Cole did clean his sword. He is handed a rag and he wiped the blade before putting it away.

Aegon truly had a shitty family, his dad ignored him, his mother basically hates him, his brother tries to kill him, and they conspired to put him in a position he never wanted to be in the first place just to belittle him for not being good at holding said position. I know he's not a good guy but I can't help but feel sorry for him

Not a single episode where dragons made appearances in the original GoT show match just this one single episode, that "dance" scene is so iconic the word "dance of dragons" is the first thing that popped in my mind the moment it happens

I love that Aegon was too lazy to learn Valyrian but stubborn enough to teach his dragon English

Also, I personally, as a woman, LOVE how they showed how women could use heated rocks as a sort of heating pad for menstrual pains. Even if she wasnt, though assuming she is considering the tea and how all that works, its just neat to see some detail given to that for once.

It's rare now that so-called 'epic' fight scenes don't cause laughter rather than excitement.

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, the other will have no time to react.

Such terrific character detail having Aegon not know his High Valyrian. Of course he would've been taught but doubtful he paid any attention in lessons.

You know it’s quite sad that the simple thing of using volleys of arrows to defend a castle’s walls makes me happy… season 6-8 game of thrones completely destroyed the concept of what good midevil fight scenes look like. … they put the trebuchets outside the castle walls… they stood there for 20 minutes not firing a single arrow while their enemy was just standing there 10 yards away…

Gotta love the stark difference between the video titles for this show and the Acolyte.

It was both brave and stupid of Rhaenys to face Vhaegar alone. Should have listened to Daemon and face her together. The book death was much more brutal compared to the show as well. She burned alive by Vhaegar's flame just like her daughter did. And Vhaegar that old grandma , regarding her size, she really enjoys sneak attack xD

I do like the fact that the Dragon battles are frequently ones of ambush and positioning, rather than slugmatches. And it makes sense to attack from below - the riders can easily see above, behind and in front themselves, but the view down is blocked. Same thing for the dragons themselves. Their natural focus would be to look ahead while flying to avoid crashing into things.. sooo.

I feel so bad for Aegon. His entire life, his mother and grandfather insisted he must become king, warning him that failure would result in the deaths of himself, his brothers, sister, and children at the hands of his half-sister. Despite his efforts, nothing he did was ever enough. To make matters worse, his own father barely acknowledged his existence, preferring to spend time with a model city rather than with his firstborn son. Aegon never experienced unconditional love. No matter what he did, it didn't matter, so he eventually gave up and fell into a life of degeneracy. Then he was literally dragged and forced to become king. This led to the loss of his beloved son in a terrible way, and once again, no one was there for him in his darkest hour. He still couldn't do anything without being ridiculed by his family. When he tried to be a magnanimous king and take his role seriously, he was undermined and insulted. When he wanted to participate in the campaign, he was undermined and insulted. When he did nothing, he was still undermined and insulted. No matter what he did, he couldn't escape the insults.

Aegon's downfall was also a consequence of his exclusion from Aemond and Cole's plan - he'd have felt in the loop and probably wouldn't have ridden out if he'd been privy to it.

This episode was such a banger even for me who knew exactly what was going to happen. It was that good that it kept me on edge even despite knowing

Aemond catapulted himself to become my favourite character. The strategic thinking as well as gaining the mandatory points for roasting his useless brother (as well as outright trying to usurp him so that he stops being an idiot), damn.

I think the idea with Rhaenys going back to fight Vhegar was that she was hoping to do enough damage to Vhegar to give the other dragons a fighting chance and potentially stop the war in its tracks. It’s reasonable for Rhaenys to assume that Aegon and his dragon Sunfyre died, and presuming that Malore doesn’t exist yet in the show that makes Aemond the next king for the Greens as well as their main military asset. Death was all but guaranteed but by this point it’s a very well established part of Rhaenys’ character that she doesn’t fear death. It may sound really streatched but death can come for people of old age in all sorts of ways in Westeros, so what better way was there for Rhaenys to die than fighting to protect her family?

Excellent, without a doubt. I look forward to seeing things ramp up for Aemond. Loved him in this episode, and my opinion of Cole has improved this season, so far.

IVE BEEN WAITING 2 HOURS FOR YOUR REVIEW! MY GOD! THIS EPISODE. Now that I got the first comment; on with the review! How many times at the end did you go "is that going to be the cliffhanger this week?! Noooooo!" And check the run time for the rest of the episode and are happy there's another 5-15 minutes?

