Girls Gone Canon Cast - House of the Dragon S1E1: The Heirs of the Dragon

Episode Date: August 23, 2022

UPDATE 8/24 -  Apologies to our Spotify users - we are experiencing turbulence with servers and this still has not populated for Spotify.    - Direwolf City x GGC: The Black Faction  SPOILERS: ASOIAF, F&B, KOT7K, TWOIAF, ETC Sound Effects from Pixabay  "Night Vigil" & "Big Drumming" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hello and welcome to Girls Gone Canon Watches House of the Dragon. Season 1, Episode 1, The Heirs of the Dragon. I'm one of your hosts, Chloe. And I am another one of your hosts, Eliana. Here we are. Here we are. Actually, we are here we are actually we are here together you and I are together you know cute cozy little apartment living our best Rhaenyra and Alicent dreams across the narrow sea I don't see us very much like Rhaenyra or Alicent together but um maybe maybe not maybe you're right

I hope not I hope we're not Jesus Jesus. But yes, so after Chloe's hard work the past few weeks, the past few months, it has all paid off in that the D has finally been unleashed. Oh my god. She did this. I unleashed the D. If you haven't been listening, if you don't listen to us at all, if this is your very first Girls gone canon experience because it's not tv it's hbo uh welcome welcome we're happy to have you here we cover the books pov by pov a song of ice and fire one character at a time right now we just finished up with the prologue characters in a song of ice and fire who ryan condell is quoted as, I love prologues. Amazing. Beautiful. This week, stay tuned for more of that. But otherwise, we do like to cover a few other things like

His Dark Materials, which will be coming back to HBO soon. And now House of the Dragon. I'm very excited. And we'll be starting Bran Stark chapters up next. Actually, it'll be a Stark contrast to our weekly hot D. It actually really will. But I think some of it might end up going together quite well based on some things that were discussed in this episode that we'll talk about a little. But we have done several parts of the Dance of the Dragons. And by several, I mean, we've covered the entire dance

from the front of the dance to the end of the dance over at our Patreon, patreon.com slash girls gone canon. We're $5 and up patron tier members get to listen to bonus episodes every month. This month's will be Mothers of the Dragon talking about the mothers of the dragons in Fire and Blood. And we're also doing a weekly discussion at our Patreon hosted by our friend Maddie. That will happen on Fridays at 2 p.m eastern time that's eliana time if you're listening oh oh that's you and uh we also have a monthly brunch with this month's being 8 28 the sunday of that next episode of house of the dragons

so join us patreon.com slash girls gone canon and if you're in that 10 up tier you'll get discord access which is so exciting yes and to clarify i think our brunch is at 2 p.m eastern time on august 28th yes as well yes yes yes yes eliana time eliana time chloe time too indeed welcome to our house of the dragon yes in, in today's episode of House of the Gucci. Our house. Oh my god, in the middle of our Gucci? Oh, okay. Let's talk spoiler policy.

You're all wondering, what the fuck am I gonna hear today on this podcast? A lot. We're gonna spoil anything and everything. What does that entail, Eliana? That entails everything from the five main books of A Song of Ice and Fire, anything from the World of Ice and Fire compendium book, as well as the Fire and Blood fake history, which I think might be of concern for some of you because House of the Dragon is based on Fire and Blood. It's also, there's also stuff in the world of Ice and Fire about it, but mostly Fire and Blood.

Yeah, and if you've read the main A Song of Ice and Fire books, we do get shades of what's going on in this, to be fair. Like, we actually do have small shades, but just like Fire and Blood and how it's written from a few different differing viewpoints, A Song of Ice and Fire is similar. The POV that's talking about it or hearing about it might have a little slant on what they're saying an angle yes but we will likely and we will warn if we are talking about anything from the leaks but most likely it won't be because

i didn't read them i also didn't read them so so there's that we don't we're not doing that the only leaks you're going to hear are when I leak brilliant ideas on this podcast. I was going to say maybe because we might know the episode titles, but I don't know if those might be public knowledge by now. Because I know sometimes you have to report that stuff, right? I don't know. Yeah, I think some of them, if not all of them, are out for public by now. And i briefly have seen a list of what looked like leaked titles i don't i can't tell you what they are like off the top of my head i haven't checked if they're confirmed or not i guess i could check based on if that matches to

this episode but yeah anyway yeah i have not gone back to look at it of course we will maybe talk a little bit here and there on production shots that we may have seen that came up around then not much though there's not much left to talk about because i feel like they're showing us so much in the actual production stuff that's coming out the marketing that's been coming out because they spent like i think i heard they spent 100 million dollars on marketing this really damn yeah yeah insane hbo really wants this to be a powerhouse and of the dragon of gucci oh my god i would say it feels like a powerhouse for sure it does it does and we will probably discuss stuff that we see in interviews yeah which i mean for the most part because it is marketing right like they are trying to keep some of that under

wraps so one more warning we have a trigger warning for this episode. I'm sure many of you know that Game of Thrones was famous for having very controversial scenes that depict a lot of violence in different ways and traumatic moments. This one, we will be talking about trauma and forced birth and violence against women. So there's violence against men too in this episode there is there is and we'll probably talk about that too yes you know we're gonna get right into it and not into it yeah not for the whiplash we'll talk about our favorite parts first and then get to those parts we are going to probably do this within a chronological order of how the episode aired we're gonna start at the top head to bottom, talk about each scene a little if we're interested, and I don't know, shitpost IRL? Yeah.

What about your favorite parts, Eliana? Let's start with the good. Actually, like, a lot of it was good, in my opinion. What do you think's, like, your big favorite part of the episode? I think my favorite parts are really Millie Alcock's acting as Rhaenyra. In general, I know that's more than one part. If I had to pick one, I think I really loved the funeral pyre scene. I think she did a fantastic job there. But in general, there were a couple of other moments where you can just see her do these fantastic micro-expressions. Just this small softening of the face in response to

different things and i think she's just doing a great job yeah as far as like episode mvp millie alcock is definitely up there she is we'll have to keep doing that every week who is our mvp millie alcock's up there i'm gonna i guess i'm gonna do it from the front i'm just gonna drop this one on you all at the front i chloe from girls gone canon a noted damon targaryen hater a noted hater of damon targaryen oh my god i think i love damon targaryen yeah what the fuck i think we're seeing exactly the damon that george wanted us to see right? The Damon that has made him one of George's favorite characters. Like, I think that George has said that Damon is his favorite character from Fire and Blood. And I think a lot of other people out there, you know, admittedly, like, they saw, like, our friends from Dire Wolf City, they love Damon. And they were right. He's doing

a fantastic job as a character. And I think, honestly, I think Matt Smith's doing a great job also as him. I'm really amazed. In fact, we'll talk about, I guess one of my favorite scenes was definitely his Jamie Lannister 1993 outline letter. If you haven't read the outline letter that George basically wrote when starting off the series of what he perceived the original trilogy, let that one sit on your tongue. The original trilogy to look like. In that outline letter, Jaime Lannister is a little different, right? He's a little more bloodthirsty. He's killing heirs so that he can sit on the Iron Throne himself. There's a lot of daemon that kind of comes out in that, and I'm sure we'll get a chance to talk more about it in

the coming weeks. We were, like you just said, hanging out with our girlfriends over at Dire Wolf City on YouTube. If you haven't checked them out, hanging out with our girlfriends over at Dire Whiff City on YouTube. If you haven't checked them out, we'll link our video with them from last week. It was what we discussed, the Black Faction, which was very fun. And they had a lot of really great takes on Damon. I will say also one more plug for them. We are recording this early Monday evening or so, so that we can catch their live streams which will be every monday evening on like eight at around 8 or 8 30 p.m so be sure to tune in for their live streams yeah i really uh i enjoyed

talking about the the jamie lannister damon targaryen similarities from that outline letter but damon sitting on that throne speaking valyrian immediately. Like not even, wasn't even a pause to make Valyrian come into the story. And it meshed so well. It was so smooth. Matt Smith, I mean, I'm used to Matt Smith as the doctor. And he's like a big wiggly, like he's a piece of taffy, dude. I don't even, he's like Gumby, but human and British. I don't, he's very interesting to me.

