"Princess Rhaenys made no attempt to flee. With a glad cry and a crack of her whip, she turned Meleys toward the foe." - Fire and Blood RIP to the Queen Who Never Was and to Meleys, The Red Queen.
I’ve seen this quote on a few reaction videos now and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. She was the only one who truly understood what a war with dragons would look like, and yet here she didn’t falter, she was a badass until the end.
@@crystalpritchard5065 I like this one too: "Beloved daughter of Lady Jocelyn Baratheon and Prince Aemon Targaryen, faithful wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, mother and grandmother, the Queen Who Never Was lived fearlessly, and died amidst blood and fire. She was fifty-five years old." RIP the GOATs
@@lullygoisshe is the ONLY gangster in this show so far. SHE was fighting for the realm. For all people not just fighting people who did her people dirty. Varys would have been the QWNW’s number one fan. Also I think Rhaenys knew she was going to die. The way Maelys looked at her like “Ma, how you wanna go out cause this is my last battle.” I think she wanted a dragon riders death just like her daughter did. Leanor is coming back at some point and I think when he hears his son (he loved those boys as if they were his own kin) was taken out, his mom went down and someone claimed his dragon (just a hunch) he gonna come back and reclaim Driftmark, his Daddy and his Dragon. 🐉
@@changinlooks1Oh she definitely knew it was her end, but she went out like a badass, knowing her role was to protect the castle she herself offered to help.
Was she? She didn’t take out the greens when she could of. She kept hesitating to act when the greens were making moves. Shes just as hesitant as Rhaenyra to act. She is one of the best riders tho definitely right behind daemon.
@@vanessalore9942I blame that on the writers they clearly intend on her being a wise counselor but end up making her look stupid with how rhenyreas other members prove to be right .
She got that multiclass level into rogue, you'd better believe she's using it. (Oddly enough, strength rogue multiclasses aren't actually terrible in 5e and also work on grappling before delivering copious amounts of violence.)
When they attack Rook's Rest, look at the shields. The cannonfodder troops sent in first are bearing the colors of the "pacified" castles Shitstain Cole had already turned. He was risking them instead of his main troops.
@@alistairrae9807 they can be both. Given their man risks they are very pet-like with their affection towards their rider dude. Especially considering they fight to the death by the command of said rider.
@@embrown1442000true, or kind of like natural dogs. Dogs use to be “cat like” for 40,000 years but then people today, turned dogs into internal infants. Many primitive and Asian breeds still act like how dogs use to be…and then people have the gal to call them cat like lol. Well…that ended up being a bit much haha
21:39 Actually Jay, this was a brilliant battle plan. All those men up front getting shot at are the Darklynns and the others whose castles Cole sacked...former supporters of Rhaenyra. Notice how many Targaryen troops he's holding back in reserve, protected under the tree line. Forcing Rhaenyra's supporters in the castle to shoot them down ensures that those Houses won't turn back to her side if any survive, because they will pissed, and the best-case scenario is that they all get cut down. Besides, the whole plan was to FORCE Rhaenyra's hand and send a dragon to help. Only a dragon could get there quickly enough, and without her master strategist Daemon at Rhaenyra's side, there is no one to say "This is a trap, and we need to send ALL the dragons out." Daemon needs to get his ass back home where can HELP. HE is the one who has been saying all this time that DRAGONS are going to win this war, he is the one who went and sang to Vermithor, the next biggest dragon (not as big as Granny Vhagar, but big enough, and he's a little younger than her, so he has a good chance). He needs to get his head on straight, stop drinking that weirwood paste Alys Rivers is giving him, and get back to being the badass he was in Season 1.
Some in world lore trivia. Dragon blood isn’t acid…it’s boiling hot. Oscar Tully is the grandson of Grover Tully. Grover’s two sons were Elmo and Kermit. (Yep, GRRM named them after muppets) The Blackwood representative Daemon meets with is “Pinocchio the Craig Slayer” from season 1 episode 4 all grown up
In the books, Grover Tully’s grandson is named Elmo, and he has 2 sons, named Oscar and Kermit. It seems like HBO chose to remove Elmo and Kermit from HOTD. The names of Grover’s sons are unknown
Whether or not you respect the decision to stay and fight, Meleys was able to PITT maneuver Chungus Vhagar out of the sky, THAT is what an experienced dragon/rider pair can accomplish in combat.
@@awhartig5847 It's heartbreaking that he was absolutely right in episode one. They could have caught Aemond and Vaghar before they got back to King's Landing, and stopped them.
It also shows he's not a skilled rider. Yes he's ko'd 2 riders but he can only win by suprise. His arrogance is based solely on the reputation of vahgar, who we know he has very little control over.
@@Nimaes45173Nearly your entire comment is filled with inaccuracies. Dragon combat is all about coming from angles your opponent cant see coming aka "sneak attacks". We saw meleys use these tactics on sunfyre. Rhaenys first strike on sunfyre came from directly beneath his dragon. Her 2nd strike came from right directly behind sunfyre.
the foreshadowing in this episode was great! the figurine Alicent holds which falls and breaks a wing (what happens to Sunfyre 😢) and the dragon pitcher falls and shatters (what happens to Rhaenys 😖)
Just a reminder they (The Blacks) still have multiple dragons in the caves that they just need riders for, including Vermithor; the one Daemon sang to at the end of season 1, who is basically a more able-bodied and ferocious Vhagar (almost as big, too.)
