This was a pretty stacked episode for a midseason time jump and essentially a second pilot with the new cast. Laena got to go out on her terms, but Lyonel and Harwin just got done dirty. Let me know what you think.
Pete, it was like a second pilot. However, I thought that the transition was seamless. I was saddened by Laena's death, but I thought she held her own considering the hand she dealt. It seemed that she didnt have a horrible marriage (for this world) and I think Daemon cared about her. Lyonel and Harwin, however got the typical treatment we have come to expect of this world. Larys killed them without batting an eye, all for leverage. Savage!!!!!! He is crazy times 5. Allicent needs to be afraid now!!!!
Yup. You could see the gears turning in her mind in contemplating the excruciating difficulty of her orders, as she ultimately landed on the only, painfully just, conclusion that it was a mercy. Found it very emotionally powerful.
@@vvillieP Yeah I can't imagine that level of treachery would come out of left field for Larys. Larys seems like a more sinister version of Lord Varys.
seriously? he is a g*g*l* who is incompetent at everything else. as for his father, his offer of resignation was 10 years too late if he had any decency. .
I'm wondering who issued the punishment? Viserys is so lame. Man crashes his heir's grand wedding by murdering the close friend of the groom and he does nothing.
1- Joeffrey was a peasant while Criston is a member of the kingsguard. 2- Being a member of the white cloaks is for life so he coudnt be fired. That doesnt mean he was not punished, just that it happened offscreen.
I mean, if I even knew him in any way shape or form maybe I’d miss him.. he was cool from the little bit we got from him, but man his death was just as quickly passed through as his life was in the show
Poor Viserys. He's honestly a good guy with good intentions. He takes his position as the king seriously and you get the impression that he honestly wishes his family would all just get along. But if there is one thing this universe has taught us, the game is relentless. Only the cunning, diabolical, and ruthless survive and make their way to the top. Great guy, just not fit to be a king.
@@princealexander6155 he can’t even control is family and get them in line. His only accomplishments as king is to keep the peace that he inherited. There’s also the fact that even though he is King, the game is bigger than he is. Even the King is a player. He can’t change something that’s larger than him.
@Zero Two didn’t u follow the story? And conversation? The maester said they tried best but couldn’t save both mother and child. So she didn’t want to die in bed but “a dragon rider’s dead” = die by dragon fire on har own terms, signifying how she leads har own dead and destiny!
@Zero Two if u want everything explained so u could understand go watch kids TV. The show is for the grown up! Yr brain may have not developed enuf to get it, while most people do understand what happened!
Larys is a kinslayer who killed the best chance his house had to survive and knowing how much of a sin kinslaying is seen as by westeros makes me wonder what type of justice will come to him.
Sweet justice but also since this is Game of Thrones, he'll also get a badass line before he goes. This is a much for Saga-like era in Westeros' history. The only character that gets absolutely pummeled without any badassery involved is poor Helaena
I got the feeling that Daemon being married to Laena was his way of escaping from everything; his family, life in Kingslanding and his frustrations of Rhaenera. He’s changed for sure with married life and kids but sitting alone I wonder what must he be thinking? He’s been quiet and subdued….I’m not sure if he’s really happy and contended of his life with Laena. Did he ever miss his brother Viserys and especially Rhaenera at some point? Though he’s insisting but his actions speaks otherwise and Laena noticed that on him not only once but all the time drowning himself reading books. Though living in Pentos with a changed life, at night he’s obsessed reading all those books about the Targaryen conquerors. It means he didn’t forget his roots and very much interested to know their history.
Leanor being half white and very light skinned could result in a baby that looks entirely white with Rhaenerya. It's just the silver hair that would be the issue for me geneticallly speaking.
Honestly the fact they made Valeryon house black make all the kingdom look like retards. When the father and have white hair and the son is white and black hair just like the captain of the guard who also spend a lot of time with the queen you dont have to be a genetist to put 2+2 together.
Lots of people assuming kids automatically take on the genetic code of their father and the mother has no role in it. It's actually more like for a Biracial couple where the Mother is black and the father is white to have a darker skinned child and vice versa.
Idk about everyone else but this was such an amazing episode! Felt like it was 3 hours long and it was 3 hours of excitement! Easily my favorite episode so far
Yours is one of the rare recaps/reviews that articulates the story from this imaginary world's point of view rather than our own from our existing world. It is appreciated. You have a new subscriber!
