#alys meta

[ride-thedragon]

My biggest problem with Hotd s2 was the thesis change between the seasons. They went from the only thing that could take down the house of the dragon was itself, alluding to the dragons fighting dragons, the war of kin, revenge and ego killing the last magics of old Valyria the house would try desperately to regain and replicate to their doom until Daenerys to the prophecy is being written beyond us, we are just moving parts towards the end, we are pawns. The reason that doesn't work is because it defeats the point of the dance. The only character that might try to change their fate is Aemond, but for the rest of the characters, they have no stake but the end, but to play their part and tie it to their interest to what they know will happen. Instead of being too self-interested, too self-motivated to see the end, the destruction and what they'll lose. It's a mishandling of prophecy where they have to pile on efforts to make it the same ending instead of building on the start.

[greenqueenhightower]

He was obviously talking about Alys.

The "claiming an emotionally and sexually manipulative relationship with the outcast woman who bears a similar name to the witch stepsister who breastfed him and probably was the sole person to provide him with affection" theory is gaining ground as we speak.

The levels of twisted Oedipal complex would be enough to resurrect Freud from the dead.

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

people pointing to one heart as proof s/k is canon is sooooo funny when it seems to be a light only attack

bc like

its been stated consistently throughout the series that you cant just have light. light and dark need to be in balance.

like they literally say 'light!' as the attack starts.

that doesnt seem very balanced to me.

but you know what team attack is?

also, i feel like it being called one heart points even further to it being another s/k red herring.

like, compare that to hearts in tune

love is not being one with someone, or someone else 'completing' you. love is just being with someone. by their side.

and theres also the fact that the attack literally cannot function without the two of them together. they need both wings to fly. whereas the two halves of the combined keyblade can be used on their own

or at least i think they can, anyway. in nightmares end/mirage split we see them used individually to cut the chains before they merge:

plus all the emphasis on the nobodies/replicas/etc being their own people, and growing their own hearts. even tho they were 'content' with being merged with their og selves.

idk, maybe im reading too much into the name. maybe its not that deep. but it still seems kinda weird, with all the emphasis post-kh2 on everyone having their own identities

[amber-laughs]

Dancing to the Song of Ice and Fire

“Ser Waymar met him bravely. “Dance with me then.” He lifted his sword high over his head, defiant.” A Game of Thrones - Prologue

Our introduction to not just the Others but to the world itself. "Dance with me then"

The sight made Lady Alys smile. "Do you dance often, here at Castle Black?" "Every time we have a wedding, my lady." A Dance with Dragons - Jon X

When the Night King wed his Corpse Bride it took Brandon the Breaker with his forces and Joramun, King-Beyond-the-Wall, with his forces coming together to take him down. There was a wedding and then their armies had to dance with the Others.

"You could dance with me, you know. It would be only courteous. You danced with me anon." "Anon?" teased Jon. "When we were children." She tore off a bit of bread and threw it at him. "As you know well." A Dance with Dragons - Jon X

Anon is a word that we don't use as much in this context anymore but it means both "Soon" and "Shortly". For example in Romeo and Juliet when her nurse is calling for her Juliet responds "I come anon" meaning she'll be there shortly. It is never before and never again used in A Song of Ice and Fire.

Alys is telling Jon he danced with her for a brief time, specifically in the past tense and specifically to replace the word "shortly". But when Jon recalls this moment a few chapters later he misremembers it.

"A snowflake danced upon the air. Then another. Dance with me, Jon Snow, he thought. You'll dance with me anon." A Dance with Dragons - Jon XII

Jon now recalls this in the future tense and uses Anon to replace the word "soon". It's not that he danced in the past it's that he'll dance in the future. He'll dance with the Others soon just like Waymar Royce.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

*lies awake at night thinking about how important it is that Alys is always referred to as a girl not a woman because ultimately she’s still a child who was raised incredibly sheltered and is in a potentially volatile marriage whilst still completely naive of the world with very little understanding of what’s going on around her and at the end of the day it all comes down to remembering that “it’s not her fault her parents shoved her into a marriage to my father”, I don’t think Van Eck was mistreating her yet but I do think he’d been mistreating Marya for a long time before he sent her away and that he probably would have done so to Alys further down the line, remember “my father trusts himself first, Alys only so far” the emphasis on “only so far” is so important any emotion or care Van Eck feels towards anyone always has an expiration date*

[thevelaryons]

I’ve always found it interesting that of the lowborn/bastard women in the DotD, Marilda is the only one who doesn’t get slandered and insulted in the Westerosi history books.