And so for him to play this somewhat menacing, charismatic, this rogue prince like this, and he's really owning it. And that was my MVP for the episode. He was probably one of my favorite parts. So we are actually two halves of a whole, Eliana, me and you. Oh God, nevermind. What is happening? I ship it. You know, I can see, we're going to talk about it, but I think it's a good ship now. Yeah. I mean, we're fucked. This show has fucked us up.

Anyway, this story. But let's start way, way, way even before the story begins with the voiceover of the great council of 101. That was awesome to open with. It kind of the great council of 101 that was awesome to open with it kind of waters down so we open up to a very historic moment right and there's been a handful of adjustments just to make this a great cold open plot piece first of all we get to see king jaharis wow amazing he didn't talk yeah i kind of felt bad for his actor. I was like, oh, they just had him be there and sit there, be regal, and open up this little scrolly thing. Which, you know, you save money when you don't have to pay someone to do lines. He wasn't there in the books, to be fair. This was totally an adjustment made to keep the Harrys in.

And for his age, his time, he wasn't keep jahari's in and he was on his time he wasn't really and he's not in his prime during this time so it works that he doesn't speak but it was a bummer i wanted some regal i know right i like that there was the scroll though right like that's very classic game of thrones there's a scroll with a message a royal message on it that he unfurls and that we got to see herring hall that was exciting it was in states of disrepair still from you know which kind of reminds you of the magnitude of the destruction from agon's conquest right that's that's the power of dragons and also it looked a little bit like you know my partner also said they're really leaning into the Dark Souls aesthetic, which as you all know, George collaborated with Hidetaka Miyazaki from software and they made the game Elden Ring. And some of it

does look a little like Elden Ring. Yeah, a little bit. Okay. I love it though, because that's closer to his vision of what he wanted for this series. And now of course we have the money to kind of execute this vision which is so exciting and they watered down it's just rainies versus viserys right for the great council we don't have any other claimants brought in no lanor no lana yeah it's just viserys versus rainies which i think is a great way to uncomplicate the matter for the viewer like not everybody is going to want to read fire and blood and understand the left right succession they're not going to start from the top and see reina and understand the two queens of agon and what that kind of yeah i mean that's a problem it is it is and we'll probably talk about this more in later episodes but this is not the first

time that the question of succession in terms of do we follow a male claimant or a female claimant happens right this is actually the second time that they asked so do we follow reynese's so do we follow reynese's claim or not because that woman has been through it all right she's been through it this is not our first rodeo, but obviously it hurt a lot. Yeah. And you can see that pain right from this scene. It's something I think they did an impressive job of is every character, whether they are actually being given dialogue to speak, even if they don't have dialogue, you look at them and you see the nuances and their little motions.

Like you mentioned with Millie Alcock, she has those slight, just little tinges that are so charming that make you really feel endeared to Rhaenyra's character right from the start and feel like okay that's our girl cool and even with Rhaenys and Corlys like their faces tell everything and their little just nuances and how they act towards one another throughout the episode and I find that really great like I didn't leave episode one with any questions about any character motivations yeah you know to talk a little bit about this succession issue as well and we hear it in some of the interviews right and in some of the after what is it called after the show i don't even remember

what they are calling that segment right now but they specifically describe viserys as someone who gets handed the throne who doesn't really particularly want it. He's not an ambitious man. And he's like meh, right? As a king, we find out he's like meh. And I think that I'm glad that they chose this storyline to adapt. And this is, I don't remember if we talked about this during season eight of Game of Thrones or not.

That's important, right? We see that this idea of the reluctant ruler, everyone's always like, oh, they would make a great ruler or king because they don't want it. saw that fail with robert we're seeing like the consequences of that with viserys and we see like perhaps we'll we'll likely see rainies develop more as a character but we'll see someone who's really smart who would have been a fantastic ruler but the patriarchal like system and primogenitor of Westeros kept her from that position. Yeah.

And it is something that Aegon I, he already was coming in and changing things. So no, maybe messing with current Westerosi standard from, you know, the Andals went this way. So he chose to kind of keep that inheritance as well. And he didn't go against the grain on that. But it really makes me mad because I'm like, bro, you already married two chicks. Like, you can't just be like, what if we have the next capable ruler in line rule? It's interesting because like he did it right by virtue of the firstborn son because his son, Aenys, was the one to inherit, right? Even though Aenys comes from the younger wife, Rhaenys, right? This is very confusing.

There's another Rhaenys, okay? Oh my god. There's another Rhaenys during the conquest, right? Aenys is the son, not Aenys, sorry. Yeah, Aenys. Aenys. Aenys was the son from the younger wife, but is older than Maegor, the son of of the elder wife so it doesn't flow at all

that way through the mothers and then don't get us started on anise because anise then has oh my god hey we will one day likely because we have to talk about this yeah reina our daughter like we mentioned up top we actually talked really in length about the dance over at our patreon for bonus episodes if you're in the stranger tier and above and we're going to talk a lot more i think about reina uh who i'm i'm very fond of you're very fond of i know we love reina targaryen and we're going to talk more about her place and role when it comes to the succession crisis and her children um i that is kind of a sad thing for me i wish we got reina in this i know it doesn't work but i do wish we had reina i want to show with reina yeah i absolutely i i don't know there's a way it could work i just don't know how it would yet but we'll see we'll see anyway so we get this

fascinating voiceover during the explanation of the Great Council. Yeah, and I'm pretty sure this is Emma de Arce. They're the actor that plays older Rhaenyra as we get the time jump. So it sounded like Emma de Arce doing the voiceover because Rhaenyra in the voiceover is talking about her father. And we get the line, such a great line. The only thing that could tear down the house of gucci i mean the house of the dragon was itself that is what happens in the house of gucci though uh it's the same same

show it's the same fucking show you guys neither of us have seen it but it's the same movie it's also it's all it's real life so we kind of know what happens in the real life house of gucci just like we know what happens in house of the dragon to an extent because of the fire and blood which is also real life oh absolutely absolutely this is a real history uh they do this great titling this title slide of 172 years before daenerys basically which i think is i mean it's smart it gives context it reminds everybody where we are when we are i love that and as if you thought they weren't going to ball out with Harrenhal from the very front, which, you know, maybe they shouldn't

bother fixing it up because I have really bad news about what they have to do later on the season to it. So maybe don't spend your money, your resources and taxes fixing up Harrenhal, guys. But to contrast that, we then get the big money shot, right? because we open up with Rhaenyra flying Syrax over and into King's Landing and this is just if you've watched Game of Thrones if you love A Song of Ice and Fire this is just porn like this is basically just straight up fantasy porn like I watched this my mouth open I was like what this is beautiful it was a wonderful uplifting opening. You know, you started out with that shot above the clouds,

and I love that. I love that it's really from the get-go establishing, like, this is a different layer in many ways, literally, right, of this story. You're going to see much more of the dragons, right? And they're giving them to us piecemeal. I guess some of them pronounce it as Cyrax, but it's going to be hard to break out of it. So I might end up saying Cyrax.

So whatever. Whatever. And there's just beautiful, like absolute joy to the way that it opens up. It does feel a little Disney-esque, but then obviously because everyone kind of knows what to expect of the series now, they don't stay there very long.

They don't stay in that mood that long it's very idealized right like you walk in um i i love it because we got alicent arriving on carriage and so there's already from the very start two very distinct ways to characterize these two that alicent has arrived on carriage she is not the blood of the dragon she's not flying a dragon into king's landing that is not for her renera however is and alicent you know they they have a little little friend flirt going on where when she lands she says wow syrax is fucking huge she's gonna eat 80 people soon and renera's like yeah you should come with me like that saddle is gonna be fit for two and she's like no i can't do that and and then she looks her up and down yeah that is important actually i did feel i did feel queer baited the whole episode the whole

episode uh i do i love i'm really loving the way they're taking their characters which i'm sure in the godswood we will chat on but there's something about like as reenyra lands and she's so free and spirited and she could just take her dragon anywhere at the same time in the background the dragon tamers are putting Syrax back into the dragon cave right and I know our friend Zionius actually translated it you had said right well just just some of it just two of the words because Zionius was wondering why one of the words I think was dahera right dahera meaning serve and so one of the commands given to syrax is obey serve syrax and apparently they don't mean serving those looks which syrax was yes truly truly um and we'll talk about the color

of syrax being kind of interesting in a bit but But yeah, I don't know. I was just like, it makes me think of when dogs or cats are being disobedient, but dragons are way scarier. It's interesting that they're saying serve and obey because even though Rhaenyra is so free spirited, her dragon still has to be put into a cave at the end of the day into a cavern where he's watched over by keepers and dragon tamers and at that same time as she's hopping down off syrax harold westerling says to her i thought this was very interesting he says to her every time that dragon brings you back unspoiled it keeps me from losing my head princess and alicent of course we already know that alicent is confined kind of to this traditional life in westeros, right? She unfortunately has to live by these rules of the patriarchy where Rhaenyra seems to get a little bit of bandwidth around them, thanks to the blood of the dragon, right?

