A diverse cast, including a non-binary actor and gay characters, two women leads. But no discord about fans being bigots or racists. Interesting. It’s almost like everyone enjoys good shows and movies, regardless of who is on screen.

I'm confused, I just watched a very well written, acted and filmed TV show which I thoroughly enjoyed while none of the actors or directors have have attacked me because of my skin colour or sex...

Ewan Mitchel is such a talented actor, looking at how he played Osferth in the Last Kingdom and then seeing how he plays Aemon in this displays so much range that not a lot of actors can pull off

The Chat - Mauler is spoiling it Mauler - How can I? Its nice having streams like this back 😂❤

when they broke it down about house of the dragon season 1 costing around the same as the acolyte i had to check, under 20m per episode for 10 episodes for hotd and 180m for the acolyte which is going to be 8 episodes. Its actually insane the gap between these 2 shows and lucasfilm have the sheer fukin hubris to claim people hate the show cuz of sexism and racism

Aemond telling criston Cole, the queen speaks with 2 tongues was priceless 😂

The power of Ryan! The Power of Mauler! The power of Garyyyyyyyyyyyyy😂 Hail!

I am glad that they silently but surely distanced themselves from the GOT series by mentioning that the dragons refused to pass the Wall. It's book lore accurate now

There was a shocking lack of guards outside of the queens quarters.

I could listen to Gary and Ryan about lore and all possibilities for hours. And especially when Ryan talks about lore. Hes awesome.

14:28 To answer Mauler's question, in episode 10/S1, Rhaenys states she will personally patrol the blockade. She doesn't really give Rhaenyra a say or asks for permission. Based on that, Rhaenys would be unavailable & thus Rhaenyra sends Luke. She chooses Storms End for Luke bc it's closer/short flight & she (wrongly) assumes he'll be met with fanfare & safe conduct, since they share blood. She couldnt have known the Greens sent out Aemond/Vhagar to that same place & the BS that would ensue, which led to his death. BOOK reasoning is probably simpler: It's just what Jace says earlier, "dragons fly faster than ravens," & so she sent her boys out.

In the Alicent / Criston bedroom scene (around 1:07:00) it’s also interested that two nights when Cole is on guard a major tragedy happens like with S1’s fight and Aemond looses an eye and now a child is dead

imagine having a show that good that there is an actual discussion stream about it after... to enjoy it as a community and celebrate it... and imagine telling everyone those exact guys can't like anything and only get joy out of hating stuff for clicks.... how dumb must they feel?

The show is so good at setting up future plot points. I didn’t read the books but this franchise sets up stuff very well. The fact that this episode was about a page, is crazy.

The ease to which Blood and Cheese made it to the heirs was disappointing. The book made it so difficult... . I also hope that Cris was supposed to be on guard and that comes back to destroy both him and Alicent

There is no way Aemond would admit that he lost control of the dragon. Cole is a simp & Alicent has now realised the men hold all the power & she’s at their mercy.

Game of Thrones was the only intro I never skipped.

1:10:15 I think Gary is wrong there, in the books Laenor was killed in a market square and they have his body. There is no ambiguity that he died, only the killer's motive is unclear.

Kinda surprised you didn't have Dan Vasc here for the review as well. We all know what a big fan he is of HotD. Ya know, being ghey and all....

Establishing shots as they changed location/scenes were amazing

Happy Fathers Day and Fuck the WEF!

This was a great stream to watch. Everybody got to speak, and there wasn't a bunch of needless screaming (ehem, FNT) I really like Ryan when he does these longer breakdown streams, he actually knows his shyte. Got a taste of it with 'The Star Grift' podcast he did with Mauler and SWT, and I wish he did these more often.

29:12 There IS a godswood in King’s Landing because Sansa goes there to pray and that’s where Ser Dontos arranges her rescue.

They could've achieved the same effect of not actually showing the death but still had it be way more impactful if Helaena had to make the choice and chose Maelor who should've been there but then Cheese grabbed her, covered her mouth so she couldn't scream and was taunting her while Blood cut off Jaehaery's head instead. Just have the camera focus in on her face as we hear the sound effects similar to the scene from GoT where Ramsay "beds" Sansa and Theon looks on in horror.

The set of this show is laughably, epically light years ahead of what other studios are putting out right now. And the writing is perfection. Not even a comparison.

The problem I often see in CGI is when huge creatures move around and don't shake the earth. That dragon crept down the hill, but the guards remained motionless.

