#also the fact that i couldn't find anyone who'd made a set like this yet?? wild

[ride-thedragon]

My blood and cheese thoughts.

I want to get it out of the way and say I didn't hate the adaptation. I think it was a bit underwhelming in terms of the atrocities committed and positioned in the books, but for the changes the show made, I think it's a really good adaptation of one of the worst aspects of the dance.

To go in further though a pros and cons list because I didn't entirely love it.

Pros:

1. PHIA SABAN. She was just excellent. I saw a lot of people early on hating on the delivery, but to me, it worked extremely well. That's Helaena experiencing this disaster without anyone at her side. That's show Helaena, it's amazing that she understands the character so well. Her immediate reaction is her discomfort at someone being so close yet still being terrified. The necklace handed over because she didn't know better, she's never had to know better. The way she reacted to Alicent and Criston, running through the castle muttering things to herself. It was all so excellent and she really sold it. "The boy is dead" sounded like a part of the prophecy she couldn't face when she was afraid of the rats and the way she's trembling as they believe her, that she sacrificed her son. It was incredible acting so early on, and it was excellent.

2. The trade-off. It was set up so well to me. Aegon confuses Jaehaera from behind in their first scene. Helaena is the one who can tell which child is which. The mother knows, is haunting, and the fact that she was checking on her kids that late in the night was so saddening. Then she, the only one so far who we see keeping track of who is who willingly is just beyond heartbreaking. The fact that they had the killer look her in the eye and admit to the other that she wasn't lying when she pointed to her son was just insane.

3. It was Aemond. In the books, they say Daemon, Mysaria, and Rhaenyra purposefully tried to kill Jaehaerys and traumatise everyone involved as payment for Luke. The fact that it was Aemond in the show made a lot more sense .

Cons.

1. World Building.

Helaena is the Queen of Westeros. Her children are the heirs to the throne. WHERE ARE THE GUARDS?!. Where are the at least 2 guards that should be obligated to be at their side. The handmaid's that would go with her to the kids' room in case they wake up, her maids who'd prepare her for bed after?. It makes absolutely no sense for them to be alone in that moment. It's not Criston’s responsibility. He's Alicent's guard. Helaena and her children should have guards.

2. Cruelty.

The cruelty of the killers was lost in the adaptation for the worse. Obviously, they don't have a personal stake, and the way it's set up, Cheese finds Helaena, and blood is trying to work it out, but I do think they should've been worse. There was just a menacing quality missing from the killers, especially when we followed them around. I think having it from Helaena’s perspective isn't the best, but it would've been better to have it interchange. To build up to the suspense.

3. Brutality.

No, I did not need to see a child murdered on screen, but I think the brutality of the situation was lost as well. Helaena is terrified because she's a princess left alone with criminals doing something unknown. Why not make it clearer. Have some bashed in heads of fallen guards, have a murdered handmaid, and the kids left sleeping. Decorate the place with the cruelty of what hey intend to do, have it resonate what her choice means, and when we see her run and hear the noise, it's past what they've already done. This also means blood is more a part of it and it isn't a split decision. This leads to more last issue.

4. LET DAEMON BE ACCOUNTABLE.

Why is he not? Why is it left ambiguous? It's so strange. When Aemond killed Luke, you could tell it was him overestimating the situation, its a mistake only to the extent that Aemond was playing a cat and mouse game with a war shipment because he didn't think of the consequence. It makes jo sense to do that with Daemon. This man wants to burn and kill and go to war the entire episode only to not have him say any prince would do. He schemes and plots, risks himself in King's Landing only to not have the final call? Let him be extreme. Now I'm going to have to sit through Daemon and rhaenyra again, misunderstanding each other and Daemon being sad because no one trusts him because he's a horrible person to be loved by and I'm sure by the end it'll be rectified. But I wanted that call from him, on screen for his anger towards what happened, towards the delay in action, when Rhaenyra gave him an inch by saying she wanted Aemond, I needed him to take a mile because that's who he is.

Overall,

I think it was a good adaptation for the show. I don't want to watch the episode back because the sounds of Jaehaerys' death made me sick. I don't think they could've done it better off-screen or more responsibly for the current events of the world. It was simply effective. I just had my expectations as a book viewer and as someone who was excited to see where the writers are taking the world they created because either like a lot of their choices.

[a-student-out-of-time]

So uhhh I’m guessing you saw the latest ep? I hope you’re okay

//My apologies, everyone. I did not have a fun time with that episode and I got very upset.

//But I've taken some time and applied some of my DR-savvy mind to this episode and I'm going to give you a (probably delulu) theory on what actually happened here:

//Simply put, I don't think that's actually Arei. I'll explain why:

She made it clear how much she hated being reminded of these things, about people who'd send her rope on her birthday. Even after her emotional breakdown, I can't believe she would actually do this. One could argue someone killed her with it, but:

There's been so much emphasis on Arei's character and backstory, and to have her die now would not only feel like a complete waste, but it feels like it was setting up for something deliberate involving her.

As others have pointed out, the changing rooms in the clothing store- the same floor as the playground- are soundproofed. Arturo couldn't hear what J and Teruko were talking about in there, even though he was right outside.

That moment where Teruko and Veronika had their weird and inexplicable conversation about prosopagnosia and how Teruko's not good at recognizing faces. That felt so odd to include...but the fact that we didn't even get a good look at the face with that reveal is telling.

The fact that David drew so much attention to the fact that Arei is missing, and everyone spent so long worrying about her being dead. That's so obvious and played so straight that I genuinely can't believe it would ever really happen. This is meant to get us to remember who was at the scene and who left in what order.

Rose brought up that her turpentine is missing. Something that Teruko pointed out could be use to knock someone unconscious.

The Motive Reveal situation also drew so much attention to the fact that 13 people were in the auditorium. That was bolded in yellow and feels so weird to include if it's not going to be important for later.

Most importantly, the BDA cut off right at the end. We didn't get any details, any closeups, anyone musing on the fate of the victim, or anyone actually checking the body. We got that with Xander in Chapter 1, but not here? In fact, think about it: has that ever happened genuinely in any of the games? All we got was the body swinging from a long distance, no closeup of the face or anyone saying the name, just the "A body has been discovered" announcement and then it immediately cuts off.

//Maybe it's because I've absorbed so much DR-related content at this point, but this reveal feels much too obvious, too straightforward and too weird for me to take it seriously. I honestly can't buy that DT, which has done so well at averting these tropes so far, would suddenly go this route.

//Instead, I think Arei's actually alive somewhere, and that body is someone else dressed up to look like her. They're close enough to the changing rooms, nobody would've heard and we've yet to see anyone except Teruko, Whit and Eden find the body.

//Until we can actually get a headcount and confirm that, yes, that is actually here and everyone else is accounted for, that I'm comfortable with saying that it's not actually her.

//Maybe I'm crazy, but the way this is set up feels far too weird for me to take it seriously. This is too obvious, it has to be setting up for something else.

//This series excels at getting you worked up with seemingly obvious reveals, only to hit you with something that you may not have seen coming if you weren't paying attention.

//All I'm saying is, if it happened with Kaito and Kokichi, it could happen here too

//Until everyone is accounted for, I'm not going to be convinced

[appleciders]

Martha Blackburn & Shelby Goodkind in Season 1

“Shelby’s been amazing.”