Thanks to being royal. Not a ton, but a little bit. But they're both like caged, right? Like Syrax is still caged. And Harald saying that, like, every time that dragon brings you back unspoiled, I get to keep my head. So what kind of spoiling happens on Dragonback? And who else rides a dragon that may spoil Rhaenyra? Hmm. Well, we'll talk about that in a second. I also like Rhaenyra's clothing in that. It reminded me a little of some of Daenerys' costumes previously.

Great styling. I love that it's like proto- of some of Daenerys's costumes previously. Great styling. I love that it's like proto Daenerys for that, right? Like, it's, it's, it's great that they got to carry some of those things like the the collar and the sleeve being carried from Daenerys's outfits and back to show this is what her ancestors wore. Yeah, I like it. I do like it. It makes a great continuation of like like is she paying homage to her ancestors right or trying to yeah her clothing which is i get that i get absolutely get that trying to be a conqueror well have connection to the family when you don't really know them and homeland it's it's something that i think is relatable for a lot of people here's something else relatable

how great is the next scene oh my god dude i'm when they panned upwards on the red keep wow and then when they panned inwards and downwards and we see that map room that has no map now sorry cersei that's right it doesn't have the map yeah cersei thought it was a great design choice you know she's like i'm really into interior design this season it's it was a great gorgeous and everything's bustling and alive like outside of king's landing even if you like slow it down and you look down when the carriage is riding through the hills and you like see all the people there's a moment where the carriage like impedes on the sidewalk quote unquote which no roads by the way i thoughthaerys did something about that. Yeah, Jaehaerys. Fucking failure.

What happened to that? But there's like people on the sidewalk area and they like jump back at the carriage. And it's something that if you don't stop and take the time to look at, you won't notice. But there's a purpose for every extra in the background and people with parasols wandering around and merchants in the street. It's an alive King's Landing. wandering around and merchants in the street. It's an alive King's Landing. Inside there are maids carrying flowers off, maidservants and people running around the Red Keep doing things. It's bustling. It's alive. It's glorious. It is. It's really actually very heartwarming. Again, this doesn't last that long. But I love also they've got the public art, right? They've random like dragon statues around. And I'm like, that feels like a real city actually i know real cities and they have random ass statues

all over and as you said right it's just wonderful seeing the red keep so alive and there were moments when it was kind of like that right even during the reign of robert targaryen but game of thrones didn't have the budget yet those first few seasons and in the later ones it's a little less it's less alive because it's a darker time and they've been in war for a long time and also they were like it's serious we're gritty welcome to the game of thrones verse it is still gritty but yeah i did like but now we're in philadelphia different gritty oh my god exactly gotham itself uh it did feel gritty in some aspects and there's very much i mean it felt like a return to westeros but westeros got such a bigger budget and it's beautiful

and yeah it was i love the budget i love budget i love budget now i can't help how much i love budget and not just loving budget but loving lore and attention to lore and details um so another significant like probably our runner-up for episode mbp there beyond our two picks is probably emma erin right emma er Arryn being introduced at all. I did not expect to see Emma Arryn. If this was Game of Thrones, Emma Arryn would not have existed. Emma Arryn, you would have seen that off screen.

Like that would have been like, we just talk about it in bad dialogue. This was- It would have started like after Emma Arryn, et cetera, right? Like that was all gone. Which to the defense of Game of Thrones, like, I mean, they did start, right? When the first book started, which was also after many of the mothers died.

And we're going to see, I guess, one perspective on that right now. But yeah, I mean, Emma Arryn right at the beginning, also at the council and then here. And we were eaten. She gets a lot of hairstyles. Yeah, she got a handful of hairstyles. She got a couple of outfits um the third one not as cute you know unfortunately but that's that's life uh her actress is actually was in sherlock she's elizabeth holmes you know continuing the super hulock going on if you're familiar that

was a joke i'm so sorry but it does i don't know why I do think of them they're not in the same place Tumblr did I know they're not uh those Tumblr kids have lied to you she's also in Good Omens she's Deirdre Young I think um but she's very talented and the wig is definitely it threw me off from recognizing her absolutely and I love her introduction to Rhaenyra again all these character motivations were clear right from the jump she tells Rhaenyra. Again, all these character motivations were clear right from the jump. She tells Rhaenyra, this discomfort, me, pregnant as fuck, laying in this chair, this chair, that's going to be you soon.

This is how you're going to serve the realm. And she just looks at her Arya Stark style. No, that's not me. She basically does say that, right? And it's fun. It's interesting, and it really gives you a great idea of who Rhaenyra is and it also shows how warm her connection is to Emma like for her to be that open with Emma about what she wants and to feel like she can do that I think it's a wonderful

establishing scene and then we hear more of their conversation later relayed by emma but also as some of our patrons have pointed out you get some of that language from catelyn stark especially in speaking with brienne about what reyniera should be expecting yeah about how the birthing bed is their battlefield which becomes quite literal as we toss it against the only battlefield that this generation knows which is the tourney yard i mean they don't have wars thankfully because jahara stood away with all the wars i'm just kidding um we'll see how well that comes yeah we'll see how good that comes for them i one of my favorite things in this little conversation they have is she kind of says to her at the end she's like well and go take a bath you stink of dragon and to give you kind of an understanding of who emma comes from emma erin is the granddaughter of jaharis and alice ann good

queen ally and she comes from daea targaryen's line their daughter daea piea targaryen delicious with rice and paella daea targaryen god damniana. Daeya Targaryen is like a very sweet girl. She's very soft, very prone to being scared of things. And she ends up getting married. Jaehaerys forces the issue. He says, if you don't find her a husband by the end of this year, and this poor girl is like, she just can't marry anyone. They're all scary to her. She's also quite young still. She's still like, I think 15 i think 15 16 yeah she's very young and that that plays a role in what happens to her as well we'll talk about that in a second yeah she is so young and jairi's kind of pushes it if you don't do it by the end of the year i

will make the call or i'll send her off to be a silent sister he basically threatens so alicean gets three men that she finds that are like the least scary or at least kind and I mean Daya ends up choosing Roderick Aaron who is very kind very loving and Daya gets pregnant she actually sends her mother the saddest message she like sends for her and she's like mother please come I'm so frightened I'm pregnant I'm so frightened and um Alysanne comes and attends her and then she has the baby and she dies after having the baby and it's Emma Arryn that baby grows up to be Emma Arryn uh it's so sad because Jaehaerys and Alysanne have this huge fight after and Alysanne's like she didn't even need to get married why did we do this why did we do this to her she wasn't ready

why did we make her she wasn't emotionally or physically ready to go through with this we have 80 other heirs that all die uh but we had like 800 other heirs why did we make her do this and then for emma erin her entire arc in this episode to tell her daughter you know this is what you're to do this is what i was to do and this is what you will be too and then for her to basically go in a similar fashion to how her mother went and for raniera's line to become that much more important right like that that to me makes raniera's story especially starting here at this point and how they frame this episode her plot line that much more important to follow. Absolutely. And that's, as you said, right? Alysanne has had several, several children, right?