Great episode, always love to see Vhagar in action. But man, Rheynera's team are pretty bad at strategy. When they decided to send a dragon i was almost screaming at the screen "It's obviously a trap !! they must have scorpions in the forest or something". Gotta be honest i wasn't expecting Vhagar but it was an awesome surprise.

13:27 he does wipe the blade. He just does it very quickly and not very good. One of the soldiers near by gives him a rag as he walks away.

As soon as I saw Sir Cristen cleaning his sword with a rag I thought of Shad. Much good that did. Lol.

Criston does clean the blood off his blade. Watch the scene again shad you’ll see!

Thanks for review- agree with a lot, BUT didn't understand the last move of Vhaegar - HOW Rhaenys lost sight of him in such a manner and how IT was able to hide this way? - I understand that this is the same move, which it did with young prince, BUT it was in clouds and prince didn't have Rhaenyses experience to make such a mistake. AND when Vhaegar crash-landed - it is probable that it hurt it's legs - thats a crucial point for an ability to fly - SO - those two moments in such a fast battle is problematic for me - Do U have thoughts?

40:00 I think you just described a better scene than the one we got. After Aemond swoops in and takes down Aegon and his dragon, Rhaenys manages to get away and Aemond doesn't even pursue her but she then turns back to fight him even though she has no chance and she could get away. I'm genuinely baffled as to why she turned back to begin with

Super minor nitpick. Giant dragon is able to be super stealthy behind a cliff, time an attack, and catch another flying enemy in one fell swoop.

I expected multiple things from this episode and most of them, I got. I didn't, however, expect Dragon Jiu Jitsu mid-air and that was AWESOME! The way the dragons grapple with each other and try to claw and bite each other for the killing move was fucking BADASS! I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!

If they wanted to remove they should have done two things. 1. Have a rider plus dragon dedicated to tracking vaghar. 2. Start burning all of the food supplies for vaghar.

Such a fantastic episode! I always look forward to oyur breakdown the next day :)

BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?!?!?!

Ya just watched it, now dying to know what the fallout is. Awesome episode.

Love your enthusiasm, energy and vast knowledge.

Good grief I was invested. I felt for Aegon and Sunfyre, Rheanyes and Meleys and even Aemond and granny Vhagar. Watching dragons rip each other apart was hard to watch. And considering these are CGI beasts, that says a lot

If I recall correctly, it's mentioned in the book that Arrax only couldn't outrun Vhagar due to the storm. Larger dragons are less swift and nimble, so I'd wager that Meleys could have escaped Vhagar at Rook's Rest if Rhaenys wanted. In the book, she intentionally stays and fights. In the show, she gets ambushed by Vhagar before she could even attempt an escape (though I'm not sure that the show Rhaenys would have fled either).

Aegon was too lazy to learn Valyrian, but stubborn enough to teach his dragon English. Love this mf

This episode was a trial run for the climactic Battle over the Gods Eye, and they passed with FLYING COLORS

Rhaenys having the opportunity to fly off to safety especially after taking down one of their dragons and even getting a few good shots in on the biggest and baddest but deciding to turn around and try to finish the job is how you make a badass character moment within thirty seconds.

. Right when I'm going to bed. I'll watch it later, but leave a comment now in hopes of helping the algorithm.

This is what you get when you know what you're doing in setting up the characters, stakes and building blocks properly. Tension forms naturally and this episode in particular was very well executed. I would refer to the wedding scene in season 1 as the masterclass in how to build tension, not so much the climax of that scene as it has a few problems but they way they filmed the characters, the shots, the glances, the dialogue. This was somewhat different, the tension coming from uncertainty from established characters, the confusion and then the execution was absolutely brutal. This show sometimes reaches the exceptional in how scenes are executed.

The fight was insane. Dragons fight like eagles that breath fire. It was instane to watch. Awe inspiring

Shad why aren't you wearing your "what about dragons" shirt

It probably is the best episode so far. But I was little disappointed with the dragon battle. I feel it was better in the books, with Aegon being in on the plan and he and Aemond both attacking Rhaenys together.

@44:20 nice catch! We know Aemon can read the inscription on the dagger.

Alys Rivers and the weirwood paste she gives him, the fact that Daemon sleeps in a weird wood bed all that is really important. Just like the fact that she talked about how Harren cut down a grove of weirwood trees to clear the land.. Harrenhal is very connected to Old Gods and weirdwood magic in this universe. The show is leaning heavily into this lore.

