#and I'm getting stuck in my thoughts about aegon and rhaenys

[viiisenyas]

Lyanna Stark naming Jon Snow after his dead brother is just... oof. Maybe I'm just attached to my oc, and maybe the trauma of hearing her uncle Oberyn telling her how her cousins were butchered by the Lannisters got to me, but like... Elaena would flip her shit if she heard that bullshit from Bran/Sam/Jon.

[ai-megurine]

HOTD S2 episode 2 "Rhaenyra the Cruel" reaction

• This OST! Djamin Rawadi is a god

• Can we appreciate Aegon's friends? Staying with him despite the state of madness he's in and closing the door to make sure he has some privacy

• oh so that shot of Aemond was him realising that he was the target!!!!

• I'm sorry I'm not that sympathetic to Alicent's tears? I just wish we could see more of Helaena grieving. I love the dress though

• ALICENT B&C IS NOT ABOUT YOU

• Otto shut up.

• Get Tom an Emmy, an Oscar and every single award in the world. His "what?" of disbelief to Otto stuck with me, dunno why

• In love with Larys' entrance. No one notices him until he speaks, he's in the background. Perfectly suits him

• "Bitch Queen of bastards" lmfao

• Love that the Council is shutting up and just letting Aegon rant. They're all scared of him in a way

• Who knew I'd ever be happy to see Larys?

• "I'll kill him myself" feed him to Sunfyre pls. Or Shrykos

• Aegon losing it every time Otto speaks is such a mood

• Jasper Wylde has a lign! Who knew.

• "We know our enemy!" with the little hand thingy was funny, I'm sorry

• Tyland!!

• "you're already seen as weak" oh fuck you Otto

• Why would anyone think that Rhaenys committing mass murder means Rhaenyra should be Queen???

• Aegon "my little son's body" broke me.

• Alicent calling Aegon "my darling" was sweeter than I thought.

• oh so Helaena can be a spectacle but not you??

• HELAENA MY LOVE

• LET ME HUG YOU

• DAEMON WHEN I CATCH YOU

• BALERION HIMSELF COULDN'T PROTECT YOU

• Oh my lord she's holding Jaehaerys' clothes 😭😭😭

• She's grief personified I can't breathe

• Phia is an angel

• THE TEAR ON HER CHEEK

• AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH the "I don't want them closer I don't know them" breaks me. She's my angel, I will fight the world for you

• ALICENT WHO CARES YOU'RE BANGING COLE. IT HASN'T BEEN 24 HOURS SINCE JAEHAERYS DIED

• "This is for my boy" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

• The toy horse 😭😭😭😭

• The music is so good

• (when did they have the time to make all the uniforms and banners??? Sewing ladies have been doing overtime)

• Blood IMMEDIATELY giving up all the information was low-key funny but it really showcases who he is. A big bully who uses his strength to hurt people weaker than hip (women and children) but the second he's caught? He folds like a coward.

• Lmfao Larys' face. Even he was like "damn dude I didn't even start"

• Who the fuck is the herald? I thought Otto would be the one doing this

• OH MY GOD THEY SEWED THE HEAD BACK?????

• ANGEL, BABY, I LOVE YOU

• DAEMON I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF

• The little circlet on his bead 😭😭😭😭

• why barn owls on the shroud? I mean it's Helaena and she's flawless so I like it anyway

• So the death of Jaehaerys has FINALLY been acknowledged as kinslaying as well

• Blood's face when he understands that Aegon is coming and that it's going to be painful

• Noooooo, I wanted more pain for Blood

• Oh no my girl being so overwhelmed. She's in pain 😭😭😭

• Oh Rhaenyra's reaction to B&C

• I mean why wouldn't they accuse you? Like? Bestie? Who would it profit to kill Aegon's heir?

• Is Daemon actually smirking???? This man istg

• Rhaenys immediately knew, this woman is too good for these people

• Rhaenyra's realisation

• "Killing it"??? IT???? WOMAN.

• DON'T YOU FUCKING LAUGH. If you felt any ounce of remorse, you would be screaming in rage about it

• "you have wounded me" BESTIE A CHILD DIED WE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STANDING

• JFC the way she reacted when he broke that glass!!! She's obviously scared, it's definitely not the first time.