I really felt like I couldn’t finish the last episode until I rewatched the previous ones. This video makes it possible for me to finish now. Appreciate the information. Thank you for your willingness to explain it to people like me. Look forward to watching your future videos.
So it obvious whoever controls vhagar will have unbeatable advantage can't wait to see her in action. What a absolutely beast loved the old age ,and wear ,and tear on her.
Upon rewatch I noticed Helaena kind of stiffens and feels awkward when Alicent puts her hand on her shoulder right before Aemond is brought in. I think they really are hinting Helaena is prophetic or a dragon dreamer and Helaena feels Alicent is a dangerous presence on some level .
That could also be a sign that she's on the autism spectrum. Many children with autism don't like to be touched. She seemed a bit Asberger's-ish to me. Sort of withdrawn, obsessed with the minutiae and details of something. (Her bugs.) Also, in both scenes where we saw her as a baby she was being unusually fussy, and seemed to have been fussing for quite a while. (Alicent looked frazzled and desperate, as if she'd been trying to calm her for a long time and she just wouldn't stop crying.) Often autistic children are very cranky and fussy as babies/toddlers, not stopping screaming for hours.
@@user-bh2fz5sf5e They didn't have a DIAGNOSIS for it, but I'm sure it existed, it was probably just called being crazy or something. No, they won't be saying that's what she has, but the show creators could very well have had that in mind when working with the young actress on her interpretation.
@@mariposabell6374 Having dragon dreams and being a bit on the spectrum are not mutually exclusive. Both things could make her process things a bit differently from the 'norm'. I havent read the books, but I don't expect GRRM spelled out 'She has Asbergers.' But it could be an idea that informed how he wrote the character, or how the character was adapted by Ryan Coglan or the actress was directed in the scene. I'm just saying that her behavior definitely mimics many of the symptoms of Asbergers and autism.
Pete, it was a large millipede that Helaena had walking and winding around her hand. A centipede at that size (giant centipede) would have surely bitten her since they're aggressive carnivores while millipedes are herbivores.
It doesn't matter if I like them or where they land on the imagined scale of morality.. as long as what they're doing makes sense for they character they've been presented as... YES
As always, You are the first to recap the episode and explained it 👍👍. Criston Cole became a bad guy just because he was dumped. It is satisfying when Harwin almost broke Criston's face 😂. But pitiful on what happened to him and his father Lyonel. They seems to be good guys but was murdered by their own kin Larys 😡. Things are getting exciting. The dance of the dragons might be near as King Viserys is very old, weak, and close to dying.
Great recap and review as always Pete. The time-jump structure gives me throwback vibes to prestige 70s/80s network miniseries like "Rich Man, Poor Man", "Shōgun", or "Roots". I like that style though and am glad to see it return. I am also curious to see what Larys' endgame might be and if we might find out he is actually playing both sides for some other self-serving goal.
Near the end when Jace asks his mother if Harwin is his father, Rhaenyra gets a panic look, maybe more so because Jace is not Harwin's son but Criston Cole's son. Interesting that they chose to have Jace with straight black hair and his brother with very curly hair. I have not read the books, so not sure if that is ever an issue. It reminds of the lightbulb moment in GoT when Ned Stark realizes that Robert's children should be dark haired.
We didn’t actually see Rhaenyra drink the tea that was served to her, but wasn’t that beverage supposed to be like the Morning After Pill? Cllubfoot telling Alicent that the princess was served tea by the Maester the night before, was the thing that set Alicent off in the first place. So no, I don’t think it is the bodyguard’s child.
King's guard where quick enough to pull harwin strong of Cole, makes you wonder why they where twiddling their thumbs at the wedding when Cole lost his shit
Great video but cradle eggs existed before this. Remember Daemon steals the one meant for Viserys' dead baby. Daemon even states he stole it to raise his child with a cradle egg, as his family's tradition. I think I heard in an interview that this has been going on for a few generations :)
Don’t forget Otto snd alicent we’re already plotting to crown aegon BEFORE the princess had any kids, before the daemon incident and before she was even betrothed….. They were planning to usurp the crown even if the princess had true born kids snd everything above board….. she’s just lucky now she has an excuse and can attempt to justify it by the princesses later actions Also she threw out the marriage proposal even though their daughter is second born and a marriage to the future king was a higher match than she could ever have got….. the issue is she might be married to a bastard that no one else would know (for fact) and the history won’t say that….. if not…. It’s war
I know the princess has made bad calls but she has tried to bridge the gap. Alicent might play the victim but she’s the one who is creating this situation.