Drinking witches brew in a haunted castle? Sure sure..good idea. The Blackwood guy who said he vyed for Rhaenyra's hand is the little kid from S1 who stabbed the Bracken.
I think it's implied that he hasn't really been able to sleep well since he's been there. I don't know if you ever has to stay up 24-36hrs, you will do anything to get a little sleep after that.
Meleys looking back at Rhaenys in her final moments, "I tried mom." 😔 😢 RIP to the red beauty and fastest Dragon in Westeros and the Queen That Never Was.
This episode made me so sad, not only for Rhaenys, but for the dragons. Seeing them battle each other seemed so unnatural and foreboding…like no one wins from it. But farewell to my favorite character, she was mighty and fierce.
I've always thought that this universe's dragon warfare to be a fitting parallel to our own ☢️ proliferation. So much so, that I've often commented that Aemond atop Vhagar is like giving a sentient hydrogen bomb to a teenager.
Sunfire is so much smaller because Aegon was lucky enough to have his cradle egg hatch, so Sunfire is basically the same age. Both Rhaenys and Aemond claimed older dragons with previous riders.
"They attacked Maryland?" THANK YOU omg lmao, as a proud Marylander living in exile, that was my first thought when I saw House Darklyn's coat of arms. GRRM has some funny easter eggs in his books, so it wouldn't surprise me if this was intentional. 🦀🦀🦀
Losing Rhaenys is devastating both in the story and the show as a whole. Eve Best was one of the greatest parts of this show and I'm truly gonna miss her.
Turns out dragons fighting dragons is less like military tanks battling and more like beloved dogs fighting...it breaks the heart. Sunfyre was a beautiful dragon who obviously loved Aegon, and Aegon obviously loved him back. And Meleys, ofc, is a battle-tested old girl who had the courage to take on Granny Vhagar... the same kind of courage as her rider, which is no doubt why they bonded. This was the hardest battle to watch in the entire GOT universe.
Truly. I've never dreaded an episode so much in my life. So, so painful. One comment I read was that the dragons fought like eagles in the air. I totally see it.
Always fun to see the reaction of people who haven't read the book. My stomach was in knots the moment I heard the name Rook's Rest, knowing what was to come. Fasten your seatbelts, boys!
Look I hate Cole as much as anyone. But he is smarter than people think he is. He’s always been a good fighter and clearly had a plan for the battle that worked out, for the most part, how he wanted. Even sending Erryk while impulsive wasn’t a terrible idea
Cole isn't a bad person cause he is dumb, he is a bad person cause he lost his shit and took on a lifelong vendetta against a literal teenage girl at the time all cause she refused to runaway with him.
I find it so funny how people are so pissed at Cristen Cole that they just keep assuming he's incompetent. Emotionally unstable yes, unable to deal with his own feelings of self hatred that he takes out on others, yes. But he isn't a moron especially militarily, so it's fun to see people watch this episode and assume that he is just making all these mistakes. Shows how much our feelings towards a person influence everything about how we view them. Also tons of praise towards Fabien Frankel for his performance, doing an amazing job of being so hateable.
I’m so upset about dragon mommy. She was the best part of this show. Also, I read somewhere that the guy Daemon was talking to when he was trippin out on the berry juice was the Pinocchio Craig Slayer all grown up! He lives! Craigs beware! 🤣🗡️
The exchange between Alicent and the meister reminded me that - in the books - the Dance of the Dragons was orchestrated by the meisters of the Citadel to get rid of all the dragons and kill the magic of the world.
At least Rhaenys died the way she wanted. Her daughter told Daemon dying she wanted to die a dragon’s death. I’m sure Rhaenyra thought the same way. She didn’t want war. She respected Rhaenyra because she risked her life to dry every possible alternative to war so she was at peace when she volunteered. Rhaenys was my favorite and the show made it meaningful & emotional for me even though I read the book which says a lot. HotD is a great show ✌️💚
That's the one thing that softens the blow of her death for me. In this world most good characters die relatively meaningless or pointless deaths, because that's something GRRM likes to do. It's rare a character gets to go out in full glory, fighting for her cause and dealing a significant blow to the enemy before dying the warrior's death she'd probably hoped for (assuming Laena developed her wish for a dragonrider's death from her mother). It reminded me of Boromir's death in LOTR - fighting to the bitter end against overwhelming odds, even knowing it meant their death, because it was the honourable thing to do and they believed their cause was worth dying for. Considering the show chose to have horns reminiscent of Boromir's blown at the start of the dragon battle, I wonder if it was deliberately evoking Boromir's final battle.
RIP Rhaenys andMeleys. Went out like true dragon warriors. They’ll be sorely missed. I feel like this episose was like 80% literal and figurative burns and everyone, particularly the greens, just being absolutely done with each other.
