A battle. A battle in daylight. A battle in daylight shot competently. What year is this?

Aemond - Speaks eloquently in High Valyrian. Aegon - 'Si...er...Correcto'

I find Aegon to be absolutely hilarious but also really sad. Man really just wants to be loved.

As soon as sunfyire was being all cute and affectionate with Aegon you knew something horrible was on the way

The difference in quality between this and the acolyte is insane

I love how good the setup was for Aegon to make the stupid decision. Alicent keeps blaming him for everything whilst being his mother and failing to prepare him is also extremely poetic. Such a good start of the war.

They managed to make Aegon a very tragic character, a victim of his own family in all regards. A negletful father, a hateful mother that does nothing but belittle him, a brother who tries to end him. Lots of stuff show to set up the tragedy

I felt so bad for sunfyre. Perhaps the only living thing that loved/cared for Aegon and Aegon returning the same kindness to Sunfyre. Seeing the poor dragon get mauled and scream in pain only for it to yet again get blasted by Aemond was saddening.

I love them finally reincorporating their Valyrian language. The dialogue this episode was so good.

Daemon saw himself with an eye patch reminded me of Luke Skywalker in TESB. When he walks into the Cave of Dagobah, he saw Vader’s helmet in his hallucination. Then he smashed it, revealing his own face.

I thought the symbolism of the figurine that Alicent broke in this episode was it being the same piece she gave Viserys in season 1 when she was younger. It symbolized that she tried doing all of this *for him* and ended up messing it up instead.

Ageon yelling at Larys strong made me laugh out loud “ ITS YOUR FUCKING CASTLE “

I like the lord of Harrenhall. He's the only actually honest character. He's got nothing to gain and only a haunted castle to keep.

Damn I wanted to hate rheneys and aegon but I never could. And sunfyre painful screeches and meleys looking at rheneys before dying always breaks my heart.

Since they've established that Aemond is proficient in high valerian, should we figure that he read the prophecy on the knife since he now has it?

The reason I am not Team Black is Rhaenyra is a terrible decision maker , her life has shown this. Sending Rhaenys by herself was such a poor move. She doesn’t strike me as someone who would rule well. She should have never abandoned Kingslanding if she was serious and she should have connected with the people.

Once I saw that Aegon was drunk I knew he was done for. He was so desperate to prove himself and it bit him in the ass hard. Poor Sunfyre.

A marvellous showing for Aemond. No notes. As for Aegon, I found myself pitying Aegon. Absolutely nothing was ever expected of him from anyone. Completely lost and neglected, it's no wonder he became pathetic. At least in F&B he had a loving mother. Don't even get me started on Sunfyre. Our first real showing of the two them together and... damn. Lastly. Didn't hate her, per se, but I'm glad I won't be seeing Rhaenys anymore. Perpetually smug and bitter isn't endearing to me. And this is coming from someone who loved the Queen of Thorns right until the end.

There was a Kingmaker in the 15th century in England. It was Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471, during the Wars of the Roses.

I was so scared that when it cut to black, it would fade to after the battle was over lol. Traumatized by Disney editing.

Definitely my favorite HoTD episode of all seasons.

Watching the group geek out with excitement over a good show is SO much better than watching them have to sh!t on the normal crap. Wish there were more opportunities for this kind of review.

I loved how this show portrayed how the veteran dragons and dragon riders fight in aerial combat. Agon (and Sunfyre) shooting flame at Meleys and Rhaenys, thus obscuring their own vision. Meanwhile, Meleys takes advantage of this by maneuvering while her opponent is blinded, and gets in position to blindside. Twice Meleys attacks Sunfyre. First while Sunfyre was trying to find her after getting out of his own fireball, and second while the panicked young dragon was trying to gain altitude while in agony. When Vhagar and Meleys charge each other, we see the veteran Vhagar snatch Meleys before deploying flame. And later, when Vhagar blindsides Meleys using the castle. Even if the castle wasn't there, the cliff still would have provided enough cover. The dragons fly fast enough that the closing speed would ensure that, if one could close the distance to a point where the other has no time to react.

