In the books Aemond actually does wear the eyepatch so he doesn't frighten the ladies at court. But from the reactions to Aemond I've observed online, he probably does it so the ladies at court don't come after him every hour of the day lmao.

I don't think the costume department gets enough praise. Aemond was absolutely DRIPPIN' with that coat!

In one of Daenerys chapters she thinks about how when she lashes a horse's right flank it turns left because a horse's instinct is to flee danger, but when she lashes Drogon's right flank he turns right because a Dragon's first instinct is always to attack.

Daemon's behavior during the birth becomes clearer when you look back at the women in his life. Apart from losing his wife and his cousin/sister-in-law to childbirth, his mother also died from complications giving birth to a younger brother that they eventually lost. So he's likely hyperfocusing on fortifying Dragonstone because he knows Rhaenyra is premature and he can't deal with it.

Hi Shad, not sure if you read the comments anymore but…. Thanks for acknowledging the weapons on HOTD season 1, we put a lot of effort in to season 1 along with the rest of the creative departments and it’s great when we hear feedback like yours.

Targaryans don't control their dragons. They have a bond and the dragons are sensitive to their emotions. The attack was because Luc was scared, felt trapped and lashed out. Aemond's shock was because his dragon reacted to his emotions and acted on them. As Viserys said in an earlier episode. "it is an illusion that we control the dragons" or something to that affect.

I see more reasons why they send the boys. Daemon was going to fly to Riverlands to pact with a difficult lord, Stark is Jace's age, they hoped they will somehow get along and lady Arryn is related to Rhaenyra's mother, it's not season 8 got distance, this time it is a proper long time mission. Rhaenys has a longer mission as well - she is patroling the blockade above the bay. They needed to be quick in reassuring the alliences and Storm's end was a short flight, and they naively thought that this one is a sure thing, safe also chance to get experience and reassurance. Also green's have only one dragonrider who can go on diplomatic mission - Aemond. The King won't fly asking alliences, too dangerous, Helaena is not sutable to be an envoy, so chance of running into Aemond in Storm's End was not so big, he could be flying to different allies, one dragonrider and whole kingdom of directions. Also Rhaenyra's sons are honorable, how would they send Baela - one of their bethrothed girls into possible danger instead of going on they own. Impossible.

I think part of the reason they felt confident sending luke is that Otto just came in expecting protection as an envoy and received it, so why would rahenyra think luke would be denied the same treatment?

Also rhaenrya sends her sons because she remembers how her father treated her when she spoke up at meetings. She gives her sons a chance that her father would never give her

I also think Vaghar could have def caught up to Arrax bc of the storm. True the cube law of mass exists but you have to also take into account you can see Arrax is struggling to fly in the storm even being pushed around by the wind whereas Vaghar just smoothly sails through the storm bc she has the mass and momentum to do so and her wing flaps will generate significantly more force to be able to negate the wind resistance which means vaghar is also not having to fly as hard as Arrax so Arrax might have some fatigue as well

1. In the book the baby was indeed like a deformed dragon child. 2. In the book Lucerys could not get enough speed on his dragon because of the storm and that was the way Aemond could get a hold of him with a larger and slower dragon.

1:23:00 That moment with Aemond and Luke in Storm's End- pulling off the eyepatch and all, was transcribed practically word for word from the books. That scene is the most literal adaptation from the books that we've seen this entire show.

In the book it's explained that arrax (Luke's dragon) would usually be able to fly faster than vhagar but vhagar didn't struggle as much in the heavy wind and rain

Anything I imagined the inevitable confrontation between Lucerys and Aemond would be, was FAR less shocking, brutal, and downright terrifying than the actual finished product! I especially liked the stunned look Aemond had when it was over, as though to say, "Oh, shit. I was in no way in control of this situation, and I'm still going to get the blame for it."

Daemon’s intention with Vermithor was to reacquaint the old beast with human contact because they will need people to try and claim him soon. Vermithor hasn’t had proper human contact in almost 3 decades so Daemon is singing to him and soothing him (presumably daily or at least regularly now) in order to prep him for that

His face at the end... "oh crap. That means war"

When Daemon went to Vermithor, my personal thought was that since Vermithor hasn’t had a rider since Jahaerys died, which is about 30 years ago at this time, Daemon is trying to readjust him to behind around humans again

I see Jace proposing to send dragonriders as a parallel to young Rhaenyra proposing the same thing in the council all those years ago. It's almost exactly the same, only that Viserys rejected her proposal and she accepted Jace's. It doesn't make her decision any less bad but it explains why she would approve of it - because it's her way of thinking.