I found it interesting that aegon didn't properly learn valerian kind of shows that he didn't pay attention to any of his lessons he was given growing up. more or less enforcing he was never meant for the throne
He also never wanted the throne. If Viserys had thought there was even a possibility that Aegon might be king one day, he would have taken more of an interest in his upbringing and education.
@@richrelaxes1154yeah, his intentions were clear right there. His daughter was a cup bearer for the council so she could hear and learn, Aegon was the kid he trotted out at parties. It shows
I think a big part of Rhaenys continuing back to battle was Daemons words ringing around in her mind. “You should’ve ended this when you had the chance.”
In the original series most of the battles were against an our heroes and their foes. The White Walkers, Boltons, Lannisters (for the most part). And the battles were kind of fun and seemed entirely necessary. But this war feels icky, and wasteful and painful. The small folk, the land, the poor dragons all dying for another family’s quarrel
Interesting how the Hightower-son probably is the one leading the final assault on the keep in the background while Cole stumbles away looking for Aegon.
She knew that Rook's Rest was a key stronghold. My Queen and the Red Queen had done serious damage to both the main threats on the Green side. Without dragons able to fight, the Greens only took the stronghold because the Queens fell ON the wall and opened a breach. Which Gwayne rallied the troops to exploit.
Precisely this, her Queen ordered her to break the siege. Seeing Vhagar she knew she could not win without dying, but her death could potentially kill Aemond or cripple Vhagar.
I also think in someways it was revenge for losing her grandson to both vaygar and his asshole rider, and I also think it was her regret for not touching all of them at the coronation when she has a chance, so I think that if you can mind all of that she was out to do as much damage as possible and go out like the boss chick she is
What makes Meleys death even more sad and tragic is that her previous rider was Daemon and Visery’s mother and Vhagars previous rider before Leana was Daemon and Visery’s father. Vhagar and Meleys once flew together as a family in an era of peace and now they are fighting in a civil war of their own, not just the targaryans civil war and if you look at the family line of the dragons Meleys is technically Vhagars granddaughter.
Felt some serious pain for the dragons fighting, getting injured, or dying, and it's all made worst when one considers the history you just spelled out.
Sunfyre was described as the most beautiful of dragons. He was just a good boi who loved his Targ. 10/10 didn’t deserve what happened to him. To the Queen who should have been and the Red Queen, hail the victorious dead! I knew what was coming and I still cried from the moment she said she would go until the end. Daemon’s reaction should be something. That was his mother’s dragon before Rhaenys.
Rest in power to the queen who never was. That was an awesome scene 31:30 . When Meleys and Rhaenys share one last look at each other…… and then Rhaenys releases the reigns. God dammit
I love that he wouldn’t eat the venison when he got there in case it was poisoned, but some chic who says she’s a barn owl hands him a cup of mysterious something and he just downs it.
Vhagar truly is the hide and seek champion, but you gotta admit, clever as fuck to hide her in the woodland in case a dragon pulled up. Rhaenyra probably should've stuck to the initial 'if we use dragons everything will be worse' statement, because now it is indeed worse
It was kind of necessary for the Blacks to act and support a loyal vassal. Rhaenys took out a good chunk of Criston's army and slew the king and his dragon. She also wounded Vhaegar a bit. Even with the loss of Rook's Rest, I still think it overall favored the Blacks in this encounter, which was necessary because the Greens have been dominating up to this point.
They were pretty sure that a dragonrider would be sent. They turned away from Harrenhall and went after the Rook's Rest for strategic reasons. It controls the only land access that Dragonstone has to the mainland.
Yeah, it's definitely one of the things that make the dragons a good analogy for nukes in this setting. There's only two ways to play them: Either you never use them, or you use all of them. Knowing that team green has Vhagar, team black should never have committed to any engagement with less than every possible dragon they could field, until she was taken off the board.
@@njp4321 Kinda rough that so many of the Black dragons are "unmounted". All four with riders should have gone into the obvious trap. All four against Vaghar would have turned the battle. Even with the Sunfyre "wild card".
Rhaenys knew leaving dragonstone this could be a suicide mission you could see it, she decided to stay out of it at the start of the series and didnt burn them as it wasnt her fight, but in that battle she wasn't gonna turn away and that's why she kept on going back. Because it became her fight.
So, y'all think Corlys will take Rhaenys's words to heart, and acknowledge his Sea Sons?!?!? After all, there are dragons that need riders. And I think one has already been checking out Adam.....
So few things are as Terror inducing as the sight of the forest floor lifting off its foundations, to reveal that its just a Bid Ass Dragon. But seeing that moment when Rheanys and The Red Queen Meleys crashed the Chungus into the ground was a perfect note that at least let those two ladies go out in style…I just wish she had disengaged in that moment, instead of that round 2.
