Rhaenyra and Daemon about to make out on her wedding in front of everyone and Viserys almost having a heart attack was hillarious 😭😭

Ser Joffrey Lonmouth thought he was bringing Ser Criston Cole into their little group with a shared interest of keeping their secret. He didn't know Ser Criston was on a different page... Poor guy.

Criston's actions are entirely motivated by his desire to be "honorable". Even his desire to marry Rhaenyra isn't really done out of love but as a way to justify his breaking his oath. He's kind of like an anti-Jaime in that sense.

House Velaryon certainly knows how to make an entrance, wow.

All I can see is my mans Ser Harwin pushing people away to get to Rhaenyra ♥️

In the words of alicents actresses, Rhaenyra and Alicent's relationship was incredibly passionate and intense, they felt a degree of ownership to one another. Alicents anger makes perfect sense when you consider she fell into exactly the same horrible fate rhaenyra always talked about wanting to evade (marriage and marital rape) and then was made to watch rhaenyra get with other people when she wanted rhaenyra (and the freedom she represents) to herself.

In Cole's mind, it wouldn't be honorable to bed the Princess while being a member of the Kingsguard, since he swore an oath of celibacy. He dishonored himself and family name when he did that.

daemon really has no shame he tried to kiss rhaenyra in front of the whole wedding party

On Suraj's remark that the names of the royal heirs changing is too complicated, this is something royal families have done and still do often. A similar thing was done with the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II in regards to her marriage to Prince Philip. Prince Philip was originally born "Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark" but his family was exiled from Greece soon after his birth. When he married Elizabeth in 1947, Philip had to abandon his foreign titles and claims to heritage/nobility, become a British citizen, and adopt a new surname. He chose Mountbatten, the name of his maternal grandparents. When they married, he wanted Elizabeth to become a Mountbatten too, but British officials and the monarchy had her stick with the last name Windsor. To compromise, she let the children be Mountbatten. Then when she became Queen in 1953, the children had their names changed from Mountbatten to Windsor in order to keep the royal line of succession clear and separate from any foreign claims due to Philip's heritage. Phillip hated that and finally in 1960 a new compromise was reached by making the children's names Mountbatten-Windsor. So the stuff happening here with the royal names isn't complicated at all, it's a lot simpler than real life.

As Littlefinger once said “Everybody here is a liar and they’re better than you” Ser Cristin Cole!! He wasn’t ready for the games that they play in King’s Landing 😂

Kingsguard is for life. Cristin would be hunted and his house ruin if he ran back to Dorne. He was at a deadend before the wedding scene.

BTW the Targ incest thing isn't exactly as accepted as ya'll think. Most people in the kingdoms still find it a queer custom of the Targaryen (the accept the Targs because they were conquered with dragons) and entire wars were fought involving the faith because they didn't like the incest customs. Jaeherys (the king before Viserys) was very criticized when he decided to bring the incest tradition back because he fell in love with his sister. Eventually people started to accept it again because of Jaeherys, but there was a period of time it was no longer chill. It is almost always a thing at least mocked behind closed doors, that's why Alicent still calls it queer.

I don’t think Daemons’ motivations are purely about getting the throne. It’s about legacy and having the respect of his brother that he’s never really received (“It’s been 10 years…”). I think this conversation in Ep. 1 speaks volumes to Dameon’s motivations. Also, even if he married R, he’d still only be the Queen’s consort.

That wedding sequence was fantastic. So many players in one room all exchanging looks with double meanings. In typical "Game of Thrones" wedding traditions you expect something terrible to happen and Ser Criston Cole sure provided it. Also, it's hilarious how we're all still traumatized by the Red Wedding. I don't think we'll ever get over it!

I am guessing Allicent went to save Criston so she can get him on her side to really drive that knife into Rhaenyra’s side and ruin her claims to her throne.

