“Princess Rhaenys made no attempt to flee. With a glad cry and a crack of her whip, she turned to meet the foe.” - On the battle with Vhagar, from the Fire and Blood novel.
@@fredwin the books are eyewitness accounts. Not all equally neutral. Maybe it was a black who described it, glad cry or not. They really did portray the battle so well.
@evgnrdr4243 maybe because people who've only seen the show might rightly assume Sunfyre is dead? SMH with the book readers happily disclosing random info show people wouldn't know
I loved how this show portrayed how the veteran dragons and dragon riders fight in aerial combat. Agon (and Sunfyre) shooting flame at Meleys and Rhaenys, thus obscuring their own vision. Meanwhile, Meleys takes advantage of this by maneuvering while her opponent is blinded, and gets in position to blindside. Twice Meleys attacks Sunfyre. First while Sunfyre was trying to find her after getting out of his own fireball, and second while the panicked young dragon was trying to gain altitude while in agony. When Vhagar and Meleys charge each other, we see the veteran Vhagar snatch Meleys before deploying flame. And later, when Vhagar blindsides Meleys using the castle. Even if the castle wasn't there, the cliff still would have provided enough cover. The dragons fly fast enough that the closing speed would ensure that, if one could close the distance to a point where the other has no time to react. also While Aegon is indeed a fool, I couldn't help but feel bad for him in this episode. Alicent inherited her father's cold parenting style. But while Alicent learnt to be dutiful, Aegon just begun acting out. Even when Alicent and Otto were maneuvering to make him king, they did not prepare him for the role. This episode made it clear (to Aegon as well as the audience), that both Alicent and Otto were going to be the actual rulers of the kingdom. In comparison, Rhaenyra is shown to be a great mother, raising her children with love while instilling strength, wisdom and honour while training them to succeed her when the time came.
I found the expression on Rhaenys face during the fight exceptional. You can see her experience due to her actions. She knew she could easily defeat Aegon. Smaller size and less experience made her so confident. Against Aemond her chances were low but running would give him experience in handling a dragon in war and despite the size she knew it was now or never.
Aegon is a great character. He has major flaws, but I believe he honestly wants to do a good job as king, he's just not equipped with the necessary skills. His story is extremely tragic. His father neglected him, and his easy highborn life proved such a seduction that he settled into a pattern of mediocrity and didn't push himself, like Aemond did. Aegon is Aemond, without the fire that drives his younger brother. But he wants to be fair and be a good king - just look at his rulings favouring the smallfolk in episode one. He wants to be proactive in the war and bring it to an end as quickly as possible. That, and his lack of knowledge, are what frustrates him so much he throws himself into uncertain combat just to prove he's willing to do something. He certainly has courage, even if he did have to drink a flagon or two, to get there. And keep in mind, this man's son was just murdered by his enemy. That is not only the most personal attack someone can make on a father, but also the most devastating politically, by wiping out one of his heirs. Can't fault him too much for wanting revenge. This dude is hurting, bad. He raged against the world, without the strength or knowledge to do so, and was destroyed in turn. Perfect arc.
@@David_randomnumber if anything she pull out and fight with daemon like daemon suggested before. Sunfyre is down. Look worse than the books tbh. But ofcourse. This must be done for the show.
@@David_randomnumber It was a mistake for Rhaenyra to send Rhaenys/Meleys alone. She was her most battle hardened rider thus her most important asset. They should have flown in force, all four, or at the very least Jace and Baela as support. Aemond would have retreated if he was against 4 dragons. Rhaenyra also should have commanded Rhaenys to retreat if wounded. Her and Meleys are worth more than any castle or army to her cause.
Don't believe that was blood. It's probably sap from the weirwood tree he touched the previous night, which does look like blood. That's why Simon Strong didn't seem bothered by it.
It's impressive how you kinda feel for the dragon even when you know they are just CGI they are so well made you can't stay emotionless when they get hurt very impressive.
The Kingsguard bonking into each other when Aegon dismisses them is such a funny touch. They're so utterly useless. All credit to Meleys and Rhaenys, in the books I believe they kill almost a thousand men and go toe to toe with two of the most powerful dragons in Westeros before death. As least she went down swinging like the madlass she was.
