Season 2-Episode 03

The Burning Mill

It’s a big chair made of swords.
Daemon Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Daemon goes on a vision quest after a nice meal of venison. Aegon and Aemond bond over their love of brothels. Criston Cole refuses to go to a tavern. Rhaenyra and Alicent catch up while lighting some candles together

Observations from a Book Reader:

As I remarked upon last season, the feud between the Brackens and Blackwoods has gone on for hundreds of years, with neither side remembering what began it. Here we see the Blackwoods on Team Black, with the Brackens on Team Green. Finally something easy to remember! The first real battle of the war, the Battle of the Burning Mill, begins with a dispute over boundary stones. Last season during episode 6 we actually heard the small council discussing how these 2 families kept fighting over the very same boundary stones.
Although Otto was dismissed as Hand, he still remained in King’s Landing for the duration of the war. In the show we know he has returned to Oldtown, and if he remains there his story line in the show will end up being entirely different in key events.
Daemon was able to take Harrenhal by himself just as easily in the book. However it was not as clear that the castellan, Simon Strong, was pro Rhaenyra. Daemon had him locked in the dungeons as a precaution. It does make sense why he would be fine aligning with Daemon though, since the show has made it very clear that Larys Strong (the technical lord of Harrenhal at this point) did in fact author the murders of his brother and father in season 1.
Similar to last week, we spend a long scene with a seemingly random peasant. This time it is a man named Ulf, who makes the audacious claim that he is the son of the bastard brother of King Viserys and Prince Daemon. The term he uses, dragonseed, is straight from the book. In both King’s Landing and Dragonstone, it was well known that many of the Targaryen lords used to sleep around with the common folk. In Dragonstone especially, where the Targaryens were treated more like gods than men, peasants would be honored if they fell pregnant with a “dragonseed”.
The book made no mention of Daemon being plagued by visions while in Harrenhall. It was noteworthy though that his subconscious saw Rhaenyra as a child, while she sewed the head of Jaehaerys. This might indicate he feels guilt over the crimes he committed against both. In his dream, we do see a pivotal book character, Alys Rivers. Known for looking unusually young for her age, Alys was the bastard daughter of the late Lyonel Strong. Many believed her to be a witch that used her magic to see the future and control/kill whomever she wanted.
Rhaenyra never snuck (sneaked?) into King’s Landing. This sequence was a show only creation. It does take some suspension of disbelief, but I can buy it for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Rhaenyra as an adult spent so little time in King’s Landing, that few if any people there would recognize her. Secondly, common folk certainly would not spare a second glance at anyone in a septa’s uniform. Of course, in the book this would still fail since Rhaenyra had the infamous and otherworldly piercing violet eyes that marked all Targaryens.

Other Points to Notice

Rhaenys quickly addresses what I found to be the moral of this episode. After the point of no return, there is no understanding or figuring out why exactly a war has started. There were so many steps along the way that led the 2 groups to this point that no one will be able to point to one moment as the inciting incident. Similar to the century long feud between the Blackwoods and Brackens.
I brought up last week how the 2 teams adopted different sigils in the books. Looks like I jumped the gun, as we clearly see Team Green using a green banner with a golden dragon on it this episode. However, Rhaenyra still seems to be using the traditional Targaryen sigil instead the quartered sigil of her book counterpart.
Rhaenyra sends Rhaena, her niece/step-daughter (lmao), along with her 3 youngest sons, to the Eyrie. In case anyone forgot, Rhaena herself was not able to hatch a dragon egg, unlike her sister Baela. Along with Rhaena, Joffrey, Aegon (known as Aegon the Younger to differentiate between him and Aegon II of Team Green), and Viserys, they also bring Joffrey and Aegon’s young dragons. Tyraxes and Stormcloud. These 2 dragons are at this point too small to be ridden, since both Joffrey and Tyraxes are younger in the show than they were in the book.
Criston Cole wears a chain made of hands to signify his position, instead of the pin we are used to seeing both in this show and Game of Thrones. This is actually more accurate to the books, as the infamous chain of hands was even used by Tyrion in A Storm of Swords to strangle Shae to death.
In the scene where Aegon wears his ancestor’s armor for the first time, Larys is able to manipulate him with ease, while gaining the title Master of Whisperers in the process. There is a stark contrast in this episode in showing how both rulers gain their new Master of Whisperers as Rhaenyra recruits Mysaria out of actual loyalty and understanding, whereas Aegon is manipulated into picking Larys.
The bar maiden that is groped by the man in the pub, is the same woman who in season 1 was a serving maid of Aegon. She was assaulted by Aegon and then forced to drink moon-tea by Alicent, just to make sure she did not fall pregnant.
For a few seconds, it seemed like Rhaenyra would in fact give up her claim, since she knew Alicent was not lying. The truth is finally revealed, but it is far too late as Alicent knows her children will not abdicate regardless of the misunderstanding. “You know what Aemond is.” It seems like all this reveal did was buy Rhaenyra enough goodwill that Alicent did not stick the guards on her as she left. Both characters are now fully entrenched in their positions, and the war is officially beginning.

Stray Observations:

Title sequence update! The last 2 images show a decapitated Jaehaerys, and all of the executed rat-catchers hanging outside the Red Keep.
I feel like they definitely could have buried Arryk and Erryk faster. It was like half a shovelful at a time
Cole just got promoted to a job he didn’t deserve, and still could not show up on time.
The riderless dragon observed by Mysaria is once again Seasmoke, Laenor’s old mount. Chekhov’s dragon?
Daemon wants to be addressed as “your grace” since at this point he technically would be King Consort to Queen Rhaenyra. It’s interesting that when a King rules, his wife is just called the Queen, but when a Queen rules, her husband would be called the King Consort.
Yes, Grover Tully is named after the Sesame Street character. Along with his kin, Kermit and Elmo. I doubt the show keeps all of these names.
Gwayne Hightower sucks so much that he makes Criston Cole seem rational.
Jaehaera forgiving Alicent for sleeping with Cole seemed to make Alicent even more uncomfortable
Aemond probably is not the biggest fan of Aegon after being embarrassed for sleeping with Sylvie in front of Aegon’s knights. Let’s keep an eye on that.
Daemon sees Alys in his vision as he stands near a Weirwood tree. As we remember from Game of Thrones, these trees seem to have magical properties and connect points in time.
If it seems ridiculous that Rhaenyra made it to King’s Landing from Dragonstone by boat so quickly, just keep in mind that Dragonstone is an island extremely close to King’s Landing, just across the bay. It would be like taking the Staten Island Ferry from Manhattan.

RIP: A lot of Bracken and Blackwood men.

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:

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:

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.
You can briefly see the wife of Hugh Hammer during the procession scene
Whenever we observe the royals traveling through the streets of King’s Landing, something always goes horribly wrong.
Was anyone else expecting Jaehaerys’ sewn head to fall off the wagon when it got stuck?
Daemon seems to have completely forgotten about his daughters, Baela and Rhaena. Deadbeat dad imo.
Aegon walking right past his sister/wife is a tough look. He really has no ability to handle himself when shit hits the fan.
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.
Am I crazy or did Mysaria have a much more bizarre and hard to understand accent last season?
Cheese’s dog deserved better. Don’t cry over that abusive asshole buddy.
Otto’s reactions to Aegon and Cole’s plotting had to have been one of the funniest scenes this show has ever had.
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.
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.

