Something I really appreciated about the green council scene was how they showed Aemond’s differences to Aegon, rather than telling us. He sat quietly while they deliberated, and as soon as he was chosen he confidently took his seat. Even the way he placed the council ball thing perfectly in the center was a nice piece of visual storytelling
I agree even tho I still think the balls placed on the table are silly 😂At least the writers & actors have managed this season to utilize them to show the differences in characters even having Jahaerys play with it while Tyland is trying to focus on the meeting lol.
@@roguechevelle the balls on the table are for attendance. And maybe to show the different roles. Ie, the king would have his own ball, the hand as well, and the masters of whatever.
That expression of relief on Rhaenyras face when she realizes they could finally get the advantage in the war was again acting gold. Emma D'arcy is such a stellar actor. Also Jace calling out Targaryen dragonlord supremacy propaganda was funny as fuck to me.
Something else I liked from Rhaenyra is the almost look of *disgust* on her face at the thought of a Mallister or Tarly on a dragon. Seems like she has a little bit of that dragonlord supremacy herself.
@@sowitapidshe’s barely spent time with Daemon. All Targaryens have the notion they are the only dragon riders bc that’s what the histories tell them. It’s like all the ppl OBSESSED with the differences with the show vs. Fire & Blood. It’s all just myth and legend. The show is what’s actually happened.
@@Persephone_Personified The show is what actually happened in the Game of Thrones universe, not the ASOIAF universe. Dont get it twisted. Fire and Blood is the official history books for ASOIAF, not Game of Thrones.
Is that's what is happening in the Riverlands on his orders? Doesn't seem like it. He was responsible for a lot of acts of barbarism and that made his task that much more difficult. Maybe this story is about humbling him...
That screaming you hear when Alys is telling Daemon the woman and children being the ones to face the consequences is the actual screams of the Brackens being sacked by the Blackwood’s. She is laying it down for him what exactly his actions have caused.
She does so while seemingly also pushing him towards claiming what he thinks is his through his strange dreams. She is not to be trusted because she's trying to set him also against his wife by attacking his pride.
@@Regenmacher175 Interesting way to view it. I view it as she's forcing him to feel guilt for his actions so he stops doing f*cked up stuff, while also making him come to terms with what he desired fully. He cannot fully support Rheanyra until he acknowledges that he is unconsciously working against her. When he reaches this point (as he has in this episode) the next step is for him to decide whether he will go through with his quest for the throne or stand by Rheanyra. Alys could just be helping him get there.
@@rexibhazoboa7097 Of course but given the way Alys later interacts with another character who is important during the Dance, I am not really convinced that her intentions are as noble as that. I could be wrong but she seems somewhat more sinister.
@@Regenmacher175 It is all rather interesting despite this situation going on a bit too long for me, it could go either way. Gray Area channel has a few fun theories about Alys.
Rhaenyra underestimates her own knowledge, sure she wasn't taught to wield a sword, but her knowing stuff about the other houses means knowledge and she just needs to wield that knowledge in diplomacy. Jace meanwhile shows why he is well suited to being a future king, I think we forget that Jace has been the most successful in gaining alliances - he got the greybeards from Cregan Stark, got safety and support from Lady Jeyne Arryn, and now he's managed to sway the Freys to access the crossing.
Baela and Jace had some great scenes in this episode. I love Daemon but him going down on his MOM in a vision 🤮 bro needs to get the fuck out of Harrenhal already lol.
1:59 it’s probably not a good idea to parade the head of a dragon which is the symbol of your house and show that what people believed was invincible is very much not😅
It was just as much Aemond’s decision as Cole, and we’ve repeatedly shown that they never of them really think through the consequences of their actions.
I actually think Aemond knows the consequences of his actions very much so. Cole does not. But Aemond knows what the fuck he's doing.@@t-rexcellentreviews1663
Genuinely wondering if any of the Harrenhal scenes after Alys gave him that drink are real. Like I'm half expecting Alfred Broom to show up at Harrenhal and there NO construction done whatsoever. Or maybe even beyond that, him showing up and Daemon has been completely alone the entire time. Harrenhal deffo gives that kind of reality bending level of haunted. At the very least I don't think that last scene with the river lords was totally real. Just waiting for the shoe to drop.
I loved this episode. I love seeing Baela and Jace and the White Wyrm really step it up this episode. When Alicent was basically stripped of any power she had during the council meeting I hope she now realizes that is what her family did to Rhaenyra.
Something to note is that, in the books, one of the "sources" for the part about the Dance claims that Jaehaerys and Jaehaerya, Helaena's children were fathered by Aemond, not Aegon.
The show doesnt seem to have gone for that route, unless they would've hinted at it in season 1. More than hinted at it even, seeing how much they talked about the Strong boys.
Well I saw one person say maybe he fathers Maelor since he's not born yet (they did age down Jahaerys and Jaehaerya in the show compared to the book's histories) but I don't know if they are going to do that lol.
Willem Blackwood really raided villages waving Targaryen banners after he was told to try "things the Crown must not be seen to do" That's twice now Daemon's orders are disregarded. Is it the people getting orders or is Daemon being too vague?
