It's not unreasonable to believe the 2 girls and Daemon would change over 15 years.

I think Ben needs to accept that these characters drastically changed over the decades and that’s what makes it poetically sad.

Most of his complaints seem to come from his own misunderstandings. Otto was always power hungry. He didnt send his daughter to seduce the king because he had a kind thought of "the realm needs princes". He sent his daughter so that the princes would be related to himself which would allow him to make some moves.

I have never understood why Ben failed in his career as a scriptwriter more than I do in this moment.

He missed the mark for almost every character of this show. Its quite impressive! Maybe he forgot to put the volume on for the entire season. It can certainly happens.

Ben doesn’t get that Aemond is clearly regretting the dragon killing Lucerys because he essentially just started a war that they’re sure to lose.

"This character is not the same as they were at the very beginning. This is inconsistent writing" No, this is character development.

I think your forgetting that Leanor isn’t just “gay”. He fought alongside Deamon in battle so they’re friends. Deamon was also married to Leanor’s sister. Rhaynera was married and very close friends with Leanor their whole lives. Of course they didnt want to just kill him. Lol maybe you should rewatch 😊

Ben is saying inconsistency is the problem. But I think the show is demonstrating how irrational and inconsistent emotions can make us all behave - how they make us act out of character.

This is not inconsistent writing; it’s 20 years of character development squeezed into 10 episodes. It was a very difficult task to achieve and I think the writers did a great job.

Ben must have seen a completely different show. Rhaenyra is headstrong and impulsive because shes literally a child when she does all that stuff (children are impulsive). You say she has no qualities that would be good in a Queen. Literally the first major action she takes is defusing tension and possible bloodshed between Daemon and Otto on the bridge at Dragonstone. Second she shows Laenor Velaryon understanding by allowing him to live out his private life in peace and ultimately sparing his life by exiling him in secret. How is level-headedness and compassion negative traits in a ruler? Alicent does not have the good qualities you want in a ruler. She is utterly controlled and steered by her nefarious father, along with caring only about appearances which Rhaenyra makes clear when Alicent grabs a knife to mutilate a child (Alicent hides her true nature under a cloak of righteousness, meaning her virtue is all fake).

The ending fight between Aemond and Lucerys was meant to illustrate a point Viserys made in the first episode. The dragons aren’t slaves to the riders they merely allow them to fly on top of them. Vhagar is the oldest living dragon in existence and also the most irritable, the dragons weren’t attempting to scare each other like the riders who are children, they were fighting each other.

I've noticed most of Ben's complaints in most of his reviews is that he expects all characters to behave like he would, and once I understood this his reviews become pretty hilarious cuz you realize how illogical realistic characters are lol

I’m wondering if Ben actually watched this show or just read the spark notes of this because I feel like he missed a lot of the details of how things happened and why characters act the way they do.

This is why I know Ben is out of his depth engaging with art (or really any topic to be honest). He really just said, “Character X isn’t the same character at the end of the season as the beginning,” and then repeated for multiple characters who all experienced massive upheavals over the course of their lives. This is literally just character development. It really isn’t surprising though that this is so baffling to Ben. I’m not sure there is much he understands about anything.

As for Aemond and Lucerys there are two big taboos in the stories universe. Kinslaying and killing peaceful messengers, the reason he's so shocked when he loses control of the dragon is because he just did both.

Not knowing who to root for is the magic of grrm’s writing

Rest in piece Ben's beard you will be missed.

Ben, I genuinely think you're clutching. You're not the same person you were 20 years ago. The point is that these characters have changed because of the responsibilities placed on them and the power they have. Also, Aemond's reaction to Vhagar killing Arrax and Lucerys shows that he had no intention to kill him. He wanted revenge for his eye which was taken from him.