Season 2-Episode 01

A Son for a Son

I want Aemond Targaryen
Rhaenyra Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra finds her long lost son Luke. Jace befriends a wolf. Alicent has a series of increasingly ridiculous sex-capades. Aegon tries giving peasants their sheep back. Helaena endures a truly horrifying experience

Observations from a Book Reader:

While brief, Jace’s visit to The Wall with Lord Cregan Stark was highly consequential. Officially titled “The Pact of Ice and Fire” the agreement between these 2 lords was that for the loyalty of the north, Jace would marry his first daughter (whenever he might have a daughter), to the son of Cregan. This was not brought into conversation in the show, nor was the (largely unsubstantiated) rumor from the book that Jace fell in love and slept with a bastard of the north named Sara Snow.
The man we see talking to Corlys, who had apparently saved him from his shipwreck, is known simply as Alyn of Hull. In the books, Alyn is the younger brother to Addam of Hull, both lowborn members of House Velaryon, fiercely loyal to Corlys. Alyn also references “having a word with my brother”, which means we will be seeing Addam soon as well. Keep an eye on these two.
We see that Helaena and Aegon have 2 children, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. They removed their 3rd child, Maelor from the show. Part of the reason is that the show covered a time period of 20 years, while the book covered 30 years, so it would be a stretch for this generation to have had so many kids in such a short time.
Criston Cole and Alicent were never explicitly mentioned as being in a sexual relationship, even if he was her sworn sword. The irony of Alicent putting on his white cloak, which symbolizes purity and honor, on his back after he again broke his vow of chastity, is pretty hilariously unsubtle. Remember when he was mad at Rhaenyra for “sullying his honor”? Fuck this guy.
Mysaria, who was found as a stowaway by the Blacks, never actually left King’s Landing. She was a paramour of Daemon when he was there, but her part in the story only began when she served as go between for Daemon and the assassins he hired. The Greens were not aware of her influence or even her true name, whereas in the show they were very aware of her reach after the events of last season (see note 4 below).
Book readers all refer to the end of episode incident as “Blood and Cheese”. Blood, the nickname for the guard that Mysaria sets Daemon up with, and Cheese, the nickname for the dog kicking rat-catcher. In the book it was vague but heavily implied that Daemon told these 2 to kill Jaehaerys as revenge for Luke’s death. A son for a son. But here, the camera cuts away when Cheese asks Daemon “What if we can’t find Aemond?”. It sure seems like Daemon told them that if they cant find Aemond, Jaehaerys would be just as good.
As previously mentioned, Aegon and Helaena had 3 children. When Blood and Cheese entered their room, they grabbed Helaena and told her to choose which of her 2 sons they should kill, or they would kill both. Helaena in her hysteria eventually chose her younger son, Maelor. B&C then murdered Jaehaerys instead, and told young Maelor how his mother wanted him to die, and then they left. This is actually much more fucked up since the kids were older, awake, and aware of what was going on. Ryan Condal the show-runner mentioned how “there are certain limits to what you can do with child actors” which explains the difference in the scenes here. While still horrific (especially hearing them tear off his head), it makes sense why this was changed.

Rhaenyra, gazing into the Narrow Sea for traces of her son Lucerys

Other Points to Notice

The new theme song sequence is a big improvement on the “bloodlines” diorama last season. Here we see the history of the Targaryen dynasty in the form of embroidered images. Beginning with the Doom of Valyria, it even covers things not discussed in the show, such as Maegor the Cruel dying by lacerations from the Iron Throne. (I included at the bottom of this post a list of all events shown).
We see Ser Arryk Cargyll arming what looks like a scorpion when the guards see a dragon approaching King’s Landing. This is interesting because in Game of Thrones, when Maester Qyburn showed this dragon killing weapon to Cersei, it was implied that this was a new design and the first ever way to fight a dragon.
In season 1, Viserys mentioned how several Targaryens have the gift of dragon dreams, a sort of foresight that lets them see the future somehow. The only true example of this, comes from Helaena. She once referenced “the beast below the boards”, which ended up being Rhaenys on her dragon flying up through the floor at Aegon’s coronation. Here she speaks of the rats in the walls. This one is explained very quickly.
Larys only has a few scenes this episode, but as usual they are interesting. The “spies” he tells Alicent he kills are of course ones who were loyal to Mysaria (the White Worm), the woman who told Cole last season she kept Aegon safe in a sept before his coronation. Larys also immediately tries to get on Aegon’s good side by turning him against Otto Hightower.
You might be confused about the names of Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk Cargyll. Erryk is with the blacks, Arryk with the greens. Their names aren’t important as these two are just a heavy handed metaphor by GRRM about how war turns brother against brother. Here is a fun way to remember them though. Arryk has an ‘A’ in it, so does the word ‘Black’. Erryk has an ‘E’ in it, so does the word ‘Green’. Now just reverse the associations so Arryk=Green and Erryk=Black. Simple.
Joffrey Velaryon, Rhaenyra and “Laenor’s” (it was really Harwin Strong’s) youngest child, throws a wooden horse into Lucerys’ funeral pyre. This wooden horse was actually Lucerys’ toy and he was playing with it in Season 1 Episode 7. I guess he gave his baby bro his old lil horse toy at some point.
While drunk on the throne with his retinue of sycophants, fops and cronies (patted myself on the back for that one), you can hear one of them yell out “Aegon the Strong!”, to which Aegon replies, “My nephew has already taken that one”, which of course is referencing the (correct) rumors that his cousins Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey are all bastards of Rhaenyra and the late Harwin Strong.
Helaena and her children were in the room that Alicent once had when she was queen. And conversely, Alicent is now “sleeping” in the same room that Rhaenyra used when she was the princess, another symbol of the power Alicent is losing.

Stray Observations:

Did anyone else get chills when the first scene began with the Stark theme music? God damn, it felt like a time machine when we saw Winterfell. Also I love that the default Stark accent is now just modeled off of Sean Bean’s actual accent.
If it seemed like Cregan’s sword was way too big for him, that is because it is Ice, the legendary ancestral Valyrian sword of House Stark, known for being gigantic. We see Ned use it in the pilot of Game of Thrones to behead the deserter from the Wall. It is later melted down by the Lannisters to form their 2 swords, Widow’s Wail, and Oathkeeper.
Daemon really cant get over the fact that Rhaenys had the jump on all the Greens at Aegon’s coronation, and did not have Meleys burn them all to death
It’s kinda hard to hate Aegon right now. Hes definitely a shithead but compared to past kings we have seen in these shows, his love for his son is kinda endearing? Either way, Tyland Lannister doesn’t seem to enjoy any of it.
In my second viewing, Rhaenyra finding her son’s body next to the corpse of his dragon seemed much more visceral.
Aegon the Magnanimous. Unreal. He did try to give Jerard his sheep back. I don’t know, this whole sequence of Aegon naively trying to help every peasant was hilarious.
In case you forgot, the secret passages in the Red Keep, that Blood and Cheese used, were installed by architects at the behest of Maegor the Cruel, who of course murdered them after they were complete, so no one could know all the secrets.
Rhaenyra only has 1 line this episode but it is powerful. She is officially out for blood.
Helaena seemed to have been too horrified to even be able to scream as she fled her bedroom. And then she walked in on her mom having sex with Criston god damn Cole.

RIP: Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen

Opening Theme Sequence:

The Doom of Valyria
Aegon the Conqueror, and his 2 sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys on their dragons (Balerion, Vhagar [still alive BTW], and Meraxes).
Aegon’s conquest (looks like when he torched Harrenhall specifically)
Torrhen Stark, The King Who Knelt, bending the knee to Aegon
The Targaryen banner over King’s Landing
Maegor the Cruel, impaled on the Iron Throne
King Jaehaerys I and Queen Alysanne. The best rulers in Westerosi history.
Jaehaerys sitting at the Great Council of 101 AC, Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys are present
Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen standing at opposite ends of the council table
The best image so far, to the left Aegon II sitting on the Iron Throne, and to the right Rhaenyra sitting on the throne at Dragonstone. Beneath Aegon we see a green hand and a flock (my editor is telling me the correct term is ‘an unkindness’) of ravens, symbolizing how his succession was brought about by Otto sending a zillion ravens to the lords of the realm announcing him as ruler. Beneath Rhaenyra we see a black hand and several dragons, which in a much less subtle way, depicts her succession as being backed by having (at the time) 7 dragons on her side, Syrax (Rhaenyra), Caraxes (Daemon), Meleys (Rhaenys), Vermax (Jacaerys), Tyraxes (Joffrey), Moondancer (Baela), and the late Arrax (Lucerys).
Finally we have a dead Arrax and Lucerys. Not really subtle. Remember last season when he got ate? Crazy. Wasn’t this fun? I love this new opener. And if anyone is still reading this, I will assume you will also be excited to hear that the show-runner, Ryan Condal, has already stated new embroidered scenes will be added as the season goes to reflect the major moments of the war. Pay attention (or don’t because I will).