That scene of Aegon cuddling Sunfyre, though... and them both smiling... 😢

I thought it was because she was just going to leave all those people she came to help on the ground fight and that would make them lose faith or not be as loyal to the fight if she just fled. So she chose to face her fate and fight to the end just like they were and show that they were in the fight till the end. I mean if word spreads that one dragon took on 2 and beat one and wounded the other that might actually increase moral even if that fight is lost.

I think you need to rewatch the episode Shad, Sir Cole definitely does wipe his sword after he beheaded the rebel lord and I was actually very impressed that they put that in, so you are judging off a missed part, however I thought this episode was very good and had me holding my breath the moment I saw them saddling up the dragons, I knew carnage was sure to follow! Also, I'm loving the shots from the perspective of a dragon rider and the way they had the dragons lock talons, while trying to kill one another before they both hit the ground, it is exactly what I pictured back when they talked about the dance of dragons in GOT, which is how some birds of prey fight, so it makes sense that dragons would fight similarly!

Can someone please explain me something? Why is that dream of Aegon a secret? I can't for the life of me figure why would someone want to keep secret a prophecy that basically says that if your bloodline ends and Targaryens are gone the whole world is going to hell in a handbaschet. It should be screamed from the top of every temple because it adds legitimacy to the Targayen bloodline.

Shad, just curious if you’ve watched the behind the scenes at all this season? The post episode bits are much better this season (no politics) but they’ve also been releasing episodes of “The House that Dragons Built” after each episode and it feels like a LOTR Appendices level look at how they approached set design, costumes, action, etc. Highly recommend checking it out!

Good to know I am not the only one appreciating how they're building it up. They are giving the story room to breathe which is rare thing these days and people tend to forget that this is a story-driven show with action, not an action show with story. If you need action to stimulate your TikTok brain you can just continue to watch modern Disney movies. But this is just building up so much, I really felt tense as I could feel that everything was about to explode. And it honestly still hasn't worn off for me. It was just the beginning. Great review!

. 29:20 When she killed all those innocent people. I had a thought. It would have been cool to show, the dragon reacted to her emotions and she lost control. So it was angry for her and went straight for the cause of her anger. Then when it burst through killing all those people her emotions would have definitely changed, and the target of her pain. It would have helped.

It is well established in the story that while Vhagar is by far the biggest and strongest, the younger and smaller dragons are much faster. Meleys was actually supposedly the fastest one. Rhaenys could have escaped, right after Aegon fell. All she had to do hold course and was fly away. Instead she chose to turn back and attack, because she was a baller. Cole didn't find Aemond standing over Aegon with his sword drawn. He was approaching him, yes, with his sword drawn (presumably because he just landed on a battlefield). As he was approaching the king he began to sheathe his sword. That's when Cole called to him and made him freeze in the middle of the movement. Then he sheathed his sword, crouched down and picked up the dagger - which was just laying there on the ground, it's not like he looted the king's body. Though I agree Aemond delaying and then hurling a fireball into the melee definitely looked like he was trying to get rid of his brother. And as others have pointed out, Cole most definitely wiped his sword after the execution.

The thing I don't understand is why couldn't all 4 Reds go out with their dragons? They are close to Dragon Stone so they aren't leaving it "vulnerable" and it would give the inexperienced riders some experience while making sure they are safe. They could do a lot more damage to the enemy forces very quickly before they have time to retreat and if the Greens did bring a dragon, or in this case 2, the Reds would still (to a degree) have the advantage. It seems like they didn't even consider the possibility and could ONLY send one dragon. Which to me was irritating. And if their reasoning is that it's too big of a risk to their military strength to send more than one dragon, I'd say it's a BIGGER risk to JUST send one. Idk, am I crazy? Does anyone have a rational rebuttal that I haven't considered? I think it's a good story, but that just didn't make sense to me...

I can't wait to see the episode and I don't care if anything was "spoiled" for me. This is the mark of a show I am interested in seeing, mostly because I know it will be at minimum watchable, and at maximum, a great piece of storytelling within the medium of "series". Good stuff. If only all series could have this level of dedication to craft.