I think the first time Daemon wanted Blood and Cheese to kill anyone, "son for a son" as they quote him. Here, I think he was being too vague and as a consequence they did it all in Targaryen's name lol
In my headcanon its his reputation. He gives an order and they are like "nah thats too tame I must have missunderstood. Thats Daemon we are talking about, better throw in another handful of warcrimes to be sure"
I don't see how he anticipated his original plan to work tbh, like even if blackwoods raided bracken territory with their banner, how is that possibly going to persuade brackens to join daemon? Afterall Blackwood's are his allies. That just doesn't make sense
@@zamin973 desperation I think. If he kills them all they are gone but if their smallfolk suffers they have little choice. You dont need the 10 members of the family to join you, you need the 800 commoners
@@zamin973well it’s hard to know what he anticipated versus what he conveyed considering he’s been actively losing his mind while in harrenhal. I think the biggest issue is trusting the blackwoods in the first place
thank you for saying that about spoilers, I saw so many people in the comments (of various reactors) 'correcting' them that aegon was alive when it was clearly intentionally left on a cliffhanger and framed as if he had died there
I watch around 20 different reactions to HotD and spoilers in the comments are impossible to avoid. It’s sad, because it limits the reactor’s ability to interact with the viewers and also the ability of viewers to interact with each other.
I've said this before on a couple of other reactors channels. I haven't read the books, but I really suspect Hugh the blacksmith is a Targaryen. Just by the way his hair looks. He looks a lot more like one of them than that guy at the inn, who I'm not sure is actually a bastard son. Now that he's been locked in, it's possible he might side with Rhaenyra to save his daughter after the rumors that Mysaria spread take wings. No pun intended. He might end up being one of the extra dragon riders they need.
Mysaria is quickly becoming a favorite of mine! She’s such an interesting character this season! And Alys Rivers is gonna be a fun character to be the foil to Daemon!!
Sonoya Mizuno, the actor who plays Mysaria, was in Alex Garland's movies 'Ex Machina', 'Men' (voice role), and 'Civil War'. She also played a lead in Alex Garland's limited television show 'Devs'. I was really surprised to see her in HoTD, but also really happy to see her in a new project.
Really good episode for character development! The people complaining are never happy with anything. Too much spectacle, not enough spectacle, or it isn't exactly like the book so it's bad. People are so annoying. Lol So many people said GoT was at it's best when it was about political intrigue and conversations. We got a whole ass episode of that, and everyone whines.
Yep. I mean, I totally get this wasn't a great episode for reactions in a lot of people's eyes. I get it. We all want that crazy thing these shows are known for to happen. For me, watching these characters develop and make moves is just as important as the big battles.
people are entitled to their own opinions. This was the second worst episode for me. one problem was the people being sad about the dragon's death when that same dragon killed a ton of smallfolk last season.
I'm all for the Rhaenyra and Mysaria team up. I loved seeing Alicent lose her power at the council. As much as I can't stand Otto he's the one that should act as regent. He's the smartest person on team green. I'm really looking forward to the next episode!
I think Damon's and Viserys' bastard brother is (1). The Smithy with the sick daughter could be (2) look at his hair, Corlys' bastard son Adam (Lenore's dragon intrigued him on the beach while he was searching for crabs), and Seasmoke needs a new rider so he would be (3). This way his Brother Alyn can be the heir of Driftmark because he has always been on the ships - Alyn is Salt and Sea. He saved Corlys from drowning. Not to mention anyone else who could be around. I think they just need to have Valeryion blood to ride a dragon.
When I watched the episode the first time, I thought Cole was covering for Aemond as well and lying to Alicent. But, actually, I now don’t think he was. I’m not sure he saw Aemond blast Aegon.
what is there to spoil about viserys' sword blackfyre (which was once aegon the conqueror's)? unless you mean the dagger (edit: which aemond now has), all relevant info on that was shown in season 1 (about the prophecy Aegon the first had that viserys told rhaenyra before naming her heir; and it was shown that when heated, you can see the writing on the blade). again, not a spoiler.
Not a spoiler, because the clues are all very obviously there. For anyone who wonders why they keep showing Hugh the smith, just pay some close attention to his hair color.
It may sound not important at the moment, but I have the feeling, because a lot of emphasis is placed on the point of view of the lower people, that Rhaenyra's personal maid will also play an important and unpleasant role. In any case, this maid also shows that Rhaenyra, like any other blueblood, does not treat the lower people well. Not with violence, but with ignorance, yell at them and a means to an end. And the White Worm was there for the first time to see it. I think this maid could still be dangerous to Rhaenyra in the future. The family man with his sick daughter is definitely a Tagaryan in my opinion. His hairstyle suggests so. But to get him on Rhaenyra's side, I think he has to lose his daughter first. Otherwise, he is loyal to his king. I think it was a big mistake of Rhaenyra to send this guy to Deamon. The one who wants to go to war all the time and has something against women in the leadership role. I think Deamon won't have a hard time getting him on his side.
@itsreeeshaaa7560 also people don't understand the book isn't gospel and the show doesn't follow it to the T. Cole literally said they left Sunfyre behind because the dragon "was long in dying" when he was cleaning his sword, so *in this show,* Sunfyre is dead.
