then probably stepped on and crushed
The Greens have Helaena's dragon, Aemond's dragon Vhagar, Aegon has Sunfyre and Daeron (which we havent seen just mentioned in the show) has a dragon. Then the babies of Aegon and Helaena have 2 small dragons too. So Greens have 5 and the blacks (taking out the unclaimed ones) have 6 now after Rhaenys and Meley's dearh (the dragons of Rhaenyra, Daemon, Jace, Baela, Joffrey and Aegon the small kid)
except helaena’s dragon doesn’t fight in the war at all, sunfyre is still heavily injured, tesserion is months away (we won’t see him or his dragon this season) and in the show jaehaera doesn’t have a dragon (that we’ve seen) and aegon doesn’t have any more kids. so right now they’re down to one useful dragon.
Queen Helena has dragon, "Dreamfyre".
Don't forget Rhayenera has those 3 or 4 wild dragons living at Dragons tone. One of them is "Cannable" who eats other dragons..laterally. He has also eaten other Targaryens who tried to ride him. Vermithor is the one Daeman tried to tame last season. He is almost as big as Vhagar.
They showed Laenor's dragon, Seasmoke, in the previous two episodes and Mysaria's comment, "Maybe he's lonely.", makes me think either Laenor returns or the dragon gets a new rider. There's also that giant unclaimed dragon, Vermithor, we saw Daemon singing to last season. That dragon is bigger than Melys.
I love watching the reactions of people who haven't read the books... makes the shock factor more enjoyable
Why everyone keep saying Alicent and Ser Cole are liars? What have they lied about? The characters are written for you not to like to some degree but really what have they lied about? Everything Alicent has done she's believed was true at the time from her perspective. The audience has the luxury of seeing both sides at the same time.
Great reaction to this incredible ep! I feel ya Hera!
I wished you both reacted to next weeks ep sneak peek!!
Sunfyre was a beautiful dragon with gleaming gold scales and pale pink wing membranes. In the sunlight his scales shone like beaten gold.
- Fire and Blood
Supposedly Otto picked the dragon for Aegon as it was supposed to be the best looking dragon
@@EliTecapture-ru3vwdragons choose their rider. Sunfyre hatched in aegons cradle and they bonded and grew up together
@@rofloreiOut of Allicent’s children, only Daeron had his cradle egg hatch. Sunfyre was born on Dragonstone.
@@roflorei No. Aegon and Sunfyre found and bonded with each other when they were both very young.
@@ieatdiamonds2446 you’re right! Must have mixed it up 😭
It's crazy to think that Balerion the dread was quite a bit bigger than Vhagar is, can't wait to eventually see him in live action
I hope people finally realize Cole isn't a moron
The hightower dude did survive the dragon part of the fight. He is the one you hear yelling to storm inside the castle right before cole starts moving towards aegons location.
9:25 Criticizing the way an actor moves irl is quite insane lol.
Aegon is older than Aemond (hence why he is king). He is supposed to be very early 20s while Aemond is supposed to be around 18-20.
They have also mentioned several times this season that Alicent has a third son named Daeron that is living in Oldtown. And he has a dragon that is near fighting age.
Aemond cannot feasibly be older than 18. By Rhaenyra’s wedding, he wasn’t even born, and only 16 years have passed since then. 17, perhaps, with the months that are going by.
Aegon is at most 21 and Aemond 18, but more realistically they’re 19/20 and 16/17.
@@OneDrinight in the books, Aegon II(The Usurper) is 22 when he takes the throne. Aemond is 19. But the show seems to have slightly different ages. Like Alicent is like 10 years older than Rhaenyra, but they aged Alicent down.