Speaking specifically about the women who were rumored to have had affairs with noblemen, the women (Sara Snow/Alys Rivers/Nettles) in particular get derogatory descriptions for various reasons. The men they are linked to all either die or are unable to do anything about the rumors (Sara: her rumored lover Jace dies and her brother Cregan is far away in the North when those rumors become a thing in the South years later/Alys: her rumored lover Aemond dies and her son is obviously too young to do anything about the insults people are saying about his mother/Nettles: her rumored lover Daemon dies). Regardless of whether any of the rumors were true or not, it's still the women in the relationships who were described in a negative manner. Even men like Aemond or Daemon don't get as slandered, despite their more controversial actions.

Sara may or may not have existed (the fact that her existence alone is doubted speaks for itself) but in the history books she is described as an "unwashed" bastard. Even the fact she was a virgin at the time of her affair with Jace is called into question. Alys gets descriptors like "slattern" and "cow". She is reviled as a seductress and witch who would sacrifice her own children. Nettles gets insulted as well, both by characters around her and the maesters/septons recording the histories. Beyond the classism, there is also a racial angle to the insults with her skin colour always being at the forefront when she gets called "dirty" and "creature". It’s unfortunate but Westerosi society is unfair to women, especially those of a lower social class, and so they do often have to rely on the men in their lives, whether that’s a male lover/husband, their father, brother(s) or son(s) as a source of protection. Characters like Sara/Alys/Nettles don't get that protection.

Then you get to Marilda's descriptions in the book, and it's completely clean. Not a single insult is uttered against her despite her supposed involvement with two different Velaryon men. Whether her affair was with Corlys or Laenor, it occurred at the time when they were married men. Laenor is dead by the time when he's claimed to be the father of Marilda's sons. But Corlys is alive and well. Not to mention, he's a very well respected figure in Westerosi society. That being said, I can’t see Corlys doing any major PR control here since he does not have the means to do so.

Alyn, however, could ensure his mother did not get negative remarks. He's the one said to have fostered close ties to the Citadel and a positive relationship with the Faith. On more than one occasion, he was anointed by the High Septon himself, which is something that's typically reserved for the King or his Kingsguard. So I think Alyn might’ve used that influence to his favor.

While Alyn does seem like the type who doesn’t care much about what others think of him, he clearly respects his mother so I doubt he would want her to have a bad reputation. Even concerning the rumors of Alyn's potential affairs, the maesters are somewhat dismissive about them and call the rumors "unreliable". They don't give much credence to what third parties are saying on such matters. As for Alyn's mother, she is spoken of with nothing but respect and even flattery at times.

History is truly written by the victors.

[banefort]

Not to sound like a broken record talking about nomadic v settled lifestyles in HOTD, but an interesting dynamic that has come of the Daemon-Harrenhal sideplot is between him, the castle, and Alys and Ser Simon Strong, is what they represent as manifestations of the Neolithic agrarian revolution.

Daemon’s time at Harrenhal is spent oscillating between the two factions. Simon represents the foundations of a settled society. He dictates Daemon’s waking hours and daily schedule (against his will), keeps him tied to his political duties, and goes so far as to impel Daemon to guarantee the longevity of Harrenhal by commencing its reconstruction - affirming a settled and regulated lifestyle.

On the flip side Alys represents nomadic life, occupying the halls of the castle much like a ‘ghost’, only affecting circumstance through cerebral happenstances, whilst also showing a marked affection for the natural world and ancient natural structures (Wierwoods), and repeatedly identifies with the natural world via totemism (calling herself a barn owl). She is the history of Westeros and the First Men made manifest, and personifies a nomadic lifestyle which has been lost to to the regions south of the Wall.