If you pretend the dumb dragon scene of episode 9 didn't happen, Rhaenys' arc becomes so much better. She would actually have been believable as a voice for peace, she wouldn't have been responsible for the war happening in the first place, and her death would have been tragic as the most peace-minded character being the first to fall in battle (although her dreams about a peaceful solution still were completely irrational and naive, of course). It really feels like that's how the showrunners want us to look at it. They realize how bad that scene was and are now trying to pretend it never happened. Unfortunately, that's not how it works.

The scene where Vaegar enters the battlefield and the music stops. People stop screaming. Everyone just looks up. The Erie quiet before the intense chaos.

When meleys fell vhagar, i was screaming 'get outta there, meleys!'

It feels really good to watch and talk about great television again... I can hear it the panels voices... It's actual excitement compared to dread of talking about the wokeacolyte...

Meleys is described in the book as the fastest dragon alive at the time. So this had nothing to do with fear of getting outran by Vahgar. I feel this was Rhaenys being a dragon. Even before this conflict, Rhaenys is always described as fierce and fearless. She knew it would likely be her end but she also knew that there was a chance she could win and she took it.

The episode made me sympathize with king aegon The man really tried

This dragon battle was epic. I love GG Martin work. I really hope he had finished the books before GOT catch up. I hope G.G Martin fhinish the story. Its a great story to leave it unfinished.

This episode cemented to me just how dumb Rhaenys was. The battle at the moment of Aegon's fall was a net positive for her and the Blacks: she burned like half of the army, the king was almost certainly dead (killed by his brother no less!), and she had a clean getaway. Instead of that, she decides to stay and take on the biggest dragon alive, and in turn the Blacks lose arguably their most powerful dragon and dragonrider... the sheer fucking hubris.

Melyss being roughly double or a bit over double the size of sunfire and then vhagar being 2-3x the size of melyss was depicted so well and it was absolutely chilling

Aemond trying to kill his brother is foreshadowing his sanity

48:07 Exactly! Even in the previous episode when she singled out Aemond, "Aemond...you know what he is.." to Rhaenyra. It's like, Your SON, the one you raised. If he's a "monster," you made him one, Alicent. It's weird in-world & in the audience ppl dont seem to always acknowledge Alicent's "mothering".

Ive always had a hard time watching the dragons die, they remind me of dogs for some reason and I know this is gonna be a hard series.

I really think they could’ve addressed Rhaenys’ actions in episode 9 in this episode and given her a bit of a redemption arc. When Rhaenys is doing one of her lectures, just have a character say something to her like: “Princess, you have killed more small folk than anyone in this conflict thus far, maybe instead of flying high in your dragon, you for once think of the people on the ground beneath you”. That would’ve contextualised the scene where she is looking down at the destruction below her at rooks rest, and decides to turn around and fight again. It would’ve been her acknowledging that she was wrong and wants to try and put things right.

What i find annoying is that they watched the episode, and have the scene right there, playing, and still don't notice that Aemond is ALREADY sheathing his sword before Cole calls for him. ???

Funny how the Green counsel puts Aegon down even though THEY put him on the throne. A power he did not want. It was all out of pettiness and spite.

Dragon rights need to be respected

Another kill for our Baby Monk

Anyone notice the cup Aegon knocks off the table before he goes to RR? A golden dragon that he pushes to its destruction 😢

We definitely need an Aegon the Conqueror/Aenys Targaryen/Maegor the Cruel show that could go like 5-6 seasons (Think how HotD did it with the time jumps) and have it end with Jaeherys taking the throne and having his reign of peace leading straight into the events of House of the Dragon. HBO should build the brand back up and eventually once they have a few successful shows in the bag like hopefully HotD, Aegon's Conquest, Hedge Knight, Robert's Rebellion etc. they remake Game of Thrones and by that point fingers crossed GRRM has the books finished.

HoD: Cole has been covering himself in glory. Me: oh that’s a death sentence right there lol

Rhaenryra's council not even bringing up the possibility of Vagar or other dragons showing up is really dumb. The way it was played you could tell Rhaenys knew that dying was a real probability, so it would take one line from her being like "I will do my part" to move on from the topic.