• Emma the actor that you are. Rhaenyra looks ready to rip Daemon's head with her bare teeth (which she should do, it would be iconic)

• You are a monster dude

• Oooh that silence

• "because of your virtue" hshshsjsj

• Bestie Viserys named Rhaenyra heir out of grief and guilt

• "You're pathetic" is so iconic, love it

• Baela exists! That coat is atrocious though

• So no risking Jace but Baela is fair game huh? Bitch (and I don't even like Baela). Good scene though

• Behold, Daemon runs away from his family

• HELAENA STILL DOESN'T HAVE A GUARD???? WHAT???? AEGON HAS TWO HE COULD SPARE ONE

• Oh god her and Aegon. Grieving, broken, but unable to connect. I feel like she wanted to reach out in the stairs, but he runs away because he's on the verge of breaking down and be can't have that in public.

• The nodding???

• NOOO THE BED

• I mean, I know it's better but

• Oh god the mattress covered in blood

• The juxtaposition with Rhaenyra being with her son is heartbreaking. The way she realises that this is what Helaena lost, that Jaehaerys was that age

• ALICENT STOP THINKING ABOUT YOU BANGING COLE NO ONE CARES

• Also Cole should be guarding Helaena and Jaehaera

• The religious trauma of consensual sex

• I wished the Alicole storyline would take less screen though, I mean good for them but that mess of a relationship shouldn't overshadow Helaegon's doomism and greek tragedy right now

• Cole needs to stop beefing with the rest of the world, Arryk isn't responsible for it

• Love Arryk for calling out Cole

• LMFAO THE OTHER KINGSUARDS NOPPING OUT. Valid ngl

• YOU'RE MAD SER. Love him

• Cole's hypocrisy is a delight. He's a terrible person, but he's so interesting

• Why don't they use poison though

• Laenor being mentioned? Neat. Him teaching the boys about fishing and Sea Shanty is pretty fun

• Damn that scene is actually good!! A shame I couldn't care less about Baela and Rhaena

• Oh so that's the famous brothel scene?

• Aemond's mummy issues on fill display 🙏🏻

• I love the relationship between him and the madame ngl. Like I know he pays her for it but her gentleness with him seems to be at least partially genuine. Her facial expression when he doesn't look at her are pretty telling

• Hugh Hammer the return! Fuck if I care but hey, I'm not against them developing the Dragonseeds. I wish Nettles was around too. I guess Hugh will join TB after his family's death? Or he'll be a spy for TG? Dunno

• So we know Baela ends up with Alyn, and he looks so much bigger and older than her 😭 Like it makes sense but DAMN

• I genuinely cannot begin to care about Corlys to save my life

• WAIT RHAENYRA DIDN'T KNOW WHO MYSARIA WAS???? THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY

• Mysaria being a good character wasn't on my bingo card but I don't dislike it

• Seasmoke following Addam around like a lost puppy is so funny to me. Also his sounds are so cute. I guess Laenor died off screen?

• The focus on the smallfolk is great. It reminds me of Varys' quote about the smallfolk always being the one to suffers.

• Cheese didn't suffer enough and I wish that dog a very nice "find a better owner"

• "Oh, I had them hanged" is so fucking funny.

• Otto is right, though. Like, this was a terrible idea.

• Ooooh mentioning Jaehaerys was a dumb move. You should Aegon isn't going to be rational about it

• Aegon, you can show strength by, you know, USING YOUR DRAGON. Honestly a public execution of Blood would have been better

• Otto's "wtf" face is so funny. I love him. Tom and Rhys are carrying this entire episode. Phia too, but she's less present

• Otto, do you REALLY think Aegon gives a single fuck about Viserys???

• Otto being fired for upteenth time is so funny. This man files for unemployment every three weeks

• Otto's last act of defiance was great

• Yeah, Mysaria isn't exiting the show

• Oh, that's how she'll stay

• Elinda Massey exists!

• I'm glad they didn't make Rhaenyra fight Arryk like some believed. It makes much more sense for her to be genuinely scared for her life. Like, Arryk is a grown ass man in armour and literally one of the best knights of his time

• They deserved better

• Otto unknowingly dissing his daughter's bf right in front of her was peak irony.