By having Daemon constantly tossed between Ser Simon and Alys - settled and nomadic, polytheism versus paganism, agriculture versus shepherding, he occupies a liminal space and is caught between the refractions of history, and through his tumultuous residence, is implicitly drawn to question the true strength of monarchy, settled lifestyles, and all forms of contemporary power structures; for Alys, and her associated phantasmagorical neolithic ways, are clearly established to have had a far more substantial and cerebral impact on Daemon’s psyche than Ser Simon, who, while Daemon does entertain, he visibly holds no regard for, as opposed to Alys, who he is both wary and keen for. This is substantiated by his being shown to feel conflict and guilt over his perpetuation of Targaryen ethnocentric incest, his failure to fulfill his duties to his faction (be it the Blacks or his children/wife), amongst others, following his arrival at Harrenhal, suggesting that through her presence as an all-encompassing totem of nomadic conducts, his deep-rooted pride in Targaryen legacy, “the establishment” and all things modern, rapidly unwind. The paths of his - and all other citizens’, ancestors calls to him from an intangible, psychosomatic place. His contemporary comforts are all but stripped bare in some primal, unbidden rush to follow in their footsteps.

[tellmegoodbye]

I grow fonder of Buck and Tommy as a ship with each episode. There's a reason this relationship feels much more raw and real as compared to all the others, even in such a short amount of time, and I think it's because of the way Tommy was introduced to Buck.

Starting with Abby, she was enamored by Buck when she saw him on the news talking about his job. Same goes for Ali, Taylor and Natalia, who were all people he met on calls. One thing all of his exes have in common is that their first impression of Buck was "heroic firefighter" and that was part of what initially attracted them.

This didn't happen with Tommy. Sure, their first interactions are in the helicopter, but everyone is in the same boat there, and they had more important things to worry about. It's when we actually see them interact for the first time in 7x04, and the first version of Buck Tommy is exposed to is Jealous Buck. That doesn't scare him off. Then, in 7x05 the date doesn't go well and he's met with Oblivious Buck, but that doesn't scare him off either. In fact, he calls him adorable! Finally, in 7x06 he is exposed to Clipboard Buck, Bachelor Party Edition, and still he isn't scared off. He even stays with Buck until he has to go to work. He also makes it a point to go to him immediately as he's done. Not even stopping to shower.

All of this is to say that Tommy has been introduced very quickly to many different versions of Buck. Through all of it, he remains gentle, patient, and understanding. Partly because he's just a good guy, but also because he is really fucking into Buck. And he's not just attracted to him when he's at his best, but he likes ALL of him.

In conclusion, my reasons for liking Tommy for Buck go way beyond the fact that it's finally a guy that he's dating. While that is important for Buck's own understanding of himself, I think it's even more important for him to have someone who likes him for who he is. This is something Buck has been needing since season 1, probably since Abby left and did a number on his self-esteem, and he finally has it.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

honestly maybe it's just me but buck is literally repeating the same steps as with natalia and taylor as with tommy. they meet, he has a crush, go on a date, it's awful and the date leaves, they then come back, then try for real. Like it sounds like even though Buck is off the hamster wheel in regards to his sexuality he very much is still on the hamster wheel when it comes to repetitive mistakes when it comes to his relationships.

Hey Nonnie

I woudn't say that at all. Yes of course there are some similarities - there always will be - between Buck dating Tommy and the Buck who dated Taylor or Natalia. But the reality is they are worlds apart.

For starters Tommy didn't leave because the date was awful, he left to give Buck some space to do a bit more figuring out - he said so himself that his what he was doing. He chose to leave the ball in Bucks court, understanding this was a big new thing for him and that it wouldn't be right to continue anything until Buck was ready. Buck then contacted him when he was and they met up and decided mutually to give things ago.

This is very different to both Taylor and Natalia - both of whom left after something big had happened in Bucks life (Eddie being shot and Kameron popping up out of seemingly nowhere) and then they were the ones to come back - to chase after Buck.