Two take-aways. Otto is NOWHERE to be seen(great move;the feeling of freefall without him is is visceral) and castles are actually used as castles. And oh yeah,Cristan is every bit the Lancelot in this plot,epic fall from grace and innocense.

When Rhaenys strapped in, I knew it was over. I heard Neegan's voice in my head talking about the size of the lady nuts on her. It's one thing to fight and risk dying. It's another to know you're going to die and do it anyway.

STOP EATING SHAD, STOP EATING! Omg dude is unbearable

Does Shad have to eat and smack in the mic the whole stream?

Sir Cole is gonna be pissssssed when he learns the queen is moon teaing his babies.

The CGI for this episode looked way better than the recent Kong vs Godzilla film.

Daemon and Aemond are anagrams. If that doesn't make their mirror image symbolism obvious I don't know what does.

The problem with living in New Zealand is that I see this stream dropping while I'm at work, and still have to go home and watch HotD before I can listen to this! Good television and better critics make Mondays a whole lot better than they used to be at least.

It's so refreshing to watch a competent and engaging story.

That moment that Maelys was looking back at Rheanys while her neck was being crushed was such a great touch. A final goodbye look, knowing she was a goner.

All they needed was a scene where Rhaenys says "I feel so bad that I killed all those peasants for no reason" and I would have liked her character.

We bringed the Fring that's what matters.

I will pity the dragons the most from the episode and the show. Such loyal, magnificent creatures with soft hearts, fighting a pointless war over a seat. Every scene in which they got harmed or killed hit hard in this episode because I love dragons in general. Alicent is such a pathetic mother it's hard to describe and that led to her son's doom. Perfect writing.

Jaehaerys wasn't in line for the thrown either. He was the 3rd son of Aenys. Aegon the Uncrowned would have received the prophecy from Aenys who was told directly from Aegon the Conqueror. But Aegon the Uncrowned and Viserys were both killed by Maegor. Jaehaerys was a young boy when he, his sister and mother fled from Kingslanding. Making it very hard to believe he would have received the prophecy from either of his older brothers!

HEROINHALL💉👀

Fingers crossed for Big Bird Tully and The Count 🧛‍♂️

I think with Rhaenys also deciding to come back and basically fight to the death is because she found out about Corlys’ bastards or at least one of them. In the earlier scene you can see that thought she “accepts” it and understands the reasoning, it still hurts her and damages her pride. further more she feels like this is yet another thing she lost. Her husband was probably the last thing that was keeping her going. And with him having bastards in a way she lost him as well. The combination of what the guys said of her feeling tired and Corlys bastard just put her in a mindset of this is it for me, I’m out.

Rhaenys was supposed to be experienced one yet she forgot the first rule of dogfight, never take your eyes off of your opponent

The strap scenes probably also foreshadowing aemond vs daemon

Watching final 20mins ... rooks battle beforehand worth the wait mfersz

Where was Whispers Guy when king is Flying away with his Dragon? WHY NO ONE STOPPING THE KING

Rheaneras mistake was thinking she was going to be the first to be willing to unleash the dragons. She should never have allowed one dragon to go alone knowing vhagar is a possible enemy to encounter.

The show was awesome, but the jump scare kill shot will get old if they keep doing it. Think logically, that dragon is as big if not bigger than a 747 basically, htf do you lose sight of it? It’s being forced, if you understand bfm / acm tactics this would make sense and be perfectly logical.

MVPs, Aemond, Cole.

Damn Ryans floor pizza making him sick again to miss this episode.

Melys the female dragon is emoting better than all of the cast of the acolyte

I do not think Aemond was trying to kill him, it just was meant to look like that.

Dragon Lives Matter! We must riot! 😂

2:18:00 is false. This actress was not in Game of Thrones.

I would like to point out the threat of dragons was pointed out in the council meeting before Rhaenys volunteered to go. Jace says "he will burn Cole's line and return before Kings landing has time to raise the alarm." I took that as them assuming all of the dragons were still in Kings Landing.