• "Petty revenge"? A FOUR YEAR OLD CHILD WAS DECAPITATED

• FUCK YOU ALICENT. Your son isn't "valuable", he's YOUR SON

• DAERON MENTION!!!!!!!! VICTORY!!!!!!!!

• The generational trauma of zero communication 🙏🏻

• Aegon sobbing and breaking down

• Nooooooooooo

• My love

• Let me hug you

• He's so beautiful

• A fallen angel

• CRISTON LEGIT SITTING ON HER BED WAS SO FUNNY LIKE WHAT

• HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WAITING

• ALSO WHO IS GUARDING HELAENA

Conclusion :

Tom is a god, Phia is an angel, I will start a cult for Ramin Djawadi. The acting in general was top notch, but Tom and Phia have ascended to god-like.

Helaegon's doomism and Greek tragedy will be my death, I love them your honour.

The focus on the smallfolk was very good, and I hope they do it for both sides.

[aegons-queen-rhaella]

So, I watched HOTD ep. 1... My thoughts:

My first thoughts about the ep are...it was fine. Just fine.

Getting into specifics: team green, B&C, sex, and some team black dynamics will be talked about. If you want no spoilers, scroll (This was a lengthy post. Sorry).

Team Green was somewhat disappointing and I'm not surprised. The first scene we see of Alicent and Sir Cole is them having oral sex. Why? Why are the even fucking? They shouldn't be doing that cause it makes them look like hypocrites. It makes them lose their values. It undermines their characters in a gross way. The character assassination is heavy in this first ep. The show runners did this on purpose to make them look bad. Honestly think about it, with all the shit that is going on why is now the time to show them having relations that they didn't have in the book? They did this for the sake of getting a sex scene. Disappointing!

The dynamic between Aemond and Sir Cole is one of friendship, maybe father & son dynamic. I like to see it. What I didn't like was hearing Aemond trash his mother and if I remember right, he trashed papa Otto too. I don't believe he would do that. He was fiercely loyal to his family even though he had ambition. I also like how Cole tried to defend Alicent from Aemond's ridicule.

Aegon. I loved him this ep. I love how they showed that he cares for his kids. He took his heir to the council. That is something that old man Vizzy never did with Aegon. I love how they showed how he was trying to be a good, fair, king to his people. He was trying. His humor was nice tension relief when needed. From what we saw of his dynamic with Helaena, it gives very much still a sibling relationship. They didn't want to marry so they don't act like loving spouses to each other, just siblings. I want to see what else TGC will deliver of Aegon throughout the season.

...I have to talk about how this show did Blood and Cheese. I thought they would have stuck to the book more. Them having her say "I have a necklace, a very expensive one" to me down played the terror of this event. She could have said "take me instead but leave my babies be" I was pissed that they cut so much of this horrible event from the show. This was supposed to deeply effect Alicent and Helaena. They were supposed to share this experience. Helaena was acting like this was no big deal and gave up her son quickly. Then she just walked into the room while Alicent is riding Sir Cole (again a pointless scene). I guess it was her being in shock but, damn was there no emotion. It should have been heart breaking to see, instead it was bland. Nothing like the book. They should have just did what GRRM wrote.

Now for team black dynamics. I'm going to keep this short but, us seeing Rhae grieve was good. I'm glad they showed it and it made me feel something for her character.

Jace and Cregan Stark having conversation on the wall was interesting. I'm a bit annoyed that we didn't see their pact and we didn't see Jace at the Vale. We missed out on how Jace was handling his emotions through the rest of his quest.

Rhaenys blowing off funky ass Daemon was great to see. He was trying to command a woman he has no power over. What a clown.

Anyway, let me know how y'all felt about the ep! Enjoy the Aegon gif!

[backjustforberena]

Corlys's influence is HUGE and the text recognises it. He and his wife are half the reason Rhaenyra stands half a chance. And he's a good man (as much as you can be), the text is filled with references to how respected and formidable he is and how worthy he is, even if he does, frankly, awful things. You've got the Velaryon Fleet revolting after he's arrested and his own men trying to set him free!! That loss helps in Rhaenyra losing the entire city and means she HAS to go to Dragonstone because she sure as heck won't find sanctuary on Driftmark.