Look we can have whole conversations about the chasing being chased aspect of things but the long and short of it is That both Taylor and (to a lesser extent) Natalia, Ali and Abby chased Buck in one way or another and when it suited them. Tommy has never chased Buck - he shot his shot, sure, made his interest known, but he hasn't once chased Buck. Buck has always mistaken things for him doing the chasing (he is an very unreliable narrator) becuse he gets invested fast and so pursues things. His mistake is moving to fast - falling to quickly for people.

This is the major fundamental difference with Tommy, who is older and wiser and settled with who he is and what he wants. He also has the understanding of being queer and coming out later in life - of discovering that part of yourself that has been hidden and the fact it might take Buck a minute to figure out things.

The other big thing for me is the level of honest Buck is being here - this isn't something we've seen before in this way. He has been completely up front with Tommy when it has been important for him to be so (I would argue he did do the same for Natalia but that he was more forced into it by circumstance). That coffee they had was a very very clear example of that, he sat down, appologised and laid his cards out on the table. He's told the two most important people in his life that he's bi and interested in Tommy and yes maybe going to a wedding is a bit fast, but he also knows most of the people there so he's not walking in to a big unknown in t hat respect and he has a lot of goodwill with the firefam at this moment after flying them to the curise ship so they could rescue Athena and Bobby.

In all honesty I'm far more circumspect about Natalias behaviour as well - far more than a large portion of fandom was towards her. Did I like her as a character or for Buck, No I didn't, but she also didn't do all that much wrong in my eyes, her wanting to take a minute when presented with all that Bucks life is, to think things through before jumping into something is perfectly acceptable and healthy behaviour. The reality is that she was more interested in Bucks death than she was in his life and thats probably what brought her back - that itching need to know more about his death and what it was like.

But she came into his life when he was in a rough place mentally and it was never going to go well for that reason alone. All of Bucks girlfriends have that in common - they met him on the job and then come inot his life when he is having some form of internal crisis. Abby when he had just lost his first person on the job - making him emotionally vulnerable. Ali when he's accepted his relationship with Abby wasn't going anywhere a new guy had just started at work (yes they were getting on by this point but it is still new and an unknown) and his sister had just come back into his life after having had no contact for several years - and he knows she's in a fragile place. Taylor messes hm around but when she comes back into his life and wants to date him - Eddie has just been shot and he's looking after Christopher - he's massively emotionally compromised. None of these are good times to start a romantic relationship.

That isn't the case with Tommy - Bucks actually in a pretty decent place - yes the whole discovering he's queer could be argued as making him emotionally compromised, but he's being given the grace to do things at his own pace - in a healthy way - Tommy is letting Buck dictate the pace they go at.

We also have to remember that we are in a tv show - every single character who isn't a main (or to a certain extent a recurring) is there to act as a storytelling vehicle for one of the mains - their character traits are always going to be those which help get a main character from A to B, to move the story along and to make sure our mains learn something about themselves and their fellow mains along the way.

Abby was about getting Buck from being a bit of a clueless player into a long term (ish) relationship - about growing him out of his jock ways and getting him (and us) to recognise that he isn't a player that he wants real love and a long term relationship. Ali was about him getting over his first big disappointment - about getting hm to move on and about getting him his own place to exist. Taylor was about learning what love didn't look like, about how to treat others and showing him what he wasn't looking for and teaching him not to compromise on his morals. Natalia was all about Buck reconciling himself with his death and rebirth and as soon as he had done that, she was gone.

Tommy is about Buck discovering his queer identity, having a safe space to explore that and about getting him ready for Eddie - its why Tommy is soooo similar to Eddie - Buck will come out of this relationship (whatever form it takes) understanding who he is, and recognising what he wants is what he already almost has - Eddie.

Tommy is also about helping manoeuvre Eddie into questioning himself - another reason why he is so similar to Eddie - Eddie needed to see a gay version of himself - and with Buck to actually start thinking about himself and who he is and what he wants.

So all this to say that Nonnie - Buck has very much got off that hamster wheel and he is very much not making the same mistakes over again. I'm very excited to see how it continues to play out and I'm overjoyed with how the show is handling telling this story.