Great reaction guys. I normally watch you guys via the J2O channel. However, I felt like I had to see you guys react. Also, whoever had the idea for the show to "speak" to Jay *chefs kiss
So I know GOT season 8 gets a lot of criticism and with good reason. However, it was the dagger with the High Valerian story of Fire and Ice that killed the Night King. The hope was to pass the knowledge down so that could happen on purpose and not by accident.
Don't think the king is dead. Just pretty cooked. If sir slime bag hadn't shown up, I think Aemond would have finish brother dear off, but he put his sword away when he realised there were witnesses.
@20:40 Hey Adam. There were 2 Targaryens at the time and they were both on dragons fighting. This channel is the embodiment of "We mock what we don't understand."
![TEARS😭| House of the Dragon [S2 x E4] | The Battle of Rook’s Rest Reaction | *FIRST TIME WATCHING*](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MYV8I8RO_Sg/mqdefault.jpg)
Daemon is going to give Harrenhal the worst TripAdvisor review. Ever.
2 stars for the food, 0 for the accommodations. Would not recommend. Definitely haunted.
"Princess Rhaenys made no attempt to flee. With a glad cry and a crack of her whip, she turned Meleys toward the foe." - Fire and Blood
RIP to the Queen Who Never Was and to Meleys, The Red Queen.
I’ve seen this quote on a few reaction videos now and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. She was the only one who truly understood what a war with dragons would look like, and yet here she didn’t falter, she was a badass until the end.
@@crystalpritchard5065 I like this one too:
"Beloved daughter of Lady Jocelyn Baratheon and Prince Aemon Targaryen, faithful wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, mother and grandmother, the Queen Who Never Was lived fearlessly, and died amidst blood and fire. She was fifty-five years old."
RIP the GOATs
@@lullygoisshe is the ONLY gangster in this show so far. SHE was fighting for the realm. For all people not just fighting people who did her people dirty. Varys would have been the QWNW’s number one fan.
Also I think Rhaenys knew she was going to die. The way Maelys looked at her like “Ma, how you wanna go out cause this is my last battle.” I think she wanted a dragon riders death just like her daughter did. Leanor is coming back at some point and I think when he hears his son (he loved those boys as if they were his own kin) was taken out, his mom went down and someone claimed his dragon (just a hunch) he gonna come back and reclaim Driftmark, his Daddy and his Dragon. 🐉
@@changinlooks1Oh she definitely knew it was her end, but she went out like a badass, knowing her role was to protect the castle she herself offered to help.
Dragons are fire made flesh, the blood isn’t acid it’s boiling.
It's like the soldiers were suddenly doused with burning oil or tar. Yikes.
@@embrown1442000 imagine taking boiling blood to the face…no thank you.
RIP to the Queen Who Never was. The only one on Rhaenyra's council with some sense
Was she really? She sent Rhaenyra on a damn near suicidal quest to King's Landing assuming that Alicent held power in the Green Council.
@@unc54And delayed and delayed.
the queen that should have been 😔🤟
Was she? She didn’t take out the greens when she could of. She kept hesitating to act when the greens were making moves. Shes just as hesitant as Rhaenyra to act. She is one of the best riders tho definitely right behind daemon.
@@vanessalore9942I blame that on the writers they clearly intend on her being a wise counselor but end up making her look stupid with how rhenyreas other members prove to be right .
Vhagar out here spamming Sneak Attack like it's a cantrip ☠️
She is so big and slow that she has adapted to the role of ambush predator which makes perfect sense.
@@johnanthonylopez7476 that's totally fair, I just hate it 😭☠️🤣
She spent hours in that first cave in Skyrim raising her Sneak to 100.
@@Cdog923 hahaha exactly! Those sneak crit multipliers are already outrageous ☠️
She got that multiclass level into rogue, you'd better believe she's using it. (Oddly enough, strength rogue multiclasses aren't actually terrible in 5e and also work on grappling before delivering copious amounts of violence.)
"Dragon Mommy was the only one I really cared about"
It's George RR Martin. As soon as you have a favorite, their days become numbered.
@@BravoDox He always knows ☠️
And if my two favorites are Rhaenys and Aemond ?
@armandmartell4546 woof that's a rough combo haha
@@chaq34 XD Thanks as a harased child when i was in middleschool, i dimply cannot hate Aemond, and i even more, i see me at his place.
@@armandmartell4546 Do you really want me to answer that question? Because SPOILERS, so I can't.
I like to imagine Bran is sitting somewhere by a tree 300 years from this episode just laughing his butt off , messing with Daemon
150 years
@@adrianneagoe3652 ahh you right you right. Tho I guess he will live as long as he wants in the tree one day haha
I think Daemon is sitting in a tree laughing and messing with Bran. . .
@@Persephone_Personified or it’s Brynden Rivers messing with his great grand uncle or whatever
Why do you think he came all this way? 😏
Aegon: "I can haz war?"
Aemond: 😏
Yes! Targaryen Lolspeak.😂
Chad Aegon speck common tongue with his Dragon
Now that's what you call an achievement
When they attack Rook's Rest, look at the shields. The cannonfodder troops sent in first are bearing the colors of the "pacified" castles Shitstain Cole had already turned.
He was risking them instead of his main troops.