I think another tactical consideration for Rooks Rest from the Blacks’ POV is that it is perceived to be an easy victory for the Greens. So presumably they would have no need for a dragon because they wouldn’t need one to win

Aegon felt like he wasn't doing anything. And pushed to feel involved

From here on out Aegon follows his mother's advice and does nothing lol

Shad forgets that with most reptiles, the gals are bigger than the guys. In fact, that pertains to insects, some birds, and many other animals. It's mostly just mammals where the boys are bigger. And dominant males having harems, so maybe that's the value in having size.

To make the dragons fight midair the way birds of prey are doing it, mainly with their claws locking into each other, shows a great understanding of animal behavior. There was clearly not only the idea of creating a bombastic scene but to be as realistic as possible. My only complain is that Vhagar winning with an ambush attack again is a bit of too staged and too convenient. If anything it should have been the other way around and Meleys should have used her superior speed and agility for quick ambushes while Vhagar has to completely rely on her size to overpower her opponent. She's not that quick and is spotted easily plus when she hides behind the castles wall/cliffs she basically can't see Meleys just like Meleys can't see her so Vhagar finding the perfect moment to blindly ambush and having success with that is just too convenient.

What a fantastic episode, it's so refreshing to actually watch something that's good and enjoyable. The characters are so interesting and multifaceted rather than incompetent like The Acolyte. The pair are such polar opposites and it's so fascinating to see the discourse between both these shows. Can't wait for next week's episode!

Ding dong the witch is dead

Alicent isn’t wise here because she is suffering trauma over and over again. She keeps saying she hasn’t been able to process a trauma before another happens.

It’s insane that the acolyte and HOTD have similar budgets. And I love the 1 hour-ish episodes vs 27 minutes. Where is all the budget going in the acolyte?

I took a look at the episode because I wanted to see the dragons fight. Got to say, random blacks inserted in every other scene is really off-putting when GoT had no problems making Westeros feel like its own thing.

Hey shad, can you not eat on stream!? Or maybe at least not in the mic

They had to make Sunfyre a giant puppy. The only time I felt any emotion during the battle was listening to him screech in pain.

I love how they depict Eamond and Vahgar, his cunning snd her experience combined make them a terrifying duo. They fight in ways you don’t expect them too.

Shad is wrong @2:17:02 Vaghar is not the fastest. She is the oldest and the largest, born in 52 BC (Before Aegon's Conquest), and with much more fighting experience than any of the other Dragons of this age. Melys is much younger (born 129 AC) and is described as faster than both Caraxes and Vhagar, and fearsome. In the books, Rhaenys turns to meet the attack by both Dragons (Sunfyre and Vaghar), knowing she doesn't have a chance against them. But they have changed things here, the dynamic of that fight, and book Rhaenys is not the insufferable preacher, with a chip on her shoulder as in the show. I love book Rhaenys a lot, but I could give a fig about show Rhaenys. Good riddance! And before someone comes up with "but unreliable sources" mantra about the book. Well, I don't see why and how can the writers of the show be considered more reliable. lol After all, they are just an additional version, nothing more. Which is why stories based on "unreliable narrator" are not the best, for me. But I suppose that's not a problem for the show because the majority of the viewers haven't read the book. And even among the readers, I'm guessing many might agree with the changes, since F&B is not a proper narrative book like ASOIAF, where important changes are not welcomed by the book readers. Re-Aegon and the prophecy. That's 100% an afterthought. It has been something that some fans had come up with long time ago, and George kinda liked it. And for a good reason, because Aegon's "inactivity" for so many years, before turning west, always felt bizzarre and lacking. At that time, Geroge didn't have everything figured out. He is a "gardener" remember? And sometimes, the gardener, needs a bit of "help". 😉But I remember Elio and Linda talking about it, way before the show was in the horizon, and completely negating that it was a thing as far as canon and George was concerned. Ultimately, It fits the story, so it doesn't bother me that much. But let's not kid ourself, and call it what it is, an afterthought. What bothers me is that they used it in the show. It should've stayed out, because it has nothing to do with the Dance of the Dragons. The only reason they used it is because they still want to keep a link (like a continuity) between GOT and HoD, given the debacle with GOT, and TPTWP is that link. But more importantly, they wanted to give both to Rhaenyra and Alicent a "good" excuse, because "only men scheme", and only "men want and cause wars". 😏 Therefore, the prophecy it is used for Rhaenyra as a "calling". It's basically what motivates her. She isn't doing this because she wants that throne and because it is her goddamn birthright (which it is by the way.) There isn't a trace of book Rhaenyra, who after she lost the baby, and this was before Lucery's death, blames the greens for that and says; "They stole my crown and murdered my daughter and they shall answer for it." There is no Rhaenyra in the show, who is "quick to anger and never forgot a slight", and says to Aegon's messenger: "Tell my half-brother I will have my throne or his head." Nope! We can't have that! Instead, we have a "reasonable" and "responsible" Rhaenyra, who despite everything, exercises restrain and is trying to mediate until the very last. She is doing this for the "greater good", and all that jazz, because of the Prophecyyyy! A prophecy by the way, which turns out to be a joke in GOT, but I digress. lol So, no, she can't abdicate, Shad. No matter how much you try to find a "hidden" moral lesson on "selfishness". That's not the intention here, because there is no chance in hell that the viewers would not understand her motivations and sympathise with her. It will always be: Yes, she did this or that, BUT....The writers know this. It is done on purpose, not by accident. On the other hand, TPTWP it was also used for Alicent, but as a "misunderstanding" tool. And that was even worse.🙄🙄🙄 IMO, TPTWP prophecy in the HoD is the weakest and the lamest things, so far. It is so cringe that every time I hear it I wince. It comes off as fake. It is true what Garry says, it is not over yet, and we'll have to wait and see how it plays out. However, GOT should've taught us something. So, I would call them out, when it's due.

