I really liked that she called Baela and Rhaena up to the table with her. She felt excluded as a child when forced to remain a cup bearer, but she didn’t want that to remain the case for them.
@@keeganshigh that’s not really the point. They are supposed to be there and observe. Having a seat at the table is representative that you are involved but that doesn’t automatically mean you have the floor. It’s called… learning?
I think the reason Daemon accused the greens of murdering the king was because they crowned a new one straight away. If the succession went as Viserys intended, his death would not be suspicious.
yeah i dont think its dumb for daemon to assume they had a part to play in his death even the last time he saw viserys he was suspicious of them controlling him through milk of the poppy
Yea makes sense to me he was that angry about it, his brother dies and they dont send a raven or messenger after 2 days and quickly crown Aegon like come on
The last time Daemon saw his brother he was being heavily medicated with milk of the poppy by the Green's appointed Maestor. I think in Daemon's mind he believes they murdered his brother by over prescribing and not giving him the proper care...whatever that may be because Viserys was in bad shape but again, I can see why/how he came to that conclusion. Doesn't heed to be as obvious as dagger or as quick as being swallowed by a dragon to be considered murder.
Aemond has been put in an impossible position. If he tells the greens he lost control of Vhagar, he looks like a wuss. If he tells them he purposefully killed Luke, he looks like a maniac. Which is why I’m so glad they made Aemond not originally want to kill Luke. This just created so much internal conflict within him
I think him being stuck portraying the role of vicious warlord but secretly hating it and feeling deep remorse could be really great. Could lead to awesome humanizing moments in private with his closest.
Plz do NOT make excuses for these showrunners writing their own fan fiction, instead of properly ADAPTING the source material. 🙄 Aemon is a psychopath in the books! He kills that boy on purpose, and then goes home & BRAGS about it ffs. To the horror of his Mother, and everyone else around him, EXCEPT for Aegon, who laughs & doesn't care, cuz he's just as psycho. THIS IS WHO THEY REALLY ARE. 😡 SMH But it's obvious the show wants to give them pass after pass. Oh Alicent just "misunderstood" Vicerys you see, and she doesn't want Rhaenyra or her children to be killed, and blah blah blah. What utter rubbish! Alicent is a ruthless, cunning & vindictive woman in the source material, but in the show... they got everybody feeling sorry for her ass! Like, WTF is going on?? 🤦🏻♀️🤣 LMAOOO
@@KabbalahSherry You have to realize that the books were made as if they were made in universe, so there could be things that the person believed and things that they changed so history wouldn't remember. 'History does not remember blood, it remembers Names.' The maester might have(most likely) believed that, but Belief DOES NOT mean it is absolutely 100% fact. The show is meant to be what REALLY happened.
@@KabbalahSherry I am with you for the most part, HBO is generally garbage compared to Martin's source material in GoT. I am OK however with the Aemon being a fake tough guy of sorts, maybe fake psychopath too. It happens all the time when kids act tough, get 10 years in prison and then come out of prison as what they pretended to be. The weird ending with him in the river lands points towards some guilt or being broken by the war, feeling like he destroyed the realm is a fitting cause. The "Oh Snap I just murdered everyone one I love" by starting a war over some petty bullying seems genuine to me, def a twist but there's no source material here bc Aemon never told. What did Martin say? The only thing worth writing about is the human heart or conflict with itself right? (or something).
@@KabbalahSherry You can't possibly be complaining that the show runners are trying to make the conflict actually tragic. You'd rather Aemond be a obvious bad guy bragging about killing the kid rather than see him wrestle with the fact that he wasn't completely in control and started a war? Really?
@@KabbalahSherry The source material is a second hand accounting of these events, for all we know Aemon will return to King's Landing and play the incident off as if it were intentional and as far as the witnesses are concerned (which is what the books would be based on) he is the psychopath that history remembers him as. Furthermore, you capitalize the word adapt as if you think a 'proper' adaptation means a 1:1 transfer of material from book to film, and that's not what an adaptation is at all.
I think the way Daemon was acting made sense. He’s always been a loose cannon. Especially after supposedly making shaky amends with The Greens and Viserys reaffirming Rhaenrya and her son’s claims to power. Suddenly they wake up two days later to Viserys dead and The Greens completely usurping the throne all before Viserys’ body is even cold. Rhaenyra freezes up from grief and fear of what’s to come, and Daemon rejects grief in return for action. I feel like it mirrors Corlys running to fight in the Stepstones to escape grieving his children while Rhaenys kind of locks up emotionally.
Yeah my sense of it is they HAD planned a military contingency, or at least Daemon thought they had an understanding of what to do in this scenario, and Daemon got violently pissed off when she didn't follow through with the plan because from his perspective she's fully throwing away her life and the life of their children.
Yeah, I'm not so sure on the choking thing, that seems kinda out of the blue, especially since he apparently didn't know about the prophecy, but his frustration at the desire to move slowly when he knows if they were to rush at kings landing they could end the war and probably win, especially since Vaghar ends up not being there at the time
That final look from Rhaenyra’s eyes just chills to the bone. The grief and rage of a parent whose child was stolen from them is a terrible thing to behold.
i feel that that scene with the dragons was to long compared to the scene he was talking to king baratheon, i would have like that scene with the king baratheon were larger than the dragon scene, maybe because i knew that lucerys dies
@@joaquinbartsch4325, I agree. Poor Luc looked like a 1st year Gryffindor pleading his case. I know he was scared and trying to be respectful, but I wanted to see him push it a bit further.