Season 1-Episode 10

The Black Queen

I would rather feed my sons to the dragons than have them carry shields and cups for your drunken, usurper cunt of a king.
Daemon Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra is crowned Queen on Dragonstone. The Sea Snake returns to the world of the living and joins Team Black. Daemon handles all of this in a healthy way. Lucerys goes on his first big boy mission to prove himself, and does not.

Observations from a Book Reader:

Rhaenys was not the one to break the news to Rhaenyra about the crowning of Aegon II. She was already at Dragonstone and never a prisoner of the Greens. Another key difference, it was not written that she or Corlys suspected Rhaenyra in the death of Laenor, and they always gave their support from the beginning.
Rhaenyra going into labor immediately after hearing the news of her father’s death and the Green’s coup, caused her and Daemon to blame the miscarriage on Alicent and Otto. What was not stated in the show, the stillborn child was a girl named Visenya, who was one of Aegon the Conqueror’s two sister-wives and the original rider of Vhagar.
It’s time for everyone’s favorite part of the blog. Crown talk. When Ser Erryk gives Rhaenyra her father’s crown, it is an important note that this is also the crown of Jaehaerys Targaryen, the king who preceded Viserys. Jaehaerys was called “The Conciliator” and even at the time of Game of Thrones, known as by far the greatest leader Westeros had ever had. Rhaenyra the rest of the episode is following in both her father and great-grandfather’s footsteps by opting for diplomacy over violence. It remains to be seen how she reacts next season now that she has lost 2 children (Lucerys and baby Visenya) to this succession war.
I briefly mentioned once how House Celtigar, like House Velaryon and Targaryen, are the only other house with ties to Old Valyria. This episode they were finally mentioned as an ally of Rhaenyra but at this point in the series I doubt they ever are talked about as Valyrian descendants.
One reason for Daemons outbreak about “feeding his sons to the dragons”, is because in Westeros history, sending your children to an old enemy to be squires and cupbearers, is actually just the highborn equivalent of taking hostages to ensure obeisance. Theon was a hostage at Winterfell in the beginning of Game of Thrones for the same reason.
The page that Otto gives Rhaenyra has an additional easter egg behind it. Interestingly, this specific page tells part of the story of Nymeria, the Rhoynish queen who led her people across oceans from Essos to Dorne, she is arguably the most famous female leaders in Westeros history, and as most will remember, Arya named her direwolf after her.
Vermithor, the dragon Daemon sings to, was ridden by Jaehaerys. The only rival to his size and strength is Vhagar (Vhagar is still larger). I am not totally sure what the message of this scene was, since obviously Daemon could not tame Vermithor as he already was linked to his dragon Caraxes. Perhaps he wanted to independently attempt to bring Vermithor to his cause?
Lord Borros Baratheon made a point to make his Maester read the letter. In Fire and Blood he was noted as “not being fond of books”. AKA this man is actually illiterate.
Aemond is shown to have a sapphire in place of his missing eye now, and in the opening theme, his sigil is now depicted as a sapphire as well. This is straight from the book.
It was only written that Aemond slew Arrax and Lucerys in the skies above Storm’s End. This is a more nuanced interpretation, as we see Aemond frantically trying to stop Vhagar from killing them after Arrax attacks Vhagar against Luke’s wishes. Aemond even uses the Valyrian term “Dohaeris” which means serve. This is one of the few Valyrian words viewers may remember, as the answer to the now famous Game of Thrones saying Valar Morghulis (All men must die) was Valar Dohaeris (All men must serve).

Jaehaerys I Targaryen feeding Vermithor before Lord Rogar Baratheon as depicted by Douglas Wheatley in *Fire & Blood*.

Other Points to Notice

There are several parallels in this episode to the pilot, one being a tragic birth, first Aemma, now Rhaenyra. One more is how in episode 1, Viserys is crowned with the crown of Jaehaerys, as Rhaenyra is in this finale.
Daemon, as is his nature, refused to be with Rhaenyra during her birth because all he could think about was revenge. This descent and division between he and Rhaenyra comes to a much more violent climax later in the episode. I’ll get to it eventually.
One brief cut that may have been missed, when Rhaenyra is refusing help and delivering her stillborn child, at the peak of her screams we see a 1 second flash of her dragon, Syrax, also growling and feeling her pain. This scene also comes right after we see Caraxes listening to Daemons commands and threatening the Kingsguard. Knowing how this episode ends, I believe this is showing how the dragons are truly not controlled by the Targaryens, but instead are linked to their rider’s experience and personality.
Lighting up the Dragonstone map was an incredible sequence, but it immediately made me think, “Why did Stannis never light it up in Game of Thrones?”. I like to think this is just Stannis being frugal with his candles.
The book page that Otto hands Rhaenyra, is the same one that Rhaenyra tears out in the pilot and gives to Alicent, when she remarks how they both should run away together. I believe this can be interpreted as a genuine attempt from Alicent to stop hostilities.
A major theme of this episode, and show, is that dragons were not meant to be controlled. When Rhaenyra speaks of the prophecy to Daemon, this lets him know that the only person he ever truly loved, Viserys, did not once consider him an actual heir or candidate to rule since he never told him about it. This causes Daemon to violently assault Rhaenyra, and reminds us once again, that dragons cannot be controlled, and there is no human in the show that personifies the temperament of a dragon more than Daemon.
Corlys was swayed to Rhaenyra’s cause once he was able to see her lead a council confidently, as well as when he looked and saw Laena’s children standing beside Jace and Luke. Even though Corlys knows Jace and Luke are not his grandchildren, he still stands behind his declaration that they are his kin due to the name they were given at birth. The music that played during this scene, when the plan to secure the Narrow Sea and siege King’s Landing, also paralleled the war council Robb Stark had in S1E10 of Game of Thrones. And sure enough, the current Lord of Winterfell, Cregan Stark, was mentioned heavily throughout.
Besides being the best dragon cinematography of all time, a symbolic aspect of Luke’s death, was that it only happened after he left the raging storm. And this was right after he left the stronghold called Storm’s End. So Lucerys truly met his demise at Storm’s End.
The shot of a devastated Rhaenyra turning to look at the camera in the final scene, mirrored the shot of young Rhaenyra turning to look at the crowd of lords swearing to serve her as heir in Episode 1.

Stray Observations:

Hearing Luke call Rhaenyra “perfect” is hilarious knowing how much of a little shit she was as a kid. It is nice that we finally got some late characterization of Lucerys though.
Very glad they addressed the fact that Rhaenys did not burn the entire group of the Greens last episode. Her justification made sense.
Not sure why, but I got chills when Rhaenyra, while going through labor, told Jace how he was her heir and he must listen to her commands alone.
Caraxes is the coolest dragon design. Just this evil snake monster that looks completely evil in every way.
Rhaenyra not wanting to rule over a kingdom of “ash and bone” sounds eerily similar to when Daenerys did not want to be “Queen of the ashes”. Hm
Corlys was so calm about his brother dying once Rhaenys explained what he did. “Yea he had it coming lol shit.”

RIP: Arrax, and Lucerys “Velaryon” (Strong)

Final Thoughts:

Well that was a great season. What started as an uneasy excitement to return to HBO’s interpretation of this world, quickly became must watch TV that once again captured the attention of the world. While this season was not without it’s mistakes (the time jumps made it hard to care about new characters, specifically Harwin Strong, and the children), it also handled the loose way the book was written in a way that was satisfying to both book readers and show only watchers. We now have a much more intricate and character driven tragedy that is set to fully explode in season 2.