7:51 Viserys does this because he swore on his wife’s memory that Rhaenyra wouldn’t be supplanted, he still feels guilt over her death. This is already explained early on

You misunderstood Daemons character. He never wanted the throne he just wanted his brother’s approval/attention and everything he did was consistent with that. Rhaenyra as queen was showing restraint as her father did and by the end Luke’s death makes her realise that this isn’t the best way to rule.

I think Ben is wrong on almost everything here: 1. Daemon: Really consistent. The goal of the war in stepstones was not to usurp the throne of his brothers but was a really emotional decision where he decided he wanted to prove his worth to the realm and gain visery's approval. He wants power but most of all he wants his brother's approval as could be seen by his scene where he chokes Rhaneyra (feels jealous). 2. Rhaneyra: Teenage rhaenyra made mistakes as teenagers often do. But later she matured to her duties to the realm. Many of her early decisions were frustrating because she felt her father wanted a male heir. Later, she remembered her father and wanted to give peace a chance. 3. Alicent: She has always been a hypocrite. Like alicent says hides behind her cloak of righteousness. Outwardly she maintains a religious virtuous appearance but inwardly she is as rotten as rhaneyra as seen by her relationship with larys and her scheming. I dont get the idea of Ben on why young alicent who is naive and manipulated by her father would make a good regent. You can say that of adult Alicent. There is also an element of jealousy she has with rhaneyra. She is a baby making machine while rhaneyra is their heir who rides a dragon fucks the most charming men in the realm. 4. Otto: Always a power-hungry schemer. 5. Aemond: Just because you are studious and qualified to be king doesn't mean you are not vindictive. He is still a teenager. Also at this moment, he doesn't want to start the war as this what his mother wishes. He is a mamma's boy.

11:19 - "Originally Otto's motivation is the kingdom is going to split apart if you name a girl and so we need a son" Otto's motivation is that he wants his bloodline on the throne. 'The Kingdom is going to split apart' is the way he convinces and manipulates the Viserys to marry his daughter thus they can produce an heir with Hightower blood.

i love how he sounds like hes complaining but all the points hes making are just making the story sound cooler

I don’t understand the argument that the characters are inconsistent, not only does the show take place over the course of years and years, but the reason it started so early in the timeline is because they had to show the major events that carved the characters into who they’d be at the start of the war. The whole series was basically a prologue.

I didn't get the vibe that Aemond was a fully cold calculating sort, I had the impression he was always a barely-contained hotheaded guy who was willing to start fist-fights at the dinner table out of spite. Definitely clever, but also kind of emotionally volatile.

I don’t think there is a good or bad group to side with this in this show. We have been able to sympathize with each side, understand that both of them have at least some good intentions, and we are left asking ourselves “must they really fight like this?” And sadly yes, yes they do. All we can do is watch the dragons dance.

I don’t think Ben remembers how “inconsistent” the writers were with Jaime Lannister. That was very appealing to most fans if I remember. Keeping people curious and more emotionally invested because they don’t know what to expect from characters. It’s better this way.

Someone being different at the end of a season is called a character arc.

Seems to me that Ben decided very quickly what these characters are like without seeing what they are like first. Aemond is not cold and calculating, he is a kid who was kinda bullied but grew up to be the biggest and strongest of the kids and has a huge ego now

Ben is like a one of the lords from westeros who wanted to uphold their traditions. Unfortunately, Targaryens were not from westeros and did not 100% obey their customs.

So basically Ben doesn't understand character development, he doesn't understand complexity and moral ambiguity in characters, everyone has to be either good like Ned or bad like Joffrey, he doesn't understand that Daemon fought the war against the carb feeder to prove his worth, not to take his brother's throne, he doesn't understand that Aemond obviously didn't want to kill Luke because he doesn't want to start a massive war, and he says that we should be able to know who we should root for, this isn't a Disney movie Ben, this is such a bad review lol

Man, the hole point of starting with their younger versions is to show the events that shaped who the became as adults. I think the character development was very consistent. For example, Daemon. He was loyal to his family and would do anything to protect it. Also, all he wanted was Rhaenyra, not the throne.