As someone who was getting deeply invested again, I was thrown off by a couple of things in Ep 4. First is that there was no thought given AT ALL to sending a couple of dragons instead of one to their final mainland keep within reach of Dragonstone. Why send one? Ensuring Cole's death would have been a huge win, and a single dragon couldn't have chased loose ends through thick forests. Sending a single dragon meant anything could have happened... which did. Second was the way the show tried to pull off the same stunt that it used in the finale of Season 1 - the (post-engagement) ambush by a sluggish but enormously powerful dragon. It was a close shave in the original season, given that if Luke had flown in a straight line through the clouds he could have outpaced the bulkier one, and it was fairly absurd that the sluggish dragon could perfectly catch its prey with zero visibility on an intercept course. But in this episode, it was far worse. The combat and injuries were generally fine, and the close, exhausting escape of the princess from the initial airborne scuffle was believable. But the idea that the HUGE dragon could have done the same intercept snatch, in clear skies, from an incredibly small approach angle (vector being from sea level up a short cliff), and UPWARD (i.e. fighting gravity) without having entered a very steep (and very visible on the broad horizon) initial dive first... pulled me fully out of the series. I'm hoping they can pull me back in, but having a plot-convenience dragon is not looking great so far. I'm not complaining about the outcomes - the story did a great job of building up the stakes and the outcome could have remained the same. The path to that outcome felt contrived, and now this massive, slow powerhouse of a dragon that symbolized inevitable, creeping ruin has been used not once but twice in the role of an agile assassin. Even if you want to talk wingspan - that isn't going to give that thing better speed on an upward trajectory - straight ahead or down, perhaps. Anyone trying to outpace that thing should be heading upwards.

hey shad, i notice after you bring out your brigantine hoody (if i got that word right) you are not so busy getting into the more historically accurate costumes :) never worn anything like the old stuff, is it comfy and not too much bother to get into? Liking the hoody anyways, can imagine the casual modern might be less hassle. That red scabbard sword looks awesome

Have you made a video of how a medieval battle with dragons would be like (at least 1 or 2 on each side) I enjoy your reviews

It’s incredible how dragons are viewed as unstoppable forces of death and destruction. But when they are pitted against each other, they can seem completely helpless. The bigger dragon basically wins the moment it gets a hold of the other, of if they’re similar in size, it’s whoever lands the first hit.

Meleys crashing the throne room party was added in the show for the cool scene, you can stop referencing it when you talk about the character consistency.

41:05 Another reason I thought of was: Imagine for a second that Rhaenys had won. The war would have been over at that very moment, Aegon with Sunfyre and Aemond with Vhagar would've been dealt with. The only other dragons that the Greens have are Tessarion with Daeron (King Aegon's youngest brother who as only been mentioned twice on this show), who is all the way down at Old Town in the reach and Dreamfyre whose rider Halaena is not only traumatized but also clearly never was a fighter... Criston Cole and his army would be crushed then and there, King's Landing would be taken and the Black's would have won, no questions asked. Again, this might go back to what you're saying with the chance Rhaenys had to end the war outright in S1E9 but didn't take and now when she has the chance to end this war, she is like "I will do it or die trying". Which is also what her facial expression says to me when we get that shot of her strapping in and saying "Angos Meleys" for the second time (High Valyrian sounds so damn cool)

I don't think Rhaenys decision of attack Aemond a second time was just a "i'm tired of all of this". She was just watched Aemond trying to kill his own brother, knowing that this is the guy that killed Luke and probably will be assuming the throne if Aegon dies.

Small nitpick, Meleys (red dragon) is the fastest Targaryen dragon so even if Rhaenys fled back to Dragonstone early, Vhagar would not have been able to catch her. One minor problem i did have with the fight sequence is that they never quite showcased Meleys' speed and or quick relfexes to try and overcome Vhagar when the two clashed. Outcome was still expected since bigger dragon = winner.

Well, Cole has already taken many castles, and no dragon has ever been there. Baela and Rhaenys returned from scouting missions several times, infroming that no dragon movement was happening, on top of mentioning the protection of King's Landing. At this point it was a fair assumption to make that Vhagar is grounded, and they told the audience several times about that, so I see no reason for them to say it again. Especially with the Black Council who have been dying to send dragons out, they wouldn't exercise any caution. Cole and Aemond have outsmarted them, and their plan was not only good, but also much better than in the book (they had Aegon there on purpose, and this is super dumb, to risk the king like that. Good propaganda though). But then, of course, Aegon screws it all up.

Sometimes I wish I did not know the book and thus how this ends. A predictable and realistic ending (for a fantasy world) but in some ways unsatisfying. Personally I look forward to the “hour of the wolf”. Hopefully it does not get cut.