Highlights:

-Every scene with Viserys, specifically him walking to the throne one last time, which was definitively the best scene of the season, if not all seasons of Game of Thrones as well

-The casting of young/old Alicent and Rhaenyra

-The attention to detail of set pieces, sigils, and yes, crowns

-Daemon being equal parts cool and downright horrible

Rating: 9/10

See everyone in 2024 for season 2. And tune into my blog next year when I write 5000 words weekly to cover how every episode of The Witcher season 3 is an embarrassment to television.

Season 1-Episode 09

The Green Council

You desire not to be free, but to make a window in the wall of your prison.
Rhaenys Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Alicent and Otto compete to find Aegon first. Rhaenys escapes the clutches of the Greens. Larys satisfies his urges. Aegon the Second is crowned.

Observations from a Book Reader:

Alicent, knowing that Viserys would be dead soon, instructed all of his servants to only report to her when it happened. In the book, Alicent never waivered from her plans to crown Aegon, and did not find motivation in misheard last words of Viserys speaking about prophecy.
Lyman Beesbury’s death at the small council was presented as 3 different possibilities from 3 different sources. 1 was that Otto had him confined in a black cell where he died of a chill, another was that Criston Cole slit his throat, and the final recount was that he was tossed out of a window and impaled on the spikes outside the keep. Either way his death was then kept a secret and his family demanded his body/release after months of not hearing from him.
The search for Aegon in King’s Landing is a show only invention, as Aegon was crowned quickly the day after Viserys died. I believe the show added this plot for several reasons, to show the divide between Alicent and her father, the divide between Aemond and Aegon, and of course just to demonstrate that Aegon is a depraved loser that does not even want to be king.
We get a glimpse of “one of many” of Aegon’s bastards. This one is named Gaemon Palehair, and believe it or not, his story will be a hilarious and interesting one to follow. Just make sure to make a mental note about the white haired royal bastard living in a whorehouse.
Lord Caswell, as pointed out in last week’s blog, was always one of the only lords to show constant respect and admiration to Rhaenyra throughout this season. We see him hanged (this is the correct tense btw, not ‘hung’) and killed this episode for supporting her and trying to warn the Princess. In Fire and Blood, he was actually beheaded immediately for refusing to kneel to Aegon in the throne room. At least here he tried to accomplish something with his loyalty.
Rhaenys was never a prisoner of the Greens. It gave us a cool dragon scene though.
Alright everyone, I’m sorry but this episode is going to make me do it. We have to discuss the intricacies of the crowns worn by the Targaryens. Unlike in other fantasy settings, the crown worn by the current king is not the same for each ruler. The first king, Aegon the Conqueror, wore a circlet of steel and rubies. This crown is the one that Aegon II also inherits in this episode. Besides his namesake, this crown was also worn by the 3rd king of Westeros, known as Maegor the Cruel. Aegon II wearing this crown is clearly a message to the realm that he will use force when needed, as the other men wearing it were the strongest militant kings Westeros had ever known. Viserys, wore the crown of his grandfather Jaeherys (a simple gold band with 7 different colored jewels to represent the faith of Westeros), and both ruled over times of diplomacy and peace, and are historically looked back on fondly. There is clearly something to the crowns chosen that casts a light over the current monarch’s style of rule. I am expecting dozens of emails asking me for a more detailed history on the many different Targaryen crowns and who wore them, so do not hesitate to ask. Maybe after Episode 10’s recap I will just do a full blog only about crown/sigil/and heraldry lore.
When Aegon II was crowned, there was not a thunderous applause. Just some scattered clapping and even a few “Long Live the Queen!” shouts.

King Aegon II wearing the crown of Aegon the Conqueror. For some reason the artist here depicted him as looking far older than he was when crowned.

Other Points to Notice

The silent intro into piano music is reminiscent of Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 10, The Winds of Winter, in which Cersei blew up the sept of Baelor. We also saw a child spy run around in the beginning of the episode, just like we do here as the child informs Alicent’s handmaiden (who we know is a spy for the White Worm) about Viserys dying.
Ser Harrold Westerling seems like the only decent person to react to the death of Lyman Beesbury. By all laws, Criston should have been arrested for what he did, but since Alicent always kept Cole safe, he had no power to do what he thought was right, and it was a major factor of why he retired.
Helaena still speaks in weird prophecies and phrases. “There is a beast hidden beneath the boards” she tells her mother, and shortly after this becomes literal when Rhaenys explodes out of the floorboards of the dragonpit on Meleys.
Alicent asking Rhaenys for help came off as even more desperate than when Rhaenyra asked her for help last episode. Alicent probably knew it was a futile effort, but she seems too stuck in her ways to realize the main reason Rhaenys will not help her, is because Rhaenys sees Alicent as trying so hard to uphold the male dominated society that once robbed her of the Iron Throne.
Just as Erykk and Arykk seem to choose different sides of the succession conflict, we also see how divided Aemond and Aegon are from each other. Aemond knows he is more capable of ruling, and what I find interesting about Aegon, is he knows this too. Later in this episode we see that he never once believed his father loved him, and only when the crowd starts cheering for him do we see him smile. An emotionally stunted guy with serious daddy issues who yearns for constant love from those around him will surely end up being the best king in history.
It’s probably best to not think about this too long, but Larys having the queen demean herself like that as he pleasured himself, was equal parts about sexual gratification and him controlling their power dynamic.
Another strong parallel to Game of Thrones, S1E9 of both shows end with a new king being displayed to the realm, and a crowd of peasants being shown some serious violence (Ned’s execution and Rhaenys destroying the floor of the Dragonpit). It makes sense why Rhaenys did not brutally murder the entire Green side of the family, as she is not really a violent person and sees this conflict between Rhaenyra and Alicent/Aegon. Plus there is a huge stigma on kinslayers in this universe, not to mention half of the people up there were innocent and undeserving of death, like Helaena and even Aemond.

Stray Observations:

Harrold Westerling retiring out of disgust from the Kingsguard mirrored Ser Barristan Selmy doing it to Joffrey in Game of Thrones Season 1.
It is absolutely hilarious that there are a pair of identical twin brothers named Erryk and Arryk.
Criston Cole saying how every woman should be spoken of with reverence is annoying after we heard him call Rhaenyra a cunt. Fun fact, the madam of the brothel that he questioned on Aegon’s whereabouts, was actually the real life acting coach of Fabien Frankel who plays Cole. He said this was the most nervous he had been the whole season filming a scene.
Of course Flea Bottom has children fighting pits. Why wouldn’t it?
This episode continues a Game of Thrones tradition of displaying the corpse of a main character who died an episode before. This always leads to that actor being credited with 1 additional episode than the one they actually died in. And sure enough, go check Paddy Considine’s IMDB page, he is credited with being in this episode.
Myseria seems to be going to the same plastic surgeon as Criston Cole, since they are the only 2 characters to have not aged whatsoever in 20 years.
When Otto refers to Rhaenyra as Alicent’s childhood companion, it almost does seem like he is implying that they were closer than normal friends. The writers seem to be letting the audience decide for themselves on the nature of Alicent and Rhaenyra’s relationship as teens.
While there have been many more Aegon’s since Aegon the Conqueror, this Aegon is the only one to have been crowned, and thus adopts the title of Aegon II, or Aegon-Second of His Name.

RIP: Lord Lyman Beesbury, Lord Allun Caswell, a bunch of peasants that got dragon stomped.

Season 1-Episode 08

Lord of the Tides

The crown cannot stand strong if the House of the Dragon remains divided
Viserys Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra returns to King’s Landing. Daemon helps his brother put on his crown. Viserys enjoys a final meal. Alicent misinterprets the dying words of an old man.