Sorry for all the specific replies 😅 BUT Mauler 43:52 EXACTLY!! I rant about this in my video. The writing for Rhaenys reeks of "writer's clairvoyance". She does & says things in universe than make no sense other than the writer's want her to make these points. & this extends to OTHER characters she interacts with (Rhaenyra & Alicent, mainly). Not ONCE is she remorseful for her stupid stunt in the Dragonpit & she's so smug in episodes 9-10 & yet Alicent is all "you shouldve always been Queen over Viserys"; even Rhaenyra compliments her...even tho Rhaenys DOESNT bow (twice!) to acknowledge Rhaenyra as Queen. But it gets overlooked bc of reasons. 🙄 Daemon is the only one to truly call her out, but he cant ever get the "upperhand" bc the writer's wont allow it. I admit that they are (hopefully) building up to a certain event regarding Rhaenys, but I maintain that it will depend on HOW they handle it/what context is it under...& considering how they fumbled B&C, I dont have high hopes.

they didnt lock the door , now thats what i call EPIC Bad Luck

Blood and Cheese are the Merry and Pippin of Westeros

Mauler talking about his dad is so real. My parents aren’t really into their lore and just watched the show as it came out no questions asked (honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t understand all of it) And even they were mega disappointed about how GOT ended

Does nobody mention Damon specifically tells blood and cheese to kill the one with only a single eye, names him, and warns them he is a good fighter? He didn't say random son

Ryan Velarion present, this is going to be good.

The biggest issue so far with the series is that they keep taking away important moments when characters choose to do something (usually murder), but then make it an accident. The funny thing with blood and cheese is giving Helaena the appearance of a choice - but the murderers choosing their own victim - would've been way better then a direct choice from her. As for intent; Aemond should have killed Lucerys because he wanted to. These important character moments keep being undermined by 'accidents.'

The impression I got when Helana pointed out her son was that she wasn't choosing. In her mind, she was just pointing at the one she knew they were going to kill. It's kind of a brian scramble as she wasn't sure it was real or a vision. I think they she needed more scenes in this episode to better establish her mental state before hand.

House of the dragon. Aegons conquest. Remake game of thrones. Been saying it since hotd was announced

Ryan in the thumbnail is fucking hilarious 😂

Isn't it nice that a setup episode can generate a three-hour conversation instead of hours of vitriol bad writing causes? lol

George has hinted that he has written over a thousand pages for Winds & Dreams....His problem is pulling all the story strands together without expanding it......I think Winds & Dreams will be released pretty close together.... Now thats positivity for you...........But do not sue me if I'm wrong.....lol

With "Blood and Cheese" you talk about killing one or killing three, but the confusing part to me is that it doesn't seem to be about numbers. Daemon says "a son for a son", but he isn't talking about _just any_ son; he's talking about the Aemond, the one who killed Rhaenyra's son. He describes him as distinctively one-eyed and warns them he's a skilled fighter and hard to kill. Then they don't even bother trying to look for him specifically, and I'm not sure why.

blood and cheese was a pg-13 let down

F's in the chat for 'good rat' meme reference

Olivia Cooke revealed that one 'animalistic' sex scene was cut from House Of The Dragon as she stunned in a sexy ELLE cover shoot on Monday. The actress, 30, who plays an adult Queen Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon, said the 'messy as f**k' take was scrapped and admitted that while it wasn't a 'beautiful' scene it was 'really fun to do'.

I think Blood and Cheese was fine. As a book reader I do view it as a missed opportunity excluding the Sophie’s choice aspect. Overall it’s gruesome and effective enough to drive the plot forward. Guess will have to see since it is still episode one.

It’s not about who has the seat of harrenhal. It’s about 1. Who wins the favor of the Tully’s as the whole of the river lands will follow and 2. The physical, geographical advantage of whoever gets control of it

I liked the episode and 7/10 is a perfect rating, but I was a little dissapointed by the ending since I read the book. But I'm so excited to see the dragons and especially Vhagar and Vermithor in action. Looking forward to your reviews of the rest of the second season.

B&C was botched, and to me it shows how much damage the industry has suffered in ten years. There are just too many things interfering and meddling that prevent a good and faithful adaptation when it's needed.

Regarding the dragons not crossing the Wall, another implication is that they are magical creatures, and thus the power of the Wall holds them back from crossing. It was the same with Coldhands, the undead guy who brought Sam & Gilly back to the Wall and showed them the secret passage that only opens to a brother of the Night's Watch, which Sam then uses to send Bran, Hodor & the Reeds through, for Coldhands to escort to the cave of the Three Eyed Crow (whose great-grandparents are on the show). Coldhands tells Sam that he can't pass, because of the magic in the Wall. Jon also loses touch with Ghost after he climbs the Wall and sends the wolf to find his own way around, only regaining their mental link when Ghost arrives at Castle Black and comes up to him. The Wall prevented Jon's powers from passing north of it.