Criston Cole being the leader of the kings watch is the most ridiculous thing ever. Yes the queen thinks he's hot, but vyseris is king. Doesn't make any sense not to send him away after last episode. Really bothers me.
Your wrong about the egg in the cradle. It was Princess Rhaena Targaryen who first placed a dragon's egg in the cradles of her younger siblings Jaehaerys and Alysanne shortly after their births.
@@PetePeppers1 OK my bad I misunderstood what you were trying to say but yes you are correct that it was a thing and then it kinda died out and then his royal decree made more then just a family tradition and into a royal tradition.
Really glad I found your channel. I haven't read the book and I had no idea who the Strongs were so I had _no_ idea what was going on in the last part of the episode. I don't feel that the series did a good enough job of establishing those characters (the 3 Strong men) in earlier episodes for a non-reader to remember them in this episode. You explained _everything_ beautifully and I thank you. Will be watching from now on.
I still find Viserys pretty sympathetic, tbh. Alicent definitely has grown less sympatheitc and I kind of wish they hadn't gone so far so fast. I know it has been 10 years but we didn't experience that, so I think more time should've been given to that.
Personally I think it was a mistake to start the series with Milly Alcock if they were going to replace her later on. They could have started at the point in the story in episode 6 with Emma D'Arcy and then reverted to the earlier timeline. That way we wouldn't become so invested in one character and feel so rattled or thrown when a whole new person is cast. Maybe I'm just not a huge fan of the new actor playing Rhaenyra.
My thing is, Alicent and VIserys Children are also just half Targareon and they look the part yet Rhaneyras that are the same percentage don't have any of the traits, I feel like the gods were petty.
Not sure if anyone else got this, but the scene where they are cutting the tongues of the criminals it not gratuitous, these are the first little birds that later on Varys uses as master of whispers. So most likely Larys will be the first to have that title.
I had a lot of questions about that scene. How many of those guys clubroom sent? Is harrenhal not guarded at all? If it is How are they able to get it? And what would make them to fulfill orders ? They could just leave and go their ways. Thanks if someone has any answers
While this is a prologue to the main event the pacing of the past two episodes bothers me. They're just cramming too much in. I didn't really care about Harwin or Laena dying because we only caught a glimpse of them. I think this episode would've been a better point to end the season after we had spent a bit of time with them. They were working up some interesting aspects in both relationships, then they're just gone. They also don't show what sort of animosity Larys would have toward his family to be okay with killing them. Imagine in GOT if Oberyn showed up at King's Landing and then died to the Mountain in the same episode. It would just not have the same impact.
But it’s like this in the books, I don’t know what more they can do? This is all just backstory and setting up the actual events of the dance of dragons, there will be like 3 seasons and sooo much more to even come, we having even started the dance. The real big players haven’t come in to play yet.. all these characters dying are the same in the books, they are in the books not long either. They don’t have these deep backstory’s..they are doing a better job at even giving these characters some depth cuz it’s not even like that in the books… this is not game of thrones a song of ice and fire they are adapting, It’s literally one book.
@@missArsenal18x The same though could be said about Viserys and the younger versions of Rhaenyra and Alicent, but yet we were given enough about these characters to become invested in them. I'm not even suggesting we had to expand on these people as much as those three, but more than just having them be glorified red shirts.
There’s no reason the can’t go back in future seasons snd fill in blanks, the two younger actresses have already said they are potentially already in talks about coming back for season 2/3
Pretty sure someone in the episode says it's been 10 years or words to that effect. I think it was when the hand is trying to resign. The king says he's been a loyal servant as HotK for 10years.
Daemon, Laryss, they didn't even age, it's so distracting while everyone else has. Why the inconsistency? Also the Valeryon wigs with the white silver hair and black eyebrows are ridiculous. The drape's don't match the curtains. Lighten up their eyebrows just a little. I can see though why they dye them because the actors would take off their wigs, to reveal black hair and walk around real life with lightened dyed eyebrows. But maybe isn't there some makeup that they could have used that just washes off easily and not be as long lasting as dye?