Observations from a Book Reader:

The title Lord of the Tides, as could be guessed, goes to whatever Velaryon is in control of Driftmark at that time. Historically, this title also almost always came with a seat at the small council as Master of Ships for the King. Unlike every other position, Master of Coin, Grand Maester, etc, Master of Ships was jokingly referred to as being hereditary.
The 3 eggs from Syrax that Daemon collects, are for his 2 new children Aegon and Viserys, with the 3rd being put aside for the child Rhaenyra is currently pregnant with. This was not explicitly made clear in the books, but it is a nice connection that Rhaenyra’s children get eggs from her own dragon.
Daeron Targaryen has not yet been mentioned on this show for some reason, but he is the 4th and youngest child of Alicent and Viserys. GRRM confirms he will be in the next season, and it makes sense that he is not around in the show at this point, due to him being fostered in Oldtown not in King’s Landing.
Helaena enters Aegon’s room and mentions that Dyana is supposed to dress the children. The children she is referring to are those of her and her brother Aegon. At this point they have 3 children all born in the 6 years between this episode and last. Jaehaerys, Jaehaera, and Maelor.
House Celtigar, rulers of Claw Isle, are also directly from Old Valyria. They did not make the cut of this show, so for all intents and purposes it is only the Targaryens and Velaryons with direct relations to the ancient civilization.
Vaemond did try to become the successor of Driftmark in the book. However, he did not petition the crown directly. Rhaenyra sentenced him to death and Daemon went to Driftmark and executed him. King Viserys then took the tongues of Vaemonds younger cousins who continued the bastard rumors after Vaemond’s death. The show took a more better approach in my opinion, but it did seem ridiculous for someone even as arrogant as Vaemond to yell and question the king so directly. Another slight difference, Vaemond was a nephew of Corlys, not his brother.
Since the entire prophecy of the Song of Ice and Fire is never mentioned in Fire and Blood, there was no indication of Alicent being motivated by hearing from Viserys that her son was to be some sort of savior. This is an interesting angle though, as it seemed that somehow Viserys had healed the rift between Rhaenyra and Alicent, only to accidentally break it down when Alicent believed he gave her his blessing to put Aegon on the throne. Of course the Prince who was Promised is Jon Snow, and not Aegon. Classic Jon, fucking shit up before he was even born.

King Viserys in his final year with his daughter Helaena, entertaining his grandchildren; Jaehaerys, Jaehaera and Maelor with a story, by Douglas Wheatley, as depicted in *Fire & Blood*.

Other Points to Notice

Corlys is injured while fighting in the Stepstones. The Triarchy at this point is once again trying to wrest control from Westeros, but this time they do not have a cool leader like the Crabfeeder. Corlys’ brother Vaemond offers an immediate antithesis to Corlys’ statement that history is more about names than blood.
Lord Caswell is the only person at King’s Landing who greets Rhaenyra on her return. He was also one of the only lords to congratulate Rhaenyra as she ascended through the palace in Episode 6 to go see her father with her newborn baby.
The attendant that brings Alicent in to see Dyana (the serving girl raped by Aegon) is the same woman we see relaying information to Myseria at the end of the episode. Clearly Myseria knows everything going on with the Greens but her endgame is not known. Also it has been confirmed by the director that Alicent gives Dyana moon (abortion) tea, not poison as some viewers initially thought.
Daemon at one point said that Vaemond only cared about Driftmark, and not about the greater succession issues that would surface by skipping over Luke as Lord of Driftmark. However when he meets Alicent and Otto to discuss him succeeding Corlys, he outwardly implies he will support them against Rhaenyra when the time comes, showing that he is very plugged in to the brewing succession war as well.
Viserys entering the throne room was him as publicly as possible saying that Rhaenyra was his true heir. This was fully an act of support. He also allowed Daemon, not the guard, to assist him, showing that after all this time the brothers were on good terms. Fun fact, his crown falling off was an accident, and Matt Smith placed it back on his head while filming. The crew loved this moment so much that they wrote it in, and scrapped a later scene where Daemon makes a toast, as they found this wordless exchange far more powerful.
Viserys did not get cut on the iron throne this time when he sat there. In this moment he was a true king worthy of the seat.
Jace and Helaena dancing together and enjoying each others company is especially sad when you remember that Rhaenyra initially tried to marry them to one another.

Daemon placing the crown back on his brother’s head

Stray Observations:

Seeing 3 dragon eggs together will always remind me of Daenerys and her 3.
Jace why did you wait until you were 16 to learn High Valyrian? This guy sucks
GRRM today posted that Paddy Considine should get an Emmy for his performance as Viserys in this episode alone, and I cannot disagree. Easily the best acted character so far.
Alicent wearing the 7 pointed star and outwardly displaying banners of the Faith of the Seven serves 2 purposes. First, it alienates Rhaenyra and removes Targaryen heraldry, second it endears her to the population of King’s Landing.
It is funny how technically Rhaenyra is not lying when she tells Rhaenys that she did not kill Laenor.
Fun fact, this season of HoTD has already employed 2 different female directors (Including Geeta Patel who directed this episode). This is twice as many female directors as Game of Thrones employed over the course of its 8 seasons……
Viserys walking into the throne room may be my favorite moment of not just this show, but Game of Thrones as well.
I dont know why but I hate in this world when the term “good wife” or “the good queen” is used. It sounds so weird to me
Aemond is one loose cannon, It already feels like there is something bad brewing between him and Daemon, as Aemond seems to be an angrier younger version of him.
The last words Viserys speaks are “My Love”. Even at the end he was still only thinking of Aemma and the guilt he had over her death. This is probably the main reason he favored Rhaenyra over his other children, since she was his only connection to her.

RIP: Vaemond Velaryon, King Viserys Targaryen, First of His Name

Season 1-Episode 07

Driftmark

History does not remember blood. It remembers names.
Corlys Velaryon

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra and Daemon finally get their incest on. Aemond exchanges an eye for a dragon. Alicent goes knife crazy. Viserys limps around sadly.

Observations from a Book Reader:

The Merling King is a sort of religious figure to House Velaryon, they claim that he was the one to give the Driftwood Throne to them, granting them rule over Driftmark. He is somewhat regarded as a god to them, although it is uncertain if this is just largely ceremonial.
It was an open secret that Laenor preferred the company of men, and it seems that the show is indicating that this is public knowledge, since Corlys tells Qarl to “retrieve your patron.” This is actually a subtle jab as well, making it sound like Qarl is only around because Laenor pays him. More reason why Laenor would be so apt to leave his family behind now that his sister is dead.
One major difference from the book, Rhaenys was not truly considered for the crown. While she was an option, her son Laenor actually received more votes at the great council. She was still snubbed, but Rhaenys is right when she says that Corlys has his own ambitions and they are not fully selfless.
In Fire and Blood the Targaryen royal family was on Driftmark for Laenor’s funeral, not Laena’s. On the way Viserys told Aemond that he may be able to get a dragon egg or a dragon itself if he was “bold enough”. This angered Aemond enough to try to mount Vhagar, and he was caught by his cousin Joffrey, who went to get his brothers. He then flew Vhagar briefly before landing, and this was when the skirmish occurred where he lost his eye. Side note, at this point in history, it is claimed that Vhagar was now nearly as large as Balerion, the largest known dragon in history.
It was a reach for Alicent to try to get Criston Cole to take out Luke’s eye. Even though he is assigned to be her protector, he is still a member of the Kingsguard, and if he even slightly went against a direct order from the King, he would be imprisoned and most likely executed immediately.
We do not really get to see the origin of the Alicent and Rhaenyra rivalry in the book. The show has done an excellent job on this, and Alicent makes her feelings plain when she is wrestling with Rhaenyra and the knife. She was forced to be a dutiful wife and sacrifice her adult life, and resents Rhaenyra for ignoring those same duties and having bastards, while always doing whatever she wanted.
Laenor was killed by Qarl at a fair in Spicetown. There was said to be several witnesses, but it is noted that Qarl was never seen again, which is quite suspicious now looking back. It is definitely possible that Laenor was not actually killed, but it never comes back up. The one show-only angle of this that I am interested to see, is what will become of Laenor’s dragon Seasmoke. I believe that as long as Laenor is alive, it should not be possible for anyone else to claim his dragon, even if he is a world away
The marriage between Daemon and Rhaenyra is the first ever on screen full Valyrian wedding ceremony we see. Unlike when she was married to Laenor, this ceremony is not done by a Septon in the Westerosi tradition. Instead we see them exchange vows and blood with one another, which reflects the Valyrian obsession with keeping ancestry and bloodlines pure.