@@lordmeian3929 to be more specific he didn’t in book ... but keep in mind show already made extreme changes in story so we know nothing he could be easily dead because his role for remaining story is close to 0 anyway
damn the presence Ewan Mitchell brings to aemond is amazing. what an interesting character he is. I see why team black people don’t like him but he’s a beast honestly.
By far, Angela's reaction to the dance of the dragons is THE best on RU-vid. Not just for her tears, but for her strong empathy with deep understanding of the main characters. She immerses herself in every show she watch. Angela's intros and outros always flow so naturally, like chatting with a close friend without care for time. Yes, I watched from beginning to end. We as your viewers are honored to be creepily listening in on your self-therapy.
People wondering why Rhaenys didn't leave like she was there to secure the rocks nest and if she fled it would spred that the ppl serving under Rhaneryra left and she tried to harm Vhagar the most she could thus neutralising the biggest threat. Aemond is twice a kinslayer cursed twice now
I agree that wounding/slaying Vhaegar was worth the risk, and Rhaenys might have been close to being successful if the Sunfyre fight hadn't happened and if Vhaegar didn't ambush them like she did. There was also the fear of Rhaenys going back to Dragonstone that Vhaegar/Aemond might have followed and that could have been catastrophic.
Lets be for real, cursing people as kinslayers in the literal family civil war is not saying much. Rhaenys was aiming to kill both Aemond and aegon too
Rhaenys had to stay, she could not leave. If Rhaenrya's allies found out dragon riders leave the battle she would lose all her allies to the Greens. It is a war.
I must say. She look like she stop fighting. She stop acting aware. Then you telling me this big ass dragon doing all these sneak attacks like on the son. I'ma stick to the books being better story of it because I never consider book and show or movie the same. Vhagar but be old. Fast. Contradictory there. Shit she teleporting lol. Any fighter in a fight gonna stay aware. Especially if you know that threat is great. In my mind even if they had ALOT of smoke. She should had circled the perimeter.
Aemond would’ve chased her down. Vhager is big but can gain speed quickly (remember Luke) Aemond wouldn’t have let her leave so easily, Rhaenys and Maelys are huge assets to the Greens.
this is why I was hesitant to even start watching this second season. I know the dragons are going to start dying, and it is breaking my heart more than almost anything else. I might not finish this season ;(((
Well, it also said the last dragons were the size of cats. So we're a couple of decades away from them completely vanishing. Honestly the timeline is a bit weird here, since we're less than 3 decades away from hitting the "for the first time in 100 years" mark. Meaning the average dragon size needs to shrink significantly over the next 30 years. And given Dragon lifespans, that seems improbable.
Four adult dragons survive the dance and one is hatched shortly after. We know very little about what happens to them and can only speculate that the Dance had a negative effect on their lifespan and the vitality of their eggs. The Cannibal eating dragon eggs surely didn't help.
Avoiding spoilers (just in case) but I’ve been dreading this episode … Also …. The attention to detail in this show . Alicent grabbing hot stones , wrapping them , and using them for the cramps she’s inevitably feeling from the Moon Tea (Plan B Tea) Such a throw away thing , but grounds the show in reality
I mean as big as she is. Where is she sneaking from? Written for the show. Where in the book says she sneak attacked. She landed on meleyes and sunfyre in the books white they was going at it. Her ass teleporting for the show haha
@@kylemma33 lmao naw fam. Vhagar teleports for the show. That's her secret. You think big momma nose diving and coming so fast the fastest dragon can't maneuver? It's for the show lol. In the book vhagar landed on sunfyre and meleys fighting and rheanys was found burn as hell. Vhagar teleporting my dude. Vhagar doing it for the gram lol
I get you girl. I have been crying the whole day because of Rheanys and Meleys… That last look from Meleys to Rhaneys broke me, you could see in eyes of Meleys that her fire is leaving her… RIP my two queens, The Queen Who Never Was and The Red Queen!
My heart was broken when we lost Princess Rhaenys 💔😢 She died a true Dragon Riders Death in honor of her daughter Laena 👼🥺 She was the Queen who never was to the very end 👸🌹 Incredible hour of Televison 🔥🔥🔥🔥🩸⚔️ Bravo HBO!!!
Sad to see Rhaenys and Meleys go. I liked Rhaenys. She would have been a great Queen. Interesting to see Aemond turn on Aegon. If you want support, it’s not a good idea to bully and humiliate those on your side, Aegon should know that. Aegon and Sunfyre are at the very least badly injured.