Having read the book brings so much baggage in regards to expectations compared to many of us who haven't and don't really care since we're ignorant of the source material.
I am loving this series, I Believe this season will likely end over Storms end. or perhaps, with some cheese. I know the second would be more shocking, but first seems more likely I think.
I think the season will end with Viserys's death or Aegon and Rhaenrya both being crowned (with dramatic soundtrack playing) I wouldn't be surprised if it ends with Aemond killing Lucerys and season 2 opening with a bang (blood and cheese)
The episode was “calm” compared to the beginning. But calm before the storm. I didn’t get enough of the Strongs and Laena, they went too soon! Also, Emily did say she was hired first and then the young Alicent was cast.
Those kids would’ve been 3/4 white if they were from laenor and rhaenyra…like daemon and laena’s daughters. The show has decided to make them obviously more black appearing but generally that is not what the kids would look like phenotypically
That was my first impression. like she will say dracarays but vhegar wouldn't comply, then Laena will faint and we'll see that the bady and mom is fine. But this is GOT
@@sudarshangondane5158 I thought they would embrace, her dragon would comfort and reassure her, and it would breathe fire as she birthed her baby. But yeah, all of the childbirth scenes have been insanely heartbreaking 💔
Why do Ser Criston and Larys Strong look exactly as they looked 10 years ago? I hope they reveal later that they had some anti-aging potion, otherwise this doesn't really make sense.
Please do a video on Larys as master of whispers in contrast to Varys and Littlefinger. Larys seems like a true Shakespearean villain, more like an Iago or an Edmund and Richard III. Winning the game is all that matters and this progresses out of his narcissism.
While it’s been 10 years, the age progression of the characters doesn’t make sense. Rhaenera should be in her mid 20s, but she looks 40. Aegon should be about 12, but he looks 16-18?? King Viserys looks like he’s 70 years old and Alicent hasn’t aged a day. It took me a while to realize who everyone was 😂
Damn it was good until episode 5, I will miss Milly Alcock... Just sad they had to replace one of the main characters, I mean she's 22 don't think she would look completely different in 10 years... Somehow episode 6 feels like a complete different thing wich I don't like
One woman painfully squishes out a baby that will never be taken seriously by the queen, and another woman dies by dragon fire when she realizes she can't give birth unless the cut her open and kill her. Laena said she wanted to die like a dragon rider, and she did. This episode was about birth and death, which is part of life and sometimes seems to dominate it. I wish the King would tell the Queen to take a hike, but I don't think that's on the horizon.
Alicent : When you're just trying to call out the family th0t, raise an actual man, and hold the realm together through male primogeniture but the audience hates you 😔 Nah jokes aside, Rhaenyra totally made that offer out of the kindness of her golden heart and pure generosity. It totally wasn't because she is trying to entrench the claim of her illegitimate son. No sir. A flimsy marriage alliance is not gonna save Prince Aegon & Aemond’s lives if Rhaenyra’s spawn by Harwin takes the throne & ppl start calling him what he really is. Black-cest fans swearing this time the Queen they support won't turn out to be a complete psycho. Insert Pepe Silva gif. 👏👏 Moar Girlboss Warlords 👏👏
@@TheBanterCity Davos is a smuggler that was born in Kings Landing and grew up in Fleabottom which is like the slums of the city he's a pretty good example of an average Westerosi commoner. I'm not sure when he swapped to the pirate trade unless you're saying his friendship with a pirate makes him one.
Funny that Martin mention that is a Shakespearean Tragedy, because the Dance of Dragons in basically his version of Hamlet, with a little twist ending irony, so trying to root for any of this characters it pointless because by the end of the story they either would be dead, cripple or murder.
@@hirakchatterjee5240 No, but her son with Daemon ironically become King, but no without psychological scars for the rest of his life, Rhaenyra half brother become Aegon II for a short while, till he is cripple in battle and kill his stepsister, but one member of the Council poison him, because he is unable to do his duties in favour Aegon III, Rhaenyra son, in a tragic ironic way, Rhaenyra and Daemon won the Dance of Dragons, but no without the Targaryen losing all their dragons and causing the near extinction of their noble house.