Other Points to Notice

Vaemond Velaryon (the man giving Laena’s eulogy) was not subtle with what he said about Velaryon blood: “Ours runs thick, ours runs true”. He even glanced at Jace and Luke when he said it. Clearly he is more upset about Rhaenyra potentially having bastards, than his brother Corlys was.
Helaena is seen playing with a spider, saying seemingly random things again. However last week when she was playing with the large centipede, she made a comment “He’ll have to close an eye”, right after her brother Aemond spoke. Since Aemond literally did lose an eye this episode, perhaps she actually does have some gift of prophecy. “Hand turns loom; spool of green, spool of black; dragons of flesh, weaving dragons of thread.”
Not only is Viserys decaying physically, he also may be slipping mentally as he called Alicent by his first wife’s name, Aemma. Ser Harrold Westerling quickly used her actual name to Viserys after he slipped up, probably to help ease the awkwardness.
Corlys and Rhaenys have quite different views on legacy. I side with Corlys here, as all that matters is the last name for the history books. I wonder how many kings/queens from past civilizations were bastards from different fathers or mothers.
This show actually filmed a scene that would have shown us how Laena tamed Vhagar as a girl. They probably removed it since Aemond claiming Vhagar is much more significant to the story, and seeing the same dragon tamed by 2 different kids would be redundant.
Alicent demanding a literal “eye for an eye” is eerily reminiscent of season 1 Game of Thrones where Cersei demanded that Sansa’s direwolf, Lady, be put to death after Arya’s wolf, Nymeria, attacked Joffrey and fled. Alicent then slashes Rhaenyra in a rage, but this reaction makes sense. Remember that she is convinced from her father that Rhaenyra will kill her children when she becomes Queen. And now her son has lost an eye at the hand of Rhaenyra’s children and her fears seem to be coming true, while she is also seeing Viserys weaken daily and knows her time may be running out.
While Alicent does tell Larys not to pursue getting an eye from Jace or Luke (you know Larys would pull it off too), there is a noticeable difference in her reaction to him at the end of this episode as opposed to last episode. The events that transpired here have now made her much more willing to entertain the idea of Larys working his unsavory and violent methods to get her what she wants. This slide into a “winning at all costs” mentality for Alicent will definitely make for some interesting TV coming up.

Stray Observations:

I forgot to mention last week, Viserys had his left arm amputated during the time skip
Of course Daemon laughs at a funeral
Viserys and Daemon seem to be on good terms again. I wonder how long till his next banishment comes.
“No matter how fat the leech grows, it always wants for another meal” Fuck yea Daemon, Otto is the worst.
After seeing Rhaenyra and Daemon hook up when she was a younger actress, seeing them do it now feels pretty normal to the audience, can’t be shocked twice I guess.
From a kid perspective, I understand why they felt like Aemond stole Vhagar, but realistically what he did was valid. Dragons belong to no one, and rarely went from parent to child. If you can claim one, then it’s yours by rights.
The shot of Rhaenyra recognizing the Valyrian steel dagger that Alicent was using, as the same one with Aegon’s prophecy on it, was pretty incredible.
Of course Otto doesn’t care about Alicent’s outburst. He is just happy to see that she is as determined as he is to overcome Rhaenyra and get Aegon on the throne.

RIP: Random guard Daemon killed and then used as Laenor’s body double. This guy really got screwed over badly.

Season 1-Episode 06

The Princess and the Queen

The wise sailor flees the storm as it gathers
Laenor Velaryon

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra gives birth and has to deal with gossip. Alicent accidentally plots a murder. Daemon becomes single once again. Criston talks a lot of shit.

Observations from a Book Reader:

The title of the episode is a reference to a 2013 novella written by GRRM for the anthology book Dangerous Women. This novella told the story of the Dance of the Dragons for the first time and it was fleshed out more in another short story called The Rogue Prince before both were combined and given even more details in Fire and Blood.
Laenor was white with blonde hair in the book. Rhaenyra having 3 brown haired kids was still looked at suspiciously by the rest of the kingdom, but it wasn’t quite as obvious her children were bastards as it is in the show. I think this change makes a lot of sense, as it is a clear visual sign to the audience what is going on. Especially when we see that Laena and Daemon’s children are black with white hair.
The dragon that scares Aemond in the dragonpit, is Dreamfyre, originally ridden by Rhaena Targaryen, grand-daughter of Aegon the Conqueror. We also heard in Episode 2that the eggs Daemon stole were from Dreamfyre.
We see Laena riding the gigantic dragon Vhagar, the last of the remaining 3 dragons from when Aegon the Conqueror arrived. As a child, Laena found and tamed Vhagar, surprising everyone as Vhagar had not accepted a rider in years. Sadly, the scene of her doing so was cut from the show, even though in an earlier episode Vhagar’s status was discussed.
Before marrying Daemon, Laena was betrothed to a son of the Sea Lord of Braavos. Daemon antagonized him while visiting Driftmark, and got him angry enough to duel. Daemon slew him with ease, and married Laena a few days later. This did not cause too much of an uproar, as the man who was killed was by all accounts, an arrogant prick.
It is unknown if Rhaenyra’s children were able to discern their true parentage in the book. I have to think that they figured it out but knew enough to never discuss it, as their lives would almost certainly be forfeit if it came out.
The death of Lyonel and Harwin Strong at Harrenhal was a subject of great controversy. Instead of knowing who was responsible, the book just gave a list of suspects, including Corlys Velaryon, who was theorized to have killed the man that made made a cuckold of his son. Turns out it was Larys the whole time. With his father and brother dead, he is now the Lord of Harrenhal, but the sick part is he probably does not care about that at all. For him, this was a simple way to force Alicent into his debt, as it would bring her father back into the game, and take care of the problem with Rhaenyra’s almost public affair with Harwin. Littlefinger was a sociopath but Larys seems to be even more monstrous so far.

The Fall of Harrenhal. Aegon the Conqueror melted half of the castle, killing Lord Harren, the original owner. This event is what began what came to be known as the curse of Harrenhal

Other Points to Notice

The opening scene is something we had not seen from this show or Game of Thrones before. 2 long continues takes from the birth of Joffrey to Rhaenyra getting to her father’s room. There is also a distinct lack of background music that adds to the “realness” of the scenario
Harwin Strong is now the Lord Commander of the City Watch (The police of King’s Landing who wear gold cloaks). While we find out for sure later in the episode, this scene makes it very clear there is a relationship between Rhaenyra and Harwin.
Alicent’s reaction to Criston calling Rhaenyra a cunt is telling. Criston is a full on angry spurned lover at this point and he truly hates her. Alicent is more so just worried and upset about the damage Rhaenyra is doing by siring bastards. She is correct, as brazenly presenting bastards, if found out, would cause House Velaryon to rebel and surely cause a war. She is also now fully on board with putting Aegon on the throne over Rhaenyra, as she tells her son himself. It’s important to remember a big motivation for Alicent is her belief that her children will be killed if Rhaenyra takes the throne, either by Rhaenyra or her supporters.
Criston does a great job of exposing Harwin in the practice yard, as Harwin’s brutal reaction only makes sense if Jacaerys is in fact his son. It seems like Criston really only does it to be spiteful. He hates Rhaenyra so much at this point that he also hates her children. Harwin attacking Criston is reminiscent of last episode when Criston killed Joffrey. Harwin is obviously punished far more for it, since Criston is a member of the Kingsguard and therefore regarded as “untouchable”.
The small council meeting appears to be a total disaster. The rift between Rhaenyra and Alicent is almost as bad as the divide between the 2 houses they were discussing, the Brackens and Blackwoods. Lyman Beesbury, the master of coin, seems to be totally senile and can’t follow the conversation. And then Rhaenyra tries to marry her son to Alicent’s daughter. This would have legitimized Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne and united both sides of the family in the succession. Alicent would never agree to this though, as she believes that Jacaerys is a bastard, and that her son Aegon should be on the throne.
The sigil on Larys’ walking stick that we see when he enters the dungeon, as well as the sigils placed on the mute criminals he employs, is that of a bee, and not that of House Strong. There is a quote about Larys in the book, “The words dripped from his lips like honey from a comb, and never did poison taste so sweet.” His bee sigil could be a reference to that quote, and just as Littlefinger discarded his family sigil for a mockingbird, perhaps Larys is discarding his family sigil for the bee. Which would be a pretty direct message to the audience that Larys is going to be the Littlefinger of this series.
Unlike his brother, Daemon was much less willing to throw Laena’s life away for a c-section. He may have decided on it eventually, but Laena quickly left the situation to end things on her own terms, which was an incredibly cool way to go out.