And even with his stupid ambitions, they seem pretty legit, as much as anyone else's. It's not out of reach or out of the question. He's not grasping to want his blood on the Throne. It was GOING to happen, till Jaehaerys stuck his oar in. He's just righting an injustice, as he sees it, motivated by having a wife that's super hot been cheated out of her inheritance. Corlys is going white knight, even if he's being a collosal idiot about it (in the show at least).

His priorities are his family and then it gets to be ending the conflict. One thing that struck me, when reading, was he never goes for revenge for revenge's sake. Despite ALL the motives. He never acts rashly. He always seems to have thought through consequences, even when warning Addam. I think the closest is the fact that he goes ALL IN for taking the city, after Rhaenys is killed, whereas before he was a bit more wary.

He never seems to compromise or debase himself either, even when he's on trial. He stands by his actions. All of them. He'd do them again.

He's not going to cower or be intimidated by rank or riches or even power. If he wants to yell at Rhaenyra, he'll yell at Rhaenyra. If he wants to demand things from the Greens, he'll do that.

He's also a grown man surrounded by idiots. He just gives off that vibe: with Aegon, with the Lads, with Cregan. He's the man of experience, truly looking for a way to make peace. And people, generally, listen to him. Or they SHOULD have listened.

Idk, I just think he's pretty cool. Even though he's got MASSIVE flaws and I will always happily point that out. And Steve Toussaint is going to play a blinder. I'm really excited for his arc.

Also, until it happens, I'm going to pretend that after Rhaenys dies, he just goes through life going: WWRD (What Would Rhaenys Do), the answer of which is- protect the grandbabies. Because it warms my shipper heart and I like to think her death was a massive turning point for him.

@backjustforberena genuinely the reason i like corlys more than a lot of his parallel/anti parallel characters (like otto, tywin, jon arryn) is because he actually CAN back up his ego. this man is a wildly accomplished explorer and sea fairer, who manages to marry his way back into the main Targaryen line after he and his wife are publicly humiliated and set aside TWICE by one of the most beloved kings in Targaryen history. Sure, he doesn’t get Jace, Luke, Baela, or Rhaena on the throne but do you know what he does have going for him? He still fucking alive at the end of the story and so is most of his family. Rhaena is the last dragon rider of their dynasty. Driftmark stays with Alyn & Baela instead of being given to Vaemond’s line. His granddaughters continue politicking with several hits (and admittedly several misses) throughout their lifetimes because he sets them up nice and pretty with the ending of that war. Not only that, but Baela straight up threatens Cregan for trying to harm her grandfather! I’m sorry but like, can you see Lysa brandishing a sword to protect Hoster’s ass?? Tyrion literally murders Tywin!! Otto gets his entire line murdered!!! Not only does Corlys keep Baela, Rhaena, and Alyn safe (and he tries so hard with Addam, Jace, and Rhaenys😭) but dammit he is a good enough caretaker that they are willing to go to bat for him! Yeah he has an ego but damn I get why!!!! I hope he is the pettiest bitch IMAGINABLE next season, I think Steve Toussaint will do an amazing job!

[reignof-fyre]

I have so many thoughts and feelings about season 1 of HotD so I'm gonna share my unwanted opinion right now.

Overall, i did like the season. The first few episodes were brilliant and they introduced the characters well, giving them well-rounded personalities and arcs and ambitions. I, however, didn't like how they made Rhaenyra and Alicent besties. In the books, Rhaenyra is only 9 when Alicent marries Viserys and Alicent rarely tries to befriend or get closer to Rhaenyra because of her (and her fathers) ambition to see Aegon II on the throne one day, even if Rhaenyra was named heir.

Because of the direction they took Alicent, she loses some, if not most, of her agency. In Fire & Blood Alicent's ambitions are her own. She wants her son on the throne, she wants to be known as the First Lady of the Realm, as a Queen in her own right. She isn't an anxiety riddled teen dancing to her fathers tune the whole way through. Show!Alicent just seems...bland and pretty unsympathetic tbh. I do understand why they went with Rhaenyra and Alicent being friends, and tried to make her a "victim" of the patriarchy (otto) that becomes a patriarchal enforcer herself later in life (wanting aegon on the throne etc) but it kind of fell flat.