She had like probably as many children as Emma Arryn had miscarriages and stillbirths or something. Like if you combine all that and including the living children, like it was a lot. They had, there were a lot of Targaryens it as you said it was unnecessary and you know they talk a lot about people will always justify within a lot of these books and series they'll be like oh women and girls were married off like very young back then because

they were trying to have children very young and that isn't necessarily always true because especially among the lower classes they wanted people more established when running a household because they would kind of be on their own so people weren't always getting married that young unless obviously the political marriages right there's a need for them they feel that urgency in order to seal alliances but they didn't need to seal an alliance they'd established their power and part of the reason you don't have children that young is because as you said the the teenage body isn't fully developed yet and can't necessarily always handle childbirth the hips aren't as wide or ready yet and the same with the birth canal it's like not necessarily ready and it's not always safe

and not to mention like sometimes that body never is ready like that doesn't always happen like sometimes it just won't happen and the westerosi breeding machine needs to be stopped um i don't know the the one this the happier part of this though i will say is when she tells vernera that she stinks of dragon and to go wash up yeah um it's kind of cute because it makes me think of Daeya because Daeya would never have climbed a dragon. And at the very front, Rhaenyra says to her, well, she tells Rhaenyra, I hate when you fly when I'm in this condition. And she's like, you always hate when I fly.

Oh, mom. It's very Daeya. It's also a very mom thing, I think, to be like, I hate when you do whatever. But maybe that's just me and my mom. She's like, I don't like when you do,'t well if rainies was your mom that would be different she'd be like yeah go you need to be flying yeah your dragon needs to know that you love it bitch you need to let everyone know that you have this power right yeah absolutely definitely a different mother and of course the best cut is after this scene well actually i do want to mention

too alicent is in that scene which to me all i I do want to mention too, Alicent is in that scene, which to me, all I was watching, I was like, oh yeah, Alicent, this puts you in a pretty shitty position, huh? It was awkward. It was awkward. Like, hello, ma'am, Mrs. Royal, ma'am, queen. I was supposed to suck your husband's dick after you die.

Yeah. Shit. I think that's part of what makes that so much more awkward later on, right? And like, that's the point. Because she's like, this is my best friend's mom and she's nice to me you know like it's weird it's weird but it's it's what it is and as you said right they talk about the smell of dragon i've asked what does dragon smell like and people have given forth a lot of answers I like the idea

of sulfur because it means do they smell like rotten eggs farts that's interesting because of the volcanic activity and also someone said like I don't know a rancid reptile thing and nuclear and like that makes sense to me but also I have no idea what any of those things smell like I don't know what like a reptile cage smells like i like the idea of sulfur like sulfurous makes sense to me it's kind of mystical it's bad and mystical yeah um well and she shows up to the small council right after this and i love it because her dad immediately goes you smell like dragon and she's just like she did not take a bath like her mom told her to have been even more late right yeah she was late and again very aria right she's constantly late or fucking off through this episode lots of aria vibes it's cute i see why uh millie alcock read aria lines for her

audition yes it's so obvious we were told and we'll get to this that millie alcock read aria lines and allison was given cersei lines to read i find that interesting i do too i should have given her catalin lines anyways for her and her hoster toly ass father fuck damon's absent from the small council so very oberon right off the jump he's busy playing with his god squad and the conversation moves to the heirs tournament maester mellows who loves astrology he's been pouring over moon charts he's like what if we wait until we have an heir before we throw a really expensive heir tourney and Viserys is like no literally a we're getting an heir so calm down b half the country is on their way so we can't really cancel

this now honestly there are a lot of things that I've was like shut the fuck up Maester Mellos I think he's kind of right he was like maybe we should wait before also let your wife recover you know if this had gone well yeah like imagine if it was a whole family ordeal like let someone recover I read the am I the asshole subreddit a lot

yeah there's a lot of this there there's so much of this there like I don't want my in-laws here yet please I just want to rest I just gave birth anyway well that's this is medieval time so it's a different time at least well i'm just kidding i'm just kidding i guess they had a household right to entertain people that does make a difference having a household makes a difference when your in-laws are there that's very true that's very true i haven't so i get that i do think it might have been smarter to wait like I mean like when Jaehaerys pulls the Simba moment with was it which one was it was it Aemon or Balin I don't know whatever kid

Jaehaerys holds up Simba style you know when the crowd roars I feel like you should have waited it would have been Aemon because Aemon was born first Aemon was the second child so yeah I just feel like maybe you should have waited as a unified front because you're stronger together, right? You're like your lady wife. Well, I guess none of this matters what I think because, you know, she dies. And for context, Amon Targaryen, second born of Jaehaerys and Alisand, would be the father of Rhaenys, married to Jocelyn Baratheon.

Yep, he married Jocelyn. So the queen who never was but she's the queen to me same meanwhile damon is committing some mild casual treason what is the term of arrested development like treason like treason he's like if viserys had walked in he'd be like damon loves family michael loves family. He's just chilling on the throne. Jamie Lannister, 93 outline. And he speaks Valyrian. It's sexy.

I don't know why I'm feeling this way. I don't want to talk about it. But he's all speaking to Valyrian to Rhaenyra, his niece, before giving her a very, very sexy Valyrian steel necklace, which he pulls out of her hands when he first offers it to her. And then he's like, let me put it on you. And so you got the whole, you you know hand on neck vibe going he said turn around and as we find out later on damon does like hitting it from the back oh my god no but like i'm being being kind of serious he didn't really like it when he was hitting it from the back later his

preferred position i guess is what what it seems to be but also it's a sexually charged scene not because of the speaking but when he asks her to turn around and the way she removes the necklace i don't know but the reason we're saying that is because they get married later we said we were doing all spoilers they get married later now you all know sorry and some other they also have children they also have children yeah before too. They do some stuff. The necklace and the fact that she, that's like very metaphorical, I feel like, that she's removing the necklace, the old necklace, the necklace of her childhood, right? Yeah. And trading it for this powerful piece of her ancestry, right?

This piece of Valyrian steel, which a lot easier to come by then than now, obviously, in modern Aeswaf. But he was always bringing her gifts, we hear, from the Free Cities and from the East in Fire and Blood, it says. So this was a great little aspect to explore. And her choosing, you know, at the very beginning of this episode, she doesn't have as many choices to choose from.

But at the end of the episode, she's kind of a pretty solidly important er figure than she already was. I feel like that change of necklace, that loss of innocence that's coming, that was important. And it kind of looks a little bit like a chain, right? Because suddenly she gets chained into this position of ancestry. The Rainiera that we see in this show also doesn't seem like she necessarily wants to throw in. it seems like because she idolizes her uncle she actually kind of wants to be very much like him she's like i want to go across the narrow sea and i'm gonna get my own fucking presents yeah which do it for yourself girl i see you good for you that's interesting because the next scene is the godswood yeah and that'd be good that's perfect that's such a great yeah oh it's so sad okay so raniera and allison's friendship they did a bunch of aging up and i'm gonna be really

honest with you i don't care and aging down for an aging down for allison yeah i don't really care like i think it makes better tension and storytelling i think it's an overall better choice i mean i was trying to explain this to my husband and your partner last night, right? About, like, when, especially when you're, like, a younger girl, you have friendships that, like, are just, and when you are young, like, when you're a preteen teenager, everything's dramatic. When you're a Targaryen teenager, I bet everything is ten times more dramatic from what we've seen, the way George writes them. more dramatic from what we've seen the way George writes them. But when you're a teenager, everything is full of passion and electricity and drama and every heartache is the worst heartache you've ever had. And I remember like my very first, I don't know, really passionate friendship that opened me up like 13. You know, we've all seen 13, right? Evan Rachel Wood. It's like 13

when you get a really interesting first friendship that you care about them so passionately where like the betrayals are that much more dramatic and so kind of evening these ages out aging up aging down I think it brings a great tension to it and it's gonna be really sad as we get along with this story and see them torn apart and the wedge put between them by the society they live in and yeah them laying in the godswood with raniera's head in allison's lap reading about nemeria um are they they're you know they're roommates roommates they're roommates they're just roommates we're being queer baited all right we're being queer baited and we know we are and everyone it's not just us right people people who have never experienced this part of the story in this material source material right they're getting

the same vibes right and i think not just like what you're saying about like the intensity which is absolutely part of it as you said it makes a great dramatic choice for the way those because the betrayals are just going to hurt a lot more and also as you said the way they get torn apart and that's something that this series wants to dig into when it comes to how patriarchal systems do tear women apart and yes our main showrunners are ryan condell and michael sapochnik but their writers room has been intentional about making sure that there are women in the writers room who are leading with some of this for this series yeah it really shows um it really shows just even in the conversation they have especially since we haven't gotten quite all of the tensions that will grow between them when it comes to Kristen Cole and Damon.