Which is absolutely genius. But also kinda evil.
The Dragons are like giant fire breathing dogs. They just want to hang out with their human lol
That’s the worst description of them Martin has said they are basically nuclear weapons
@@alistairrae9807 they can be both.
Given their man risks they are very pet-like with their affection towards their rider dude.
Especially considering they fight to the death by the command of said rider.
I think of them more like cats. Especially Vhagar. She's an old, grumpy, scraggly street cat who's seen too much.
@@embrown1442000true, or kind of like natural dogs. Dogs use to be “cat like” for 40,000 years but then people today, turned dogs into internal infants. Many primitive and Asian breeds still act like how dogs use to be…and then people have the gal to call them cat like lol.
Well…that ended up being a bit much haha
Only...they arent
21:39 Actually Jay, this was a brilliant battle plan. All those men up front getting shot at are the Darklynns and the others whose castles Cole sacked...former supporters of Rhaenyra. Notice how many Targaryen troops he's holding back in reserve, protected under the tree line. Forcing Rhaenyra's supporters in the castle to shoot them down ensures that those Houses won't turn back to her side if any survive, because they will pissed, and the best-case scenario is that they all get cut down. Besides, the whole plan was to FORCE Rhaenyra's hand and send a dragon to help. Only a dragon could get there quickly enough, and without her master strategist Daemon at Rhaenyra's side, there is no one to say "This is a trap, and we need to send ALL the dragons out."
Daemon needs to get his ass back home where can HELP. HE is the one who has been saying all this time that DRAGONS are going to win this war, he is the one who went and sang to Vermithor, the next biggest dragon (not as big as Granny Vhagar, but big enough, and he's a little younger than her, so he has a good chance). He needs to get his head on straight, stop drinking that weirwood paste Alys Rivers is giving him, and get back to being the badass he was in Season 1.
Some in world lore trivia.
Dragon blood isn’t acid…it’s boiling hot.
Oscar Tully is the grandson of Grover Tully. Grover’s two sons were Elmo and Kermit. (Yep, GRRM named them after muppets)
The Blackwood representative Daemon meets with is “Pinocchio the Craig Slayer” from season 1 episode 4 all grown up
In the books, Grover Tully’s grandson is named Elmo, and he has 2 sons, named Oscar and Kermit. It seems like HBO chose to remove Elmo and Kermit from HOTD. The names of Grover’s sons are unknown
I was hoping they would notice the Craig Slayer
@@maxpaul8674 Thanks. I obviously mixed up my muppets. :-)
Whether or not you respect the decision to stay and fight, Meleys was able to PITT maneuver Chungus Vhagar out of the sky, THAT is what an experienced dragon/rider pair can accomplish in combat.
If they had pressed that advantage while Vaghar was unable to fight effectively, would have been a way different outcome, I think.
@@scotthewitt258 Yep, if Daemon had been there to tag in...but he's off having ket therapy at Harrenhall
@@awhartig5847 It's heartbreaking that he was absolutely right in episode one. They could have caught Aemond and Vaghar before they got back to King's Landing, and stopped them.
It also shows he's not a skilled rider. Yes he's ko'd 2 riders but he can only win by suprise. His arrogance is based solely on the reputation of vahgar, who we know he has very little control over.
@@Nimaes45173Nearly your entire comment is filled with inaccuracies.
Dragon combat is all about coming from angles your opponent cant see coming aka "sneak attacks". We saw meleys use these tactics on sunfyre. Rhaenys first strike on sunfyre came from directly beneath his dragon. Her 2nd strike came from right directly behind sunfyre.
the foreshadowing in this episode was great! the figurine Alicent holds which falls and breaks a wing (what happens to Sunfyre 😢) and the dragon pitcher falls and shatters (what happens to Rhaenys 😖)
Omg! You are right! Wow! 😮 Genius.
I love the comparison between how Alicent mothers by putting her kids in place by diminishing them while Rhaynera educates her son.
Sunfyre's cries will haunt me to eternity... my poor puppy dragon 😭
ME TOO!!! THIS WAS THE WORST PART- LISTENING TO THE DRAGON CRIES! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Neither of those magnificent dragons deserved to be hurt/killed that way. I blame Aegon for putting Sunfyre in the position.
Aegon pushing that pitcher off of the table is proof that the actors are cats in MoCap 😂
Just a reminder they (The Blacks) still have multiple dragons in the caves that they just need riders for, including Vermithor; the one Daemon sang to at the end of season 1, who is basically a more able-bodied and ferocious Vhagar (almost as big, too.)
Sunfyre vs Vhagar are like a pretty influencer without job vs a grandma that survived second world war and catch racoons with a shotgun
😂😂😂😂 Sunfyre would definitely put a peace sign/duck lips selfie if she could
Drinking witches brew in a haunted castle? Sure sure..good idea.
The Blackwood guy who said he vyed for Rhaenyra's hand is the little kid from S1 who stabbed the Bracken.
I kinda guessed. He was awesome!
I was wrong last week. I thought that was the one who died at the Burning Mill!