Talking about messengers and their importance, what to say about Nymoros Martell who gambled and sent his only daughter Deria to furious Aegon the Conqueror with a letter and the skull of Meraxes, dragon of his later sister Rhaenys killed in Dornish war. Rank of the messenger matters. Rhaenyra thought it would be a safe, short trip to a cousin.

"A dragon's first instinct is to attack" is in the books, Arrax was scared shitless,broke free and probably thought fire would be enough of a distraction to get out

They go out of their way to show that the Strong boys are taking their responsibilities very seriously. Jacaerys is already taking the front as the heir and Lucerys thinks things through. It goes back to his phrase "if I'm lord of Driftmark, it means everyone is dead".

There was a line about the Sea Snake something to the effect of "his fever has broken and he's set sail from (Tarth [they say the castles name, but it's on the island of Tarth])" and Daemon asks "is he sailing for Driftmark or Dragonstone?" It's implied that a raven will be sent telling them to come to Dragonstone.

One explanation why people get mad about Daemon choking Rhaenyra can be that popular female hero archetypes stories (like Rhaenyra) pretty much wants to seduce and tame an aggressive male like Daemon. That's why vampire and werewolf shows are so popular amongst women, or Beauty and the beast to take a Disney movie as an example. And in this scenario the beast is not tamed, so it crushes their sexual fantasies or is disrupted.

And yes, your analysis on weight and size during the storm effecting the dragons flying is on point. The books even mention that Arrax was having trouble flying in the storm. In ideal conditions Arrax could fly circles around Vhaegar and out run her easily, but this is clearly not ideal flying weather.

actually it’s very in character for aemond to wear an eye patch to not scare children, in the book the maids of the castle were scared of his scared face so he wore eye patch to not frighten them.

Yes they did say Corlys first left Evenfall after his fever broke. And after that they say in a different scene that he is now going to Dragonstone. Everything was set up, and also shows that several days have past, not a few hours.

About Aemond and the eye patch. In the books at least he doesn't wear the eye patch that often. But he does actually occasionally wear it to "not scare the children". Well he supposedly wears it in the Baratheon court because the ladies of the court find his eye hideous or something along those lines.

I love that Daemon talks to Queen Rhaenyra in a very similar way that he used to talk to Viserys. I can totally imagine Daemon screaming "What are you going to do about it?" to Viserys. He even points out that she's making decisions in a very similar manner to Viserys

I think Shad is thinking too hard on the possibility of Dragon to dragon contact when Luke and Jace go off. Yes the other side has dragons but 2/3 of those dragons belong to the King and Queen. Neither one of them would be running around as envoys and it’s been 2-4 days. It is maybe enough time to send a raven one way to Storms End but not long enough for the messages to reach the Eyrie or Winterfell and certainly not enough time to set up physical agents at either area.