[drakaripykiros130ac]

do you expect TG to be even more whitewashed in next seasons? I certainly do. And I think I've already got an idea how Condal will do it. 1. Alicunt goes to Rhaenyra to beg for ceasing the war and/or dividing the realm so both Rhaenyra and Aegon can be rulers. Alicunt will imploringly beseech Rhaenyra with tears in her Big Doe Eyes™ and Rhaenyra harshly answers "no". They'll make Rhaenyra look like a power hungry, vicious tyrant just to get their point across 2. Aemond. Most (if not all) of his actions will be excused as "he didn't know better/he's just hot blooded, young and naive". Just like with accidently murdering Luke. And how will they do it? Two words: Alys Rivers. Yes, I fully expect them to make her the mastermind behind Strongs house annihilation and nuking Riverlands. She'll whisper into Aemond's ear that Strongs are traitors (her own personal revenge bc they treated her oh so bad) that he should show Riverlands his might etc.

I'm 100% sure it will happen

I agree with absolutely everything you mentioned.

Alicent gets a pass for everything because she is played by Olivia Cooke and the showrunners are absolutely obsessed with her (and when I say that, I mean her looks). And because Emma D’Arcy is not considered a conventional beauty in comparison, Rhaenyra, as a character, has to suffer.

Yes, I am 100% convinced they will make Alicent all holly and desperate to end the war (after she started it) by trying to convince Rhaenyra to divide the Realm and have both her and Aegon rule different parts of it (which is book canon, but the real Alicent’s intentions were far from noble at that point). They will certainly ignore how in canon, Alicent said terrible things about Rhaenyra’s children, like how bastard blood doesn’t matter and all that.

The showrunners also have an obsession with Aemond, as you pointed out. And in order to make him look good, they have to make Daemon look bad.

They invented the “bullying” storyline and how he just “accidently” killed Lucerys. In book canon, Aemond was a bloodthirsty psychopath with zero redeeming qualities (unlike Daemon), he committed numerous war crimes as a result of his rage and turned Alys Rivers into his sex slave after he murdered her whole family. But true, I’m not going to be surprised if they make Alys the mastermind behind all of Aemond’s actions in this war, just to make him look like a “poor innocent baby”.

Basically, everything the Greens do is a misunderstanding or an accident. Everything the Blacks do is intentional and cruel: that’s the showrunners’ whole play (and I can’t believe GRRM is letting them do whatever they want and turning this whole Dance into their personal Wattpad story).

[somewherefornow]

It’s interesting that Kyle envisions one of his descendants as Wally’s descendant as well, that he imagines tying their families & powers together this way. Especially, considering later “Green Lightning” is revealed to be representative of Kyle’s hope…which involves Wally and him sharing one family tree.

[randomthingsthatilike1]

honestly I think the wrong parent was sent to pick up Aly in the ending of Trickster's Choice

the entire book we see through Kyprioths visions to Aly that Alanna, above all, cares for Aly, that she really does see Aly for who she is and worries terribly for her lost, hidden daughter, angry and upset and scared. She's constantly scrying for her with the mirror Thom gave her--her daughter is missing and her husband lied to her about it.

After months and months of worrying and praying, Alanna finally knows where her daughter is. She loves George, she does, but he lied to her about her only daughter's well being. And after the 8 years of her training constantly lying to everyone Alanna is sick of it, sick of doing it and avoids it at almost all cost--but for this? For the love she has for her daughter?

She’s been worried sick, scrying every free hour, distracted and blaming herself for her daughter’s disappearance. She's not needed in Frasrland, not really, not with this stalemate at the border. The killing devices are all gone and nothing is happening there. They don't need her--but Aly does.

She’s been married to George for 20 years and she’s known him for 30--she’s picked up a few tricks on how to go around unseen, how to slip away seamlessly but first there are a few things she has to do.

Her husband with his nondescript features can roam freely.  She cannot. She’s far too distinctive nowadays, but to quote her daughter that is what razors and dyes are for. Her long hair is her pride and joy. After years of cutting it boyishly short, as well as being a good enough fighter she can have long hair--it’s her one vanity.