@@MalamuteX Yes, I’m referring to the show timeline. I haven’t read the book, but I know that Rhaenyra and Aegon are 10 years apart in Fire and Blood, whole they’re 15 years apart in HoTD. That would make Aegon around 20 and Rhaenyra around 35 in the show, is what I meant :)
always love yalls reactions, thank you!~ not sure if you're going to finish the season out, ill be here for whatever yall do though!~
dude forgot the season 1 with the battles against the crab feeder " finally a battle after a season and a half " such bad faith xD
VERMITHOR is Jahaerys’s dragon. Nicknamed The Bronze Fury. Definitely one of the strongest and most battle tested ones after Vhagar. Caraxes was Jahaerys’s firstborn’s dragon. Prince Aemon. I could honestly see him giving Vhagar a far tougher fight.
Caraxes is a good one too. (No spoilers).
Princess Rhaena, Jahaerys’ older sister rode Dreamfyre. Helaena owns her now
Tessarion is Prince Daeron’s.
Aemond wasn’t going to kill Aegon, he was just sheathing his sword.
Meyles was the fastest dragon in the world. They could have easily gone to Dragonstone or Driftmark but knew Vhagar would follow them and destroy anything they found.
The dance of dragon has begun
Correction on the ages.
Aegon is the oldest child = 19
Halaena = 17
Aemond = 15
The actors just look way older. They are all teenagers.
As a Major game of thrones fan the more I watch the house of the dragon the more I fill it's the superior show.....
The brother was the one that lead the charge.
Otto and the small council were going to crown Aegon anyway, this becomes explicit in episode 9. Alicent's mistake did not interfere in anything, other than becoming her motivation in accepting their plans.
Dragon sizes matters to a certIan extent but the rider’s experience and the dragon’s ferocity and youth also matters.that is what we will see in the future without spoiling anything!!!
I love how everyone forgets Vhagar is a lady dragon
"50 small dragons can probably take Vhagar!!!" 😂😂😂
Now I want to see that!!! Like a swarm of bees attacking an eagle! lol
Hi guys! Wanted to add a few things on dragon loyalty, previous experience with dragon battles and dragon counts, that I think you guys missed on this reaction. NO SPOILERS, promise.
First off, dragon loyalty. A dragon is loyal to its bonded rider, we all know that. But the tragedy is that they face a unique challenge when their current riders make them go against their previous dragon-friend. For example, in this episode, Vhagar and Meleys fight to death without hesitation based on their respective riders' commands. However, if you go back some time, Vhagar was ridden by Baelon (Vicerys' father) and Meleys was ridden by the love of his life, Alyssa (Vicerys' mother). So, these dragons have ridden together for many, many years. There had to have been a bond between them as well. Which makes this fight ever more tragic. But the thought is that when dragons were created in Old Valyria out of Blood Magic, they were never created with the intention of potentially fighting one another. They were made to fight and destroy others without dragons so that the Valyrians could be the "dragon lords". They used their dragons to burn down cities in the east, recruit slaves and increase their power and wealth, all the way to conquering Westeros. I think GRRM thought of dragons as working police dogs. If their partner dies in the line of duty, they can be claimed by another handler and continue to do their job as told, respectfully and loyally. But what happens if a new officer that has claimed a dog then goes rogue and sets the dog against another offer's dog? Would the dog choose command over bond to a fellow dog/officer? I guess no one really thought about that with dragons :) Just like how Sir Erryk says to Daemon -- "we were brought into the kingsguard pretty young and swore to protect the royal family. What were we to do when they go against each other?"
Which takes me to my second point, experience with dragon battles. The straight-forward answer here is no one has any experience fighting another dragon whatsoever, because dragons have never fought each other before the dance of the dragons. Vhagar is very experienced with many battles under her belt and has had experienced riders as well, like Visenya (during Aegon's conquest), Baelon and now Aemond. But none of those battles were against another dragon. Meyles has been to a few small skirmishes and one battle in Dorne with Alyssa. But that's it. Rhaenys is a very experienced rider, in fact, she was with Meyles for 42 frikkin' years, but has never been to any battle. So, when we talk about dragon and rider combo, it is more of the intensity, attitude and bravery of the rider that makes a dragon react in the same manner, more so than previous battle experience. Because as I said, most of the dragons have ever fought in a battle, let alone fought another dragon. And that's what makes characters like Aemond, Rhaenys and Daemon so dangerous. Well, RIP Rhaenys, one of my favorite characters in the books/show 😢
Ok last thing, about dragon count ... leaving out the ones that are in the book by now but not in the show to avoid any potential spoilers.