1:03:00 I fully disagree with Shad, it's not a plot hole to send the princes. First of all, they're sending them instead of ravens, and sending her own heirs to those lords could be expected to stroke their egos. So it will make their case stronger in their eyes, and because they have more dragons, the greens can't respond to that by sending their own, because Aemond is literally the only dragonrider the greens have they could send themselves, the only other two dragons belong to the current king and queen who can't just leave the capital to play envoy. So the two day advantage the greens have means very little in this context, as Aemond can't be everywhere at once, and for all the lords Aemond doesn't visit, they need to send ravens, they can't set up a trap there. You already know Jace is not going to meet any trouble like this, because there is no one around to cause it. So there is a clear political advantage in doing this. Secondly, because the blacks initially decided to send ravens and not dragons, we know there is VERY LITTLE reason for the greens to expect that they would do this. As far as the greens know, the blacks would just send ravens, because that's what the blacks initially wanted to do themselves. So Shad is assuming here that the greens "of course would have predicted" that the blacks would send dragons with princes around, but even the blacks themselves originally didn't plan this, so how could the greens have predicted this? There isn't any hint either that Aemond was expecting Luke to show up. They just happened to arrive at the same time in a stroke of bad luck. Thirdly, Rhaenyra obviously realizes that despite all of this it is not without risk. That's why she sends her older son Jace up north to the Vale and Winterfell, which is the much more dangerous journey. Storm's End is very close to Dragonstone, just a few hours flight, and Rhaenyra expected a warm welcome from Borros, so it must have felt like very low risk to her. That she trusted Borros like that is a mistake of course, but Rhaenyra already has been established to be not a very great judge of character, and she also has been established as someone who is a bit arrogant and spoiled and just expects the world to bow to her without her having to earn their support. So this is a mistake, but one that is justified as it's a result of character flaws that were already established. Fourthly, despite his hatred, even Aemond didn't intend to kill Luke. They're not at the point yet where they're kinslaying each other, and Luke was traveling under the banner of an envoy. And as you said before, this is a sacred right in Westeros, and any lord who broke it would take a massive and probably needless risk, and anyone among the greens would know this would lead to immediate all out war, which they currently are still trying to prevent through diplomacy. So Rhaenyra's decision to expect Luke to be protected when traveling as an envoy is no less justified as Robb Stark's decision to let down his guard once he accepted the bread and salt from Walder Frey, signifying his guest right under Frey's roof. Fifthly, sending Luke as an envoy is just as risky for the blacks as sending Aemond is a risk for the greens. What if Daemon had ended up in Storms End, and set a trap for Aemond? the logic goes both ways, but because both sides were still engaging in diplomacy, both reasonably expected the other to respect fundamental rights of people like guest right and the protection of envoys. And sixthly, they did send Daemon on a similar mission, but he is going to Riverrun to secure the support of the Tullys. They mention this earlier in the episode.

I thought this was a great episode. Aemond is such an excellently crafted villain character (even though all of Team Green haven't killed anywhere near as many innocent people as Rhaenys Velaryon lol).

Shad, this is the first time I have been disappointed in some of your analysis. Alicent has obviously convinced Aegon to be merciful to the Blacks. It was not Otto’s idea to go to Dragonstone but rather Aegon and Alicent’s. Otto was sent to show the seriousness and respect. The terms are not an empty gesture but rather a sincere attempt by the Greens to avoid bloodshed. Secondly, Rhaenyra then knows the Greens are trying to prevent war so sending Luke to Storms End is not as risky as you try to present. He is sent as a messenger and not a warrior. They are not yet in open war, so the risk to him is low. If anyone else besides Aemond was there, then Luke would have been fine. It was a series of unfortunate events that led to Luke’s demise. I would grant that Rhaenyra might have been naïve but it wasn’t a stupid, story-breaking decision, imo.

Otto said that the Starks, Tullys, and Baratheons were CONSIDERING generous terms PRESENTLY, implying that the messages were already sent to them There’s also no reason to patrol the skies for dragon messengers because messages are almost always delivered via Raven, it was pure coincidence that Aemond happened to be at Storms End to seal the betrothal the same time that Luke arrived It’s also a taboo to shoot the messenger same way as it’s a taboo to harm your guests, those reasons both explain why Lord Boros didn’t want fighting in his hall Aemond also had NO intention of killing Luke, he just acted recklessly with his very large dragon and Luke dies as a result of that So it’s not naive to send the boys as envoys because dragon warfare was reasonably far from anyones radar (Plus little Joffrey and Baby Aegon and Lil Vis are still options as heirs should anything happen to Jace or Luke)

IMO the "oh, shit" face of Aemond is not only because of what he did but because he completely lost control of his dragon during that moment. Imagine you have a monstrosity of a dragon and then suddenly lose control over it.

I do like that, at least in the show, Luke's death was an accident. It really adds a whole new level of tragic. This was the point where any hope of peaceful resolution died.

I think dragons slaughtering commoners/the disregard the nobles have towards commoners will be something we see continue over the seasons which will have a narrative effect by the end of the story. If you’ve read FaB you probably know what I am getting at.