That's actually one of things I HATE about the show. Aemon doesn't do that, that's not supposed to be his style. He's a War Dog, yes, but he's not one to attack the Green's of his family. He's basically a young Daemon with a better sense of loyalty to his mother's side. It's kinda annoying how they keep trying to overly portrays the Green's as villains and the Black's as Heroes; they're not. The Blacks have a slightly stronger claim, but both groups are shady AF.
@@Barbaresantana That's something some random guy that worked for the Greens did becuase he switched sides and didn't do what he was told. If the Greens hadn't attempted a coup it wouldn't have happened. The entire war is on them.
I keep hearing reactors say "He" in regards to Vhagar. Vhagar is a "She", and one of the original dragons from Aegon's conquest. Fun fact - Regarding Aegon the Conqueror's conquest, there was symmetry in the dragons' genders with the genders with their riders: There was Vhagar (Queen Visenya) and Meraxes (Queen Rhaenys), who followed Balerion the Black Dread, who was male, and his rider King Aegon.
Another thing that breaks my heart about Rhaenys’ death is she never finds out that her son is still alive, living the life he wanted. I wish she would have known that before her death. I think that would have brought her a lot of peace.
Maybe not by the time she died. There's some theories that he's dead and that's why his dragon got restless just before this, because something happened to him and he could sense it.
Rhaenys was killed by her daughter’s dragon. Meleys was killed by the dragon of her first rider’s husband. This might be the most heartbreaking death in this show so far.
That is heartbreaking indeed.. I still don't understand the loyalty of these dragons fully.. How is it that they seem to have such a love for their riders and yet kill others regardless of their intimate past ties?
Calling it pettiness feels a bit harsh, tbh. Aegon tormented Aemond all his life, and while that doesn't justify (attempted) fratricide, it does make the issue a bit more complex than if Aemond just wanted the throne for himself (which is also certainly part of his motivations).
@@webhead215 tormented being dressing up a pig and laughing at him at a brothel? That in no way justifies being burned alive. What's more, Aemond believing himself to be better suited was 90% of the calculus behind that decision.
Aegon was wearing the conquers ancient armor, so he was probably immune or at least resistant to the fire. And probably why he survived the fall. At least his survival was hinted in the ep 5 promo video.
When Dragons fight,everything burns. Now i get it. the whole attack on that Castle was just to lure one dragon out so vagar could kill it. all the people who died in flame, where just setting up the scene.they didn't give a crap about that castle or that 200 men holdign it.or for their own army,which was just picked up on the way. It's like 2 superpowers playing with their Nukes.
Something to keep in mind that brutal air takedown of vhagar worked. Meleys flew off before crashing. She engaged with vhagar and downed her much larger enemy and took minimal damage.
Meyles was ferocious in the fight! she gave tough time to even Vhagar in the beginning.. but Aemond has always ambushed in almost every fight.. always attacking from behind, above or below
Rhaenys is my favorite character as well. As a book reader, I knew this was coming but it did not diminish the impact one single bit. I am absolutely gutted.
No Spoilers: The outcome of Rook's Rest was the same in the book, but the details were different. In the book, Aegon+Sunfyre were always part of the plan* and they attacked Rhaenys+Meleys together with Aemond+Vhagar. All three dragons hit the ground together. No one close enough to see what happened survived and those further away couldn't see clearly for the fire and smoke. At the end of it Meleys was dead, Sunfyre critically injured and Vhagar more or less okay. A body, burned beyond recognition but believed to be that of Rhaenys, was found under Meleys' corpse three days later. * In the book Aegon II is less of a weakling. However you always have to remember that the _Fire and Blood_ book is a) a dry history book, not a novel, so you don't get people's inner thoughts and feelings, and b) the product of two maesters, a septon and a jester, so it may well have a pro-Greens, anti-Blacks bias, if you believe the fan theory that The Hightowers+The Maesters+The Faith have been conspiring against the Targaryens ever since the Conquest.
Although it's true that Otto was planning on usurping Rhaenyra's crown, it took Alicent to convince Aegon that his father wanted him to be king. Without Alicent's insistent reassurances (and her newfound affection and attention), Aegon would have continued to try to run away.
Aemond is intentionality trying to kill Aegon. Cole even catches him trying to finish the job at the end. Hell, he even baited him to the battle. Cole had a plan, Aemond had his own.