I wanna see a Tywin story but showing the Reyne Tarbeck revolt

I didn't like the change they made with blood and cheese compared to the book. Don't get me wrong, it's still horrifying what happens, but it isn't as messed up as what happened in the books. Especially how it fks ups poor Helaena.

It's so good to be back!

Ryan is great in this podcast. Really knowledgeable.

I liked the episode, but the Blood & Cheese scene was a big flop. Underwhelming knowing what it should have been.

Been waiting for this.. What a year its been. The Acolyte, then HOTD...A perfect change.

I cant believe no one made a joke about Sophie's Choice, or, er... Helena's Choice?🤣

It's 9.37am on Monday 17th June in the UK & there are 521k posts on HotD.

I never read the books and I thought the blood and cheese was awesome and extremely disturbing. It left me feeling uneasy just like Luke’s death last season. I’m sure I’m not alone with that feeling.

They should've just called this episode Sophie's Choice.

Loved the episode, but totally agree the Blood and Cheese scene was fumbled. They could have done SOO much more with that scene and still remained true to the books. Even if they had cut to black and cut the kids head off and we just had the audio....I don't know😂 ... think their hands were tied as you say. Such a legendary scene it's a shame for it to not give it the attention it deserved! But the rest I thought was good plot building and intrigue. Definitely made me excited for the rest of the season! Thanks again guys love these streams ❤

28:14 There IS a way to salvage that, IDK what GRRM will do, but you could have it just be the fact that Dany IS "The Prince(ss) That Was Promised" & Drogon (or her dragons, in gen) are "Lightbringer" & that's why 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 could/would cross beyond the Wall, whereas all other dragons before them wouldn't. Have it be the traditional "The 'Chosen One' have a different set of rules" type thing.

I have to say, overall great episode, but the actor for Jacaerys stole the show imo. Surprisingly powerful performance from such a young actor in just the few minutes he was in, especially the scene where he, despite just flying back from the wall after finding out his brother died, tried to fulfill his duty to the queen before allowing himself to seek comfort from his mother.

This is a show with 2 female leads and a diverse cast. Where are all the "toxic" fans putting it down? I thought we were all racist sexist homophobic assholes 😂😂😂

It's so cool to be able to have a positive discussion about a show. I've missed this.

A missed opportunity with Blood/Cheese, so many elements of what made that moment a MOMENT weren't present: • Helaena's impossible CHOICE. If the writer's thought infanticide was the "shock value" of the Blood/Cheese moment, they're wrong & showing they don't understand the source material. It was more about Helaena's choice, an impossible one for a MOTHER to make, but she's forced to do it, even after pleading for them to take 𝘩𝘦𝘳 life instead (something Show Helaena doesn't even offer to do??). Even without Maelor, as the "spare", this moment as the show did it with just the twins could've hit harder if Helaena was forced to choose which one to sacrifice VS just point out which one is the boy 🙃 • I know it's been forever ago & most of us are blocking out GOT, but GOT had a scene with a mother/baby getting unalived. When Joffrey ordered all of Robert's bastards to be killed & one was a baby. They cut the scene, just showed us the mother's horrified reaction... NO ONE in the fandom wants to actually see a child/baby unalived or beheaded. What's not seen is sometimes more powerful, same thing here. & I'm just pointing out GOT show has done this before & MORE (Burning Shireen, stabbing pregnant Talisa, ETC). I get that we're going with Helaena is "different" or on the spectrum & she hasn't had a "normal" response to ANYTHING, if you watch her in S1...but still weird to not have her be more impacted in some way, esp since she "sensed" something would happen. • Alicent not being present. This one is more minor overall. But it would've been the better call to have her gagged/bound & watching this unfold, helpless to stop it, as in the book. Alicent already feels uneasy, guilty & helpless over what Aemond did & this is a clear act of vengeance for it. It just reinforces for her all the "doom" she's complicit in bc she crowned Aegon. Having her get dicked down by Criston instead feels disassociated from everything else going on. Overall the episode was a 6/10, but it could've been a solid 8-9/10, if we had raised the stakes & stuck closer to the book/lore. ALL of the ASOIAF books pull zero punches with its characters & events, it's a shame/disappointing the show does.