I hope he gets some scenes again this year!
Pinocchio the Craig-slayer!
@@scotthewitt258same here, I told like 2 people and have had to apologize
I think it's implied that he hasn't really been able to sleep well since he's been there. I don't know if you ever has to stay up 24-36hrs, you will do anything to get a little sleep after that.
Nana Vhagar: "If you young'uns want war grandma will show you how we play peekaboo"
Meleys looking back at Rhaenys in her final moments, "I tried mom." 😔 😢
RIP to the red beauty and fastest Dragon in Westeros and the Queen That Never Was.
This episode made me so sad, not only for Rhaenys, but for the dragons. Seeing them battle each other seemed so unnatural and foreboding…like no one wins from it. But farewell to my favorite character, she was mighty and fierce.
I've always thought that this universe's dragon warfare to be a fitting parallel to our own ☢️ proliferation. So much so, that I've often commented that Aemond atop Vhagar is like giving a sentient hydrogen bomb to a teenager.
Sunfire is so much smaller because Aegon was lucky enough to have his cradle egg hatch, so Sunfire is basically the same age. Both Rhaenys and Aemond claimed older dragons with previous riders.
I haven’t been so mad at a death on TV for a long time
RIP princess
And the Red Queen, Meleys,too. 😭
"They attacked Maryland?"
THANK YOU omg lmao, as a proud Marylander living in exile, that was my first thought when I saw House Darklyn's coat of arms. GRRM has some funny easter eggs in his books, so it wouldn't surprise me if this was intentional.
🦀🦀🦀
This is the first time in a long time that I have felt actual adrenaline while watching a tv show. I was shaking during the credits.
Losing Rhaenys is devastating both in the story and the show as a whole. Eve Best was one of the greatest parts of this show and I'm truly gonna miss her.
Even after everything that happened this episode, I was waiting so excitedly to witness your reaction to THE RETURN OF THE CRAIGSLAYER!
“They attacked Maryland?” Cracked me up
Turns out dragons fighting dragons is less like military tanks battling and more like beloved dogs fighting...it breaks the heart. Sunfyre was a beautiful dragon who obviously loved Aegon, and Aegon obviously loved him back. And Meleys, ofc, is a battle-tested old girl who had the courage to take on Granny Vhagar... the same kind of courage as her rider, which is no doubt why they bonded. This was the hardest battle to watch in the entire GOT universe.
Truly. I've never dreaded an episode so much in my life. So, so painful. One comment I read was that the dragons fought like eagles in the air. I totally see it.
They grapple like some birds of prey do.
Always fun to see the reaction of people who haven't read the book. My stomach was in knots the moment I heard the name Rook's Rest, knowing what was to come. Fasten your seatbelts, boys!
Same. I was super tense the whole episode. I'm still not okay, even though I knew it would happen. I wasn't ready.
Aemond is such a fucking menace! Absolutely love Dragon Granny but I felt saddest of all for the dragons. =[ poor scaley doggos
Look I hate Cole as much as anyone. But he is smarter than people think he is. He’s always been a good fighter and clearly had a plan for the battle that worked out, for the most part, how he wanted. Even sending Erryk while impulsive wasn’t a terrible idea
Cole isn't a bad person cause he is dumb, he is a bad person cause he lost his shit and took on a lifelong vendetta against a literal teenage girl at the time all cause she refused to runaway with him.
Thanks to Aegon, though, it turned into a draw.
Don’t drink and Dragon
@@askme2469 sir i need you to walk a straight line from your dragon
I find it so funny how people are so pissed at Cristen Cole that they just keep assuming he's incompetent. Emotionally unstable yes, unable to deal with his own feelings of self hatred that he takes out on others, yes. But he isn't a moron especially militarily, so it's fun to see people watch this episode and assume that he is just making all these mistakes. Shows how much our feelings towards a person influence everything about how we view them. Also tons of praise towards Fabien Frankel for his performance, doing an amazing job of being so hateable.
Did he just call Brandon Stark an eldritch bird god? 😂😂😂
An entire war is kicking off and Daemon's stuck in either Dark Souls or Silent Hill
I’m so happy I’m not the only person who quotes “say hi to your mother for me “ 😂😂😂😂
Your rapt investment in every series is what makes you two of my favorite reaction reviewers.
"Let the bodies hit the floor" 😂😂😭😭
**Screaming internally**
"... and no war so bloody as a war between dragons."
Now we know how true it is...
I’m so upset about dragon mommy. She was the best part of this show. Also, I read somewhere that the guy Daemon was talking to when he was trippin out on the berry juice was the Pinocchio Craig Slayer all grown up! He lives! Craigs beware! 🤣🗡️
The exchange between Alicent and the meister reminded me that - in the books - the Dance of the Dragons was orchestrated by the meisters of the Citadel to get rid of all the dragons and kill the magic of the world.