She loves her hair. She’d topple kingdoms for her daughter.

A short and stocky man with copper red hair isn't the ideal spy, but shes here to find her daughter--its the story she goes with. She’s looking for her daughter, a Tortallan, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Copper Isles.She speaks enough Carthaki to get by and well it’s not like she can’t defend herself, even with just a knife and hand to hand.

The only dead giveaway about her are her purple eyes, but she's a mage, with a powerful Gift specializing in manipulating the human body--if there's a magical way to create an illusion or temporarily change your eye color she would know it. If not, I'm sure George has found a way and she's already used it before.

This barely scratches the surface of what she’d do for Aly. She's a mage, with a powerful Gift specializing in manipulating the human body--if there's a magical way to create an illusion or temporarily change your eye color she would know it. If not, I'm sure George has found a way. She glamors her eyes to look the same as her daughter and her husband. She lightly dyes her hair, making it a more blondish red like Aly's.

She finds a young squire stationed at the border and surreptitiously steals some of his clothes and other supplies around camp, her personal weaponry far too flashy and distinctive.

Aly isn’t the only one who was trained by the King of Thieves.

You can’t tell me she’s never done anything like this with George, not wanting to be stared at by people who recognize the famous Lioness, either getting him out of some scrapes or just relaxing and having fun.

Kyprioth is sweating bullets. There's only so much he can hide, although he has far more power in the Copper Isles than Tortall so he can't stop her but he’ll do his best to hide her from the Goddess but uhhhhhhhh there’s only So Much he can do. 

Alanna is Determined--she will find her daughter and is she maybe less subtle than George was? Sure. But all the same, she’s brought to the Balitang’s home in Rajmuat and makes her way to Lombyn.

It’s the same scene, of Alanna approaching Winnamine , introducing herself as Alan Cooper and asking to buy Aly-- Winnamine realizing “Alan” isn’t really here to buy Aly.

It takes Aly just a little longer to recognize Alanna--and she comes to a halt and is filled with shock because this is the Lioness, her mother who is persona non grata to the Copper Isles due to killing one of their princesses decades ago (and wow that might actually get Ochabu to tolerate her mother) and would probably be either killed or ransomed as a hostage p much on sight, the King’s Champion, one of the most distinctive and famous women in the continent--is here.

She’s here, her hair short and lighter and her purple eyes--they’re very similar to Aly’s now. Alanna letting out a sob at the sight of her daughter--her hair also shorter, eyebrow scar, broken nose, but alive and safe and still with that spark in her eye.

Just. The PARALLELS of both having the explicit approval of their god to deceive and lie and how they both deceived so many people to achieve their goals. Aly seeing her mother engage in spycraft and trickery to try to find her is probably a better apology than Alanna could ever find the words for

Later after Alanna had her Own standoff with Kyprioth she tells Aly she didn’t want this life for her, not because she was a noble or a Trebond but because she’s Alanna’s daughter and she knows how hard it is to keep a secret and deceive the people she cared about, and how much it hurt when it all came out. That’s something George never had to deal with--George has never really had to deceive his loved ones. They’ve always known he’s Crooked and an inkling of what he’s been up to--but Alanna has. She did it for 8 long years and she was good at it too, but the amount of pain it brought her after meant she never wanted that for her daughter.

Alanna earned her shield through treachery, the constant fear of being found out dogging her footsteps and once she got it she made sure no other girl would have to.

For Aly just to be reminded how similar she really is to her mother and begrudgingly putting that together--for Kyprioth to tell Aly that yes George gave her the skills he needed that made Aly his ideal Spymaster and what she’s done so far in keeping the Balitangs safe is why he wants her to stay, but it was Alanna’s actions that really sold him on recruiting Aly in the first place.

(I have other feelings about Kyprioth and Alanna here because d a m n “they say he loves a good trick”--as a girl for 8 years Alanna fooled the Tortallan monarchy and nobility. That’s what his Promised Queen will have to do. And he is George’s patron--it would make sense that both of them loved aspects of Alanna.)