Well, other than Maris Baratheon insulting Aemond and spurring him to go after Luke. "Did he take your one of your eyes, or one of your balls? You're just gonna let him walk away?"
Take into consideration that Borros the illiterate received only a portion of the message from Rhaenyra. The portion the Maester wanted him to hear. The whole message should have been read out loud to the whole room.
I think it's more that having several children over the years has softened her from her fiery childhood. It's not that she's a bad leader. Remember her introduction as an adult is child birth and trying to protect her child. The ending is her acceptance there is no peace that will keep them safe. She has to destroy them at that point. Works for me.
Plus she knows about the prophecy. That at some point ice zombies are gonna come down to wipe out humanity and it's imperative that the kingdom stays united under Targaryen rule. A civil war means weakening the kingdom and what if the ice zombies come right then? After the Targaryens have wiped themselves out with their dragons and the kingdoms are fractured. She could end humanity in an attempt to be queen. And since she doesn't have any particular things she wants to do as queen, she'd be ending humanity for a "nice to have."
@@MissKashira this is spot on. A lot of people called Viserys a weak king because he wouldn't take action when action was needed, but I thought it was clear he felt paralyzed by the prophecy. He knew every decision he made could split the realm, but he failed to realize inaction could wreak the same havoc. Either that, or he felt that delaying action would allow people to calm down and come to a truce. I think Rhaenyra recognized that that was a flaw within him, but she respected his dedication to be mindful of the SOIAF and takes the task seriously.
@@woodswitchprints Yeah, so much of the Targaryen madness makes much more sense if they knew about the prophecy. Like what wouldn't you do to prevent the world from ending?
@@MissKashira exactly. Add to that all the trauma of things that happen as a result of trying to prevent the apocalypse too, and you're bound to lose your mind.
yeah i dont know why people have an issue with building rhaenyra to the point of ruthless queen. you need to see her evolve and imo makes for a better story.
Daemon saw Rhaenyra as a dragon, like him. Ambitious, calculating, and decisive. Fire personified. In this episode seeing her being, from his perspective, "wishy washy" in their hour of greatest danger and putting the lives of their whole family on the line he starts to wonder why he cast his lot with her. When she brings up prophesies and fairy tales to him it was just too much for him.
Yes in a way there is a transference of his anger and resentment toward Viserys and the way he ruled. He hates seeing this in his wife, he doesn't want another weak irrational ruler.
@@sillylittlesheepjax6009 I agree. The irony is that while he viewed Viserys, and possibly Rhaenyra right now, as irrational he himself can also be very irrational as he often acts on emotion. We saw that on the stepstones like you said and here in the final episode.
@@SKULLKR3W It's the weird, toxic idea that abusive spouses will change if they just find the right person to "fix them", subconsciously shifting the blame to Rhea Royce, or apologizing Daemon's murder because he still "loved" his blood family. I love Daemon as a character, but as a person he is a manipulative, abusive shit and I am very happy the writers are not romanticizing that. The writers and Matt Smith did a great job to made us sympathize with a person that makes Cersei look like an innocent.
It might be because lots of people just want an ideal couple to root for (incest aside) Remember, lots of people were so ready to ship Rhaenyra and Cole together for like a week thinking it was love blah blah blah... meh
@@ice2121 one thing I learned from GOT was the casual fans are ridiculous. You frame a mass murderer the right way and they won't think twice about cheering them. I constantly remind my friends that Rhaenyra and Cersei are foils for eachother because they keep asking me if Alicent is "the new Cersei"
I think we should keep in mind that Rhaenyra is being told to declare war on her baby brothers and her childhood friends. We can't expect her to rush to murder them after affirming oaths of friendship and devotion less than 72 hours ago, she does bare love for Alicent even if it's faded and worn.
Yea in the book rhaenyra says something along the lines of " my baby brothers and sister have been missedled by Otto Hightower" very much stating how she felt warmth towards her half siblings and alicent, atleast in the beginning. Edit: I can't spell
@@HeindyLLaurore I'm talking about the beginning of the episode with her hesitancy. The death of Luke clearly changes everything and takes the first step of the Dance of Dragons
She is also her father daughter, she loved him truly not like daemon who claims to love him but doesn’t respect his brother king. Her father viserys reign was of general peace, he didn’t want wars, more importantly he doesn’t want family fighting. It would be hard for Rhameyra to shit on her father wishes hours after his death just because she felt cheated. I see magnanimity in her to be better than her enemies, to honour her father legacy more than fulfill her ambitions. Viserys called her his only child so it makes sense she would show him equal devotion, even if ultimately she fails atlesst she tried.
@@maragathmwhy do you say Daemon didn't respect Viserys when he very clearly did he just spoke to him very clear and honestly he told him the people he was surrounded by were piwer hungry and would undermine him the first chance they got Daemon truly did respect Viserys that's why he helped him to the throne and passed him back his crown if he didn't truly love him he wouldn't have done that.