Peak is back

This is a good group chemistry esp with the uncommon Fringy appearance

I just put these type of recaps on in the background and work, pause button at the ready. Great insights and interpretations. Good show.

Wasn't expecting a wild Frongol to appear, the Green Men rarely leave the Isle of Faces. I thought the episode was.... ok, solid setup but they totally softballed Blood & Cheese which was disappointing and could have negative impact on the rest of the season depending how they handle the aftermath. Did like how they introduced Cregan & I think he'll be popular if they don't botch him but still not sold on the Aegon actor, something about him just isn't clicking for me. Totally with Mauler on the Aemond actor, he's right up there with Matt & Rhys for me. It can never be as good as early Thrones because the source material is significantly weaker plus any show without Stannis is automatically lesser 😂

Fans really overhyped the blood and cheese so it’s no wonder that it was a letdown. Even if they followed the book exactly it still would’ve been a let down to me I think

I have no read the books, but knew about some spoilers. For me the sounds of that last act is still in my mind, but i got distrated with the fact that there was no guards around protecting the royal family in a time of a war. It make no sense, they should have put some guards and take them down or something. It seem too easy.

I was looking forward to this conversation! Need to say I loved this first episode of S2! IMO, it fulfilled what I was expecting of the show! How refreshing to enjoy a good produced show in the midst of all the shitty shows we are having! Awesome discussion guys! Keep it up and keep it coming!

Blood & Cheese was a lot more darker in the book in comparison to what they showed in this episode. Also we got a name drop for Dalton Greyjoy aka the red kraken😈, and I hope we can see more scenes of the younger members of team black do their own plans. Because they are importent in the book an I just hope the writers remember that. And finally I'm patiently waiting to see if this is the season that we will get to see the lads of riverrun, or will they(the writers) save them for season 3.

As someone who comes from a culture where blood-feud was very common, "a son for a son" is perfectly logical to me. I understand Mauler is from England, but how many times have you listen "A life for a life" in literature or movies? That's what this is. You do not need to specify "do not kill anyone else", because it is already clear. Now, the switching of the child is a knife twist which I personally do not find very credible coming from Blood & Cheese (not impossible though) and I very much doubt they were instructed in advance to do that by Daemon. However, it makes for a very powerful and sad story. It's Sophie's choice with a twist, which plays a big role in Helaena's tragic story. I haven't seen the episode yet, but it would seem that the problem here derives from the show not following the book. When Helaena offers herself, at first, the assassins refuse because it had to be a son. It also had to be Aegon's son (Aemond wouldn't do, despite him being the killer,) because Rhaenyra lost a son, therefore Aegon must loose one too. From your conversation and depiction of the scene, I think they messed up this one. Pity. Re-Laenor, he is very much dead in the book, actually. There is no ambiguity about it because he was slain by his friend and his body was collected by his father. They would've recognised him because he was not burned. The whole thing happened in public and there were merchants present. It was a fair and the two were quarreling loudly and fought with blades. The only question in the book is about the motifs. According to Septon Eustace's version, Qarl killed him because he was jealous about another guy, but according to Mushroom's version, Qarl killed Laenor on behalf of Prince Daemon. There is not a single proof presented to back up his claim, so it's up to the reader which one they choose to believe. For me, it works either way. But as far as Laenor's death, there is no doubt, in the book. He was 100% dead. What they did in the show was a PC crap, IMO, because we can't have a black gay dead. So, let us send a Prince, the future Queen's husband, wander around Essos, without any wealth, with his gay lover. lol Meah...It was lame and I didn't care for it.

There is SO MUCH MATERIAL they could do a spin off OF EVERY HOUSE in Westeros. And I’d watch every one. My favorites at least in audio book form was The hedge knight dunk and egg stories. Loved them.

It just feels so good to finally enjoy watching something again !! And you guys actually having a discussion about something that each one of you enjoyed as well! ABOUT FUCKING TIME !

Mauler - you weren't supposed to know exactly what Daemon said, you were supposed to think they were looking for Aemond, not the son of the King, so it would be a shock (to us non readers)

I really disliked this episode. The morning of Luke dragged. And the ability for the rat man to get through the castle and into the rooms at night so easily was bogus. Where were all the guards... no one's guarding the rooms... what...

Why did it seem like Helaena hypnotized the rat catcher? That whole scene was very odd. Also I did even notice the dog being kicked lol

KZfaq ads r ridiculous watching on replay good content good review lads

I hate the comparison of dragons to Nukes. No, they're gunships. A normal dragon is like an Apache or a Hind, Vhagar is an AC130

Stop dragon my heart around!

