Regent

I am blood and fire. Driftmark must pass to salt and sea

Baela Targaryen

Major Plot Points: Rhaenyra and Jace write down new ideas during a brainstorming session. Alicent realizes that dis-empowering women makes it harder for her to gain power as a woman. Aemond finds himself with a fun new job. Daemon continues to hallucinate and make bad choices.

Observations from a Book Reader

1. There was no mention of the head of Meleys being paraded through King’s Landing. It does seem like something Cole would do though. Aegon was brought back to the city in secret while grievously wounded so the small folk would not think he was as hurt as he was. One major difference, the show strongly alludes to Sunfyre being dead (Cole mentions he was ‘long in the dying’). Sunfyre did not die at Rook’s Rest, he was just too injured to fly and remained there recovering for several months.
2. Jace was the one to ask Corlys to become the Hand of the Queen, not Baela. Jace constantly took initiative in the book, he was the one to convince the Starks, Freys, and various other houses to join the Blacks, and the idea of finding the “dragonseeds” was all him as well (as opposed to it being him and Rhaenyra this episode). The show seems to portray him as more of a reckless teenager that wants to prove himself.
3. Aemond did not wait for the council to give him the regency while Aegon was injured. He picked up the crown and said “it looks better on me than it ever did on him” and immediately began running the show. Another change is that the show made it sound like Aemond was the natural choice since he was next in the line of succession. In the book, Aegon’s second son Maelor was the heir at this point, but for whatever reason he does not exist in the HBO adaptation
4. The subplot of Daemon trying to take the crown for himself never happened. It could have been a motivation of his, but at this point all we heard was that he had taken Harrenhal and rallied the riverlands in support. While Daemon in the show looks to have gained the Brackens to his cause, his methods of doing so may have cost him the rest of the riverland houses.
5. Mysaria was still in King’s Landing at this point, so this spy (Elinda) she sends from Dragonstone is an entirely new development. Very interested to see what chaos she will conduct in the city. She goes directly to the ex handmaiden that Aegon raped last season.
6. The 2 dragons that Jace mentions as being able to stand against Vhagar, are Vermithor and Silverwing. They were the dragons used by Rhaenyra’s great grandparents Jaehaerys and Alysanne and are the oldest and strongest dragons alive besides Vhagar. Worth throwing random peasants at in the hopes one has enough Targaryen blood to ride them. Vermithor was the dragon we saw Daemon speak to in the caves near the end of last season.

Other Points to Notice

1. Rhaenyra rightfully complains about the lack of respect her council gives her about military decisions. Being raised by a King who only presided over an age of peace, she is struggling to flip the switch into running an actual war. Interestingly she parallels her half brother Aegon when she says “What would you have me do?” to her council, as Aegon said it to Alicent last episode before flying off.
2. This episode is the first time we have seen The Eyrie on the screen since the later seasons of Game of Thrones. The Eyrie is the giant mountain stronghold where the Arryns rule as Lords of the Vale. During the time of House of the Dragon, Jeyne Arryn is the leader, during the time of Game of Thrones it was Lysa Arryn and then Littlefinger. Gaining the help of the Vale is pivotal to Rhaenyra’s cause as they have a large standing army that could help her secure her claim.
3. The insane scene of Daemon dreaming of having sex with his mother was most likely another trick conducted on him by Alys Rivers. His mother, Alyssa Targaryen, died when he was only 2 years old, so perhaps Alys is playing on his deep insecurity of never knowing his own mother’s love, while also continuing to grow the lifelong belief he holds that he should have been king over his brother Viserys.
4. We once again see Hugh Hammer and his sad family struggling in King’s Landing. While he exists to give a face to the peasant struggle in the war, he will also serve a more unexpected role in the future. If he can ever leave the closed gates of the city that is.
5. Similar to the Arryns, this episode also shows us our old friends the Freys. Sabitha and Forrest. Since the Freys own The Twins, the only functional bridge from the north into the riverlands, this small house is always one of the most important in any war. While a short scene, it does well showing that the Freys used to be more respectable and far less duplicitous than they became under the near 100 year rule of Walder Frey during the time of Game of Thrones.
6. Jace tells his mother to maybe not follow in the example of her ancestor Visenya. Visenya was the more violent of Aegon the Conqueror’s sister wives, and generally took care of diplomatic situations with violence. Rhaenyra seems to look up to her. Another note, the sword she used, Dark Sister, is currently wielded by Daemon.

Stray Observations:

1. Kinda disappointing that we have not had any new additions to the opening credits tapestry since the rat catcher execution was added.
2. Someone really needs to adopt Cheese’s dog.
3. Really expected Daemon to have Caraxes burn all the Bracken men to death when they didn’t join him
4. Although it seems like characters glance at her, we don’t really have any confirmation that anyone but Daemon can see Alys Rivers.
5. Hey, Simon Strong must have read my blog last week, because he properly called Daemon King Consort.
6. Nothing stops peasants from spreading fear and lies, like locking them in the city they want to escape.
7. Alicent always mentions what Aemond “is”. Sure he has a bad track record but she has never really tried to talk to him to see if he actually is this unrepentant sociopath she fears.
8. Very little time was spent with Daemon at Harrenhall in the book, so I hope this plotline has a fun conclusion. Did we really need a scene of him cutting wood?
9. Whenever someone insists they would never betray you, they certainly would never betray you.
10. The river lords know that the murder of the women and children was under Daemon’s approval since they saw a flag with a red dragon on black, instead of Aegon’s gold dragon on green flag.
11. If Alicent ever gave Aegon support as a child like she does for him at his bedside here, maybe he would have grown to be a better, but less hilarious, king.
12. Helaena and her psychic abilities see right through Aemond as he stares at the throne.

RIP: Some unnamed Bracken women and children

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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”.
5. 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.
6. 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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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:

1. Title sequence update! The last 2 images show a decapitated Jaehaerys, and all of the executed rat-catchers hanging outside the Red Keep.
2. I feel like they definitely could have buried Arryk and Erryk faster. It was like half a shovelful at a time
3. Cole just got promoted to a job he didn’t deserve, and still could not show up on time.
4. The riderless dragon observed by Mysaria is once again Seasmoke, Laenor’s old mount. Chekhov’s dragon?
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Gwayne Hightower sucks so much that he makes Criston Cole seem rational.
8. Jaehaera forgiving Alicent for sleeping with Cole seemed to make Alicent even more uncomfortable
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.

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.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. 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.

Other Points to Notice

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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
4. 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.
5. In my second viewing, Rhaenyra finding her son’s body next to the corpse of his dragon seemed much more visceral.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Rhaenyra only has 1 line this episode but it is powerful. She is officially out for blood.
9. 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:

1. The Doom of Valyria
2. Aegon the Conqueror, and his 2 sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys on their dragons (Balerion, Vhagar [still alive BTW], and Meraxes).
3. Aegon’s conquest (looks like when he torched Harrenhall specifically)
4. Torrhen Stark, The King Who Knelt, bending the knee to Aegon
5. The Targaryen banner over King’s Landing
6. Maegor the Cruel, impaled on the Iron Throne
7. King Jaehaerys I and Queen Alysanne. The best rulers in Westerosi history.
8. Jaehaerys sitting at the Great Council of 101 AC, Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys are present
9. Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen standing at opposite ends of the council table
10. 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).
11. 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).