The real ghosts are the friends we met along the way. 😂
At least Rhaenys died the way she wanted. Her daughter told Daemon dying she wanted to die a dragon’s death. I’m sure Rhaenyra thought the same way. She didn’t want war. She respected Rhaenyra because she risked her life to dry every possible alternative to war so she was at peace when she volunteered. Rhaenys was my favorite and the show made it meaningful & emotional for me even though I read the book which says a lot. HotD is a great show ✌️💚
That's the one thing that softens the blow of her death for me. In this world most good characters die relatively meaningless or pointless deaths, because that's something GRRM likes to do. It's rare a character gets to go out in full glory, fighting for her cause and dealing a significant blow to the enemy before dying the warrior's death she'd probably hoped for (assuming Laena developed her wish for a dragonrider's death from her mother). It reminded me of Boromir's death in LOTR - fighting to the bitter end against overwhelming odds, even knowing it meant their death, because it was the honourable thing to do and they believed their cause was worth dying for. Considering the show chose to have horns reminiscent of Boromir's blown at the start of the dragon battle, I wonder if it was deliberately evoking Boromir's final battle.
All I could think when that soldier collapsed into ashes was "This is what happens when you forget to hydrate!"
Poor Sunfyre really thought he and his owner were going on a joyride for sheep and ice cream.
Ngl I was pacing and cried when the battle happened. Idk what else I expected when the Big Chonk was there
Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor!
… wait. No. Not like that!
RIP Rhaenys andMeleys. Went out like true dragon warriors. They’ll be sorely missed. I feel like this episose was like 80% literal and figurative burns and everyone, particularly the greens, just being absolutely done with each other.
Man I sure do hate it when the Combat 747 comes flying in low across the battlefield
When you realize Vhagar killed her former rider's mother 💔
20:40 Technically two targaryens are there, and its the cats paw dagger that kills the night king
S2 Ep4 “Return of the Craig Slayer”
Was that the Craig Slayer, I wasn’t sure.
I found it interesting that aegon didn't properly learn valerian kind of shows that he didn't pay attention to any of his lessons he was given growing up. more or less enforcing he was never meant for the throne
He also never wanted the throne. If Viserys had thought there was even a possibility that Aegon might be king one day, he would have taken more of an interest in his upbringing and education.
@@richrelaxes1154yeah, his intentions were clear right there. His daughter was a cup bearer for the council so she could hear and learn, Aegon was the kid he trotted out at parties. It shows
This episode made me WEEP for over an hour after the episode 😢 Rip to the queen who never was.
I think a big part of Rhaenys continuing back to battle was Daemons words ringing around in her mind. “You should’ve ended this when you had the chance.”
If Melisandre offered me something strange to drink I’d never take it. Alys might be able to talk me into it idk
When the dragons his the ground and appear to explode, I’d say that’s probably them getting the wind knocked out of them
In the original series most of the battles were against an our heroes and their foes. The White Walkers, Boltons, Lannisters (for the most part). And the battles were kind of fun and seemed entirely necessary. But this war feels icky, and wasteful and painful. The small folk, the land, the poor dragons all dying for another family’s quarrel
Yup. That's exactly it.
Interesting how the Hightower-son probably is the one leading the final assault on the keep in the background while Cole stumbles away looking for Aegon.
I live in Maryland and that's exactly what I said when I saw the shields 😂😂😂
Same here haha
The fact vhager was her daughters dragon just makes it sadder too 😢
I think she wanted to do as much damage as possible to vaghar. Even if it was a losing battle, any injury will help long term.
She knew that Rook's Rest was a key stronghold. My Queen and the Red Queen had done serious damage to both the main threats on the Green side. Without dragons able to fight, the Greens only took the stronghold because the Queens fell ON the wall and opened a breach. Which Gwayne rallied the troops to exploit.
Precisely this, her Queen ordered her to break the siege. Seeing Vhagar she knew she could not win without dying, but her death could potentially kill Aemond or cripple Vhagar.
@@adamplatt8628this has evened the odds when daemon and caraxes fight vghar and aemond
@@scotthewitt258Vhagar came out of the encounter mostly unscathed. The scratch on its chest wasn't deep at all, it barely even drew blood.
I also think in someways it was revenge for losing her grandson to both vaygar and his asshole rider, and I also think it was her regret for not touching all of them at the coronation when she has a chance, so I think that if you can mind all of that she was out to do as much damage as possible and go out like the boss chick she is
I really don't understand how after being slammed into the earth that dragon just gets up and flys away
Ser Christon and the Crispies found out How to Drain your Dragon
What makes Meleys death even more sad and tragic is that her previous rider was Daemon and Visery’s mother and Vhagars previous rider before Leana was Daemon and Visery’s father. Vhagar and Meleys once flew together as a family in an era of peace and now they are fighting in a civil war of their own, not just the targaryans civil war and if you look at the family line of the dragons Meleys is technically Vhagars granddaughter.
Felt some serious pain for the dragons fighting, getting injured, or dying, and it's all made worst when one considers the history you just spelled out.
Sunfyre was described as the most beautiful of dragons. He was just a good boi who loved his Targ. 10/10 didn’t deserve what happened to him.
To the Queen who should have been and the Red Queen, hail the victorious dead!