Poor Suraj out here just trying to get the answers before he gets roasted in the comments 😂 I feel you bro, but I get everyone wanting to have the conversation first lol

If you remember the 2nd episode, Alicent also lost her mother and prays to her a lot. She takes that on my mothers memory thing incredibly seriously. As to Chris' question. They are the kings but they can't do whatever they want. I think every episode shows that pretty clearly that there are always things in the works and ramifications for doing what you want.

im gonna miss emily and milly, both of them are phenomenal actresses, i hope we see them get more roles after their performances in hotd

I feel Criston went ballistic because more than just his honor on the line, he told the Queen, that the princess doesn't return his feelings and wants him as a side piece and now a random guy knows. Too many people know he sullied not just the cloak but his family name. When Joffrey came to him he was too hot and uncomfortable and you can see the way he feels at that wedding party. Joffrey came over at the wrong time and tipped him over the edge. He didn't just hit the guy that knows his secret, he BEAT DOWN the literal manifestation of what he doesn't want to become in Joffrey, someone on the side just to please the King or Queen, a side piece, the whore never will be anything more. That's what he saw when he was beating him, himself. To him he thought through all the time she didn't choose any suitor, she chose him and they were close and he assumed that the choice she made to finally bed him was showing her feelings were the same. He took his time to shed what mattered to him, his cloak and armor because he was weighing his heart over his duty and she meant more than duty. It hurts to know that she didn't see him the same even though through all he knows of her she rejected duty but now that he is sullied it's all she must strive for.

Alicent's dresses where more blue when she was "single", when she wed viserys, her dresses where black, red or black and red, targaryens colours, and then when she "declares" her side in the dinner, her dress is green, closer to the colours of her house

I find the whole Daemon/Rhae discussion interesting because at least for me it seems a lot more than just a way to the throne-- there was huge mutual interest before she was heir when he was heir which seems to imply it is certainly not the main reason. Sure, there might now be the added bonus, but that will be true for any suitor, and in Daemon's case I think there is a pretty deep rooted attraction there for him, and for her. Fire meets fire-- both are essentially outcasts who as such would understand each other. Plus, Daemon having the audacity to do whatever he wants is certainly a spirit Rhae would find attractive considering how constrained she feels as a woman and it's definitely her strong defiant spirit that Daemon finds attractive. Viserys only thinks its the one reason because up until that point he had never noted the connection between them previously.

Breakbones jumping in and absolutely wrecking people’s shit was so epic to me. He cut through that crowd like soft butter

Pat literally needs pictures drawn for him to understand the most basic things. “Did he finish?”

I like it that this episode is about Rhaenyra's wedding but she's the one we paid attention the least during the episode.

The Dorthraki would not find this wedding a dull affair.

Criston was heartbroken, ashamed, and just unhinging as things were happening. Seeing the girl you’ve fallen in love with marrying someone else and being at the dinner seeing her enjoy it like… I saw someone else say how Criston was watching her the whole night so when he sees Daemon he just goes off, tries to stop him and Joffrey tried to stop Criston. Criston just went off, seeing red no rational thought left. Also notice how once everything started Daemon just conveniently disappears. He probably saw Criston coming and dipped. 🙃

Love how Pat takes on the craziest positions during the reactions, but is extremely reasonable during the discussions afterwards lmao

People are also forgetting about the fact that Rhaenyra knows about the Song of Ice and Fire. That’s why she brought up Aegon the Conqueror uniting Westeros when talking to Criston. She was saying the Iron Throne is bigger than her and her family. But obviously Criston doesn’t know that...

I think Criston may have finally lost his marbles when Daemon approached Rhaenyra at the dance. Maybe he went for him and then probably her husband tried to stop him and then his lover and since it was the guy that he talked to before, he saw red. He must have felt like he was surrounded by dishonorable vipers.

Happy to see a full couch again! Again, I will always appreciate any Normie who can make it when it's vacation time, but I am especially glad when there's a full couch for shows like this.

You have no idea how majorly Rhaneyra's plan to have open marriage backfires in her face..you will see that in the next episode....LOL

That wedding had so much tension. They knew we would expect something crazy to happen and they really leaned into it for a good long time before the pay off. The music, the looks between the characters, the timing of everything going on, it all fed into the building tension fantastically.

It's about time!! I've been waiting for y'all reaction ALL DAY!! I love it! It didn't disappoint and it was very entertaining as ALWAYS! Thank you! 😊

for me, alicent had no right to demand the truth from rhaenyra after lying to her, it was alicent who was hiding for 6 months that she was meeting viaerys

"To question my virtue is an act of trahison !!"" says Rhaenyra to Allicent. So she was clearly insinuating that she was still a maiden, when she wasn't. Even if the conversation was about Daemon, she still lied to Allicent about her being a maiden.