How many people checked the runtime and were so happy there was a decent amount of time left!??! 😂

I love it when Shad predicts the future accurately.

Old Valyrian is like Latin lol. Trust everyone at the small council knew as much as Aegon lol. And trust the Sept knew what Aemond said lol.

Aegon's Valyrian might be piss-poor but he was at least stubborn enough to make sure Sunfyre understands Common.

After last week, my actual predicition was that Aemond would hold back from backing up his brother at a crucial moment. I didn't expect to be right, or it to come so soon. I very much got the feeling of the same thing, though not for the same reasons, as L&O/Cop shows have when an honest cop turns in a corrupt one, and a bunch of other cops have the attitude of 'if your ever in danger/trouble', we will deliberatly be slow to respond'. What I didn't expect as for Aemond to take it further and directly go for the kill. However, I am not sure Aeomnd will try what Shad suggests. The 'I missed her and hit my brother' line, cos that admits he screwed up/was incompetant. Not Aemond's style at all. I think rather he will go to one of the extremes. he will either claim utter innocence, essentially that he had no part in it 'don't beleive your lieing eyes', or more to the point, anyone on the ground who actually saw what happened will have to think twice about standing up and telling the truth, cos if they do, they just made themselves a huge target for the one eye'd loonie who they just saw deep fry his own brother! Or, go the opposite and admit it. Yeah, I killed him. He was a moron. He'd never have won this war or been a capable king. Who wants to disagree? The look on his face as he holds back on the ground though. You could see the built up venom, (somewhat rightfully), it was a lovely moment.

The dragon fell to the floor, breaking it... So very foreshadowing! Alicent misinterpreting Viserys last breath didn't really affect the outcome. Otto+Criston had already been plotting usurping the throne from Rheynera. According to the behind the scenes, they choreographed the dragon fight after how real birds of prey fight each other.

I think rhaenys had a thought of aegon, aemond, vhagar, and cole are RIGHT THERE, she can cripple the greens and effectively end this war in one shot. So in my mind it justifies the risk

Can we just appreciate a proper representation of battle in Westeros. Of people actually stayin inside the castle and manning the battlements.

Brilliant episode, some great character work & dialogue plus the best dragon fight ever filmed for tv. Still prefer s1 ep8 but this was right up there. Loved the council scene, Aemond checking Aegon in High Valyrian so the other counsellors couldn't understand was a great touch the Aegon/Larys & Alicent interactions were very good. Larys is being honest in that scene, Harrenhal is too big for it's own good (intentionally, the guy that built it wanted the biggest castle on the continent as his legacy) it cost so much to maintain & run it puts massive financial strain on anyone that holds it, it also allegedly cursed & every house that holds it ends up having some massive tragedy or misfortune. The woman Daemon meets is Alice Rivers aka The Witch Queen of Harrenhal, she's gonna be important later on. Loved the battle, the tactics made sense & the cgj was mostly very good, a couple of the "dashboard" shots looked a bit janky/not Integrated so well but mostly no issues & more importantly everything felt earned from a plot/character perspective. Still disagree that it's as well written as early Thrones but it's not that far behind, they need to stop with the random lore changes that don't add anything tho, really bugging me because it's not like last season where changing Viserys made him a way better & more empathetic character, it's small things thst aren't adding anything to the story or characters

Meleys is the fastest dragon in Westeros. She 100% could of got away. She succeeded at taking out the king and his dragon. Not to mention, hundreds of enemy soldiers. The risk-reward wasnt worth reengaging

it was a fun one :) next one will be interesting to see how they deal with this, semi disasters on both sides

Great review Shad , but the bigger the dragon the slower it is. Meleys was one of the fastest dragons according to Fire&Blood. Vargas is bigger & stronger but slower & less agile. The weather is the only reason that vagar was able to catch Luke over storms end.

"I did not know you shared your lord husband's love... for the histories." Speaking of subtleties.

I think they assumed they could have had a dragon. That is why they said it was too dangerous and why they sent Melys, as she is the biggest dragon (they have a rider for) that they have.

Love the comparisons to the Acolyte, these are the only two shows I am watching right now and the contrast is huge between them.

That dragon fight scene was amazing! I was literally on the edge of my seat watching it! 👍👍

That's a chonky sword! :) Every episode this season has been so impactful. What a bombastic and emotional battle sequence. I was blown away and had tears in my eyes. I hope this series has at least a couple more seasons because WOW. I wonder if they left Aegon's other son out of the show to amp up the stakes for Aemond if Aegon gets killed.