*BATTLE READY*
Greens: Vhagar (largest), Dreamfyre (larger than sunfyre), Sunfyre (severely injured, possibly dead?)
Blacks: Meyles (RIP), Caraxes (waiting aimlessly for Daemon to stop tripping), Syrax, Vermax, Moondancer, Arrax (RIP)
*SENT AWAY AND/OR WAY TOO SMALL TO CARRY A RIDER*
Greens: Shrykos (Of Prince Jaehaerys', RIP), Morghul (of Princess Jaehaera's)
Blacks: Stormcloud (Little Prince Aegon), Tyraxes (Prince Joffery), 4 eggs
*UNCLAIMED/WILD*
Cannibal (rumored to be even larger than Baleion), Vermithor (technically, 2nd largest after Vhagar), Sheepstealer, Grey Ghost, Silverwing (Alysanne's), Seasmoke (Laenor's)
And finally, awesome reactions! Keep up the good work :)
How are you hating on Aemond? The guy has been tormented his whole life lol.
Edit: Aegon isn’t dead
The greens have Vhagar fir Aemond, Dreamfyre fir halaena, Tessarion for Daeron(Alicent's youngest son). There are baby dragons in the dragon pit for Aegon's twin children jahaera and jahaerys. Sunfyre may also survive.
Aegon is the one that flew over Aemond. That’s why he said, IDIOT. HE KNEW IT WAS HIS BROTHER.
Meleys & Vhagar are both female dragons. And Helaena has a dragon but I honestly don’t see her flying into battle.
Love you both. Your together reaction is perfect.
Just think of this: If a character like Rhaenys’ death is this dramatic, wait until we get to the main ones.
Daemon was right in the beginning when he said caraxes and meleys can put vhagar down because meleys herself almost did but damn vhagar is too big even tho she’s old and slow. Credits to meleys for doing her best. 😢 RIP to the Red Queen & The Queen who never was . Died like a real Targaryen. RESPECT to all the dragons! 🙏🏻 cant believe I had a panic attack over fake dragons dying lol… I am team black but i Kinda felt bad for aegon too because he never wanted to rule but he also wants to impress his family eventho he has never been trained to be a king…and the way alicent spoke to him is kinda painful to watch plus his beother wanting to kill him. 😥 And sunfyre loved aegon more than his family loves him…. the look between meleys and rhaenys broke me as well 😢
I think the reason Aegon is so upset about not being listened to is because as Corlys once said "History doesn't remember blood, it remembers names." If he sits back and does nothing all everyone will speak about is how great Cole was in battle and how formidable Ameond was on Vhagar - just like they were saying at the council meeting before he left. He will be forgotten in history if he cannot make a notable contribution. I actually felt bad for him. He didn't want this, he never did. They never even trained him secretly to do the job correctly if they wanted him to have it. And now they belittle him for not knowing enough. He only started wanting to be King during the coronation because the people applauded and praised him, something he never got at home from his family. Alicent is a terrible mother. She didn't even comfort him when his son died and now when she actually speaks to him it is only to make him feel useless and worthless. I know people say that is because she got that from her father but that's not true because other people can go through those same experiences and choose to be much better as parents than their own parents were to them. Simply because they understand how bad it made them feel growing up in a household like that - they overcompensate for it. She is cruel because she wants to be nothing more.
Daemon is at harrenhal because queen rhae needs the riverlands on her side..