How can the biggest dragon be so elusive though? it's the 2nd person that "i can't see it! where is it?!" - "Watch out watch out watch out! RKO out of nowhere!!!". It's the size of a sky-scrapper, how can you not see it?!

I thought Rhaenyra was going to go to battle with the rationale that if she wins, she rallies more bannermen to her cause, and if she dies, the war is over before too many people have died. I see that as within her character, given how determined she is to avoid war. I thought that's what they were leading into, and if she AND Aegon died at the same battle, what a shitshow that would have made everything.

This review needed Ryan. Gary doesn't have the moment to moment knowledge to be the "book reader" of the group.

I did like how both sunfyre and melays drew attention to themselves before they got two close by screeching Then Vhegar swoops in so silently

last two episodes Cole has jumped heavily in my interest, he missed his calling as a military commander, as a corrupt kings guard he was detestable. Also this episode competes with the best of the original series, let alone just the last two seasons of HOD.

It’s so refreshing to hear you guys praise a show that deserves it. It’s nice to have a show that actually does deserve it, lol!

I could not stop smiling as Rhaenys died. What a hateful lump of uselessness. Good riddance and press S to spit. I was sad for Melys, Sunfire, and Aegon though. What an amazing episode. Rises to the levels of last season for me.

I swear the people complaining about pacing never watched Thrones, other than a coupla skirmishes (Ned's men vs Jaime & Catlyns party vs the Mountain Clans in the Vale) the first real battle was season 2 episode 9, Blackwater. They even had to KO Tyrion & have him wake up after in season 1 because they didn't have the budget for the Battle of The Green Fork. There are plenty of criticisms but I just don't think pacing/lack of action is a fair one

What I hate about this episode of HotD is the "cut to black" scenes. It's like you're watching this awesome battle sequence then the black screen. I said "is that it?" while looking at the time "it's too short." I was relieved there's more when it cuts to the next scene. And then... it happened again!!! But all in all, great episode. Cole hyping the army when Aegon flies in & Vhagar's entrance into the battle are awesoooomeee.