Rhaenyra also lost some of her agency to me after the second or third episode. She's named heir and given this position of power but still treated like a little girl by the men around her. She doesn't take her newfound power by the horns and demand the respect a male heir would get, and I understand that's a major part of the story, the patriarchy continuing their belief that women are inferior despite their position in the world, but to me Rhaenyra seems like the type of woman to demand respect, but she just...doesn't. She had every opportunity to shore up her succession and place as heir, but it never happened. (This also occurs in the books, and its frustrating). I also get pissed off how everyone is like "omg her sons are bastards" like so WHAT? Laenor accepted Jace, Luke, and Joffrey as his sons. Corlys and Rhaenys accepted those boys as their grandson's. Viserys accepted them as his grandson's. Their claim to the throne passes from RHAENYRA not their father. I get that "bastardry" is considered this huge tabboo, but honestly it's not that big of a deal? They've proven their Valyrian heritage by claiming dragons. Rhaenys in the books has black hair, she's related to the Baratheons, hell Rhaenyra's maternal grandfather is an Arryn, who had brown hair. I know it's Westeros and recessive genes aren't a thing but...honestly. what choice did Rhaenyra honestly have when it came to having children? She couldn't force Laenor into having sex with her if he wasn't interested. She isn't that type of person. She was honestly stuck between a rock and a hard place. Even if she slept with some Lysenne male whore with the valyrian look or Daemon to get "valyrian" children they wouldn't look like Laenor, who's black in the show, and it'd be the same thing. So why shouldn't she have fucked Harwin, a man she actually liked?

Viserys was pretty on brand the whole season, and I did end up loving him beyond reason even though he's a shit king and even worse father.

Daemon swiftly became my favourite character for a plethora of reasons. It became clear that Daemon doesn't truly want the throne or the title of King, as he's bored to tears with politicking and he'd resort to cutting off heads, and it seems that Daemon is self-aware enough to realise this, and his one true ambition is to protect his brother, his king, and his family. Evident in how he defends himself in the throne room before he's exiled. He wants nothing more than to protect his brother, and he sees Otto's ambitions and schemes for what they are, and how Viserys is taken advantage of by the council. I liken Daemon to a rebellious kid who acts out for attention, because it's the only time he'll get attention, even if it's not necessarily good attention. He's desperate for approval, desperate for his family's love, and he will do anything - even monstrous things - to ensure he succeeds in defending his kin. He's not a good person, not by a long shot, but he's fundamentally the type of man whose a born protector and defender. He will bear the negative connotations and vitriol against his name if it means those he loves (and is unable to show it because he thinks showing emotions makes one weak, e.g Viserys) are safe and protected. He doesn't chase Rhaenyra for the power she'd bring him by being her king Consort, but because he genuinely likes her. If all he wanted was power, he'd have gone through with his plan in the brothel (his true plan was revenge against Viserys for his exile, as stated by the showrunners and writers, not to force a marrage), but he couldn't. He refused to debase her, even if word reached Otto and Viserys and he was once more exiled. He wouldn't have raised an army to support Viserys' claim at the council, nor would he have defended Rhaenyra and her sons by killing Vaemond. He wouldnt have looked so utterly devastated by Laena's death. The showrunners have really tried to make us hate daemon by cutting scenes where he shows his softer side (hugging Baela and Rhaena, mourning Viserys and Visenya on the beach) but Matt Smith is so brilliant that we see his softer side in subtle moments: when he comforts Rhaenyra at Aemma's pyre, when he refuses to cut Laena open to save his son, when he stammers upon seeing viserys' condition, how he snaps at Alicent about Viserys' health, when he strokes baby Viserys' head, how he strokes Rhaenyra's belly, when he helps Viserys onto the throne and places his crown back on his head, his expression when rhaenys tells he and rhaenyra that viserys is dead. When he's the first to kneel to rhaenyra and proclaim her his queen. I just love this nuanced, emotionally repressed, angry little bean so much.