Daemon beat the shit out of a Targaryen messenger when Viserys was going to send help his way. Angry outbursts from Daemon is hardly new, especially with the death of Viserys who Daemon undoubtedly loved. He seems the type to act out in anger when sad. I think it's perfectly in line with someone who is emotionally driven like he is. At least that's my thoughts on Daemon as I've been watching him throughout the season. Rhaenyra I think had already accepted that Viserys was going to die which is why she kept a bit more even emotionally. But the death of Lucerys no doubt has awoken the dragon in her.
I think a big part of why Raenyra being a bit more mellow is in fact being a parent. Whe. You're 14 or so you're all full of venom because you feel at that age like you have nothing to lose, where as after you have kids most people have to reevaluate your moves because now you have something to lose in your own mind.
About Aemond and Lucerys’s control of their dragons slipping i got the impression it was the dragons responding to their riders’ true feelings ahead their verbal commands. Arrax seemed to act on Lucerys’ fear while Vhagar seemed to act on Aemond’s desire for revenge over his lost eye.
I don't think Daemon's being out of character at all. He seems consistent. He killed his first wife, he fights and kills impulsively, he lies, and he has a history of treating his brother, someone he claims to love, harshly and threateningly.
I went in blind and I was completely blindsided with Luc's death. I was still nervous when they went above the clouds, but I didn't ever think he would just get chomped!
I think that Rhaenys not "bending the knee" at Rhaenyra's coronation, was simply due to her wanting to know where Corlys stood on the issue. She was waiting for him to arrive, so they could be on the same page.
More than that, apparently she has been talking smack about Rhaenyra for years. Corlys litterally said "you were right" "let's stay neutral" "she ruins everything she touches." So my take is that rhenys wasn't going to side with her and only came around to it over the last day or two. After truely seeing adult Rhaenyra for the first time.
Yes, but also after seeing how Rhaenyra acted versus Alicient, she was actually the one who convinced her husband to be their allies. After watching her act so maturely in the most horrible moments of her life having her father die and her crown stolen, I can't get over the proud looks Rhaenys was giving her and respect and then communicating that to her husband. what an episode!
Yeah many people undersell the fact that they don't really like Rhaenyra because, oh, you know, they think she murdered their friggin son to marry creepy uncle who they blame for their daughters death
can we all take a moment to appreciate emma’s acting skills. i don’t know whether she has kids IRL but she captures labour so perfectly, twice now. stellar acting from her!
As a woman that has gone through a traumatic miscarriage, she nailed it. It's brutal, visceral, and emotionally devastating and she captured it beautifully.
Arrax was like a chihuahua..well a nuclear version. He doesn't know he's a small dragon. So his instincts kick in and when he feels threatened he gonna snap.
@@MomoAfterDark The scale of Vaghar was Lovecraftian.....Lucerys is a dragon rider and even he shit his pants when he saw that Giant Hell Beast lift her head over the castle.
Poor little Arrax.... he was just a scared, innocent baby dragon trying to puff himself up to look big because he was being chased by someone 4x his size. Granny Vhagar didn't have to take it so personally. The rest of this show is going to be hard. I care far more about the dragons than any of the characters, although Luke and Jace seem like really good kids (unlike Alicant's). Rhaenyra didn't do her job to prepare Lucerys adequately. In fact, she shouldn't have sent him at all. If she ever learned to read a room she'd remember how she snubbed House Baratheon during her marriage tour, along with every one of its vassal lords, and she'd have known to show up with some humility and a good offer to make peace before issuing demands. Luke was set up for failure from the moment he left. Rhaenyra's whole problem is that she didn't bother doing the work of preparing to inherit the throne. From the second she was named, she should have been currying favor from the lords of all the houses, knowing she would have to work twice as hard to have their support once Viserys died. She should have been building relationships with her subjects, and knowing about her sons, trotting them out in front of the subjects at every opportunity to get the people to love them and see them as the heirs. At the very least, she could have been gracious to her hosts on the marriage tour and offered the various vassal lords a way to save face when she turned them down. Then when the time came for her to defend her claim, they'd remember her as having treated them well. She could also have been way more involved in the running of the kingdom, in a public way, so as to have the peoples' confidence in her rule. Knowing that her claim broke with centuries of tradition and that she had bastard sons, it's common sense that she would have to get to work in advance ingratiating herself to the people whose support she would need. Instead Rhaenyra spent her entire adolescence pouting around the castle, frittering her time away on idle pursuits and taking her inheritance for granted, while it was obvious for years that her dad could literally die any day. And leaving for Dragonstone, while it may have been more comfortable, cost her years of opportunity to build necessary relationships for the future and protect herself. The cost to everyone is that a kid the whole of Blackwater Bay knows is a psychopath has now been installed to rule over them. And the biggest travesty of all IMO, the many preventable missteps on both sides of this conflict are the cause of the end of the age of dragons.