It's called "character development," Ben. People learn and grow and change. I thought it was handled deftly and am actually grateful for such textured, nuanced profiling.

I love how they changed the character throughout the series. I found it really interesting and it makes me understand the characters and they’ve changed. I actually really loved it all and found it amazing.

I had a completely opposite feeling about what you call inconsistencies, I saw that as the most valuable element of the show. HOTD and more generally GOT is one of the rare stories able to depict how humans are not good vs bad, but rather imperfect beings changing their minds with time, experience, feelings, interest. And as a writer, trust me, that deep instable construction is difficult to achieve, way more than simply dividing the plot with the ‘good’, the ‘bad’, the ‘traitor’ and the ‘redemptive’.

Actually Rhaenyra did made some good points when she was in king viserys small council. Once in episode two : when she said we have dragons, send us, it will be a show of force. Two seconds later, she choose a seasoned warrior as a king's guard when Otto adviced to choose one out of nepotism for diplomacy. A second time in episode six when she said that the stepstones should have been reinforced instead of just abandonned after their first victory. Her idea about how to solve the border conflict in the riverlands between the Blackwoods and the Brackens. (That their will be some senior farmer citizens that could be questionned to have an approximative idea of where the borders where drawn) So it's a bit dismissive to say out of no where she became good at ruling.

Ben did you completely miss episode 5?, it has huge moments for Alicent in it that compeltely changes her charecter and her views towards Rhaenyra, and symbolically ends with her wearing the hightower dress when he enters the feast. It's crazy to me that you've completely glossed over things like that.

I don’t think Allicent changed much, she is still curious, but altered by the threat against her children. It’s her father who has pushed her in this direction.

Literally missed every point. “Every character in the beginning of the season is not the same character at the end of the season” - gee, I wonder why, it’s not like more than 20 years have passed between the beginning and the end.

It's like Ben is watching a completely different show. Aemond was bullying Luc until Arrax flamed Vhager. Then, he lost control and the dragon killed them. The characters are consistent, their goals are what changed. Alicent was concerned for the kingdom first, then for the safety of her children later. How is that not clear on many occasions?

Daemon’s character makes perfect sense if you think of it as him being layered. Internal conflict within himself.

To be fair young Rhaenyra was always hanging around and throwing out her opinions to her dad so it isn't too far fetched that she learned through that experience.

While, as you mentioned, Game of Thrones took some inspiration from the War of the Roses, House of the Dragon took inspiration from an earlier period of English history, known as the Anarchy. When Henry I’s only legitimate son, who was his heir, drowned in the sinking of the White Ship, he designated his daughter the Empress Maude as his heir to the English throne. And as in the House of the Dragon, the realm rejected her because she was a woman. This began several years of war, primarily between Maude and her cousin Stephen. IMO, the inclusion of the numerous childbirth scenes was very appropriate to the story. At the heart of it this is a family, multi generational story. As Rhaenyra’s mother told her in the first episode, the birthing bed was the traditional battlefield for a woman in the story. They wanted to show that birth is messy, and can be both painful and complicated. The various birth scenes, with their various outcomes showed that birth can be very uncertain with a wide range of experiences. I will agree with you to some degree about the character inconsistencies. I do think that the aim was to show the development of the various characters through the events that transpired over the years. And they were more successful with some characters than others in that regard.

I felt that Viserys' stubbornness regarding Rhaenyra was based on two factors. First, she was the one whom he told of Aegon the Conqueror's prophecy, the one true duty of the Protector of the Realm. Second, she was his only living child from the woman he actually loved. He wanted his first wife's child to succeed him, not any of his second wife's children.

I disagree with your assessment, Daemon never really wanted to be king, he wanted his brother to just be a good king. Rhaenyra is like you said, a teenager at one point and grows with the years. Alicent is very clear to understand, she cared about her kids and didn’t want to see them killed, she also hated that Rhaenyra was doing everything wrong and that led her to do whatever it took to keep an immoral person like her from claiming the throne.