Otto, a second son like Daemon, however, is Daemon's antitheses. He doesn't grasp for power for anyone but himself. He wants his daughter to be queen no matter how she feels about it because it brings him power and prestige. He wants his grandson to be king not to protect the realm, but because it will bring him power. He doesn't care that show!aegon is a drunken rapist. To Otto, Aegon's the perfect puppet king to further his own power. He knows war will follow no matter who is crowned, but war is okay if it's to keep aegon on the throne, and not rhaenyra. He suggested her as heir to get rid of Daemon because he knows Daemon is a terrible advisary to have. He never intended to let Rhaenyra be queen; she was his place holder to get rid of Daemon. He knows Rhaenyra and Daemon are uncontrollable as puppet rulers, and that's what Otto desires. Jaehaerys was too ill to be a king when Otto was named Hand, Viserys was a weak king and easy to manipulate, and so will Aegon be...for a time.

Otto and Daemon are two sides of the same coin to me, personally. Otto wants power for himself by any means necessary, and Daemon wants to protect his family's power by any means necessary.

All in all, the show is fine and entertaining. The characters are magnificent, the actors do a brilliant job bringing them to life, but it lacks the air of personal ambition that game of thrones does. In GOT, everyone wants something and is willing to kill for it. In HotD everyone is puppet-like and going through the motions of what's laid out before them. Like, yeah, Otto is ambitious but it doesn't really scream "game of thrones" ambition that we saw in agot. I know the moral of hotd is how men a stupid and the patriarchy is an insidious thing that, in medieval time, will treat women like shit...but in agot we have female characters like catelyn, cersei, brienne, daenerys, yara, olenna tyrell, and maegaery who have this sort of viciousness to them and ambition to actually force the men of the patriarchy to listen to them.

I love the women of hotd - except alicent - and I hope to see that vicious ambition and strength from them in season 2, because it was lacking in s1. I reckon we will, because the war will be all-out in s2. I'm looking forward to it.

[kaellecappuccino]

I'm sick and bored so here's why I dislike Rhaegar Targaryen so much.

He was so very selfish. His father was going mad and instead of using his influence to help people and participate in political decisions, to be useful, he fucking played harp in a corner.

He was so very selfish. So yes, his marriage with Elia was a political one and he didn't love her, which I can understand. We don't choose love. But. His children. Aegon and Rhaenys. Children who were named after HIS family tradition. He just didn't care about them, not a bit. He used Elia's body to insure his descendance and when he had it, did not EVEN cared about them. It's not about fatherhood. It's about being a human being. Whatever.

He was so very selfish. He never had a second thought about all of those he left behind, about his family. It was about him and his oh-so-romantic-forbidden-love. Not Lyanna. His love, not her. His father was mad but old. Soon he would have been king, and could have made of Westeros a safe and good place. But he throw it away and condamn the people he supposed to protect. He left his wife and (am i the only one that hate him for it?) his children, knowing fully that his ennemies would go after them (and if not then, on top of a prick, he's an idiot). He. Left. His. Mother. Who was about to give birth. And his little brother. He left everyone because it was more fairy-tale like to run away with a young girl.

He was so very selfish. Because even if he could have calmer the game, and came back to his family and to his futur of king you know who would have been incapable of going on with her life? Lyanna. Cause in Westeros world, women who run away are dishonored. And can't marry. They are not safe. She would have ended up stucked forever in Winterfell, not being able to use the power of her name, because everyone would remind her that it was her fault if she could not be respected. That's the world of Westeros, but Rheagar didn't care because at the very worst, he could go on with his life.

He was so very selfish. He send Lyanna's family to death. Not once did he do the link between his mad father, his position, the position of Lyanna and her family. Lyanna ended up losing her brother and her father because the man she loved was so sure that everyone loved him so much that they would aalll forgive him. He was either very freaking selfish because he knew and took the risk, knowing that if it went wrong it would be others who would be hurt. Either he was just very disconnected with how very fucked up the situation really was.

This is book based so i will not talk about marriage annulment and naming his son after his other son THAT HE LEFT BEHIND TO BE MURDERED hum hum.

But i could.

Anyway. I just really dislike Rhaegar Targaryen. He had his male/high born privilege so buried deep up his ass that he couldn't not possibly comprehend that he was putting everyone's life in danger.

Jon is not and will never be his legacy. It's not for nothing that he has his mother's look.

Here's my interpretation of his UGLY ASS because even if i dislike him so very much, it was interesting to do.