Love this point about Rhaenyra and her slip up. I think it definitely reinforces the contrast between Rhae and Allie. I think the show is presented in a way to make most of us favor RT and the blacks. She's fiery, free spirited and laid back. AH is subservient, dutiful and up tight. RT navigates the role that's expected of her in non-traditional ways, and doing the least required. AH embodies the expectations of her without challenging them. Even down to their fathers. Otto instructs AH that there will be a war when Visy dies and to prepare but Visy just expects everyone to play nice upon his death and that RT needs to focus on the threat in the north. A lot of this comes down to entitlement. Most of RT's life she's been entitled to things given her status. She and Visy thinks she's entitled to be his heir because he said so. In terms of not preparing, I think it evinced her entitlement. Most of the things RT didn't do, AH did do. Although we praise RT's freedom and scorn AH's willing subservience, it is AH's freedom that allows her to not pursue her duty further than her political marriage and almost costs her her strongest allies. While it is allicent's dutiful subservience (be it to her father, Visy, or the Faith) that allows her to accrue the allies and favor to be able to pull this stunt. One example, RT had to promise both of her oldest sons to Rhaenys to basically broker a peace simply because of decisions RT made out of passion. We see time and again how RT's entitlement costs her politically. Still team black but I do think it's important to point out that a lot of the things ppl love about RT are what seemingly have enabled her to be unprepared to deal with a challenge to her succession.
Nobody cares who has the crown, to the peasants all the nobles are psychopaths. What matters is how badly they are treated from the monarchs rather than personal foibles; which is why people cheered for Aegon -not because they supported him, but because it makes no difference to them. They will, however, remember that many people were killed in Rhaenys' escape, so that may lead to...if you know, you know.
The noise Vhagar made just after she killed them was pretty horrifying. I imagine it would have been pretty traumatising for Aemond, fully and finally realising what a dragon can do. I think he may have even been the first Targaryen ever to witness dragon-on-dragon conflict since the Doom. Loved Aemond's face.
Remember, when they went to visit Vesarys, Daemon felt that they were poisoning him then. He felt the Maesters were keeping him drugged, so it does make sense that he would assume his brother was murdered. Daemon needs to be in charge of the war planning. He has more experience than her when it comes to war. A good leader knows when to take the lead and when to delegate. The choking of Rheynera was a symbol of his hatred of his brother's time as king. He felt his brother was an inept King because of all his scholarly pursuits.
Daemon's anger is a result of his jealousy. He was Viserys heir for a long time but Viserys never told him about the prophecy. It shows that Viserys never took him seriously as his heir.
When asked if he wanted to speak with the maesters, I don't think he refused because he didn't care. There was nothing he could do about her situation and remember every other botched birthing they asked the husband if he wanted it cut out or not. So him not speaking to them was letting her deal with her own body. But while he couldn't do anything about her going into labor early, what he could do was plan this war for her. So he was focused on fulfilling the purpose *for which she married him.* THIS was his job. Talking to maesters about cutting open his wife was not.
This is most well balanced discussion I have seen about Daemon lashing out at Rhynaera. Fans give Daemon the Halo Effect and don't understand that no one is all good or all bad. We can like Daemon as a character without projecting our own expectations so strongly that if he doesn't do exactly what we expect, we blame the writing or say it's out of character. He is still a good character with flaws.
I'm convinced that certain people just can't cope with the idea of their favorite character not being what they imagined, or a story not having the outcome they wanted. They always want to blame the writing, and cry about 'character assassination.' It's ridiculous. Daemon was never a good guy. We knew that from the first episode. He's cool, and clever, and very interesting to watch. But he's also a guy who killed his first wife, he beat a messenger bloody in the Stepstones, he stole his dead nephew's dragon egg, and as King's Guard, he butchered a bunch of so-called criminals without the order of the king. Are we really supposed to be shocked that he would grab his wife by the throat in a fit of emotional rage?
Nah, they threw dirt on Daemon all season long, they really did. 😒😡 He does NOT kill his 1st wife in the source material. Even him grooming Rhaenyra is only speculation. And it's a Fool telling the story. So you can't even really believe it. But now the show has him choking Rhaenyra out too?? WTF?? Meanwhile, they show Alicent just being "misunderstood" about Vicerys, and Aemon just "accidentally" killing Luc?! That young man is a psychopath! In the books he kills that boy on purpose, and then goes home & BRAGS to everybody about it. He's not sorry one bit! They purposefully made the Blacks look worse just so that the Greens wouldn't look so bad in comparison. It's ridiculous. If they're too afraid to show these evil people for who they really are, then shouldn't be adapting this work. This ain't their own personal fan fiction! I cannot believe George allowed them to throw so much dirt on Daemon. Yes he's a rogue & certainly not AFRAID of violence... but he's not prone to it all of the time either. He's more calculated than that, and he isn't some out of control person. If they keep changing these characters, and their morals & motivations.... they're going to stop being the characters that we know. I already went through this bullsh*t w/Game of Thrones. I'm not going to continue watching HotD if they pull these stunts over here too.
@@NovaLena22 I agree. If fans get so triggered by one bad choice of a character, then we can at least one bad choice that every main character has made that justifies "bad writing." I believe that it's OK to get spirited about the characters and cheer for your team, but the people who are getting downright angry about it.....why so serious 🤷🏽♀️
Daemon is seeing reflections of his brother in Rhaenyra. His lashing out is a culmination of a legacy of his frustrations with his brother’s rule and his unwillingness to see that weakness, his brothers gentleness, be what ruins her. Rhaenyra isn’t “weak” in this episode. They’re showing that pieces of her father live on within her.