The characters are pretty consistent if you pay any attention to subtext and character development

Adult Alicent got worn down by all of the stress of the world around her. Adult Rhaenyra got battered with guilt over her countless bad decisions. This was all pretty obvious to me. The transition of the characters into somewhat different people was totally believable to me. It's how people wear down and change with time.

Aemon wanted an eye not to kill Lucerous, especially not dishonorably while he was a messenger. That scene also brings into question the riders' control over their dragons, which could be a game changer for how they are used later on.

not knowing who to root for is the best part of it and you can't blame the writers cause for the most part they stayed true to the book

Reportedly, the showrunners originally had the series start with Ep.6, but GRRM wanted a "history lesson" for non-bookreaders to be caught up. Hence, Ep.1 to 5, with the young Rhae and young Alicent being casted.

Daemon wasn’t happy when aemma and the baby died, he just can’t help but process death of loved ones differently than others, it shows consistently how uncomfortable he is with it throughout the show. He says it himself to viserys when he says we all grieve in our own way. Like when he finds out viserys is dead he almost immediately thinks he was murdered and he must avenge him, dude just can’t handle death of his loved ones well..

How war changed him is really one of the most realistic qualities of the show

To be fair Rhaenys didn't consider frying the greens and then pushing for her own claim because as she's said multiple times, she has no interest in being queen. And the grandchildren she speaks of are her grandaughters(Daemons twin girls) who are her legitimate family.

I think you missed a lot of it. Because Daemon never wanted the power, he desires a strong Targaryn rule, and always thought his brother was weak. Eventually, he sees himself in Rhynera, which is why he is so upset when she mentions dreams. And Rhynera grew up, and it’s the death of her father, and the prophesy and the weight of it that has her acting cautiously. The prologue definitely was meant to show us the relationship b/w Queens, to setup the sides. But I will say, while I love how they made the Valyrian of a different race, the fact that her children’s legitimacy is such a huge issue makes it almost laughable. Especially when the genes are so dominant.

Something to note at 9:59 - since they are first cousins, once removed, Rhaenys *is* related to Rhaenyra's kids. But there's a more significant thing not mentioned: Daemon, who is now married to Rhaenyra, _does_ have Rhaenys and Corlys' grandchildren by blood. Her granddaughters, combined with the fact they are betrothed to Rhaenyra's kids, incentivizes Rhaenys to side to Rhaenyra and not start her own war. Edit: Also at 11:23, I think Otto was motivated to gain power for himself from the beginning, but if there's a concrete transition point for him to fully embrace that agenda, it happens early in the season when he tells Alicent to "tend" to the grieving Viserys.

I don't think you're supposed to "root" for any particular character or faction, and it's intended that way. You can root for anyone you like and that's the beauty of this show. I think the show isn't even intended to have clear "good" and "bad" characters or factions, they are what they are, just like anyone and anything in real life, with virtues and flaws. And that is one of the greatest strengths of the show. I can't even begin to describe how enjoyable and exquisite the writing is, this way.

The bloody childbirth is something that I think was needed, I see childbirth in shows and they depict it being so easy going and perfect but childbirth isn’t always easy going. And that line that childbirth is a woman’s battlefield is so true!! I’m lucky to live in a time where I can get advanced medical care. I loved seeing childbirth being depicted “bloody” and from a woman’s perspective the blood is not what scared me, I see blood every month. I think it was really empowering.

Not having white hats to root for and black hats to hate is actually one of the things I like best. Morally fluid and complex characters as opposed to flat ones are what I find interesting

It’s almost like Ben doesn’t understand the story.