Reasons why Rhaenyra send the Velaryon kids: 1- it's still a cold war. no side wants to begin the conflict. Otto was just there to talk, so they are still in the talking phase. one side can still cave. and the side that's gonna cave is the side that has less allies, so you have to get around people as fast as possible. 2- the main argument for the Greens is that Rhae's kids are bastards. having them flying around with their dragons, meeting the high lords, can do much to dissuade this notion. 3- in this world, is expected of nobles to go to war and do great deeds. in the main books, there are many stories of houses that were vanished because they lost all their members in battle. so, it wouldn't be strange to the people from this world to see nobles (even princes) doing dangerous things.

"There's always a bigger dragon." - Ser Oby-Juan of House Kenoby

I feel like, with that "Oh crap" moment at the end from Aemond, that we see the last vestiges of his childhood and naiveté die with Luke and the dragon. He can no longer hide behind mommy and grandpa and justify that he did nothing and it was all the adults making the decisions and doing the killing. Also he now realizes the difference between being so mad that you could kill someone to actually killing that someone, and that perhaps it didn't feel like he imagined it would. Not only that but what is his story, is he going to admit losing control of his dragon or is he going to own it? Can't wait to see Otto and Alicent's different reactions.

1:13:00 The dragon keepers are not bonded riders or Targaryens but they are able to tend to the dragons and give them orders. Daemon seems very familiar with their skills seeing as he had acquired eggs for them in a previous episode and he orders the dragon keepers be conscripted in this episode because he knows they can fight.

Regarding sending the willingness to send their sons, it's about escalation. The thing you said about the possibility of them being killed in treacheries or ambush is a things that make sense to be think of in the middle of the got war. This is a realm that's two generations of peace and so far, the greens haven't showed that they're willing to go kinslayer or treacheries yet. There's only two persons who in fact, consider these treacheries act. Daemon (who's not there) and Otto (which they don't know). I felt like it was justified that they don't consider it as a real possibilities. Hell, even Aemond in the end seemed to never intended to do murder. Until the last act, most of the characters (except for Otto and Daemond) had this shared illusion that they were living in an age of civility.

Sending her son as a messenger has more impact than sending a raven. Having the prince (someone official) coming in person to deliver it is more effective than a "text msg".

They say Corlys' fever has broken and is leaving Evenfall (island of Tarth). dragonstone is basically on the way from Tarth to Driftmark so a raven was probably sent to divert his course to Dragonstone

I hope Aemond will have bigger role in next season. This man is THE MAN! I love his every scene, his actor did great job!

I actually felt bad for Aemond. His pleads for Vagar to listen to him before, during and after. Was so genuine.

Driftmark isn't even a day's sail away from Dragonstone, Shad.

I found your channel when you reviewed the final trailer, i understood your worries, but disagreed with your predictions... And on every review you demonstrated profesionalism, presented,our take logically... I'm glad this show turned the way it did, and that you could change your initial opinion... Thanks Shad and team... I am grateful I found you

I really appreciate that they get the perspectives and sizes right. Aemond looks soo tiny on his dragon while Luke looks like a child riding a big horse. They do that so well, it's so important to get these details right.

Rhaenyra was certain the North, the Vale, and the Storm's End were granted. The Storm's End was persuaded only by the marriage offer from Aemond. Also Rhaenyra doesn't know the new lord there, she knew his father (who was much more honorable, I guess). The Riverlands on the other hand are not granted at all. That's why Daemon says he will go there and that they are essential. They really didn't expect the Storm's End to be any problem. The book mentions it was a shorter and safer destination.