As a fan who hadn't a clue what was gonna happen, that end scene had me literally gasp with my hands to my face and then cry. Very visceral reaction that I wasn't expecting. What a scene...
I’ve watched a few video reactions and I feel like no one acknowledges Daemons grief. He’s going through it. Yea there was trauma from Leanas death and he avoided the birthing chamber but the pain when he saw the crown. His brothers death was eating him.
12:47 Are you kidding? Daemon CHARGED A WHOLE ASS ARMY BY HIMSELF because he didn't want it said his brother had to come save him in battle. On what planet would you expect Daemon to be calm about being so severely wronged? He has a level 12 reaction to the smallest slight. Ask the top of Vaemond's head if you don't believe me.
I love the nuance the actors and writers bring to these characters especially in this episode. The make them feel like grounded, complex humans instead of cartoony caricatures that many viewers expect.
"The idea that (we) control the dragons is an illusion "! Showing Vermithor's and Daemon's eye shows that Daemon won't be controlled either. I think it's a phenomenal change.
Aemond said in Valyrian "You owe a debt" but never spoke any Valyrian word to undo that "thought" I think Vhagar felt his true feelings and came to collect.
Devil's advocate for Aemond here - this is the one time Lucerys isn't hiding behind his mother or Daemon. Lucerys laughs at Aemond when it's safe for him to do so (the roasted pig at dinner), and now Aemond has him in a situation where both of them are out in the open. The way Aemond was bullied, the four on one fight, and the loss of an eye with no consequences for the person who took the eye --- how many of us can honestly say we'd just get over it? Of course, Aemond was wrong to pull the stunt with Vhagar. It showed his own lack of judgment and vulnerability in trying to control the biggest dragon alive. Thoughts? Thanks for the video!
Daemon is chaotic and impulsive under normal circumstances, add the loss of his brother and his unborn daughter with the threat of war with the Hightowers I'm not shocked and I still love him!
For everyone arguing, questioning, or just trying to make up their own character motivations and actions, I suggest watching the episode breakdown that plays after the credits of each episode because they do a really good job of explaining what the characters were thinking or why they did what they did. Just putting this out there because it's frustrating to see so many comments that are just ridiculous and can easily be cleared up by watching those breakdowns
I get why Daemon was so pissed . He shouldn’t have taken it out on Rhaynera or anyone supporting her but in his mind he saw Otto and the Hightowers for what they were long ago and the fact that Kings landing has been taken is proof he should’ve dealt with them years ago.
I think he took it out on Rhaynera because he was seeing the same “weakness” coming out of her that he saw in his brother. He’s always hated the fact people have taken advantage of it and now in his death the hightowers took advantage of it one last time.
Yes but he doesn't choke her out for it. 😒 They've done Daemon dirty in the show just so that the Greens won't look as bad, let's be honest. They've made most of the Greens look civilized, misunderstood, or had the things they do get portrayed as "accidents". Meanwhile, they've got Daemon killing his 1st wife (something he does NOT do in the source material), grooming Rhaenyra (something that was only speculated about but now in the show its canon), AND choking Rhaenyra when he gets upset w/her too?? Like, the Team Black slander is ridiculous. 😡 Not even Rhaenys could escape having dirt thrown on her name. In the books she just quietly escapes w/her dragon. But here, they've got her bursting up through the Dragon Pit floor so that they could have a show spectacle... but she's killing like 100 peasants right off the bat, and only the gods know how many more were injured. These showrunners are creating their own fan fiction again, instead of just properly ADAPTING the written work like they are supposed to do. We already been through this kind of sh*t back during Game of Thrones. And I just cannot believe George allowed them to sully Daemon's character THIS much, considering its his favorite character. WTF is going on???
Plus he’s finally King, granted the Queen’s Consort, but he is now the second most powerful person in the country. It’s almost everything he ever wanted. The Greens are threatening his own power too.
@@jayc5373 You are correct and the fictional author of the book implies that the Blacks were all really terrible people but when you remove the bias of the fictional author and read in-between the lines the stuff accused of the blacks were mostly false whereas the greens who are portrayed as civilized individuals are the ones doing most of the evil stuff that the Blacks are accused of. But the show pretty much is adapting the book like the biased fictional author was 100% correct
Daemon is incredibly impulsive and has been all season. His reaction to V’s death isn’t out of character at all lmao? The man put his own life in jeopardy in the stepstones just because he didn’t want his brother to potentially claim the W. Him choking Rhaenyra isn’t out of character either. He’s been violent/murderous literally all season.
TF are you talking about?!? This show is insufferably slow and boring, expect for those mandatory "shocking" moments. If I didn't know what is coming because of the book, I would had stopped watching by episode 4
I thought it was just good. The time jumps were really my only issue and really throwing me off. Luke's death just wasn't that impactful for me because I've only seen this actor in 1 other episode. People say it's too slow imo this is way too fast, I think they need to develop all the relationships a lot more. Has Halaena even said a word to Aegon and Aemond yet?
@@Henlak- Why are you acting like this show doesn’t also have mindless action lol. A woman literally burst through the floor last episode because the writer said “it’d look cool”.