I think with the people changing characters, this season was basically a big set up to the start of the actual show. Al this season was when it came down to it is setting the stage and telling which character is which. You can’t view it as a finished story yet

Okay so alicent went from carrying out her fathers schemes as a child to then carrying out her own schemes as an adult… wow what an unfathomable evolution 😂😂😂

People are often inconsistent, which causes inner turmoil and external conflicts. Also, we do things out-of-character all the time. Part of being human. It makes the show even more interesting and sparks a bunch of conversations about hypocrisy, etc., amongst people in power. It really is a nuanced conversation.

Ben, to suggest that the timejumps shouldn't have occurred is bizzare to me. The depth and history between the character is what makes us understand the blood fued. Seeing Lucerys take Aemond's eye is more impactful than hearing that he took it once. Seeing the tension in the courtyard while training as children. Seeing Harwin Strong around the children and Rhaenera makes us understand the rumours more. Hearing some guy was probably their dad and he died in a fire isn't as good as Seeing what actually happens. The time jumps were essential.

I think not knowing who to root for is what makes the show so good

I agreed with Ben with his review of ring of power season but house of dragons is in a different league entirely. Throughout the season Rhaenyra has always shown herself to be somebody who would make a good queen. But she is also human who would make some major mistakes growing up but learns from them. This came as no surprise to me. Daemon is interesting character because seema to take somewhat of a background role and you never truly understand him. He plays his cards close to his chest but there is clearly both good and in bad in him, which makes him all the more compelling as a character.

“For some reason Rhaenyra ended up with with like amazing kids and Alicent ended up with horrible kids which is weird because Alicent seems to be much more involved with her kids than Rhaenyra is but never mind you that” Has the thought that overbearing super involved and intrusive parents forcing their will upon there kids is actually toxic for the child occurred to Ben? I don’t think so 😅

Viserys stuck with Rhanerya because of his love towards Rhanerya's mother ,he still feel he's responsible for her death and Daemon may look like ambitious ,but he's always loyal to his brother and loves Rhanerya.

Honestly, Alicent's character development makes a fair bit of sense from a psychological perspective. Not only has she been heavily manipulated since her formative years, but she has been backed into a corner that is made from that web of manipulation. She can not on her own undo the environment(which leads back to the validity of her truce offer to Rhaenyra) she is in nor the person she is expected to be, and has become in the eyes of Rhaenyra - and so that eventually becomes her truth. An important part of that is Rhaenyra abandoning her early on since they have a strong bond, that is most importantly a bond by choice as opposed to that with her father, which is a bond of blood and duty. Essentially she is being told constantly by the world: you are inherently not worthy of anything. On the other hand, we have Rhaenyra who does all the wrong things yet is constantly understood and encouraged and perceived as flawless despite. It's essentially what happens in abusive homes where ex. one child is the product of an extramarital affair and so is singled out. It can also be worsened in behavioural therapy if you do not ensure that the patient gets reinforcing experiences outside of a treatment environment to not fall into prior patterns of perception and behaviour. This is formidable groundwork by Otto Hightower for cognitive dissonance and incoherence in identity and self-image, which can either make for a great puppet or a very volatile person - both of which we see expressed in her especially the latter as she lunges at Rhaenyra, snaps at her son Aegon for being a slob and of course the look on her face when she gives Larys his 'prize', which she clearly perceives as very degrading, which makes sense as she is serving the needs of a very lowly person making her less than.

One thing I have to give praise to HBO was the fact that they casted black actors to play as the Velaryon family, which makes the bastardization issue of Rhaenyra be obvious to us the viewers and adds salt to injury in the actual UNIVERSE of the story, bc everyone can see that the father is black and the kids are white. One of the things woke hollywood does a lot nowadays is casting black actors for white parts but expect us to just nod and not question anything as if we're stupid and don't see the obvious (aka, red haired character being played by a black actress, or a black woman being a dwarf queen)

Ben’s gripes with this show are EXACTLY why I love it (and the game of thrones series). The characters aren’t clear cut and dry. With every single character, there is something I hate about them, and something I love about them. They are complex! The only thing I didn’t like was the sheer amount of birthing scenes, and the horrid sounds that accompanied them. 😂 especially since I was always eating dinner while watching them. But, I love House of the Dragon and I am not looking forward to waiting so long for season 2 😭

A lot of people are complaining about the time jumps and character changes but I think it was necessary to tell the story the way they did. The books are just a bunch of histories, so they did the best they could to honor the source material and make it the way they wanted.