Like, that's just kind of starting, starting. So, you know, the conversations that they have, she talks about how she wants to, you know, take off to the narrow sea and eat cake with Syrax and Alicent. cake with Syrax and Alicent. And as we said just now, it's a little like Daemon, but it actually reminds me a little bit about speaking of really close friendships, the proposal that Robert gives Ned. He's like,

Ned, let's just leave our families and run away and go be sellswords in Essos. And it's like, dude, I have a family and a responsibility. You also have a lot of responsibility in a family. And he's like, what the fuck is going on? He's like, you, I have a family and responsibility. You also have a lot of responsibility in a family. And he's like, what the fuck is going on? He's like, you're a king, bro.

Yeah. But I mean, for Allison and Rhaenyra, I mean, that's kind of still an option. Maybe not for Allison, but it is an option for Rhaenyra to an extent. I think there's something in it that's really... She's a foodie. She's a foodie. She's a foodie. Me too.

I love cake. I'm so hungry. I was like yeah god we're gonna see this mirror come back for this right because in fire and blood kristin cole allegedly we don't know the truth we're gonna find out the truth we're gonna find out the game of thrones truth at least of this story it might not be the song of ice and fire gospel truth but it's all i have so i'm gonna take it uh in fire and blood kristin cole comes to raniera you know and it's like come on let's leave let's leave we have

to run to the free cities i have a ship waiting we'll get out of here we can just go be together and she's like bro i can't leave now like that things were different now i'm next in line to be the queen and i've got crap to do i can't just leave and here that's what she says to allison right she's like we could just leave and allison's like no i really can't leave reneara i can't just go just burn her dad reneara just burn allison's dad nobody likes him but could have changed the story honestly that's i think that would actually that would literally fix the story you know um when we were on Direwolf City, someone asked, what advice would you give Rhaenyra? Burn Otto Hightower ahead of time.

And... Ahead of time? I love that we find out that Rhaenyra is actually... She is very smart, right? She knows all this stuff. She's just kind of giving off this sort of, like, easygoing vibe, right? She's just trying to make her

way but and also also you pointed this out before we recorded but you know this discussion of how does rainiera feel about whether or not her mother is giving birth to a son yeah uh there's a great little argument right allison is like you obviously are in a bad mood because i know all your moods because that's literally my only job because i'm unemployed otherwise um so as your companion you seem in a bummer mood is this about the fact that your dad's really hyped about having a male heir being born to your mother and raniera shrugs this off she's like no i'm just busy i want to be a warrior and go fighting i don't care about any of that I don't care about it at all later we get kind of this chat with Viserys and Emma in the bathtub where she says oh you should have heard Rhaenyra earlier she was like so I've named the girl already her name's Visenya and I've chosen an egg and it looks a lot like Vhagar's egg uh

straight up she tells Viserys that so I feel like there's a contrast there that she's telling allison no i don't actually give a fuck but she does give a fuck just a little i think she cares in the way that i don't think she's that concerned about being the heir per se so much as she wants her father's love and approval and a boy will change that a boy would change that because then suddenly she loses the chance of her father's love because i think she just assumes that damon's going to be the heir regardless even if the next child is a daughter she's like it's still just not going to be me probably based on the council ruling etc that's where we i think we'll see a little bit of that tension that comes in at the end of the episode right because what's kind of fun is the way that they've made renee reneera now she is

actually the same you get an you get a look at what happens if you get a woman who's a reluctant ruler who didn't necessarily want it in that way and she wanted that freedom and this is also based on some of the things that millie alcock and emma darcy were saying of like renear of feeling forced into motherhood and we'll obviously get to that in later episodes and towards the end of this episode a little bit she only wants to be erin that it is a signifier of her father's approval. Yes, yes. And that's, I don't know. I mean, no one wants to be fucking bred.

No one wants to be bred, and everyone wants to be loved by their parents. Yeah, those are very fucking normal foundational human being feelings. We're born with those feelings. Which, I love how human this shit gets. Oh, it's so good. Let's talk more about Emma and Visererys in a moment i do want to gloss over viserys's weeping sore it's the literal one not the succession but um it's basically that yeah and interesting we have this weeping sore now and otto definitely knows about said weeping sore and so does maester mellows so you have two people that know about this sore that may or may

not be you you know, the end at some point for the series. I'm guessing this has something to do with his end now that maybe because they said we have not been able to close it. This has been ongoing. They talk about cauterizing the wound. Again, all a metaphor. This is all a giant fucking metaphor.

Doesn't he say to just do it? Yeah. And it's rotting. It's rotting. It's rotting. And it's ating as you said it's rotting it's rotting and it's a metaphor for that it's also a little bit of like just cauterize it just just get it over with and for me i think that has a little bit to do with damon but his weeping sore is definitely very

damon that's one aspect and then also funny enough they're like man, the pregnancy has been so hard on the series. And I'm like, fuck off. Emma is right there. And literally Emma is right there in the bathtub. Yeah. And the next scene, someone who's literally suffering. There's that bit in the beginning, right? She says that her bath water is not, he touches her water. He's like, this, this water sucks. This is cold as fuck water. And she was like, yeah, I'm not allowed to have water hotter than that from the maesters and i think that that is a fantastic detail that shows us what we can expect in a little bit because the maesters don't prioritize emma's comfort or her life if they won't even give her the small things they're not going to give her the big things like uh her life and again comfort

and not feeling enormous pain and it's funny because viserys does seem to trust that emma would know what's best for her because he's like uh dragons need hot water and we know that that's right because we saw daenerys lower herself into like practically boiling water in the original series yes they seem to have some sort of what's the word they're not fireproof but they're fire resistant yes fire heat resistant these targaryens come with heat resistance uh that whole bit of agency like she can't even have control over how her bathtub is and the maesters it's sad right there it's not best for the son for their child so in that moment you know it's not about emma erin's life anymore it's about the child's life uh he tells her of this dragon dream

i would call it right like i think it's a dragon personally, that he has of his prince that is promised from her womb. The dragons all roar as one as this prince comes out of her with Aegon's crown on and he places him on the throne. That's an interesting dragon dream mixed with some of the prophecy that we're going to talk about today at some point. And the one thing that really stood out to me is we know from some of the teaser shots and we know from the story, Alicent gets knocked up, right, by Viserys a few times and as she goes along, I mean, I would say she's very close with him. We'll talk about the scene they share later that actually is a kind of an authentic and genuine intimate kind of scene. I think they will get a closeness and I think that she will learn about this dream from Viserys, that he will tell her, you know, I once had a dream and I thought it was

Emma and her son, but maybe it's you with our son. Maybe he'll say something like that to her, but Alicent's going to know about this dream. Cause I mean, think about Aegon too, whose crown does he wear? That's so true. And I think you're right that he's going to tell her because, I mean, there's some trust being built in them in this. And as we know, a lot of prophecies get misinterpreted. So the thundering of hooves and the dragons roaring is one. He thinks that it's celebration. Sounds like a dance. Turns out this dream is about war, probably. I mean, kind of sounds like a dance turns out turns out this dream is about war probably

i mean kind of sounds like also the yeah it sounds like the dance of the dragons really the thundering of hooves and wings well well eliana how about you stick around for this whole season and i'll teach you what it is oh my gosh i'll teach you the dance of the dragons oh my gosh it's a square dance where did they come from where did they go doom of valeria it got old let's talk about other things that um i had a more cheerful note jesus christ we're back in flea bottom that was that flea bottom scene so we get damon and his god squad fucking up peasants he's taking the law into his own hands he's got that thin gold line with the gold cloaks going on i don't know yeah damon is just out there he's gelding people murdering them he's like you're

a murderer you're a rapist i'm gonna take your dick off and then murder you what that beheads you why didn't he just behead them first because he wanted them to suffer for their crimes oh okay of course sorry you wouldn't understand you're not a daemon targaryen stan i would not understand because also i i do not like to suffer and well that can't be true because here i am doing this as a podcast huh but yes so you have some of that gender-based violence against, you know, this man and his genitals and, you know, reminding you a little of, I guess, Theon? I don't know. Oh yeah, a little bit.