I knew what was coming and I still cried from the moment she said she would go until the end. Daemon’s reaction should be something. That was his mother’s dragon before Rhaenys.
I didn't know that. Oof. Daemon is going to freak out when he learns what happened.
@@embrown1442000 he is also riding the dragon of her father as well.
I think Adam snorted some Mountain Dew before filming 🤣
I'm gonna miss dragon mommy. She was my favorite too.
Rest in power to the queen who never was. That was an awesome scene 31:30 . When Meleys and Rhaenys share one last look at each other…… and then Rhaenys releases the reigns. God dammit
Remember when Benjen had Bran drink a mixture with rabbits blood GOT season 6 episode 6. It was mixed with hearts tree sap. Visions ensue.
I love that he wouldn’t eat the venison when he got there in case it was poisoned, but some chic who says she’s a barn owl hands him a cup of mysterious something and he just downs it.
“They attacked Maryland??!”
The funniest thing I’ve heard all month.
its not acid blood, dragon's blood is just boiling hot
Vhagar truly is the hide and seek champion, but you gotta admit, clever as fuck to hide her in the woodland in case a dragon pulled up. Rhaenyra probably should've stuck to the initial 'if we use dragons everything will be worse' statement, because now it is indeed worse
It was kind of necessary for the Blacks to act and support a loyal vassal. Rhaenys took out a good chunk of Criston's army and slew the king and his dragon. She also wounded Vhaegar a bit. Even with the loss of Rook's Rest, I still think it overall favored the Blacks in this encounter, which was necessary because the Greens have been dominating up to this point.
They were pretty sure that a dragonrider would be sent.
They turned away from Harrenhall and went after the Rook's Rest for strategic reasons. It controls the only land access that Dragonstone has to the mainland.
Yeah, it's definitely one of the things that make the dragons a good analogy for nukes in this setting. There's only two ways to play them: Either you never use them, or you use all of them.
Knowing that team green has Vhagar, team black should never have committed to any engagement with less than every possible dragon they could field, until she was taken off the board.
@@njp4321 Kinda rough that so many of the Black dragons are "unmounted". All four with riders should have gone into the obvious trap. All four against Vaghar would have turned the battle. Even with the Sunfyre "wild card".
@@scotthewitt258 Exactly.
Rhaenys knew leaving dragonstone this could be a suicide mission you could see it, she decided to stay out of it at the start of the series and didnt burn them as it wasnt her fight, but in that battle she wasn't gonna turn away and that's why she kept on going back. Because it became her fight.
So, y'all think Corlys will take Rhaenys's words to heart, and acknowledge his Sea Sons?!?!?
After all, there are dragons that need riders. And I think one has already been checking out Adam.....
I think that's going to be the next dragon-heavy episode this,season.
Oh no. It’s the chungus
So few things are as Terror inducing as the sight of the forest floor lifting off its foundations, to reveal that its just a Bid Ass Dragon. But seeing that moment when Rheanys and The Red Queen Meleys crashed the Chungus into the ground was a perfect note that at least let those two ladies go out in style…I just wish she had disengaged in that moment, instead of that round 2.
Evil Legolas 😂
I made the mistake of having a favorite character in a GOT show...This was a large mistake.
@@flamehand3713 everyone is bad
They don't have acid blood; their blood boils.
Say hi to your mother for me 😂 classic skit
Allan!
Come on, guys. Jace? Baella? We really don't care about any other characters? Cregan Stark's coming back at some point.
Yes, but this was a reminder to not get too attached to any character. We need to remember this is GOT.
Thankgod Alicent drank that tea. We don't need any little Coles just runnin around😂
Aegon: High Valyrian Doulingo LVL 1 😂
22:58 . Aemond will get his And it's glorious. Wait for season 3.
Aegon II got burned multiple times in this episode, in multiple ways.
Great reaction guys. I normally watch you guys via the J2O channel. However, I felt like I had to see you guys react. Also, whoever had the idea for the show to "speak" to Jay *chefs kiss
14:03 Craig Slayer returns! I loved this guy! ❤
Calling Aemond “Wa-legolas” really got me 😂
Everyone will eventually "get yours"... Today it was rhaenys turn to get hers, courtesy of Aemond and vhagar.
Watching this makes me wish that Alan Taylor, who directed this and a few other episodes of GoT, was allowed to do more with Thor: The Dark World.
The broken dragon wing on the sculpture and the broken vase was our omen that we were about to lose some dragons
So I know GOT season 8 gets a lot of criticism and with good reason. However, it was the dagger with the High Valerian story of Fire and Ice that killed the Night King. The hope was to pass the knowledge down so that could happen on purpose and not by accident.
Oh my god. A Mary Renault reference. My classics prof heart is singing.
Don't think the king is dead. Just pretty cooked. If sir slime bag hadn't shown up, I think Aemond would have finish brother dear off, but he put his sword away when he realised there were witnesses.
sunfire was breaded to be good looking, not for combat
@20:40 Hey Adam. There were 2 Targaryens at the time and they were both on dragons fighting.
This channel is the embodiment of "We mock what we don't understand."