Alright let's analyse this in detail. To all those who keep saying "why doesn't Rhaenys just fly away?", please think of her options considering the fact that Vhagar is completely unscathed and hasn't just flown from Dragonstone to Rook's rest and so is also completely fresh when she joins the fight: 1: fly to dragonstone. Congrats, now you're leading Aemond and Vhagar towards your queen, granddaughter, husband and Rhaenyra's heir, all nicely congregated inside the dragonstone keep. Aemond and Cole planned this ambush knowing the black's thinking would be "Aemond/Vhagar won't leave King's landing", which would lure out a dragon for them to kill. It's a one-shot opportunity that they're not about to waste, so Aemond 100% is following Meylys to take her out. If Rhaenys turns back, she forces the fight with Vhagar to happen over dragonstone, because if she doesn't hold there Aemond is just going to incinerate the castle and everyone in it as well as the presumably present and riderless Vermax, Syrax and Moondancer. And if she fights him there it'll almost certainly be the same outcome as at Rook's rest with the other three riders only having a few minutes warning. That's not enough time to reach their dragons and get them into the sky. Even if they do, unless the four of them can coordinate perfectly, one decently aimed dracarys from Vhagar and Jace/Vermax and Baela/Moondancer are literally toast. If the stars align perfectly Rhaenys would probaly be fighting alongside Rhaenyra and Syrax for their lives, which is still incredibly dangerous for both of them. More likely Rhaenyra would lift off just as Rhaenys is being killed, at which point a slightly wounded Vhagar probably kills her and Syrax too, ending the war right there. Now maaaaybe you can make the argument that since Meylys is being described as the fastest dragon in the book that she'd have a slight head start between reaching dragonstone and Aemond catching up, and so could raise the alarm in time. But with how short the flight is to dragonstone, and the speeds displayed here on screen I'm skeptical whether that's show cannon, and if it is, how much leadtime it would be. In any case, flying to dragonstone risks her granddaughter and her betrothed (we all know Baela would not have hesitated a moment to help her, and Jace is equally eager to prove himself) and I really don't blame Rhaenys for not willing to risk watching those two die in front of her. The only way this doesn't hold up is if you really believe that under no circumstances would Aemond pursue, and I just don't buy that. He's not afraid of anyone besides Daemon who he knows is at Harrenhal, is not afraid of kinslying, is supremely self-confident, and wants the glory of winning a major battle if not the war. I'm sorry, he isn't letting Rhaenys get away once she shows up. No way in hell. 2: fly west towards Harrenhal. Caraxes/Daemon and Meylys/Rhanys is probably the one combo that Aemond wouldn't be confident facing on his own, so he'd probaly not pursue. However you might as well put up a big sign with an arrow pointing east saying "go ahead, have fun", since that's just giving Aemond clearance to fly to dragonstone and kill everyone there at his leizure, probably piecemeal, before Daemon can even be reched to call upon for help. And if you think that Syrx, Vermax and Moondancer can take Vhagar on their own (take some bites/score some hits sure, but actually kill her? yeah no), then I have a bridge in brooklyn to sell you. That's no real option either. 3: do as she did. Stand and fight were you are to defend the castle you came to defend, and do at least enough damage to Vhagar so that Aemond won't risk flying across the bay afterwards, and maybe, if you get lucky, try and take the greens trump card out in one fell swoop. If Vhagar goes down, so do the greens, it's that simple. It doesn't quite work, but she does do sizeable damage and forces him to the ground, before Aemond makes use of the smoke and the castle to burst out from below (ironically, the same tactic Rhaenys used against Aegon earlier on), taking her out. Still, that earlier skydance and fall didn't look pleasant for Vhagar, and since I suspect Aemond will be needed in King's landing now that Aegon is, uh... let's be friendly and say "no longer in a fit state to rule" to take care of that political mess, Rhaenys was ultimately succesful, even if it did cost her her life.

You guys didn't bring up Agon picking up the dagger at the end. Isn't that the dagger with the prophecy on it? You brought the dagger up earlier in the stream regarding Allicent researching, but not at the end. So, is that the dagger? He show has been focusing on that dagger, and at the end of this episode making a point of showing Agon picking it up. If it is the dagger with the prophecy, what would be the significance of Agon picking it up?

What a damn good episode. A couple things I noticed: The Greens know that Daemon has Harrenhall when the Blacks don’t even know, so either Daemon is purposely trying to provoke a response so he can get his fight or someone else in the castle is being sneaky. Also Rhaenys losing Meleys and her own life at the hands of her daughter’s dragon and the man who “stole” it from her granddaughter was fairly poetic without being spoken. It’s the little things that make HotD tops for me.