Update

After i bit a research here's what i found out about Rhaegar Targaryen being a giant dick :

He was OBSESSED with the prophecie and wanted to have an heir so bad ,not because he wanted children. But because he wanted to be the father of Azor Ahai. Which lead me to the question : after using Elia, did he thought : HUM DORNE GIRL NOT GOOD ME TAKE NORTH GIRL STRONG. Did he use Lyanna body for his own satisfaction of "being part of the legend" ?

When I say he used Elia's body I MEAN IT she was a fragile girl who could not resist him morally. He was about to became king, she could not POSSIBLY give him a reason to throw her out or she'll be banished along with her children. I'm sorry but Rhaegar Targaryen was the kind of dude who would say "oh. It's a girl. Well, get better asap so we can make a boy". Rhaegar Targaryen was the kind of dude who would have laugh at Daenerys face, saying "YOU a queen ? YOU a savior ? It's the PRINCE who was promised, not the PRINCESS"

[iheartbookbran]

Part 2:

The tournament was definitely the highlight of the episode, it was so well done and fun to watch. Like yes give me all the bright heraldry and over the top helmets.

Really liked the fight between Ser Criston (degrodatory) and Daemon (also degrodatory).

And the part where Daemon gets stuck in the saddle of his horse… nice foreshadowing, writers.

But… the audacity of making Criston Cole aka The Biggest Misogynist Of Them All, which itself is impressive since there's a lot of dudes in this story veering for that title, Dornish of all things. When will the disrespect end?

Kinda relieved that they didn't omit the fact that Rhaenys is a Baratheon on her mother's side.

Literally the Queen Who Never Was and her future granddaughters are my ride or die. 100% unironically stan.

Though I'm a little confused by Laena and Laenor's ages here because they're both supposed to be older than Rhaenyrain the book but the actors look obviously younger.

I think it's ridiculous that there's even a debate about whether or not what Viserys did to Aemma was wrong. Like even if she was going to die regardless, she should still have taken the decision regarding if she wanted to be cut open like meat, instead of being forced into it, struggling and terrified.

The show runners were literally bragging about how they were going to tone down the gendered violence shown towards women and then in the very first episode a woman is cut open while she screams in agony to pull out a baby out of her, and then they show us several shots of her bloodied body.

Also, let's not kid ourselves, this was all mostly about Viserys. Not even Rhaenyra and Viserys, but him specifically.

But Paddy Considine is so good as Viserys I, GRRM wasn't wrong about that. I still hate Viserys for what he did to his wife, yet the actor is charming enough to be able to sell the character as compelling.

I guess I'm not super relatable to other Dany fans in that I don't really mind Rhaenyra using the word Dracarys to light the funeral pyre. I mean there excited Targaryens, and dragon lords in general, for thousands of years before Dany was even born, and I'm supposed to think no one else ever thought to use the word that literally means “fire” to command a dragon to breath fire? Seems unlikely. The true brilliance of Dany to me is that, despite being on her own, she's able to figure out this lost knowledge by herself, like how to hatch dragons. Obviously she's not the first one to do it, but she's the first one to rediscover it after more than a hundred years.

The whole song of ice and fire prophecy reveal had me conflicted, because on one hand as a book reader it was like well duh. It was also vindicating as the Targaryen fan that I am. But at the same time it makes the last season of GoT seem even stupider in hindsight.

Like Viserys is talking about this very hard long winter that all the kingdoms must prepare for and band together in order to be able to withstand and I'm like bestie… it literally lasts 3 hours tops and everyone is far more pressed about going to fight a wine mom.

A Targaryen wasn't even sitting on the throne during that whole fiasco??? Like????? Also Arya????????

*puts on tin foil hat* Unless the Jon sequel is planning to reset the timeline to prevent anything stupid from happening?

Jk that's never going to happen, we're stuck on stupid land forever.

Over all I thought the pacing and dialogue was alright. Kinda expository at times, but what pilot of a series isn't?

And of course if you're coming off bangers such as “you want a good girl, but you need the bad p*ssy” everything else sounds like Shakespearean level dialogue craftsmanship.

So in conclusion… dragons <3

Bonus: seeing all this promo material that refuses to show Aegon II. Cowards lmao.