Gonna be defending the show on this. I think there are a lot of intentional subtleties in this iteration of Blood & Cheese that the people criticizing it are not giving it credit for. Firstly, the target originally being Aemond makes much more sense. If successful, his killing would cripple the Greens, whereas targeting the queen and the heirs would serve no practical purpose other than to antagonize them. Next up, I'd like to point out how deliberately this episode called attention to the power that the words of a king or royal hold. Otto tells it to Aegon, but the payoff is Daemon saying "a son for a son" and it coming to fruition in the most terrible way by two sloppy cutthroats chosing the most convenient option to make a quick buck. It's almost poetic and in a very similar vein to how Aemond accidentally ended up killing Luke. Very much in keeping with the theme of how some of the biggest escalations are sometimes the results of impulsive acts of vengeance that keep the war spiraling far out of anybody's control. Criston banging Alicent while it's happening is fucking dark. It was likely him shirking his guard duty to be with her that allowed B&C to succeed in the first place, and part of that guilt now rests on Alicent. Huge moment for her character that I expect will have massive consequences going forward. Now for some criticisms: Despite what I just said, the fact that there are no guards on the royal level whatsoever is a bit of a stretch. We are coming fresh of the Greens having murdered one of Rhaenyra's children and expecting retaliation. Now yes, they might not want common Household guards stationed with the Queen & heirs, and the Kingsguard is short a few members, but even if we are correct in assuming that it was Criston's watch that night (which I suppose will be up to Episode 2 to confirm), I think this episode should have had a scene explicitly stating that. That way, when we see he's not there the audience could have had a chance to put 2 and 2 together, or just turn Helaena walking in on him and Alicent into a small payoff. Little pieces like this clicking into place is something this show is very good at so it's a shame they missed this one. As Mauler already pointed out, it seems a bit odd that B&C would spend this much time trying to figure out which of the twins is the boy rather than just killing them both. There's a few ways to maybe explain this away, like the moment they take their attention away from Helaena she's gonna alert someone and they might not have time to get both their heads. Or they just don't wanna kill two kids, they're only just morally crooked enough to kill the one they need to get their reward. Neither of these are very strong excuses and I'd rather the show spent a bit more time working this out to be believable. Overall, I can't confidently say that this is better than the version in the book, but I do think it mostly works if you take it for what it is.

Pretty sure Helaena did grab Maelor from the crib in the back corner of the room; the twins were side by side but while the guys were distracted we see Helaena go all the way to the other side of the room and grab baby from a covered crib. I read it as she couldn't help one son, but she could save the other son and hope that they leave the daughter alone. We even hear a kid crying in the room behind her later, that's the sister waking up. Unless I'm very mistaken.

I get the feeling that maybe Helaena did lie. Maybe for some reason she swaps Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. I'm just not certain why she would. He's the first born and heir, but I don't think Helaena really cares about any of that. Because earlier when they show Aegon coming to get Jaehaerys he realizes its Jaehaera, then later Blood and Cheese can't tell the twins apart. I don't think the writers put those scenes in for nothing. Something just seems off.

Hail King Aegon! Team Green all day!

The show covers a page per episode? Thats still faster than George is writing Winds of Winter.

Okay you can clearly see a baby’s crib right behind Haelena when Aegon is in the room, there’s a wide shot and it’s right behind her with the twins beds on the right of the screen

I loved it. Can’t wait for the second episode. This felt most like GOT toward the end. The only criticism I have is the lack of a Tyrion/comedic taunting character. It needs more funnier moments to keep the pace up. Aegon could get funnier but we’ll see how it goes. This show will be legendary no matter.

Both the Greens and the Blacks are evil and supposed to be 'grey'. But to me it seems, from seaon 1 the writers have picked Rhaenyra as the hero with "the power of diversity" on her side and Alicent as the villain.