Stray Observations:

It’s nice to see that Laenor and Rhaenyra have a close relationship, if not a romantic one. But it is also hilarious that it’s the only healthy relationship in this series.
King Viserys is like 50 in the books at this point. I can’t decide if the show-runners aged him up, or they made him look this way just to show how ill he is.
Let’s take a second and name every Targaryen kid. Rhaenyra’s sons: Jacaerys (Jace), Lucerys (Luke), and newborn Joffrey. Alicent’s children: Aegon, Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron. Daeron was not in this episode which means he either was not born yet, or the show is cutting his character. In which case I just gave a completely pointless name to anyone reading this who probably already had Targaryen name overload.
The Valyria model Viserys is working on actually looks cool at this point.
It’s nice to know that Viserys is an expert on dominant/recessive genes due to his time owning a horse.
It does seem like Daemon truly cares for his wife and daughters. But he also appears really depressed. I don’t think domestic life is for this guy.
Am I crazy, or when Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra) speaks her mouth movement is similar to Lena Headey as Cersei sometimes?
Daemon and Laena’s 2 twin daughters are named Baela and Rhaena.
The shot of Laena being burned alive by her beloved dragon, combined with the music and follow up shot of Daemon observing it, was the scene of the episode for me.
As Larys said, the Strong deaths were easy to sell to the realm, because almost all the people in Westeros believed that Harrenhal was cursed. Ever since it was built, the house that controlled it met eerie and grim deaths. It is the Westeros equivalent of the Defense Against the Dark Art’s Professor curse in Harry Potter.

RIP: Laena Velaryon, Ser Harwin “Breakbones” Strong, Lord Lyonel Strong

Season 1-Episode 05

We Light the Way

The beacon, on the Hightower. Do you know what color it glows when Oldtown calls its banners to war?
Larys Strong

Major Plot Points: Laenor Velaryon gets married to his beard. Criston Cole deals with his first high school breakup. Viserys wheezes and coughs. Alicent buys a new dress. Daemon becomes single again

Observations from a Book Reader:

The episode title “We Light the Way” is taken from House Hightower’s house words. The Hightowers, fittingly, own the Hightower in Old Town. Basically a glorified lighthouse but they have used it for centuries to observe the Sunset Sea west of Oldtown for bandits/threats. A dead giveaway that this episode would have a significant move from a Hightower.
Rhea Royce (Daemon’s soon to be late wife) resides in the Vale, the mountainous region of Westeros home to the countries most impregnable castle, the Eyrie (thats the one with the trap door that Lysa Arryn was pushed through in Game of Thrones). House Royce is a very powerful family there, which was surely the original reason Daemon was married off. Of note, in the books it was never stated that Daemon was responsible for Rhea’s death. It was obviously suspicious, but knowing how Daemon feels trapped by the marriage this outcome makes sense.
High Tide, the fortress of the Velaryons, is actually only accessible to the island of Driftmark via a tiny causeway when the tide… is high.
Larys “The Clubfoot” Strong makes his real debut here. He is one of 2 sons of the new hand of the king, Lyonel Strong. Due to his physical issues, he focused his efforts on information, politics, and manipulation. The way he plays Alicent into “accidentally” finding out about Rhaenyra’s abortion tea was masterful.
Laenor’s preference of men over women was told in the books as more of an “open secret” never outright stated. The way the show handled it makes sense though, as it removed ambiguity moving forward towards next week’s major time skip. His lover, Ser Joffrey Lonmouth, was hilariously nicknamed “The Knight of Kisses”, and he tells this to Criston later in the episode.
Alicent arriving in the green dress was a clear declaration of her own loyalties, and a bit different than the book. The connection with the flame in the Hightower was never made, but it does aid the audience in understanding the significance of her wearing her own house colors, and not her husbands. In the book, she first wears this dress at a tournament for her son Aegon’s 5th nameday. Rhaenyra, sitting next to her, wore a black dress with the red Targaryen dragon emblazoned on it. To the lords present, it seemed like they were clearly marked out in response to one another. From that day forward (and it seems in this show), supporters of Rhaenyra as queen were known as the “Blacks”, and supporters of Alicent’s son Aegon, were dubbed the “Greens”. We immediately hear Lord Hightower tell Alicent that Oldtown stands with her. Lines are being drawn.
Criston Cole did kill Joffrey Lonmouth, but it was in a melee during the tournament for the wedding, not at the pre feast. While it passed as an accident, Rhaenyra and Laenor were furious about it, and shortly after it occurred Criston was Alicent’s most loyal servant. This gave credence to the theory that Joffrey’s death may not have been all that accidental. Criston’s motive in the show for the brutal murder appears to be a mix of jealousy of Rhaenyra, coupled with rage he felt when Joffrey not-so-subtly threatened him with blackmail. Either way it’s hard to be too sympathetic with him, these are the actions of a deranged stalker not an “honorable knight”.
The blood and rat at the end of the episode, is a direct link to a future event about to transpire known as “Blood and Cheese”. Do NOT google this if you want to avoid spoilers. I only mention it because I have to show my omnipotence as the author of this blog.

Other Points to Notice

While I have not been a fan of Otto Hightower, he does give some genuine and correct advice to Alicent. In his mind, if Aegon does not take the throne, his grandchildren will be killed to silence their claim. He did a horrible job communicating his thoughts to Alicent before this, but at least now she knows where he stands.
I love that Corlys tried to get Viserys to agree to the idea that Rhaenyra and Laenor’s children should keep the name Velaryon, under the guise of “tradition”. This was one of the few times Viserys actually made a good diplomatic compromise.
One of the major reasons the usually responsibility-averse Rhaenyra so adamantly shot down Criston Cole’s marriage/runaway proposal, is that she now believes she must become Queen to save the world, as her father keeps pushing this fact with Aegon I’s dagger/prophecy. She begins telling him about “the path” Aegon put them on, but Criston had already stormed off.
The conversation with Otto, and then finding out that Rhaenyra was sleeping around without telling her, seemed to have been the final straw for Alicent. Even though Rhaenyra only swore that she did not sleep with Daemon, Alicent still clearly saw this omission as a major betrayal. There is also the possibility that she was dealing with feelings of jealousy, as it did seem like their original relationship could have ended up as a romantic one.
Viserys, while sick, bemoans to Lyonel that he wishes once in his tenure as king, he could have been tested and proven his mettle in hard times or even war. What is tragic about Viserys is his inability to see that he is being tested at this very moment. He lacks the foresight or control of his own court to ensure this succession issue will go away, and his inaction will unfortunately be what he is most remembered by.
We see Laena Velaryon and Daemon flirt with each other, in their own weird way. Laena was the little girl that Viserys almost married in Episode 2. She seems to have grown older and into politics quite fast the last 3 years.
The man who saves Rhaenyra from the melee is Lyonel’s other son, Harwin “Breakbones” Strong, and he is clearly quite different than his snakelike brother Larys. At this point in time he is commonly known as the strongest man in Westeros, and he effortlessly is able to move through the fray to rescue the princess. If you remember episode 3, Harwin was the only man present that was smiling and laughing his approval when Rhaenyra, covered in blood, brought the boar corpse to her father’s camp. Keep an eye on this one and his clubfooted brother.