On reasons for sending the boys. The Blacks have 7 Dragon riders, Luke, Jace, Joeffrey, Rhaenerya, Daemon, Rhaena and Rhaenys. The Greens have 4, Aemond, Aegon, Daeron (Not seen in the series yet, but coming) and Helaena. At that moment, Rhaenerya is considering terms offered by the Greens. Social reasons as to why to send 2 Princes: You need to contact 4 major houses, Tully, Arryn, Stark and Baratheon. Riverlands is out of the way and flaky. Daemon is planning on going there. Stark and Arryn are in the same flight direction, so you can't do one massive round trip. Also, House Baratheon and Arryn are blood ties. To make the right impression it has to be someone directly related to those houses. It can only be Luke, Jace, and Rhaenerya who go to these people. You can't send Rhaenerya, as the aforementioned just given birth, and you don't take your leader away from the planning room for days at a time. You don't send escorts, because it implies you are SCARED of the Greens, and anyone who goes should be protected by the rules of envoys. The war at the moment is theoretical. No armies have clashed, no major attempts on the lives of the major players has been made. The Greens, by sending Otto, seem to be playing by the rules, so this should apply across the board. Practical Reasons: Daemon is organizing the defense of Dragonstone, and then the planned expedition to seize Harrenhal. Once this is underway, he'll head to Riverrun (House Tully). He can't go with either prince. Rhaena and Joeffrey fall under Cannot ride their dragons yet, (Rhaena's dragon is too small, Joeffrey is to young). Rhaenys is an integral part of the main Black war plan, she's patrolling. She can't go. Rhaenerya should under no circumstances leave her council of war to carry messages. Finally, the Greens ONLY have 4 dragons suited for battle (Vhagar, Sunfyre, Tessarion and Dreamfyre). Aegon can't leave on his dragon for the same reason as Rhaenerya can't. Daeron and Tessarion are down in Oldtown, so not available. Helaena isn't a threat, as she's not a sadist or very aggressive. And the main thing the Blacks could do to the Greens is attack Kings Landing. By all logic, Aemond should be at Kings Landing, preventing a sudden rush of Dragons from taking out Aegon and Sunfyre. Finally, the Greens have these long laid plans. Why would they send their VERY few dragon riders around as messengers, when they should be preparing for an assault on Kings Landing.| Sending the Princes is the best thing they can do, at the moment, given both are socially significant to lend weight to any message, and Lukes dragon is too small to be of fighting weight.

Also, par for the course is Daemon having 300 different reasons for acting the way he does. The scene when Jacaerys tells him to stop and him not stopping: A) he thinks the greens killed his brother and now they're coming for them. If he waits for Rhaenyra to be well, there's a good chance that the castle will get attacked and no one is doing anything to protect the queen B) Daemon processes grief by moving forward instantly instead of moping. It's pretty consistent at this point, as shown when Laena died C) he's always saw himself as the guy willing to go ballistic when the king is indecisive. That's how he always acted with Viserys and that's how he's acting with Rhaenyra. D) he's always had a chip on his shoulder about not being king and now he is in charge, second only to Rhaenyra herself and he's going to act like it. And it all culminates in him taking Jacaerys to threaten the white cloaks, kinda showing the kid "I'm here to protect your mother. And for that, I'm gonna have to ignore your mother sometimes and so should you"

1:33 it was described in the ASOIAF book ADWD part 2 where daenerys is talking in her head about how a dragons first response is to attack and not flee.

Less spectale than you expected? Dude that dragon chase scene was nail biting edge of the seat awesome. The way Vahger appeared above Luke, shrouded in clouds, illuminated by the lighting, utterly dwarfing him, it was so cool .

Arrax is also probably pretty tired by the time he attacks Vhagar. He is only a small dragon who is trying to fly through a storm after already flying to Storm's End from Dragonstone. From Arrax's perspective, taking a shot at giving Vhagar a bloody nose may be its best play. Being so young, Arrax probably just doesn't have the best judgement or experience when it comes to fighting other dragons.

Rhaenys did know Corlys was going to Dragonstone. I think it was back in the scene around the table (when it was lit from underneath), she was asked about him and she said he was coming to Dragonstone.

Aemond is a tragic character. He was abandoned by his father and not raised by his mother. He was bullied by his cousins and broker. He has noone but himself. He's so young and doesn't know any better and has had no guidance what so ever. Lots of people go make terrible decisions with that background. He would still be redeemable if he had time to age and grow. His was a tough life. He didn't get the chance at life he deserved.

Rhaenys: "It will not be me who starts the fire of war" Narrator: Rhaenys lied as naturally as she breathed, for she started the war 2 hours past

With Luke he's basically visiting a relative a short ride away. I don't think it crossed anybody's mind he could be in danger, not at this point. We see that Borros very much doesn't want to be a part of this and would never have dared harm Luke himself. We also see in GOT that even when the nobles go to war they don't tend to kill each other.

Matt Smith was the one who came up with the final scene. He's really brilliant with this and putting the crown on his brother's head.