I was literally on the edge of my seat and realised I was all tensed up. Enthralling tele with characters you actually give a shit about. It truly was a Dance of Dragons

My God this show is soo fucking Epic I mean holy shit as soon as the music plays in the beginning I'm locked in the writing is phenomenal the acting is even better sets are amazing this is true storytelling watching this compared to The Acolyte which has the same budget is absolutely disgraceful and disgusting 😅.

The rule of cool is powerful when done correctly. Really enjoyed this episode.

OK mad theory of mine but what if that witch woman was a child of the forest in glamour (what the red priestess used). The reason I think this is the line where she says I'm an owl trapped. I can't remember the full quote but that bit anyway

Rhaenys slaughter of the commoner smallfolk of Kings Landings is going to be a setup for a massive plot and revolt later in the series. Rhaenys actions in S1 E9 is going to have massive horrible conquences for House Targaryen and their Dragons.

Truly these are not the characters from blood and fire. Such a shame

I can't agree that Jace is a morally good character. He knows that he is a bastard, and yet he calls himself a prince and heir. In fact, he deliberately steals someone else's place, and it doesn't bother him at all.

Yea I was so happy to finally see Rooks Rest done onscreen and it didn’t let me down ! It became my favorite moment in house of the dragon instantly ! But battle of above the gods eye is my favorite from fire and blood ! So if they give that the same treatment ! I will be a happy man ! 🙌

13:27 if you watch really close Ser Coles squire asks for his blade. But ser cole rejects him and put his sword away with minimal cleaning. Id also imagine cole would later clean his sword later and not during his epic speech

I think it was Rhaenys' guilt over not killing the greens at the coronation that made her go back and face Vhagar which redeems her character for me, I forgive her and now appreciate her character.

All the tullys are named after Sesame Street characters. Like Oscar who was standing in for Grover

questions i don't have when I watch this series: Where did the money go?

on your point at 26-with rhenyra beeing gone, one thing i think they have done really well to put on top of that is that even i as a viewer found myself asking where the fuk she has been as everything has unfolded. like even if we have been shown that she was in kingslanding and she has been doing other stuff, they have showed so many times when her council are sitting alone or she is not there or she is there but for a moment with an excuse as to why she was not there before and stuff, (they have shown her absense from the counsil ALOT,) that i find myself asking where the hell she has been all this time solidly cuz i feels like i have seen her counsel more without her then with her, and the few times she has been there she has been pissed off or mad that the council want to take action and do something rather then nothing, (one of the reasons i think we find them bicering and beeing undeceive when we see then this Episode,

I felt so much for the dragons in this episode, which is a testament to the sound designers and the animators, it was brutal and visceral. Listening to Sunfyres agonising whimpers as it tries to limp away from the attack by Meleys. People always go on about Representation of screen, But I felt more kinship to the pain of that young dragon than any human character in the episode.

HotD is better thus far for me than GoT. You can really spot the difference with them working with an already completed story as the source material. GRRM has his fingerprints all over these episodes as well. What a work of art episode 4 was. I like how the producers studied how birds of prey fight in midair in real life for inspiration behind what dragons might have done fighting while in flight as well.

After 3 full episodes of board-setting, it was about fuckin time

Shad would benefit from notes and a character sheet before filming his reviews.

He clearly was handed a rag and he tossed it. I just don’t remember if he wiped his sword or his hands.

After Vhagar appeared on the battlefield, it made no sense to stay especially so after she had grounded him. She and Meleys had a head start if they wanted to flee. I mean from the beginning of the war the plan was to have multiple dragons take on Vhagar. She didn't even try to escape. If they would have shown decent wing damage then I could have bought fleeing not being an option, but they didn't. Meleys's wings seemed fine. she wasnt a tiny dragon like Luke's. It's also strange to me that the biggest dragon seems to keep relying on surprise attacks. They should've had Vhagar get back up, starting a pursuit. Then cut to a shot of Rhaenys (looking messed up) seeing Vhagar in pursuit then looking over Meleys, showing her dragon is wounded all over (having fought with two dragons) leaving no chance of out running Vhagar. Rhaenys and Meleys lock eyes seemingly both making the decision to go down swinging. They turn back, facing head on with Vhagar then the scene goes down like it did in the show.