Criston isn't in love with Rhaenyra. He feels used (which he was) and like his honour has been ruined, he only wanted to marry her as a way to restore his honour

About the Monarch's name, it's actually what happened in real life as well. Queen Elizabeth II, when she was a princess, had the name Mountbatten upon her marriage to Philip. When she ascended to the throne, she had to announce via royal decree that the Royal House remain as Windsor and that all her male descendents will bear the name Windsor, instead of her husband's name Mountbatten.

I love the music for the Velaryons. When they arrive in kings landing and when they enter the hall. Its a great theme.

The fact that Navi sort of knew the name for that infamous Pirate-porn flick is... wow. Love her even more with that coy, embarrassed smile.

Criston Cole works for and serves King Viserys. All he had to do was walk out of the room. When he asked her to marry him it was to assuage his own guilt.

Chris: Rhaenyra swore to Alicent on her mother's grave that she is a virgin and nothing happened that night. She believed her and even convinced the king of this. Who then demoted her father and sent him away. And now she finds out that Rheanyra, who she wanted back as a friend, betrayed her in everything she said. Of course, she's mad! Now she'll listen to her father's words and stands for herself.

The fact that Pat didn't know she was Otto's daughter is a joke

"Suraj we can watch it afterwards, we're talking right now" Suraj: *sad noises* Lmao

Viserys reign was mostly a peaceful time, but he also came off the back of the previous King who set a bit of a standard on how to rule a kingdom and left Viserys with a tough act to follow. I believe that's how it went.

The ending montage was my favorite scene of the series so far. Give me the aesthetics of the red hue of the weirdwood tree glowing in twilight, give me the flickering lights, give me the gloomy ambience of a GoT wedding with a equally gloomy soundtrack & it’s A1! The slightly overlooked heartfelt exchange Otto & Alicent had at the beginning was the most significant moment of the episode imo, other than Viserys dropping. Otto is right. You either hope for Rhaenyra’s mercy in the future or you act now. It's the Tywin Jaime "we can establish a dynasty that last a thousand years" moment. The wedding sets up the first chess pieces for Dance of Dragons. Rhaenyra and Laenor were being told their wedding vows, but it was Alicent and Criston who were getting ‘married’.

@3:30 Daemons dragon roars in the distance making her horse buck that's way she was trying to get her bow

At 17:59, Suraj hit the nail on the head here: Alicent came in purposefully wearing the color green. The color of house Hightower. She's officially picked a side. It;s essentially her call to arms for her banner-men. Up until this point she's been wearing black and red: the colors of house Targaryen. Moving forward, we'll see Rhaenyra wearing that from here on out, while Alicent sticks with her green.

What’s super cool about that wedding scene when the queen walked in you could hear small remnants of “light of the seven” and the green was similar to the wildfire cercsie used I loved it! Ramin Djwadi is my absolute favorite composer!

The Grand Maester seems to be on team Hightower considering they are from Old Town too. Do you think that the Grand Maester is spreading rumors about Rhaenyra's "tea." He was the only one who knew. Also he rejected a poultice treatment for Viserys and opted for leeches. I think he is slowly killing the King. Viserys' arm looks absolutely awful.

Killing Joffrey at a wedding was so good, they did it twice.

I admit its been a long while since I watched the Normies, used to be a great fan and follower, didn't stop for any negative reasons just moved on as my favorite series went on break then life got in the way. I am grateful to return and see that the women of group are given much more opportunity to speak.

Props to Suraj and Mickey for mentioning the power imbalance. "He coulda said no" GTFO with that shit

The incest thing is still a bit of a hot topic in Westeros. Aegon was The Conqueror so nobody could say shit about his sister wives because he had already beaten them into submission. But when his descendants also wanted to keep it in the family it literally triggered a holy war against the crown cause the High Septon was categorically against it. The King had to literally invent some myth about the Targaeryans being closer to god and hire priests to spread it so they can be exempt from the laws against incest.