(also while she’s there it’d be hilarious for Sarai to spar against Alanna and have her ass handed to her--it’d be a great nod back to when Aly was observing Sarai and thinking about her own training bc it sure would make Ulasim wonder wait can Aly use a sword????)

(also if anyone wants to write this go for it)

[lhazar]

Why was Tyland mud wrestling the most interesting part of the season finale and why do I wish every scene of daemon’s divorce arc at harrenhal was replaced with it? Oh that’s right. Because it had actual stakes and complex politics involved—on screen too, no less! ​the only sad part was that we didn’t get to see tyland have the most awkward yet politically successfully orgy of his life

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

OKAY WAIT

I WAS THINKING OF MAKING A POST W/ THIS SCENE IRT PEOPLE SAYING SORIKU WONT HAPPEN BC DISNEY DOESNT DO MLM

BUT LIKE

MY FUCKIGN DUMBASS JUST REMEMBERED SAN FRANSOKYO IS AN ACTUAL WORLD IN KH???

A WORLD THATS CANON IN THE KH UNIVERSE HAS A MLM ROMANCE?????

HOLY SHIT??????????

[ride-thedragon]

Something always grinds my gears about the narrative that hotd is a feminist telling from both the writers and the audience who use it as an insult because it chooses to neglect for the sake of naming the thing and relating to the culture the fact that feminism, especially in media can't be analysed by the definition alone.

Feminism occurs in both waves and theories. The writers and reviewers sight nothing but the name itself. Hotd isn't based in Marxist feminism or liberal feminism and I'm not entirely sure anyone who says it's feminist can tell me which wave it belongs to, what theory it is. This is a bigger issue with the trend of political critiques turning into buzz words and then depending on how the culture sees the word, into a marketing strategy to relate to the audience.

I know the hotd writers are guilty of this with the constant reference to American political figures and narratives when describing characters in such a concerning way.

I don't think that this is a problem with only this show but this show is falling short with audiences because what they deem as feminist rather than tying themselves to any definition outside of the cultural one and then applying their own perceptions of feminism into the narrative.

This leads to a lack of clear definition and a gross oversight, which in turn leads to a historically masculine space salivating over the failure of feminism and attempted intersectionalism as though it's the real thing.

House of the Dragon as it is written doesn't subscribe to feminism. What it does is have writers from the Imperialist West who are raised in an individualist society and the cultural influence of the waves of feminism recorded that they lived through and leaned towards based on personal experiences (sidenote I hate acting as though I know the writers personally, and can judge them as people, this is just a framework that can be applied to Americans.)

The writers have biases that influence what they write, which isn't inherently a bad thing, but because it's marketed as a feminist show, it's fundamentally failing its audience.

[elains]

On Daemon and Aemond's fated meeting

Okay so, it seems clear to me that Fate, Prophecy, and how people approach these two concepts seem to be key points House of the Dragon will try to expand upon and I understad well why: prophecy has been the bread and butter of tragedies since long ago, and this story is a tragedy.

So, I think we'll see Daemon and Aemond go to their deaths in the God's Eyes with two different philosophies, different approaches to the concept of fate and how people deal with it. Daemon accepts his own doom and will go there knowing he's walking into the Stranger arms. He knows what must be done. If dies there, he'll make it count and take down Aemond and Vhagar with him. This is death, and he has nothing left to lose. It's all or nothing.

Aemond, on the other hand, won't accept Helaena's truth quietly; he'll rage against it. It's a force he cannot control, and as we see, Aemond hates this feeling. He'll fight fate rather than submit, but we know that this is pointless. The God's Eyes is his doom — and so will Alys, who Aemond is also destined to meet. She'll guide him not to embrace his death, but to fight against it and, in doing so, ensures things stay on their path. She seems to be an agent of the Old Gods, seeking to make sure we have the scenario set for the Long Night and the Night King to be defeated, come what may.

Like the foils they are, Under God's Eyes these two Targaryen men will go to meet fate: one to embrace it at last, knowing there's no return; the other to wage war against it and hope against all hope to triumph and return. And their deaths will have been for a greater purpose.