I mean, this definitely felt like the edgy scene that Corporate was like, come on, man, you got to keep some violence. But also it's perfect to establish Damonon and show that like when damon needs to punch his frustrations out he goes to the small folk um this is also as we find out in in kind of the next scene because they're mad about him doing this they hired him to do this because they have shoved him around from every job post and maybe damon's just not great at his job i've worked with people before that have had like eight different titles in different departments in the company I think he's too effective at his job I mean yeah he's what's that line he's they're like do you have to kill all the

small folk to establish what you're trying to establish and he's like maybe yeah they're like are you gonna do half of that he's like I might pretty much he's like might have to or so I don't know but it was well delivered it was great and I mean you know he's like, might have to. I don't know. But it was well delivered. It was great. And I mean, you know, he was just like, I want to go above and beyond. And everyone was like, this is too much. Roll it back. Pull it back. Pull it back.

Pull it back. We see the enthusiasm. They didn't like him as master of coin. They didn't like him as what? Master of laws. They didn't like him as, well, laws they didn't like him well that makes sense those are all things that make sense to me uh they didn't like him in those roles and they gave him this one and he excels at it and they punish him this is bullshit poor damon you know

yeah i really do think though and workers rights for damon he could have been he could have maybe been a good hand if viscerys was willing to also be a strong king and they both would compliment and pull each other back yeah because i mean they're doran and oberyn they literally are literally they literally are doran and oberyn but viserys is out here making bullshit decisions in the middle every single day and i'm like doran please it's not worth your vengeance yeah they are literally doran and oberyn if doran and oberyn were bad at communicating their feelings to each other yeah because i was like wait hold on doran is bad communicating his feelings but not to oberyn yeah but as we see in this episode

i mean at that same token they are poor communicators with one another. And I will say Damon's armor is really sick. He looks, we were just talking about this, Matt Smith's not like a bulky guy. You know, he's a little lean. And he looks great in the armor. He does not look unlean. He looks kind of strong in those scenes where he's completely naked. Yes, yes, he looks thick maybe one c i don't know it looks good and that's the next scene right like damon is fucking miss aria

and she's not miserable but he is uh get it get it misery lady misery herself he's sad about his brother and about the council being mean to him so like damon you no longer can chop people up like this like we need you to pull it back uh so he can't really keep it up during the sex during his uh yes eliana he's plugging it from behind he can't keep it up though yeah he actually it's funny because when you see him you really see and it's like this he does not look like he's having a good time at all with this sex scene not in terms of the actor having to but like the character yeah right from the moment i'm like this is the least enjoyed sex pretty much every time he's around those environments he doesn't

seem to be having fun we'll talk about like it's very obvious that is interesting yeah he's known as this party boy rogue prince carousing drunk getting into fights having a good time but it seems that the only time he's happy a la jamie really is when he's fighting when he's fighting or even flying when he's trolling auto high tower yeah that's also fun for everyone yeah i know i was like i mean i find that fun i mean he did call him a cunt that That was great. Yeah. That's wonderful. That was fun for everyone. Fun for everyone.

Not a bummer for all. Not a bummer for all. So the big spectacle, the big showpiece is the tourney and classic Game of Thrones feeling, right? We're taken right back, transported to a time like the king's hands tourney in a game of thrones however this is a tourney like no other this is massive it's beautiful there's heraldry and color all over the grounds there's different houses you can identify the houses just by looking at them in their banners which is how it's supposed to be i read duncan egg

okay sorry and which is how it's supposed to be i read duncan egg and that tourney and that tourney was colorful yeah and the pitch itself the tourney pitch um it was shaped like you know a la selena meyer presidential library like a vagina it was shaped like a womb which is very fitting it literally yes it literally did look like a vagina so i we were going through a few names and i've ended so far on the clitiseum the clitiseum clitiseum that's what i have a lot of a lot of the friends on the internet on twitter have been saying uh like turn ussy oh turn ussy i like that or the joust ussy yeah we're going to the joustussie yeah i do love adding ussy as a suffix onto the things it's something special of our time a decade ago you wouldn't have gotten content like

this so two years ago because you know the ussy one year ago the ussy was not like that yet or we could i guess because of the scene called the coal the christian coliseum which is oh my god worse let's not call it that the coliseum god damn it were you not thinking oh that wasn't but now i am christian cole is the star of this show during this tourney him and damon are both vying for the top spot you can see it you know it's just like america's next top fighter yeah aren't they like a mystery night and we're like no no no no it's just kristen cole different different non-main book story it does feel uh i mean there's so many little bits from game of thrones right you have rain you have the favor being given which there was a certain laurel frosty looking uh rose crown that rainies had it was very reminded me very much of another attorney of later

attorney from the 80s the 280s uh there was that there's also a point where a malister gets the shit beaten out of him and he has blood all everywhere and he gets dragged off and all i could think of was sansa too right the There would be no song sung for him. That was sad. Instead of an Aaron, it was a different eagle. A different Aaron gets a bad rap right now. But I wanted to say, I just realized why it's a little significant when they go, wait, a mystery night?

Because as you all know, the third Duncan Egg novella, maybe you don't know, the third Duncan Egg novella is called The Mystery Knight, and it does have to do with putting down, before it starts, a Blackfire rebellion, which is the Blackfires being treasonous claimants to the throne, according to some. I think our friend Pat Doherty would say that they were the rightful heirs. But Kristen Cole also ends up starting,

if he's the Mystery knight, a rebel. A rebellion. A rebellion within the house of Targaryen. And to be fair, that actually comes from this line. Diana, she comes from that line, doesn't she? Oh, she comes from that line. I'm sorry. I thought you meant like there was a line.

Oh, no, no, no, no. Like that bloodline. I'm sorry. Yes, yes, yes. You know, as we've discussed with Dire of City, it's just wreath, not tree at this point. Like the wreaths that they put on the lances. Oh, the jowls. Yeah.

Boramond. I feel like it's significant that we see Boramond as the Baratheon that asks for Rhaenys' favor because he will fucking die. And by the end of this season, he will not be the Lord of Storm's End. We will meet someone else when we get there. Somebody who's a little more brash, right? A little crueler. And that is Boros.

It's going to be a little interesting. So good to see at the front that he's the one swearing for Rhaenyra that he's going to, you know, protect her claim later. Because you can't when you're gone. And it's significant, right? later because you can't when you're gone and it's it's significant right because we're told that the Baratheons will back Rhaenyra a because they swore and b because they're related to Rhaenys so this is Rhaenys's relative in a very direct way actually in a couple ways because again Hasbaratheon offshoot of a allegedly maybe Targaryen bastard it's a wreath not a tree it is a wreath kristen cole's helm is really cool um you know he has we looked up his sigil right his sigil because we just wanted to know what it was and it

is six brown pellets or black pellets sorry black pellets on a field of scarlet and really that's just fancy for like black circles on an orange red you know field his helm matches the visor part of it the vent it is like in the dots of his sigil yo that was so cool yeah it was cool it's it's great details love i mean the details on the costumes of the knights of the tourney were so great and that makes sense right that's also a fashion show let's be real yeah i thought i was like is it a ladybug and apparently they're pellets i'm like what the fuck does that what does that mean like poop pellets like food pellets what do we mean by pellet i have to look it up a black roundel also called an ogress or gunstone this is not helpful interesting now i have to google those things no i'm just great uh it's interesting

it means nothing to me like it's nothing i don't know it doesn't mean much to me however um i don't know he's supposed to be it's a lesser house a newer house right like he they joined on in the stormlands to be they were just house stewards and now he's rising so he has a little bit of ambition to watch out for and this tourney shows that right raniera is very interested in who kristen cole is she's like who is kristin cole and something i love one of the metaphor parts of this i really love is a um otto shouldn't have talked so much shit in the small council because he really was talking down to damon and damon really took that to heart and damon beats the shit out of otto's kin in the tourney i think it's his brother is it kid it's a son we said ormond yeah so he beats the shit out of

ormond like just fucking beats his ass and then poor alicent reneera comforts her it's very sweet but then he just goes all out for hightower and he comes over and asks for alicent's favor in front of otto and what is she supposed to do it's the fucking prince of the royal crown it's viserys who she's going to be told to seduce uh it's his brother like you can't say no you gotta just you know you gotta give your favor and she's forced to give her favor on his lance on his jousting lance she throws it on there it goes down and she tells him you know good luck in the lists my prince in exact opposite way once more how Rhaenyra gets to be framed she holds out gives her favor she tosses her laurel her favor just tosses it willy-nilly at kristin cole when he asks for it

which is a metaphor i'm pretty sure um she throws that shit like a fucking disc golf frisbee i'm not kidding like that girl was going disking there's lance. She doesn't slide it down carefully or precisely. I'm like, this is legitimately a choice to show these two favors being given. Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, Daemon's very good at pulling power moves. And yeah, because Rhaenyra could have chosen, like, it's one thing for Alicent to, she's, as you said, kind of forced by those social customs and by what society expects of her to give it to damon to give her favor right because that's a huge honor it's the prince the air

kind of in this moment because things are gravy at this journey and for reynira she's a princess she doesn't have to give it to kristen cole if doesn't want to. But she's like, oh, that girl wants to, though. Oh, she wants to. Because even though, you know, Alicent goes, gods, he's Dornish. And I thought she was gonna be like, gods, he's gorgeous. But he wasn't. That's not what she said. And also, I mean, she didn't have to.