@@YourBlackLocal You are mistaking MINDLESS action with just ACTION. It would be mindless if Rhaneyse came through the floor and had a huge battle with her dragon to get out of the city, they start blasting cross bows and everything, I would consider that mindless as it doesn't serve the story and is simply there for the sake of having an action/fight scene. That scene was not that. She comes in, SPARES the greens which has major implications and then heads out to tell her house what's happend. It wasn't a drawn out long scene that had no purpose. It showed Rhaneyse escaping with her dragon and addresses the point that she could've killed the greens if she wanted to but chose not to Without that scene you'd have people asking "OK why but didn't she go back with her dragon to take them out!" Now we know its because it wasn't her war to kick off
I think Daemon reacts so aggressively as he does to Rhaenyra talking about the prophecy, is because in that moment, he sees what he considers the same weakness as he saw in Viserys. The inability to act resolute and swiftly to problems, instead of what he considers as hiding behind stories and fairytales. He wants her to act, so at that moment he recents her for reminding him of his brother.
We all knew he was never gonna strangle her he was in rage and his character is consistent with that aggressiveness plus rheneyra liked the roughness you could see it in her eyes as she asked if he knew, she wasn't in fear
@7:50 Let's not forget that Daemon is dealing with both the death of his brother who he followed around like a puppy as a child before their rift and the death of his daughter Visenya from Rhaeynra's stillbirth. Old boy is NOT running though this episode with a clear head
Precisely, we have seen Daemon go unhinged on normal circumstances, now he is on real emotional turmoil so he is going to come across as more irrational
Daemon was in character the whole time. Even choking Rhae Cause he's very emotional. He's seething. His brother is dead. The greens usurped the throne. He's not trying to hear anything but war. The tension was real. The last scene incredible. Her look conveyed it all. She will be unleashed next season. Lastly wow, a dance of Dragons to kick it off. Poor Luc stood no chance.
I think Rhaenyra was caught off guard by Alicent as last they spoke she was going to come back to Kings landing and bury the hatchet with her. She sadly bought into the idea that she and Alicent could repair their relationship after the family's dinner with Viserys. I think she had HOPED that it wasn't for show and eventually allowed herself to believe that the greens were going to allow her to ascend the throne. Or at the very least Alicent had her back again. So it was as deep a cut as Alicent marrying her dad when she usurped Rhaenyra's throne.
I genuinely loved episode 10. I wish they would’ve ended it with daemon saying “son for a son” but we got the point from rhaenyras face anyways I guess lol
I felt so sorry for lukes little dragon. The poor thing was terrified. Then got ripped apart :( it's like watching a kitten get tormented and killed. Edit: also sad about luke, kid never stood a chance.
In a normal succession after the death of the reigning monarch there would be a period of mourning for the realm. There would also be a big, public display of the King's funeral procession as his body is laid to rest. When that doesn't happen, when people are being forced to pledge their fealty & witness a rushed coronation before the previous King is even buried, it absolutely screams Power Grab. So of course Daemon would assume the worst. Who wouldn't based on how The Green's acted? With the Dragons, take a real world kimodo dragon & scale them up, give them the power of flight & the ability to breathe fire & their behavior makes total sense. The Dragon Keepers train & feed the Dragons & that keeps them somewhat docile so that the bigger ones don't eat the smaller ones. In the scenario between Aemond & Luke, both riders were in a heightened emotional state in the midst of a storm & the Dragons instincts just kicked in (possibly enhanced by their riders panicked emotional state) The best thing Luke could have done was to find shelter, somewhere too small for Vaghar to access & wait the storm out. It actually looked like he was going to do this for a second & then both Dragons went into predator/prey mode & just reacted. 😪 The Dragons were bred for war, they aren't winged ponies you ride for fun & relaxation & keep stabled the rest of the time. Once the Targaryens did that, the Dragons died out.
As soon as I saw Vhaegar I knew Lucerys was going to die and that would spur Rhaenyra to war, just didn't know how Aemond would kill him. Love the way they did it (even though it's awful that she lost 3 loved ones in about a week), once she had 5.5 children I knew not all of them would survive war...like the Starks, too many kids.
I think one thing that was missed in this conversation regarding daemon, about his aggression and becoming very reactionary, is that he just lost his brother. Daemon really loved Viserys, and he seems to believe he was likely murdered, so he is genuinely enraged. I enjoyed the twist with the “dragon battle” though. I do, in general, think they have made the greens too sympathetic. But this aspect I thought was compelling.
Daemon isn't acting out of character at all.... He couldn't bare being by Rhaenera when she miscarried as it was too similar to how he lost his previous wife. He is acting impatient at the war council yes but has allways acted impulsively against treason or rebellion. You saw that when he was undermining his brother when he was king/alive. He choked her put because he allways wanted to rule and hearing Rhaenera recite a secret prophecy that gets passed down from King to King that he would have heard had he be named heir and it be the same prophecy that kept Visarys peaceful (cowardly in Daemons eyes). He wasn't having any of it. You forget his plan to wife Rhaenera was as much about love as it was about him gaining power. He only liked her for her rebellious nature and "pure blood". His two defining traits are pride and confidence. Nothing was out of character
While I understand wanting to spend more time getting to know Luke more so that his death feels more impactful, it would probably drag the story. People would get bored. There is not much source material in the book about Luke anyhow.