@@kylemma33 he had no reason to draw his weapon besides to kill Aegon. There were no enemy soldiers outside the castle at any point and Aemond isn't stupid.
I like the moment where rheaneas (bad spelling i know) clips herself in to the saddle. She was staying with her dragon no matter what. But being raised with meleys from crib to adult and staying with her its got to mean more. Also i think the false king is badly badly burned. I think hes either going to die or learn a lesson
To answer your question, Funny, no Vhagar doesn't care. The dragon's she's spent the most time with were Balerion the Black Dread and Meraxes, both of whom have been dead for decades (Meraxes for around 100 years by this point). Vhagar is well trained and she's a seasoned warrior, which is why she needs a rider with a strong will to mount her. She knows her tactics and commands and she plays no games. Once a threat has been identified she takes it down, hard and fast.
Hi Angela and to you too Xander, first off, sorry for the length of this comment (I always want it to sound as though I'm actually talking to you instead of offering potential context free sound bytes). This was the episode the book fans were hyped for, in much the same way as we were for the Red Wedding. Knowing the tragedy to come, and the weight of its inevitablity. Inevitable because it's such a key moment that it had to remain true to the way it was written. It's interesting that you say it all feels like a hurry to get to the next chapter, when as a reader (and chronic RE-reader) I can astonish you by saying that the ENTIRE 'Dance of the Dragons' (what the 'historians' dub this civil war) takes place in just seven chapters of Fire and Blood, and most readers feel sure it will take four show seasons to get full the story in. Fire and Blood is written as an 'in-world' history. Taken from source documents as our own histories are, from diaries and letters of those close to events and just like ours, Westerosi historic records aren't homogenous. The sources go from slightly different due to the proximity of the author to the throne, to VASTLY contradictory. What this has done (imo) is give the show-runner Ryan Condal the *perfect* framework for a show. He has a complete timeline of recorded events, but only speculation about how those events came to pass. Other commenters are 100% correct that the writers are creating scenes, and in all truth, the entire show is simply another version of events, this one where the characters get a voice. AS the insane book fan I am, yes, much (and more 😆) has been 'changed'. Character ages are the most significant. To give the show a focal point, Alicent was aged down and Rhaenyra up to make them contemporaries and friends. This has given the show it's heart. Other ages have been adjusted to make the story relatable rather than a checklist of events, the timelines have been stretched or compressed as needed to pace the show seasons (particularly season 1) out, some smaller characters are gone completely others given different names (seriously - introducing Oscar Tully as the grandson of the aging Lord was a great way of hand-waving away GRRM's *deliberate* inclusion of Muppets Grover and Kermit), and overall I think they're doing an amazing job. Not to give the writers all of the credit for Hot D. The cast is simply superb. They've all created characters based on not much more than a timeline and list of events that occurred for them, those with dragons have shown utterly believable relationships with what in truth was a souped up mechanical bull. Who would have thought after the incredible performances of Millie Alcock and Emily Carey that they could possibly have been outdone by Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cooke?! But we've seen both of them deliver award-winning performances. Eve Best as Rhaenys went from solid, reliable, never miss a beat supporting character in episodes prior to this, all the way to acting powerhouse here. She simply shone in Rhaenys' final hours. Incredible. Thank you for sharing Angela, thanks for the edit Xander - I'll be here next week!
6:00 Whoever is telling you Alys Rivers is someone from GOT is 100% wrong. Harrenhal and her magic come from the Old Gods of the north, the red trees are weirwood trees and every castle used to have a heart tree (a weirwood tree with a face carved on it) but was slowly cut down by the Andals.
Meleys wasn't just Rhaenys' dragon, before Rhaenys Meleys was ridden by Daemon and Viserys' mother Alyssa and her husband Baelon rode Vhagar so they were very close because Baelon and Alyssa were deeply in love, so it's even more sad.
The second Rhaenys said: "I should go", I knew her plot armor was not thick enough to survive... I had guessed Cole and Aemonds plan as well, that's what I get for having been in the military and in warzones myself. Sunfyre was a damn surprise though, I did not expect them on the battlefield, OR Aemond not giving two cents for his brother/kings wellbeing... That was the curveball that all most all battles have.... Your reaction however, NEVER fails to put a smile on my face 😀😀
I have such a love and reverence for dragons, it's hard to put into words.. This just plain HURT my heart and soul. I LOVE series where they show such gorgeous and majestic dragons but them fighting each other and killing each other, it just breaks my heart, and then that look Maleys gave to her trusted Rider, her Rhaenys, both when they made up their mind to turn back and then her dying, it shattered my heart..