And as you said, she throws it, which shows, I mean, she's a little athletic. No, she's quite athletic. And part of what she loves about the tourney is she's into sports. She's also a little careless with who she throws her usi at, we find out. Good for her. Which is good, no, but I'm just saying. These girls are showing you how they're going to throw their cat at the screen this season, in this moment.

In this moment. All of this, absolutely all of this, is intercut with Emma's birth. Yes. Which, it's brilliant. I will say, I of this is intercut with emma's birth yes um which it's brilliant i i will say i think this is brilliant i was really impressed with how they cut this together um the impact in the tourney as they ride at one another lance on shield on person on horse all of that is you know that that's the battle that's happening outside but her battle was happening in there and they don't hold back they do show us a good amount of blood and gore that is, you know, that's the battle that's happening outside. But her battle was happening in there and they don't hold back. They do show us a good amount of blood and gore and suffering. And let's talk about the moment when Melos tells him that he has to choose to sacrifice one

or lose them both. Because man, have I never been more mad at Viserys Targaryen in my entire life. I know there really wasn't a choice, but it was unfair and it was horrible and I'm mad at Viserys Targaryen in my entire life. And I know there really wasn't a choice, but it was unfair and it was horrible and I'm mad at him and I don't care what happens to him anymore. I mean, there was a choice, right? But they give it to Viserys and not to Emma. Emma was there enough that she could have made that choice. Who knows what she would have chosen?

And she didn't know what was happening to her. And the wording is a little confusing, I will say. What we know from the behind the scenes is regardless of what Viserys chose, Emma was going to die. It was either the choice that, again, was given to Viserys is either you choose to... Laissez-faire.

Yeah. Force your wife into a C-section that she does not know about, even though he could have told her. Force your wife into a C-section in she does not know about, even though he could have told her. Force your wife into a C-section in an attempt to save the child, or don't do that, and they both perish. And I will say, like, I know that this has become a very controversial scene. The episode has just aired, and I understand that a lot of people did not want to see this on screen, and I will caveat that neither Chloe nor i have ever given birth right and that's not some an experience that i know i know from hearing

from other people it is a very physically excruciating time my mother like never shied away from being like it was terrible giving birth to you i was in labor for a while but also like she took the epidural the first chance she could which my mom didn't have one my mom my god my mom was in labor with me for 38 hours with no epidural because you she lost her chance to do that yep i was i came i was two weeks early but then i wouldn't come out so she i she was too dilated they couldn't fuck her up they couldn't stab her up so she suffered for 38 hours pushing me out i'm sorry for her too but you know what retrospectively like good for me got him got him yeah so my mom never shied away from that nor the fact that like when i was born she's this is again very graphic apparently i had a very large head and i tore the birth canal i tore

she will she would she wouldn't shy away from it i tore her vagina and i was told this from an early age and so i'm like birth seems terrible pregnancy also we see emma had a difficult pregnancy and i think we're seeing more discussions nowadays publicly which is good of people being like we hide what pregnancy entails from people who can become pregnant right and like what that choice what it will do to your body and so with all that said i thought that the scene was very powerful and it worked for me but i understand that especially if you have gone through this kind of like birthing trauma or had a difficult um birthing like that it might not be for you but we will speak positively of this scene because we thought it was powerful for a number of reasons yeah i mean like i mentioned with daea's death

earlier emma's own mother um the importance of her role and like what happens to her and the role it plays for jaharis and aliceanne even right like it really does tear them apart a little bit it really is a big step between them and the fact that raniera now has to carry on after her mother's died after seeing her go through this and what will come for raniera at the end of the season the book end that this makes for when they steal her birthright while she's pushing out her child absolutely terrible i mean it's just that much more meaningful to me that they didn't shy away from it i think game of thrones didn't have all of these same opportunities uh but that's this is what these books are about it's about these women

that many of them are forced to labor they are forced to bear these children against their will because that is what the law of the land dictates their role is that they are supposed to give them an heir like she says to viserys earlier i'm sorry you know i'm i know i might have failed you in giving you an heir oh my god it made me so sad when she was like i might have failed you i mean you're a woman on the last day of your fucking life and that's what you're saying to your husband that's horrible that's terrible um and to feel that that love is conditional as opposed to, and of course it is, right? We know a lot of people are entered into arranged marriages.

So you have to, this is the way that you quote unquote, earn your way in the world, right? It's not through your own worth, but through what you bring in terms of like male heirs, right? It's not even like you, you give birth to girls. They're just like you, right? In terms of no one cares. They're only worth alliances.

I play CK2, a Game of Thrones mod. I know how this works. It is only worth it for an alliance. And the look in her eyes when he betrays her, right? When he doesn't tell her. And when the maids come in and they hold her down. And she was already scared right and i think again like part of why it's powerful is i know that people have said like we don't need to show this sort of violence against women not sexual violence

sexual violence is a term that refers to sexual act and i understand like you know it is an act of sexism but we have terms like gender-based violence and violence against women slash violence against women and girls. And gender-based violence is violence that is inflicted upon you because of your gender slash your sex. Um, and isn't always sexual violence. Like for example, you, a trans woman might be suddenly physically assaulted, not for anything that she is doing, but because of her gender, right? But not, that's not necessarily sexual violence unless some sort of sexual assault also occurs. Or, you know, another, I can give more examples, but it's not always only inflicted on women and girls. Anyways. When he says they're going to bring the babe out now.

My heart dropped. My heart fell through my butthole. Me and you both like sat up. So we were like, no, no. I mean, the look in her eyes, like a scared, frightened animal that was being put on an altar. It really, I mean, it really did scream to me, Nisa Nisa. And I know that that's the big topic of conversation with this episode is prophecy and the prince or princess that was promised whatever sovereign

was promised but you know the big thing about azora high and about nisa nisa was that it had you know she was brought somewhat willingly but but then the blade falls. Yeah. Nisa Nisa, for all that you love me, you know, bear your brass to me. And know that I love you best in all this world. And he says, and that's the worst part. He says, I love you and then hurts her, right? Like allows this harm to happen. And maybe she would have said yes, right?

She could have said yes, had she known, but she's never given the opportunity to choose and that's the difference and that's something we always talk about in the main books right in terms of sacrifice what what kind of sacrifice is it if you are if you're not even the one making that sacrifice right like and that's her sacrifice not you having the sacrifice you didn't sacrifice anything and again i know people are saying it didn't necessarily need to be depicted for it to have that impact but i think that so studies have been done with especially like cisgender men and like when it comes to how people relate to different characters and empathy right like in media and we see a lot of times people who hold societal power like

cisgender men will also see sometimes like a lot of white men like reviewing will be like i can't relate to this character or i don't feel anything with this right and for it to just be said that this happened to emma erin without really showing the depiction i think is important in a time in which roe v wade has been overturned and this is what that means this is what forced birth means. You don't have a say over what happens to your body. And I think people need to understand that forced birth is violence. Maybe it's not this kind of like someone is cutting into you against your will, violence, but it is still removing what happens to your body. And that is violence.