I absolutely love how when Viserys did everything in his power, until his dying breath, to prevent war by silencing claims of bastardry and by sticking to his daughter being the Queen, he was deemed weak, ineffectual and indecisive by the showrunners and many fans, yet Rhaenyra doing everything to prevent starting a war, when a usurper has already been crowned against Viserys' wishes, something far more deliberate than Viserys ever dealt with, is used by the showrunners as an opportunity to show how she is the cut above all the men around her pushing for war.

Rhaenyra's costume is just epic and it's a call back to young actress's dress with the dragon scales. Love it!

something that's frequently overlooked that i really appreciated in this episode was when the strong kids was with the queen, swearing on the book of the seven. the level of detail on the kids' clothing was amazing. like LOTR level of detail. even if the chainmail was most probably cloth, it was weaved to make it look metallic. and the embroidery on their tunics were impeccable. makes RoP's paper mache t-shirt scale mail armor all the more laughable.

“It’s a nitpick, you can ignore it.” “I will.” Speaking for all of us there, Mrs. Shad!

1:42:00 i think it also shows a certain frightfulness of aemond towards vhagar. He lost complete control of his dragon and that scared him shitless

I was a bit confused by the dragon binding rule as well until I remembered that Daemon was studying dragon lore in Pentos. For me, that’s enough for me to trust that the character knows what they are doing (or at least knows more) than anyone else. So, I was happy to accept that what he was doing made sense in the world.

Shad, I just love watching your reviews. You are so passionate, but at the same time you're constantly ready to put your first impression/views into question and are never too proud to alter them. What a great role model!

I felt the chill of Jurassic Park when silhouette of Vhagar appeared

I don't remember if that a quote from book or show but Viserys once said “the idea that we control the dragons is an illusion.” Then when dragons flew to war, everything burned was a another comment made by Rhaenyra, so I'm not even remotely surprised that this provocation started by Aemond ended the way it did. It slightly deviates from what happened in the books, but it is still believable. It is exactly what you get when you became so arrogant to think that you can actually control something as powerful as dragon. I cannot believe that I'm saying this but I enjoyed most of HotD and - contrary to RoP - I'm waiting for 2nd season.

Rhaenys actually states that Lord Corlys is sailing for Dragonstone. It's at 22:10 in the episode, during the first discussion about their situation and allies. Rhaenyra asks Rhaenys about Driftmark.

I think you really have to consider that the greens can't spare their dragonriders the way the blacks can. They only have 4, and of those, Aemond is the only one readily available as a messenger.

I think Lucerys wanted to sneak past but came too close to Vhagar because in the clouds they couldn't see where they are and Arrax instinctively breathed fire.

The big dragon keeping up with the little dragon annoyed me a little when watching the episode, then a lot after you pointed out the physics behind it, but then you pointed out the weather factor. Actually, we *did* see Luke's dragon struggling to even take off because of the rain, while when we see big dragon, it is flying just fine. It's quite possible you hit the nail on the head for why the big dragon was able to keep up. I would be interested to see how they portray dragon size affecting mobility and speed moving forward, ideally in clear weather to have a direct reference point.

Rhaenyra's big mistake is that she believes that the son will be his father. Lord Boros Baratheon only recently became Lord of Storms End. Until recently the Lord was his father Boremund Baratheon. We saw Boremund firstly at the tourney in Ep 1 asking for Rhaenys' favour and again in Ep 4 with Rhaenyra at Storms End when she was trying to find a suitor. Boremund was always very loyal to Rhaenyra. He was a highly honorable man and had blood ties to the Black's. His sister was Jocelyn Baratheon, mother to Rhaenys (the queen who never was), who herself is fighting for the Blacks. He was, therefore, in theory, Lucs great uncle. That means the current Lord Boros in Lucs cousin and the nephew of Rhaenys. He would appear to have every reasons to join their side. Rhaenyra thus sent Luc to the new Lord Boros Baratheon, feeling this was the easy and safe mission. The Baratheon family had always supported her and her claim and had familial connections to her side. She could see no reason they wouldn't back her. Unfortunately, for the Black's, Boros in nothing like his father and so the mission that was believed to be the simple one turns to tragedy. Of course, I have thought ever since reading to books, that the wise choice would have been to send Rhaenys to do this as the one with the clear, uncontested and long standing familial connection and relationship. She also has a dragon.