"wE cAn WatCh iNSiDe tHe EpIsOde AfTeR SuRaJ"

Imo this was the best episode HOTD so far, this was the episode that got me the most excited for what's to come. It took a while but I'm finally hyped.

The two dragons flying to King's Landing with the Velaryon fleet are Seasmoke (Laenor's dragon) and Meleys (Princess Rhaenys' dragon). Meleys is sometimes called "the Red Queen" due to her color.

thank you for churning this out. ugh what an ep

4:45, "Oh, that's his daughter ". I think everybody on the couch just tried to forget that he said that

You guys are the best! Been watching from the beginning...this is amazing

There was a conversation between Rhaenyra and Viscerys, when he had made it clear that he needed a new wife to maintain the line of succession. Rhaenyra had agreed with him and was willing to accept his marrying a second wife. Only she - along with many others - had assumed Viscerys would marry Laena Velaryon. I think she would have accepted any first-born son of Viscerys and Laena as the next ruler for Westeros. But she never knew about Viscerys' courtship of Alicent (her best friend), until he had decided to marry the latter. Which is proving to be a major mistake. By the way, while examining the "A Song of Ice and Fire" website, I discovered that the Targaryens were not the only ones who had practiced incest. So did a good number of other noble houses - including the Starks, the Lannisters and the Hightowers.

When I saw Alicent in that dress I changed my allegiance to House Hightower.

Another fine reaction Normies! The tension in that wedding was off the roof! That final scene tho' - sad wedding, falling king, rat blood drinking - a sign of dark days ahead -

Sir Criston is about honor. He was hurt to be put into a toy. Oath he took, he just wanted to make things right and he loved her. The scene I saw him ask Rhaenyra to marry him I had tears.

the rat scene is a foreshadowing for 'blood and cheese' which is a very important plot thats coming in the future

Need to understand in this world, even "good" actions can lead to bad consequences. Criston tried being noble but made things worse by telling the truth.

daemon was flirting with rhaenyra before she was even heir so this narrative he only wants her for the throne is false

The creator of a weapon called "Wildfire".. Tyrion and Cersie should be thankful to them.... The Ancient and Powerful (founder of Measters, founder the relegion the Faith of 7 )The House Hightower , Ancient as House Stark of Winterfell, with a City(Oldtown) that can Rival the capital KingsLanding....

Criston Cole killing Joffrey is going to be revealed as an Alicent Hightower move to break Rhaenrya's marriage before it even began. Her coming into the room with Hightower's war colors, then either threatening or manipulating Criston (possibly by telling him that Joffrey was also lover of both Rhaenyra )

If daemon is king, every small annoyance will bring a war, there would be war every fucking day

38:00 For Chris: Viserys wasn't so much upset about the uncle/niece incest - it was that she was rumored to have lost her virginity before marriage. In other words - her bride stock WILL PLUMMET due to the rumor ("what matters is perception, not truth.") What high lord will want a non-virgin for a wife? What high lord will now pledge his army and/or castles as dowry?

Daemon not standing for alicent's entrance, daemon always being calmed and collected. The chaos is amazing.

"A wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair." -paraphrased from Illyrio Mopatis 😉

The rat and the blood are a subtle hint to what’s to come later on the show 🙃💔

Daemon is pre-war Churchill. A war-time king, without a war and barely a kingdom.

- can we watch the inside the episode? - no let’s discuss first - but they might explain stuff in the inside the episode - but we should discuss first without their info - ok - so what did you guys think? - I’m sorry I’m watching the inside the episode… - please stop - ok - so what did you take that as? Also can you please turn the inside the episode off - I’m watching it with just the subtitles - please stop - ok - so, what did you think? - I saw in the subtitles for the inside the episode it was so and so

It was such a chaotic episode and I loved every second of it lol

This shows how some man's hell (Criston) is other man's paradise (Harwin) :D Also I love how this is used to showcase how Rhaenyra is not the good queen we would like her to be (she *should* have handled Criston a LOT better than that), and how Alicent has *very* good reasons to go the way she goes. Just have in mind so far the only one in this show that has basically said a Cersei quote (in episode 4) is... Rhaenyra.