“Princess Rhaenys made no attempt to flee. With a glad cry and a crack of her whip, she turned Meleys toward the foe.” - Fire & Blood. Rhaenys Targaryen and her dragon Meleys not backing down and bravely facing Vhagar. Princess Rhaenys could have escaped If she wanted to. Meleys is faster than Vhagar and Caraxes. Rhaenys chose to stay because she saw and she knew she had the chance to injure Vhagar and somewhat incapacitate her and Aemond to fight in the future even at the expense of her and Meleys life.
The concoction that Alys gave Daemon was Weirwood sap, it's what Bran consumes to enhance his Greenseer powers. He drank it because he had just seen her eat some and then add hot water to it. In the books, it is said that she appears ypunger than she really is, but according to the showrunner, Ryan Condel, she is 400 years old.
The distance between King's Landing and Dragonstone is very close. The water surrounding King's Landing is Blackwater Bay. As ships leave the port and head out to the Narrow Sea or really anywhere on water they have to pass right by Dragonstone.
One thing of note about the forces coming from the north, because of their motto, they realize that a winter brings potential hardship with feeding that many people. The men that would come and fight did so with no intention of returning so that the food stores would last longer in times of hunger.
@@blondymonk1535 They were probably being traded around Pentos in black markets. No one can hatch them except dragonlords so they just passed from owner to owner
No, the director of episode 3 Geeta Patel said that, but the co creator and actual showrunner of the series denied it, at this point in time, the three eggs that would later belong to Daenerys have already been stolen and are somewhere in Essos, they were stolen by Elissa Farman the lover of former Targaryen queen Rhaena Targaryen, check your facts xD
Alyn is maybe among my favorite characters to be introduced to in Season 2. I do appreciate the fact that Rhaenys knew about him and didnt hate him,as opposed to how Catelyn treated Jon snow.
Catelyn was also forced to raise her bastard son as her own. Rhaenys had plenty of time to process her situation without having to take care of a daily reminder of her husbands infidelity. I think their respective responses to the bastards are valid in regard to their different situations tbh!
@@FiveFootZero and Ned was forced to marry his Brothers Bethrothed after his brother and his father were executed and they were in the middle of a Rebellion. Doesn't change how evil Catelyn's actions towards Jon were
2:20 I'm fairly sure there's something super important about one of those kids she sent away but since I don't know how far the show plans to go I don't want to spoil anything even if it's like years in the future. 7:30 Like Prince Philip husbands of reigning Queens are generally referred to as Prince Consort, so "My Prince" is technically correct he just hates it. It was just a natural slip-up on the host's part.
The ending of the fight actually does play out a bit differently in the books, and I think I like the book version a bit more. The main difference is that when Meleys and Sunfyre are tangled together, Vhagar's attack actually takes both of them out of the sky, not just Sunfyre. One of the narrators in the book claims that Meleys had a decent chance at taking on Vhagar alone, being the fastest dragon, but had no chance against two dragons, so the book version made it feel like Aegon actually helped instead of just getting in the way. It also makes Aemond's friendly fire seem more reasonable since he actually hit the enemy too, and not exclusively his ally. I know they were trying to build tension in the show version, but I guess I just like the idea that Vhagar could never have caught Meleys without Sunfyre slowing her down. Feels more fitting than having Vhagar land a sneak attack; she's supposed to be huge and strong, not sneaky.
Family Clarifications: Ulf looks like a skeevy uncle. He claims to be Rhaenyra and Aegon's uncle (and thus Daemon and Viserys' BROTHER). He claims Daemon's dad was his dad. Joffrey is the third Strong Boy. We see him at Luke's funeral throwing in a toy to the pyre. The twins (Daemon sons by Rhaenyra) are Aegon and Viserys.
If you look at the shields, the "bait" troops Shitstain sent to attack Rook's Rest and draw out a dragon were all from the castles he had just turned..... He kept his own Targaryen and Hightower troops back, under cover of the trees.
And just like that the Realm of Westeros lost a little magic. Farewell Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was, and one of the few truly competent Targaryen's to ever exist.