*DRAGON COUNT* - Episode 5 onwards
*Greens:*
Aemond - Vhagar
Halaena - Dreamfyre
Daeron (4th child we haven't seen) - Tessarion (Young dragon, just big enough to battle)
Aegon - Sunfyre (Seemingly out of commission)
*Blacks:*
Daemon - Caraxes
Rheanyra - Syrax
Jace - Vermax
Baela - Moondancer
Joffrey - Tyraxes (baby dragon)
*Wild & Untamed dragons on Dragonstone:*
Vermithor (Second largest dragon)
Silverwing
Sheepstealer
Grey Ghost
Cannibal
Stormcloud (baby dragon)
Seasmoke (bonded to Laenor who has abandoned him)
26:50 "what if she dies but she's able to take Vaegar with her?" - I guess that was her plan. That would have decided the war for Rhaenyra.
Since you asked:
Team Green
_Vhagar_ rider is Aemond, _Dreamfyre_ rider is Helena _Tessarion_ , rider is Dearon (younger bro of Aegon /Aemond/Helena) _Shrykos_ hatchling dragon belonged to Jahareys, _Morghul_ , hatchling dragon belongs to Jahaera
Team Black
_Syrax_ rider Rhanerya, _Vermax_ rider Jacareys, _Moondancer_ rider Baela, _Ceraxes_ rider Deamon (stuck in cutscenes from his sidequests),
Unclaimed dragons on DS
_Vermithor_ formerly bonded to King Jahaerys, _Silverwing_ formerly bonded to Good Queen Alysaane, _Seasmoke_ formerly bonded to Leanor Velaryon
Wild adult dragons
_Cannibal_ _Grey Ghost_ _Sheepstealer_
Regarding the Meleys va Vhagar fight- Rhaenys fastened herself to the saddle b/c she was planning to fly inverted, she wanted to make sure she wouldn't be unseated. Meyles flipped upsidedown, grabbed Vhagar's leg, and forced the larger dragon into that death spiral. Meyles used her own momentum to to position Vhagar so she would slam into the ground-you can see her let go of Vhagars leg just before Vhagar eats it. Basically They PITT maneuvered the largest living dragon, who is a damn Kaiju, out of the sky. That's DAMN impressive flying and shows what an experienced dragon/rider can accomplish together as a team.
It’s extra heartbreaking that it was Aemond (and Aegon I guess) who killed Rhaenys, and that it was Vhagar who killed Meleys.
Rhaenys’ father was Aemon, heir to the throne during Jaehaerys’ reign. His younger brother was Baelon, father of Viserys and Daemon. The closest of siblings and best of friends, and now all this time later, Aemon’s daughter is killed by Baelon’s grandsons.
Baelon was happily married to Alyssa, and they were both dragon riders. Their dragons? Vhagar and Meleys.
Young Tully looks just like Rickon. Zigzag, Rickon!
As far as battle scenes, I will take battles with stakes and meaning as opposed to just spectacle…I appreciate the show’s perspective that a dragon war is utter devastation
Cannot wait for the first full shot of Vermithor. He's the second largest behind Big V. That'll give the black side size to counter Vhaegar. Plus he's mean AF 😁. Cheers all! Great vid
That’s doesn’t go as planned sadly
Vhagar sees a blimp flying by and gets self-conscious. Aemond spends the rest of the series consoling her and trying to improve her self esteem.
Aemond: "Oh nonsense. Dragonriders prefer dragons with your body type. It's harder to fall off. Oh no, don't cry again!"
“My rider….” -Meleys
“My Dragon…” -Rhaenys
😭😭😭
Whoa whoa whoa 😳
This is Kyle Katarn right ?? This is just a different channel RIGHT ?? Am I tripping King Kong balls???
Young Rhaenyra picking Criston as kingsguard, was her worst decision. Criston isn't a politician, he's always come off as a commander.
Aegon naming Criston a steel fist as hand was absolutely on the money, because he's very tactically capable.
"another sun blossomed in the sky" but icant wait for the vhagar caraxes fight