Gods the Writing was strong now

Rhaenys' decision to not kill the Greens was very defensible. My initial reaction was WTF, but really, that's viewer-omniscience. We're thinking in terms of the inevitable war, and Rhaenys is still hoping to avoid that, as well as the fact that she's not 100% sure where she wants to come down. Yes, her granddaughters are betrothed to Rhaenyra's kids, but that's not set in stone. Corlys' survival is still in question, the Blacks aren't looking super strong at the moment. Aegon is crowned, and holds the throne. Rhaenyra has scant forces, only a lot of promises and theoretical loyalty, which as we see from Lord Baratheon, is not guaranteed. The Blacks can still lose this, and for Rhaenys and her family to get back in the good graces of the Greens is going to be a whole lot trickier if she has personally massacred a good chunk of the royal family. Beyond her and her family's political fortunes, we know from her talk with Alicent in the castle that she would prefer a peaceful solution. She says on Dragonstone that Alicent is the voice of peace and reconciliation on Team Green. She kills Alicent and the rest (and Ali made it clear that she's only getting to Aegon over his mother's body), the survivors of the Greens will have one less voice arguing for peace and additional motives for revenge. Also, and I should hope I don't need to argue this point, killing people is wrong. The people who died when she broke up through the floor were justifiable collateral damage - their deaths were not her aim, escape was. The responsibility for their deaths is all on the heads of the Greens, who herded people into the Dragonpit to witness the coronation and who ordered the main doors (the ones we see Rhaenyra using in the pilot episode) for departures, closed, and who told Rhaenys to her face that they were holding her at court. She was being kept against her will, she had every right to use necessary measures to free herself. Since she could not, presumably, get out through the big doors meant to keep dragons in, she went up through the ceiling into the audience room where the coronation was being held and the street-level doors were wide open. If the Greens are going to force people to come into the building and also try to lock her in, the deaths she causes trying to regain her rightful freedom are the Greens' fault. But all that justification goes out the window if she dallies to incinerate a bunch of people who are just standing there, watching, especially since Otto is the one calling for the doors to stay open. Otto is allowing her to go, he is not the one infringing on her moral rights at the moment. Pausing to eyeball them, to make sure they aren't trying to stop her, fine. Pausing to mass murder them, not so much. Finally, there is the point that going all dracarys on the dais would not have ended the fight. IIRC, Aegon's kids are not present, and Alicent had a third son by Viserys, Daeron, who was in Oldtown squiring for Lord Hightower, Otto's brother or nephew. And his dragon was with him. If Rhaenys wipes out Lord Hightower's brother & niece/uncle & cousin and Daeron's siblings, well, they are supermotivated now, and the Blacks are easily painted as the villains for her massacre.

My prediction for why they changed the Blood & Cheese from the book: to create a scenario where Aegon insists he wants to bear another male heir, and the Queen refuses and says your daughter is the heir. If there was still another living male heir, they wouldn't be able to create this tension.

I totally understand Maulers thoughts on the ending, and I'm glad Gary and Ryan gave a bit more background. However I disagree that what we got was somehow softer than what was written. It was shocking and very disturbing to hear the killing of a child. To be clear I'm basing my opinion on the episode and Ryan and Gary's telling of the book scene as I haven't read HotD.

Larys tells Alicent that he cleared out all those unloyal to the greens and yet Blood and Cheese were still there to kill the child prince? Did he f up or is that something that will be addressed later?

Blood and cheese happened in the show in a way that would be sensationalized and telephoned into being the version we read. For that reason I love it. I love how they try to play off of book lore and their own take on things. I get being bummed out but my headcanon is the book version is the one the greens tell everyone what happened.

Finally some good fucking tv

Once she started running with the other child, why wasn't she screaming bloody murder to alert all the guards in the castle. A final let down in a series where nothing is really going on, paricularly when you compare it to GOT.

season 1 is 2.5 chapters of the book and was 75% accurate. also from this episode only Jace in the North, Otto and the last scene is accurate... it's funny how Aegon is replacing the only dude knowing what is to be done with a dog who'll do whatever he'll be asked...it's going to be poetic lmao.

I'm still concerned about where this could go, considering neither the actors nor producers seem to have any understanding of the characters in their own show (re: articles and video interviews), but I'll approach it with cautious optimism

What made the scene unbelievable was how Helaena was so calm with her voice and how she moved while grabbing the kid, running away and going "The Killed the Boy." She showed more emotion when she tells Aegon "What if he doesn't want to be king?" The biggest excuse I hear us "She's autistic!" So apparently autistic people can't show emotions now? That is no excuse for how they took away her choice and made the whole scene underwhelming. What is the purpose of her being autistic to the plot aside from representing the viewer? You can have a character be quiet, strange, have her head in the clouds and still be upset at her own child being murdered. Being shocked and unable to process emotions didn't work.

About an hour in, they've discussed the regicide: My question was that Daemon described Aemond. How were Blood and Cheese satisfied/confused with killing Jaeherys? Doesn't seem like anyone is mentioning that discrepancy.