Season 2-Episode 02

Rhaenyra the Cruel

I wish to spill blood, not ink.

Aegon II Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Alicent and Helaena star in a parade. Rhaenyra finds herself in the middle of a brotherly dispute. Aegon ends the profession of rat-catching. Criston Cole fails upwards. Daemon flies away menacingly.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. After the murder of her son, Queen Helaena was said to have also died in the room with him. She never left her quarters again, and rarely if ever spoke for the rest of her life. She certainly would not have been able to be seen in public as she was in this episode. Aegon had to give his remaining children to Alicent to raise.
2. Blood was tortured for 13 days in his cell within the Red Keep. He did give up Cheese, but he also gave up Mysaria, who he only knew as “Misery’. Here she is not linked as strongly to the death of Jaehaerys as she was in the book. She was not a prisoner forced to obey as she has been portrayed in the last 2 episodes.
3. When Lucerys died, Daemon was already at Harrenhall, working on securing it for Rhaenyra’s cause. He sent a letter telling Rhaenyra “An eye for an eye, a son for a son”. The book certainly made no implications that Rhaenyra was against the revenge killing, contrary to how upset she is upon hearing the news in this episode. The writers have chosen to make her a much more sympathetic character than what GRRM imagined.
4. Hugh Hammer, the blacksmith with the sick child, was not introduced until later in the story. The show has made a point of highlighting him so far, as last week he was the one to whom Aegon promised extra money to help build the weapons and armor for the upcoming war.
5. There are several changes w/r/t the Erryk and Arryk battle royale. First and foremost, Mysaria was not on Dragonstone and therefore could not have been the one to recognize Arryk as an imposter. Secondly the book describes 2 different versions of the brothers fighting, but neither occurred in front of Rhaenyra in her own chambers. One version was that Erryk and Arryk both fought honorably for an hour after proclaiming that they still loved one another and delivered mortal wounds simultaneously. The other version is that the fight was a brutal 5 minute affair that ended with Arryk having his arm cut off, and then pulling Erryk close to stab him in the heart as they both bled out.
6. At this point in the story, Rhaenyra and Aegon both changed their banners slightly to distinguish themselves from one another. The Green’s changed the dragon on their sigil from red to gold, to match the golden color of Aegon’s dragon Sunfyre. The Blacks quartered their banner with the sigil of house Arryn (in honor of Rhaenyra’s late mother Aemma), and the seahorse of the Velaryons.
7. Otto mentions recruiting his grandson Daeron in Oldtown. Daeron is the youngest of Alicent and Viserys’ children and has not been mentioned yet on this show, which led many book readers to believe his character was fully ommitted. Apparently he does still exist, and will be entering the fold this season. He is also a dragon rider, and flies on Tessarion “The Blue Queen”

Other Points to Notice

1. We now know that it was Criston Cole’s job to be guarding Helaena and her children, and that he instead had sex with Alicent. He later makes a comment about how there is now no absolution for what he has done. This would also give fuel to Alicent’s constant belief that every bad thing that occurs to her or her family is a direct result of the gods punishing her for her sins.
2. Otto refers to Jaehaerys as “his grandson” in the small council scene. Of course, the late Jaehaerys is actually his great-grandson, so I am not certain if in Westeros, the term “great-grandson” is not used, or if Otto was just shortening it for affect. Either way this could be confusing for people watching the show without a family tree next to them.
3. This season has the characters addressing issues from season 1 pretty explicitly. Last week it was Daemon laying into Rhaenys about not killing the Greens when she had a chance. This week it is Rhaenyra bringing up how Daemon groomed her, and how he abandoned her when she was going through labor.
4. I found it unclear what exactly Daemon meant when he said “It was a mistake”. Was the mistake him hiring 2 incompetent assassins? Or was the mistake him telling them to kill Jaehaerys if Aemond could not be found, thus admitting to Rhaenyra he did in fact authorize his death? Since we did not see his full conversation with Blood and Cheese last week, it is hard to interpret.
5. In season 1 episode 9, Aemond took Criston Cole to a brothel when they were looking for Aegon in the city. Aemond made a comment about how when he was 12, Aegon took him there to lose his virginity. Here we see Aemond in the fetal position with the madame (her name is credited as Sylvi). Based on their conversation, it can be inferred that she is the one who Aemond originally slept with. There are all sorts of weird “mother-complex” issues to deal with in this scene.
6. Shortly after meeting Alyn of Hull, we meet his brother Addam of Hull, telling Alyn to use his new popularity with Corlys to join him on his ship. When Addam is on the beach, gathering clams, the dragon above him is none other than Seasmoke. Seasmoke was the dragon of Laenor Velaryon, who we last saw fleeing Westeros after Rhaenyra helped him fake his own death.
7. It has been confirmed that it was Arryk (the one who was sent by Cole) that defeated Erryk. He was so overcome with regret and despair that he killed himself immediately instead of fulfilling his mission.

Stray Observations:

1. I get he was mad, but Aegon smashing up the full scale model of Valyria that his dad spent decades on was sad to watch.
2. You can briefly see the wife of Hugh Hammer during the procession scene
3. Whenever we observe the royals traveling through the streets of King’s Landing, something always goes horribly wrong.
4. Was anyone else expecting Jaehaerys’ sewn head to fall off the wagon when it got stuck?
5. Daemon seems to have completely forgotten about his daughters, Baela and Rhaena. Deadbeat dad imo.
6. Aegon walking right past his sister/wife is a tough look. He really has no ability to handle himself when shit hits the fan.
7. When Criston was yelling at Arryk about his sullied cape, it was clear he was going to find any excuse to lay into Arryk to alleviate himself of his own guilt. It was hard to tell if his “twin assassination” plan was premeditated or thought out beforehand.
8. Am I crazy or did Mysaria have a much more bizarre and hard to understand accent last season?
9. Cheese’s dog deserved better. Don’t cry over that abusive asshole buddy.
10. Otto’s reactions to Aegon and Cole’s plotting had to have been one of the funniest scenes this show has ever had.
11. Aegon was obsessed with getting his father’s approval, so you know Otto telling him that his dad never wanted him as king must have hurt. This is probably why he tries so hard to make the people of King’s Landing like him. Aegon has some issues.
12. Alicent really wanted to tell her dad about her sins, and Otto REALLY did not want to hear about them. This fractured relationship is a direct mirror to the broken relationship between Alicent and Aegon, seen when she leaves his room as he cries instead of comforting him.

RIP: Cheese (along with every other rat-catcher that worked in the Red Keep), Ser Arryk Cargyll, Ser Erryk Cargyll.