The Strong Family. Larys, Lyonel, and Harwin. Lyonel really doesn’t look old enough to be their dad but whatever.

Stray Observations:

Corlys Velaryon is famous for sailing to every known continent in the world. Viserys can barely survive on a quick boat ride half a day away.
We now see Lyonel Strong wearing the hand of the king pin. He did seem the obvious choice.
The poor reception Viserys gets at High Tide, is quite the stark difference than the reception we saw King Robert get when he arrived at Winterfell in the Game of Thrones pilot. Someone will appreciate that joke.
Larys Strong is going to be a major issue going forward.
While i understood what Rhaenyra was getting at, I am really confused as to what roast duck/goose actually represent 1:1. I think roast duck is men and goose is women?
“Its not a phase dad”- Laenor Velaryon
While it is important narratively that Alicent finds out about Criston and Rhaenyra’s affair, I did hate the “sitcom” trope way that he accidentally blurted it out to her. It felt cheap in a way that this show is better than.
I know he’s a prick, but Jason Lannister is the best character on this show. What a legend.
The Velaryons walking in as a family was very well done. Their family has actual strength, and is united to each other, this served as a clear and blatant contrast to House Targaryen.
Ser Gerold had serious balls accusing a prince of murder without real proof. Poor guy.
It seems a bit strange that Criston got away with a brutal kill like that in public. My guess is that Alicent will vouch for him and say that Joffrey attacked him first. He was shown to possess a knife.

RIP: Lady Rhea Royce, Ser Joffrey Lonmouth. Also RIP to Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra and Alicent. They both killed it. The new actors next week have a lot of work to do.

Season 1-Episode 04

King of the Narrow Sea

The truth does not matter Rhaenyra, only perception
Viserys Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Daemon Targaryen comes home. Viserys gets mad at his advisors. Rhaenyra has a John Hughes coming-of-age episode.

Observations from a Book Reader:

The young boy suitor of Rhaenyra, who endures taunts from the crowd, is a member of House Blackwood. The man he kills after being insulted is from House Bracken. Blackwood and Bracken are 2 of the oldest and most respected houses in Westeros, dating back thousands of years before Aegon the Conqueror. However for all history, these 2 houses have had a bitter and violent feud that never ends, and even persists during the Game of Thrones time period. They’re the Hatfields and McCoys of Westeros.
Daemon was actually named “King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea” in the books, but the shorter version works. Even though he offers his crown to Viserys, several more people follow his lead and claim that “kingdom” for themselves in the future. Not sure if the show will cover all of them.
The sword Viserys carries as a sceptre in the throne room is named Blackfyre. It belonged to Aegon the Conqueror, and is largely only used as a symbol of rule in this period of Westeros. That sword will eventually cause Westeros a lot of trouble 100 years later, when it falls into the hands of a Targaryen bastard, Daemon Waters, who starts a rebellion and changes his own last name to Blackfyre.
The reason the Red Keep has so many secret passageways, is because King Maegor the Cruel, who commissioned the construction of the castle, was a paranoid and altogether batshit insane man who wanted a quick escape if his enemies trapped him there. Once the Red Keep was finished being built, he had all the builders assembled for a celebration feast before slaughtering ever single one of them ensuring that no one would ever know the extent or location of every secret. Great dude honestly.
The book keeps the events of what happened between Daemon and Rhaenyra very vague. It never revealed if they actually did sleep together, or if she lost her virginity to Criston Cole. The only thing that was for certain, was that Daemon and Viserys got in a major fight around this time and he left King’s Landing seemingly for good. It’s nice to see these things as they definitively happened.
Viserys tells Rhaenyra that King Jaehaerys (his grandfather and the prior king) would have denounced and disinherited her for what she did. And history says that Viserys is correct. Jaehaerys’ daughter Saera, was caught in a sex scandal with 3 knights at an age similar to Rhaenyra, and after Jaehaerys scolded her, she attempted to steal a dragon and escape. She was then sent to Oldtown to join the faith, but ran away and was last seen somewhere in Essos.
The “abortion” tea given to Rhaenyra at the end of the episode, is more than likely tansy tea. This same drink was once given to Lysa Arryn (Catelyn Starks sister in Game of Thrones) by her father, after she manipulated a young drunk Petyr Baelish to sleep with her by pretending to be her own sister. It seems this type of response was the norm in Westeros.

Storm’s End, ancestral home of House Baratheon

Other Points to Notice

Immediately the show opens on Rhaenyra listening to suitors in Storm’s End. This castle is the home of the Baratheon’s, and we see Lord Borros Baratheon next to Rhaenyra. We never really got to see Storm’s End in Game of Thrones, but it is known to be one of the most impenetrable strongholds in Westeros.
Viserys and Daemon appear to be 2 people who deep down want nothing more than to get along, but no matter what happens one of them will always piss off the other and then they’ll be mad at each other for 2-5 years at a time.
While it seems that Alicent and Rhaenyra are reconciling slowly, Rhaenyra’s comment about squeezing out heirs, clearly hurt Alicent and shows that no matter what their positions will divide them.
While not named in this episode, the baby Alicent is holding is her second child, Helaena Targaryen. Younger sister of the child Aegon we saw last episode at the royal hunt.
We see that Viserys at this point is just completely covered in sores and cuts. Seems he still has not grown into that throne.
Daemon’s intent on seducing Rhaenyra is more than just being horny. By “spoiling” her, he thinks that Viserys will have no choice but to wed them together, which instantly gets him back in sight of the throne. But when she seemed to genuinely want to go through with it, he saw how fucked it would actually be to do.
Not much to say about Rhaenyra and Criston Cole, it did feel like a pretty unbalanced power situation though.
Although not explicitly stated, the White Worm (person in control of the spies that inform Otto Hightower) is none other than Mysaria, and this is who he sees first when he wakes up after his bender. It looks like he never did actually marry or impregnate her like he claimed he would.
Daemon does not even try to refute that he had sex with Rhaenyra to Viserys. Even though it didn’t happen, he still plays his hand. While being so hungover he can’t even stand up.
While we know that the Prince Who Was Promised, referenced on the dagger, refers to Jon Snow, it shows just how inaccurate some prophecies can be, seeing as Jon never actually ended up on the throne. He was pretty responsible for the defeat of the White Walkers though. This reveal is actually better for just book readers, since that prophecy still has yet to be uncovered in the main series, and will probably be more satisfying than HBO’s take on it.

Stray Observations:

I wish we got to actually see the little Blackwood boy stabbing the Bracken knight.
The Bracken knight reminded me of Adam Devine from Workaholics.
Viserys mocking Rhaenyra about the tapestries seemed a bit more petty of a move than we’d expect of him.
It was incredible to see King’s Landing at night from the view of an actual citizen. This show focuses so much on just the royals that you forget how gross and lame it would be to actually live in this country. There also was some very subtle foreshadowing during part of these scenes, but only someone who knows what to look for will see it. (no spoilers)
The people of King’s Landing do not seem to love the idea of Rhaenyra on the throne.
Seeing a child as a spy definitely brings back memories of Varys and his “little birds”.
Even though Otto didn’t outright lie about the situation, he did say that Daemon and Rhaenyra actually “coupled”, but this obviously didn’t actually happen. A schemer through and through.
The scene between Otto and Viserys, when Viserys removes him from office, is definitely my favorite scene of this show so far. I loved how Viserys was also able to see clearly that Otto manipulated him into falling for his daughter.

RIP: Unnamed House Bracken Knight, Rhaenyra’s maidenhood (sorry for this one).