I love how they make fun of Jason being such a regular name in this series. Just wait until they meet the Tullys of this era in a few seasons. 😂

Another thing about the Criston-Joffrey thing, I'd say that the consequences for Cole were much more severe than those for Joffrey. Cole's secret getting out would, in the best case scenario, end up with him castrated and shipped off to the wall. Joffrey's was basically an open secret already.

Rhaenyra running away would literally tear the kingdom into more pieces. Daemon would try to take over as heir instead of the baby. The Valeryons would break further away from the kingdom and lastly Otto would return to push forward his agenda on the premise that he was right about Rhaenyra.

Rhaenys rides Meyles and that was Laenor and Seasmoke indeed. Laena looks to be riding Vhagar next week, as well. I'm so keen to finally see her.

11:33 "SHE BEAT AROUND THE BUSH SO HARD... SHES ESSENTIALLY .... DAEMON" HAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA I LAUGHED SOOOO HARD

"At least they'll be together" - Chris 2022

Criston Cole was already feeling guilty about breaking his oath and then not only do you have another person saying he knows his secret but also having the threat of someone black mailing him. I think Cole might have looked it as a threat. He was also fed up with all of the politics so that was the last straw.

I believe the dragons shown during the Velaryon’s arrival were Meleys (Rhaenys’ dragon) and Seasmoke (Laenor’s dragon)

This channel alone set me and my partner on a path to make our own reactions. Just wanted to say thank you and I never miss an episode! I love this content and constantly feel like a “normie” 😊

Even the english monarchy are known to change their names when they ascend the throne, similar to George VI (elizabeth II father) he name was originally albert frederick...

Did you guys forget that Alicent kept her flirting with the King a secret too. That lie brought on more consequences than Rhaenyra sleeping with Crispin. 🙄🙄

Joffery: So Cole secret F*ck bois unite? Cole: Swing and a miss.

i loved the boys' banter with marketa when rhaenyra turned her back to criston hahaha

"When the Long Night comes, a Targaryen must sit on the Iron Throne..." I guess that's what Viserys wants.

About Alicent's anger towards Rhaenyra and Viserys... it's more about what Otto said to her. Part of her knew what would happen to her in the event that Rhaenyra succeeds now that she gave birth to a son. Robert Baratheon's forces killed every Targaryen to eliminate residual loyalty. Rhaenyra would absolutely kill Aegon because too many people would want him to rule instead of her. I think Alicent in episode 4 was actually hopeful/in denial about this. As Otto said, she didn't want to believe it. On top of that knowing that she learned from Larys that the Grand Maester brewed the tea for Rhaenyra meaning he did that under the orders of the king. She also overheard the conversation Otto and Viserys had when Viserys pretty much referred to Aegon as Otto's blood instead of his son. Finally, that situation got Otto fired and Alicent is loyal to her father. I think Alicent's anger stems from a lot of different things but people are making it seem much pettier than it actually is. I'm sure she wants to have fun too but then again, the Hightowers are super religious so I'm not even sure she wants to have the same level as fun as Rhaenyra. I'm also not sure why some people (not y'all) are so certain that if the roles were reversed Rhaenyra would go against her House for Alicent. I think it's odd that people would expect that from a teenager who was told by the King to keep things private and she knew what her dad wanted her to do. Rhaenyra has been shown since episode 1 to be a bit self-serving and Daemon taps into that. I'm not team black or team green even though I lean more towards Rhaenyra because I hate some characters on the other side but it's fun watching this show without picking a side.

As soon as I watch an episode I come here to see your reactions.

Not taking the fathers name as a royal was done in the age of Queen Elizabeth II. Her children took her name of Windsor and not Phillips’s name of Mountbatten.

This episode was the embodiment of stress and tension.

Makerta reaction during the whole fight scene was me during the whole thing as well

I stand for Allicent Hightower 💚💚💚💚she has had enough, now its time for her to stand for Herself

It was so chaotic and I loved it lol

that dinner scene had me SO anxious. felt like red wedding all over again except this time I was anticipating something horrible happening. scene just kept going on and on and on. whew lol

The drum beat, and the greens making their appearance. The slow slow build up, the political discussion. I think this was the best episodes.so damn good. So intense