I also thought Otto going to Dragonstone personally was absolutely unrealistic. The ONLY way it could have even been slightly plausible was if they were accompanied by Aemond and his dragon...The last time he came to confront Daemon, if Daemon would have killed him, he would have been declaring war against Viserys...but this time there is NOOOOOO reason Otto had any reason to think he even had the possibility of not being killed🤦‍♀️ I didnt care for that...

Vhaegar serving targaryen realness like always

To be clear I do not believe Daemon ever rides Vermathor in the lore. However Daemon is uniquely gifted at commanding dragons likely do in part to being rather dragon like in his general demeanor I would assume. Vermathor will have a new rider though as well as his lifemate Silverwing. Their subtectual romance is actually very sweet. Jaehaerys/ Vermithor and Alysanne's/Silverwings story is actually one of the few wholesome arcs in the GoT lore.

Something almost poetic about the way that the final scene played out. Like a call to a previous episode. Lucerys took out Aemond's left eye in a fight. And Arrax blasted the left side of Vhagar's face here. Possibly an attempt to blind the larger dragon, though unsure if Vhagar will be blind on the left side like Aemond is.

I do feel like part of the justification for sending the princes which they bring up is speed. The dragons are mentioned as being faster and less prone to interception than ravens. And the only ones that can ride those dragons are their accepted riders.

When it was announced, I'd think the show was doomed; I was mistaken. They did a great show with good actor, good story and dialogue, good direction, good sets and costumes and music. So, yeah, I stand corrected. I would say, though, that I do not appreciate some of the latest interviews by some of the writers and the now only showrunner (Ryan Condal) about how they dislike Daemon, cause I think they are doing him dirty because of this. And I'm sick of people defending the fact that he ASSAULTED his wife "because he was angry"... And? I've seen my dad, my grandfather, my friends, etc mad and they would never hit their couples. WTF kind of explanation is that. Daemon is not like that and I know because I read the book and know what's to come

The justification I had while watching was it sends a bigger message if the prince delivers it. You have a higher chance they support you if they feel you respected and honored them by sending someone of importance.

I really like that they showed Emond in shock after his dragon killed the young prince! It shows that he was just messing with the kid to intimidate him, and then he realises that he could not control his own dragon when it got provoked and you can see on his face that he knows that this "accident" will result in full blown all out war! Yes, Otto could've wanted the Strong boys death, but it is out of character for Emond to "follow orders from Otto" and assassinate the young prince! Especially since he could not have known that he would run into Luke so easily! It also shows that neither of the princes have ever experienced any real conflict with their dragons, and that when both dragons are pushed far enough, nether of them can stop/control them. This amplifies the devastating result of taking a dragon into conflict. Dragons are not for playing around in a storm. Like the queen said earlier in the episode; "When dragons go to war, Everything burns!"

The mentioned that the sea snake was arriving at dragon stone before the queen was crowned

I look forward to your reviews almost as much as the show itself. From the first episode to the finale this show i believe has had the best opening season of any show in the last ten years !!!

I love the extra thought and detail given to how the dragons aren't battle-tested and neither are their riders. So when Aemond and Luke get into it, and their dragons begin ignoring their commands and acting purely out of fear and aggression, it made the dragons feel like real animals rather than just tools to be brought out when the audience needs a cheap thrill, and it gave Rhaenyra's point about the war being more than a numbers game and using dragons would only guarantee chaos a lot more weight.

Driftmark and Dragonstone are really close to each other. They're basically neighboring islands in Blackwater Bay.

The book openly states that the weather is the reason why Araax couldn't out-fly Vhaegar.

Shad would happily of wasted 30mins of the show to see exactly how they set up candles.

Awesome episode. Left me speechless and I felt all emotions.. what a ride! Rhaenyra, Daemon and Aemond are perfect characters in my opinion. They work so well. Rhaenys is also a very very stromg character, I like her a lot! Can't believe we have to wait now.. I wanna see the next episodes.