I think the show did enough for me to care about Luke’s death. I’ve not read the books or anything and I was shocked when he died, i thought I’m coming out the storm would mean he’s escaped but then vhagar comes out of no where
Stuff people are missing….Grief is a strange beast. Daemon and Rhae are grieving on many levels. Rhae just had and lost a baby. Hormones are all over the place. Anyone who expects consistently rational responses is missing that. Daemon did his Ike Turner routine as a little bit of a power reflex. He wanted to remind Rhae. I’m still your husband and I was the first heir. It’s a little bit of jealousy on his part too. He loves her but he still has issues. There was so much emotional stuff to process I can’t even blame him or Rhae. She basically laughed in his face like. Ha ha. He didn’t tell your dumbass and you’re mad bro. I don’t think many people are giving Daemon and Rhae enough grace. They handled this situation the best they could. Rhae should have kicked him in the balls once she recovered from the choke. But we also have to remember Daemon groomed Rhae from a teenager. That power dynamic is set. He is also pissed because he wants her as angry and reactionary as he is. Remember he sees anything short of violence as weakness.
I think Arrax just spew fire as a self defense mechanism then escape... and to think Laena and Vhagar was playfully flying around with Daemon and Caraxes (she even ordered Vhagar to playfully Dracarys), Hiccup could have given them tips... new finale title "How to Not Train your Dragon"
Totally agreed with Aaron about Daemon, don't understand why Daemon Fans are so surprised he totally would do that especially being so hurt and frustrated. 🇧🇷
I think all daemon complainers biggest problem is that they already have established a fantasy of how this character should behave instead of taking him as who is he is meant to be, so every time he falls short of that fantasy they whine against writers destroying his character.
Considering how relatively unperturbed Rheanyra was during the choking, I get the feeling that it's not the first time something like this has happened. I imagine they like to play rough with each other some times. Hell, she starts laughing at him. He's not going to seriously hurt her, she knows it, and he knows she knows. Add to that the realization that Daemon was never a true heir to Viserys, and it's clear Rheanyra was the one ultimately in control of that situation without lifting a finger.
Honestly, I'm just happy to see a return to discussing the nuances of the characters and their machinations, what makes them tick, and their consistencies and/or faults. For example, with Daemon, I saw the usurping of the throne as a catalyst to bring back that inner warrior he's subsumed for so long. That's actually a fairly consistent theme throughout with many characters, -- which is to say Viserys' reign of peace was an aberration. People, particularly men of stature, are defined through their fighting ability. Recall why Cristan Cole was chosen for his position: actual combat experience. That strife, as a man and as a warrior wanting to live up to historical legacies, is what you saw come screaming (well, singing) out of a Daemon. It was a celebration of the wars to come for him.
I actually think how Borros acted was pretty interesting.We kind of keep forgetting that at the end of the day the Targaryen's are a family of conquerors, people only kneel to them because of the dragons. If there is a split with the family then yeah, screw honor and vows, get the best deal you can.
38:50 My wife hasn’t read any of the books, but she constantly tries to get spoilers out of me. When Luke got to Storm’s End, I had such a hard time not laughing when she asked if I thought anything crazy was about to happen. The pure jump shock she had when Vhagar chomped them is one of my favorite tv watching moments
I think you need to think back to episode 3 where he beat someone down for giving a letter guaranteeing he’ll get help in a war. He gets super on edge when real fighting comes to play. Even the other dragon (I thought it was the cannibal, but I guess it makes more sense to be what ever dragon was named at the end of this episode) scene adds to this. For someone who loves actual dragons, he understands how to tame that hyper aggressive and unhandled side of the Targaryen blood. I think it’s great setup that Daemon will have to fight his true side and his targaryen side thirsting over being safe at any cost.
Rhaenerya lost two children and a father in one day (she learned of Viserys' death the same day anyway). That was so impactful I thought - she's the only one at Dragonstone trying to maintain the peace, then news of Luke's death reahces her and she just snaps. No coming back from this now. Awesome stuff.
I mean if i am Daemon for a second there in that moment . I suspect my brother got killed by the Hightowers my wife got betrayed they are coming to fk us up i lost a child and when i talk about getting revenge my wife start talking about some poems of ice and fire im kinda looking at her like shes crazy. Nobody ever try to think what that man could feel ever just because he doesnt show his emotions doesnt mean he has none .
Really enjoyed watching this season of HOTD with you guys. Been following you since those dark days of GOT season 8; I always enjoy the analysis and discussion. Keep it up!
The Sea Snakes reaction to his brother being beheaded by Daemon in any other show would feel odd, that’s his BROTHER, but in this miserable world he knows the rules and it’s why we don’t need a scene of Corlys staring at Daemon with the “i know what you did and i’m coming for you” type look, gonna be a long 2 years waiting for the next season.
34:14 It was the exact same instinct that Luce had when as a small child he pulled out a knife and went after Aemond. Arrax like his rider fights when threatened (even if neither are very good at it).