As a fan of the source material, I reluctantly agreed with you on almost every point.

Nearly every important character in the original GOT has a transformation....

This is where Ben's computer like logic, especially in his wheelhouse which is politics, seems to have got it the way from him enjoying this. I do say Ben does layout all the glaring holes quite convincingly. That said, HOTD is just a marvel to watch and had me on the edge of my seat for the entire season. I can't wait for season two.

I understand Aemond's recklessness in getting Lucerys killed. Although he was calculative, he was always scarred with the fact that he lost an eye to Lucerys and that he was always made fun of by him. He is very brilliant, but let his emotional side get in the way and caused a very believable accident (he thought he was capable of controlling Vhagar due to all his qualities, but he had little to none experience in dragon battling)

This show was a really pleasant surprise, especially compared to Rings of Power. I really enjoyed it, way more than I thought I was going to. I was invested in most of the characters, and I didn't see the 'changes' as inconsistencies, but as natural progressions. I think you're missing alot of the strengths of hotd. I think GRR Martin was also involved in writing this season.

It's understandable that Aemond didn't want to kill his nephew there just fuck with him. It's hard to argue it's "out of character" for a 15 year old to not want to murder his nephew/age cohort. Now that it happened, I think you will see him make the decision to own it when he returns to King's Landing. He either can own it and pretend he meant to do it, or he can say it was an accident. The former is a stronger move. Also, he is primarily committed to supporting his family. Becoming King is secondary at this point. He spoke about doing his duty when he was a teen pre teen still back in like episode 6 when he and Aegon were talking about Heleana.

Daemon loves his brother and all he ever wanted was to be part of his court and be his right hand. Rule as targaryans. He is the only one who can speak bad about him, but if someone else does, he will have your tongue. Also you can see this how he is concern for his brother in those final episodes b4 his death.

I do want to emphasize one problem with Ben’s take-the difference from the books like exiling him is because the book is from secondary accounts. If nobody would know about a secret it wouldn’t have been in the books. In terms of why to exile him it makes sense-he has a dragon. Could always use it in the future if you need to bring him back

The biggest inconsistency is daemon killing his wife but letting laenor escape

So...HOTD gets the same rating as Rings of Power...how many 💰 did Amazon throw at him? One of them is brilliant and the other is mediocre. Find the difference!

There are hints that Otto wanted power from the beginning. At one point Vicerys insinuates that Otto killed his father so he could be hand.

I think the critique that the time jumps hurt the show is valid, but I think the criticism of character inconsistencies doesn’t hold up. there’s also an assumption that there’s supposed to be a good side and a bad side, and that’s really not the case. GRRM has said so himself that when he wrote ASOIAF, he wanted to get away from the good and evil tropes a La lord of the rings. I’m curious what Ben will think of S2 when the big time jumps are a thing of the past.

Daemon doesn’t want to be king, he just wants respect and trust from his brother. He wants his brother to trust him more than Otto Hightower. And he wasn’t celebrating that his brother’s son died, he was toasting to him “heir for a day” isn’t a joke, it’s a sad summation of what’s happened and Daemon is sad about it. He feels his brother doesn’t trust him or the small council give him bad advice to serve their own agendas at his expense. When we meet him on the throne talking about how it will be his, he is just being cheeky. He doesn’t want the throne. He wants his brother to love and trust him more than anybody else. Since daemon sees himself as more loyal than anybody else.

The problem with characters being too consistent is they become predictable, that’s what I like about Daemon. It’s hard to tell where his head is at.