There's actually a pretty good established reason why the queen felt that her children would be safe and that their potential allies would hear them. Based upon the rules of the realm and the fact that many of these houses are proud and Noble the killing of a messenger especially a prince of the realm for any reason would set off serious red flags for them because not only does it go against their cultures and traditions but if they are willing to kill royalty and Messengers especially if those Messengers are children and princes of the realm what does it say about their allies trustworthiness. If the Ally you just signed up with would kill a child messenger of noble blood just to prevent you from hearing there side of the story what is to keep them from betraying you and killing you for the slightest of grievances. You even see a hint of this in the episode where the noble Baratheon isn't willing to have blood shed in his own Hall and wishes for his men to escort the prince back to his Dragon even though he just openly denied that princess message. There's a reason that killing envoys in Messengers is usually considered taboo because it brings trust into question

1:29:30 Just btw, Lift is approx. the product of air density, velocity, projected wing area, the lift coefficient for your wing, and 1/2. So with similar wings, your glide lift is gonna be mostly dependant on the wingspan.

Maybe that was the only way for Rhaenys to escape? All the other exits were closed and she had to get out quick, so she chose to burst through the floor (also, Royals have never really cared much about the peasantry)

32:45 Nice catch by The Lady. Such a good observation and I think it's valid. She's way more respected than Aegon.

As to the differential in the dragons speeds in all the RPGs I've played ancient dragons had the same speed as lesser dragons and the ancient dragons will always larger by factors. Perhaps something in the magic that allows dragonflight in the first place accounts for equal speed or even increased speed as the magic inside them ages matures becomes more familiar.

About changes in the series compared to the book: The book was written from the perspective of stories told a long after and those stories aren't necessarily reliable. So whatever changes the show makes, it can justify a lot of it by those grounds. For example, in the book the story goes that Aemond did intend to kill Luke, but it could be that Aemond never told anyone that it was an accident or that no one believed him if he claimed that, and so the incident was etched into public memory as an intentional act of aggression.

I was wrong, nice to see someone can admit it. I knew that 'nerd' stuff was going to come up in his solo review.

What a joy it is, to have been wrong.'' - Larys Strong Feet.

Whenever I re-watch or even just ponder the scene where the Blacks gain the support of the Velaryons and it’s decided that the princes will act as envoys, one of the big justifications that I keep intuitively returning to involves Rhaenyra’s belief-and arguably naive-assumption that no harm will come to her boys. Remember, back in ep 2 when she was roughly the same age as her boys are now, she went to Dragonstone without leave or word to anyone, but was ultimately successful in her mission. Although she got scolded by her father after the fact, she did indeed retrieve the egg and pacify the situation without bloodshed. So the scolding she received from Viserys upon her return to the Keep probably more or less went in one ear and out the other. Especially since at that point, their father-daughter relationship was rocky…not as rocky as it gets after Alicent becomes step-mama, but still. That one event in her most formative years I believe had quite a big impact on her overall psyche and belief system. She proved her father and the small council wrong. She followed her gut and ended up being responsible for the diffusion of the potentially lethal situation, and that boosted her ego, as it would with any person. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, it just is what it is. But all that being said, I do agree and find myself frustrated that no one else in her council refuted her decision to allow Jace and Luke to envoy. I find it completely justifiable that Rhaenyra wouldn’t shoot that idea down, but her advisors would have at least warned her. Or at least I thought as much… 😂 Also, thinking as Rhaenyra, I don’t think I’d trust Daemon to envoy himself. He’s just got such a short fuse and they weren’t seeing eye-to-eye at that point, so even if he was around and not serenading Vermithor, it makes sense to me that she wouldn’t immediately opt to send Daemon. He just needs some tempering, but he’s still undeniably a crucial asset. My ideal solution would’ve been to have Daemon escort Luke, since he wasn’t nearly as confident as his brother. Plus, it’s a much shorter trip, so he’d still be back at Dragonstone in very little time. Or even Rhaenys. Isn’t it just a few hours from Storm’s End to Dragonstone on dragon-back? I understand time is critical, but that seems like a very reasonable delay in her patrol of the Gullet.

The original text the series is based on even mentions that if not for the weather Arrax would have been able to outfly Vhagar and get to safety. However it also mentions that Aemond was intentionally gunning for Lucerys wanting him dead

The Lady is back! And yes, what a finale. I cannot wait for Season 2 in two years. It's going to be amazing.

57:00 Its a call back Rhaenyra in Episode 2 saying "You have dragonriders father send us"