I can excuse this: Varmax, Arax sounds similar (there's also Joffrey's dragon, I forgot his name, but it's also rhymes with their dragon-mother's name - Syrax), at least NerdSoup pays attention, unlike most youtube reviewers of the show 🙄 And we have years before 2 season to properly analyse and discuss all tge stuff, like I'm interested in that song that Daemon sang to Vermithor 🤔 theres already a translation of it, I wonder if it's official. Because based on lyrics it's might be Targarien house ancestor's hymn or/and Old Valyria recital of blood magic ritual with dragons (probably bonding).
I had JUST finished watching when your video posted so I got a sweet deal. I just wanted Rhaenyra to assert herself much more in this episode, specifically with Daemon and Otto. I would have told Daemon I'd unalive him in his sleep if he put his hands on me again and I would have taken Otto straight to the dungeons but...well, that's just me. Lol I needed that energy.
Same, however we'll probably get to see a lot more of fiery Rhaenyra in coming seasons. The end of this episode was the turning point for her character
I genuinely think that the meta writing like how wild the dragons truly are, the vagaries of birth and the roles of each person in the society and the undercurrents thereof, is genius in this show. Some scenes are uneven, but the whole current through is very well done.
The scene where Daemond chokes Rhaeneyra for believing in her dads superstitions/ jealousy over not being in the loop puts me in the mind of when Alicant grabbed Aegon by the face and told him he was the challenge. Not cool to choke out folks though. The frustration could have been better portrayed in a less abusive way.
I agree. I think she is trying so hard to emulate and respect her father's wishes, but in the end her attitude changes. I think in the second season she will be more ruthless (hopefully). Her father did say she reminded him of Daemon. I wished they showed more of a personality shift for Rhaenyra in the closing scene foreshadowing her ruthlessness. Like Alicent lost it over her son's eye, what will Rhaenyra do?
@@tanzoniaflakes5068 I also think we can have morally grey and bad characters that people still love. Like Don Draper or Tony soprano. But they don’t do unnecessary things in their scenes. The choking scene was completely unnecessary. Even if Daemon is capable of doing it, it wasn’t NEEDED for this episode at all.
@@dovelove1920 lol yea it definitely left mixed emotions. At that point though it was no longer about the riders but the dragons. Just like some lions going at each other in the wild it was interesting seeing that these were just beasts interacting as they would rather than rehashing old drama, bullying and maiming
During the final scenes flying through the storm, it occurred to me, why are none of these people wearing any kind of eye protection/masks? Imagine all the insects they swallow?
You cannot make a Dragon obey. Aemond chases Lucerys on Dragonback through stormy skies with Vhagar. Lucerys on Arrax's back tries to escape but his Dragon spits fire 🔥🔥 on Vhagar, he retaliates by choking Arrax is Lucerys. This drama will make Queen Rhaenyra more hesitant, finished the negotiations! war is declared.
It also seemed out of touch when Daemon asked, "How did he die?" all bewildered. Like, idk, last time you saw him, Daemon; He almost died several times just walking from one end of the throne room to the other. "Viserys was slain!" he concluded. Like, okay. When half of his face melted off, that didn't raise any concerns? Maybe, they were poisoning him at the start of his face melt. Only his death, did it raise enough alarms, for him to conclude that he was slain. Little late there, brother Daemon. Maybe, when his eye fell out for no reason given to the viewer, that should have had Daemon asking questions.
To be fair Viserys had just proven that he was still willing and capable of backing Rhaenyra by undermining Vhaemond & Ottos plot for Driftmark. He was also suspicious when he visited Viserys as he sniffed the cup. I mean it was a leap to assume faulplay but not out of the realm of possibility that it occurred to Otto that it was time to kill the king. We only know that's not what happened cause we saw the death.
Daemon is still older, brother to the fallen King, her Uncle and only ready for business not politics. (He probably will always think he knows best in these areas). Rhaenrya is more mature than she was as a kid, more measured because she is an adult now and has more to loose, (her kids in addition to the throne).
12:59, I agree to some extent but I think cus the blacks were on dragonstone Otto was feeding them lies about Viserys health, then they had ep 8 so saw what he was like but Viserys walked to the throne in support of Rhaenerya and they had the dinner so they knew he wasn't well but didn't think he would pass that night. In ep8 Rhaenerya even says she's going to sail the kids home and return on dragon back.
Great content fellas. I’m in shock too man I knew it was coming but still Damn…poor kid…and dragon…I love dragons…I’m thankful. I lost hope with season 8 BS…I was happy drogon lived…I know 2 years…WTF…
I absolutely fell for it when Luke got to the clearing above the clouds. Although I did notice a lot of foreshadowing and wasn't that surprised when it happened. Jeesus.
HONESTLY 🙄 The Greens are ruthless, cunning, vindictive, disturbed psychos in the books. The show was way too nice to them to be honest. All while throwing dirt on Team Black all season long! They had Daemon DIRTY by having him kill his 1st wife & grooming Rhaenyra, and now choking her out too ffs?! What is up w/the Team Black slander?! 😡🗑
Daemon was mad because Rhae spoke of a prophecy that he had no idea of. And he knows his brother was a dreamer. And a believer in dreams. So he also realized in that moment that he was never meant to be heir.