Ben's problem is he only has a surface understanding of the show so he doesn't understand the motivations and character arcs so their actions don't make sense to him

The dragon fight at the end of the season is heartbreaking. My heart was in my throat. Just that silhouette of the huge dragon flying underneath the smaller one is so telling of the outcome

Alicent was always bound to what the men in her life wanted, she didn't care to marry the king Otto made sure that happened

Daemon is the best character. The one eyed prince who plays the warrior monk in last kingdom is a close second . Super excited for his character development 😅

House of the Dragon was really good. It’s dialogue is so good and much more captivating than the action. The time jumps I thought were well done and didn’t feel jarring . Only thing I thought sucked was how quick the finale felt. It was good and rip to the boy who got munched but I just want more.

Ben seems to have missed the whole point of character development, this is the beauty of the show, it’s a human experience, no one is outright good or outright evil, peoples motivations change over time as they adjust to the changing environment, the Hand of the king initially wasn’t keen on power until an opportunity came for his blood to sit on the throne and that changed his motivations going forward, Aemon was bullied and grew up to be strong and consistently wants to show his strength because of this insecurity, he’s not cold blooded, and he’s aware that his insecurity and childhood fooling around might’ve started a war… On a base level it seems Ben has missed the entire point of the first season…it’s to make us see quickly that there aren’t good guys and bad guys… there are humans on either side and ultimately they are of the same family and house and it’s infighting

The f...? Character development is seemingly bad? Thats new. Having the want to be independent makes u unlikable? Being a layerd Character with internal conflicts makes u inconsistent? Man, if u want to look a show were everything stays the same look a sit-com.

Also the mint sticks by his daughter as heir because he feels immense guilt over his wife’s death in childbirth. He had pushed for more children even though his wife was having reproductive issues because he wanted a son so badly. After she dies he sees that he had a worthy heir all along in his daughter, and he sticks by his promise to her until the end. It’s touching loyalty but it’s also questionable as the best decision for the realm. Which is why he’s a complicated character. Part of his flaws is that he is not a strong leader when it comes to making tough decisions that impact his loved ones happiness. He tries to play both sides and keep the family peace but at the expense of everything. He knew there was internal strife over the succession and particularly the father of his grandkids but he chose to ignore it only for it to lead to full scale war in the end

I don’t think Ben paid much attention while he was watching the show. Such an ignorant and frankly bad analysis. It’s like he didn’t attempt to understand the characters at all. Very disappointed as usually Ben’s reviews are pretty good.

Time. Ben is not considering what time does to a character. If none of the characters changed over the 20 years time span he would be complaining the opposite. I liked that aspect of this show. That characters changed with time. The Sea Snake captures this quite well in the last episode of the season, mentioning that he is done chasing the throne. All it has brought is sorrow and loss. Now he wants a peaceful life and to delight in what he does have. I think a lot characters have gone through a transition like that.

Uh, no Ben. Aemond would never have a claim. Even if Rhaenyra’s children were deemed bastards, or killed, and for some bizarre reason Aegon was deposed, Aegon had two children, one a boy, with Helaena. You don’t just get chosen for your lordship or kingship or queenship. You inherit it. This is not a society of merit. It is a society of legacy - which is why Corlys is willing to accept what it obvious as bastards to inherit his name and estate. I don’t think you have a real understanding of these shows and books.

Ben gave more compliments and praise to Rings of Power than House of Dragon. What in the actual hell.

Ben needing static characters and not being able to comprehend that people change over time (especially since the point of starting young is to show the growth of Alicent and Rhaenyra into monarchs) is the biggest smooth brain take I've seen in awhile. Goes to show that it's true what people say about generational gap. New fantasy likes to have shades of grey, intrigue, and no true heroes. Whereas Ben prefers when it's a simple story of the good guys beating the bad guys and their virtue is never in question and everything is simple

Characters grow and change over time it's called character development Ben, there are still consistent throughlines throughout the series and the characters are nuanced and complex and you can understand the decisions they make based on the situations they face