And not even that, but it's not medieval. This is happening right now. Exactly. Happening today. And I think that's important because people are saying, part of the critique is people saying, oh, this is just how it, like, we don't have to depict something that happened back then or was historical in a show that is fantasy and dragons.

And I understand the want for escapist media, but this is today. This is today. And I mean mean access to health care right that is that's the biggest thing like having access to health care having access to you know something that could possibly save both of their lives that's very important and they did not have that access and that's very different from our world in some ways but also not in some ways absolutely and it's also haunting when the the maids hold her down because i think something

we also talk about sometimes is the way that and that is going to be core to this show is how women can be forced to be complicit and uphold patriarchal systems right the handmaids participate in this crime against emma yeah because that's their job to do so in this world yeah they're not supposed to question you know what men say that should happen to them or their queen i don't think that you can do this show right without having done that scene i don't think so i think the way they chose to adapt it is powerful. It's poignant. And it's what the entire book's about. It's what Fire and Blood is about.

How many women do we watch bleed out in those pages to bring an heir to the fold that either means nothing or something? How many kings do we see go through that? Like, I mean, that is literally one of the biggest parts of that book. And George does this and this is nothing against him the biggest parts of that book and and george does this and and this is nothing against him i love fire and blood and the way it's written i'm like

a big stan for it i would probably argue i'm like eliana knows i would say no i actually like it though no i like that part um but he does it in in passing this this line where she dies is in passing that she dies mid-birth and that that is what happened to Emma Arryn. And we don't get more of that. We got more Emma Arryn in this episode than we do in Fire and Blood. And that's powerful to me. That's actually very powerful. Especially that previous controversial things that Game of Thrones has done.

Right? Like the assault of Sansa. That was a very different centered scene and how the focus was centered and what it meant it meant nothing this was a controversial violent scene that meant something and i think what you said about the focus because i was actually also just thinking of you know the sexual violence against sansa slash also in the books jane pool and game of thrones chose to cut away and look at theon's pain during this maybe they didn't need to show like directly the cutting into emma sure but we needed i i think there needed to be

a depiction of the horror of emma what emma was going through even if it's just focusing on her face i guess it could have been off screen like the cutting right you don't need all that they give the intimation of blood but i don't fault their choices and i will say apparently in fact the studio wanted them to make it even more gruesome and violent wow and you even see the hands like reaching in her body and this to an extent right and that's what it that's the state reaching into your body okay anyway so support the the showrunners and the people working on the show actually even did already like push back against that and they said no this is enough they did not want to make it more gratuitously violent and i can see an argument for some of it being gratuitous but regardless i think we needed to see

what it meant for emma and the last thing i'll say on it is that you know we had scenes like bersanza is told she's going to bear Joffrey children and the horror of that and what that means for her right or uh not a cast just covered Sansa's marriage to Tyrion right and how there's no agency like it doesn't matter that she's getting married to the nice Lannister she's still getting married to someone that wants her only for her claim or has her only for her claim you know it doesn't matter because she still has to do her duty if she stays there. And we see those things in A Game of Thrones, but we never see the result of it. We don't get to see what that means.

What does it mean that Sansa's terrified of the life that's ahead of her for this monstrous boy, this monstrous boy king? And here we actually see that result. And again, they didn't really have an opportunity story-wise to be fair to explore something in that poetic way that poignant way but i do think that this shows the stakes for these characters are higher it shows a better foundational understanding of the characters involved and the themes and the themes exactly and it gives me much more hope for this show yeah they

get it they get it i mean this it showed that they get it this scene really to me shows they get it and uh something you said also kind of reminded me for a second of uh sanza gets it to an extent she knows that to an extent the dangers of some of what that entails if not the whole picture when she gets her period because she said she knows means. She means, I'm no longer safe. I can be sent to battle. And she doesn't want to die for a king in battle. One that she fucking hates. Yeah, that she hates.

So she burns her, the evidence, or she tries to. And I will say, a strong choice that they made, they show us the sun, right? And it is good that Viserys did not immediately go to hold they'd never show viserys holding his son um or expressing joy over the son he only expresses grief over losing emma it doesn't make him actually better it actually kind of makes it worse which is that it was for nothing yeah i mean how it should well that he yeah he lost her and he loved her he doesn't know this kid i mean some people i guess have an automatic connection

with children again we cannot i love kids but i've never given birth or had like a my own child and it's different when it's a view i guess it's very different yes and no i hear you know postpartum can be like yeah a bitch i hear a bitch a couple of my friends fed it horribly yeah same same my friend was just talking about it but anyway this episode has so many amazing set pieces and changes of scenery i mean when we were sitting there i was like fuck how much more is in this shit like they have so much to go um next we do emma's funeral her funeral pyre and of course she gets a Targaryen funeral. She's burnt by her dragon. Syrax

is who is going to be doing the burning. And so of course Rhaenyra must deliver the line. Say the thing. Say the thing. She must deliver the line. Oh my god. To get Syrax to do the burninating. And she says, Dracarys. I love her high

Valyrian. I love um there's this cute little thing this little snippet of meta that they've talked about that daenerys spoke high valyrian differently than her ancestors would because they live it speak it they always have it's passed down they hear it every single day from one another we see rhaenyra and daemon speak it so well together uh very fluid, musical. But for Daenerys, she spoke it with Viserys and no one else, right? And so her High Valyrian was actually kind of grubby. Like it wasn't perfect. It wasn't sharp. It wasn't clear. So that's something to look out for. I've talked about it a little in interviews that the High Valyrian might sound a

little different. You might have a little different of an accent because it's actually more classical, traditional High Valyrian. And they practice it all You might have a little different of an accent because it's actually more classical, traditional High Valyrian. And they practice it all the time. And I thought that was so interesting. Yeah, and Daenerys would have learned a dialect that was changed from living in the Free Cities, right? The Free Cities did speak Valyrian, but had their own regional differences to it. Their regional differences, for example, like Spanish,

in each of the different Latinin american countries even within spain yeah that's true that's very true damon comforts raniera you know he comes to her and i'm so sorry for who i've become i'm so sorry i was actually really surprised last night i was like interesting when chloe was like i love damage i was like oh no who is this he comforts for Nira because she's nervous and she knows that she has to give the word she knows she has to say Dracarys but she can't you know she's frozen in the moment and it's a powerful scene and he comforts her through it and he tells her you're needed now more than ever your father needs you you have to help him and it helps her be able to do it and

she does falter at first right she stutters and then she says it and i i mean i definitely teared up i i got a little emotional it was very beautiful and very sad and cyrax burns the pyre yeah i i cried during this scene as you said right great moment from damon really again establishes that damon actually does love his brother for him to say that in that moment he doesn't say anything manipulative he's just like you have to be strong so he comforts her and then that he's thinking of what's best for his brother it is so i mean it's hard to hate him in this episode because he's an asshole but he's honest like it's the world that's awful quote unquote sandra clagane right i'm honest uh he is honest he is he's just

an asshole he's a fucking asshole but he's never lies i think in this episode and it also is so obvious that how they're driven to one another right because at this very same token after the next small council we'll talk about with alice and scene with viserys um of course raniera is driven into her uncle damon's arms he's the only one that'll tell her any piece of you know thing that he says with one ounce of honesty he's being her emotional support when no one else is right someone pointed out like not someone i mean the show also points out no one's there to comfort renera when they find out that her mother is passed like at the tourney she's just left alone when suddenly everyone leaves and i mean once she burns like the way millie alcock falters on that on the

dracarys and then you know she looks at her dad and she's like all right i gotta i talked to you recently like recently my grandmother passed and they chose to cremate her body did you cremation is very fast in the philippines apparently because you can't pay for refrigeration it takes a long time in the u.s because they have to make sure there was no foul play because you can't bring the body back out have to be sure you have to be sure someone has inspected and so you know we're looking at my grandmother she's in this casket and they're just about to put her in the like in the machine that cremates her and i thought i could like do this right i could be there and watch you know until those last moments when she's gone and then just as they were about to put her

in i just ran out i just ran out the door i was like actually i cannot watch my grandmother be burnt my mom already had like left um you know a little bit she said her piece she didn't say until the last moment like i did but other family members did but i i could not and we see that in rainiera she turns away she cannot she cannot watch her mother be burnt i don't know that i could either especially not directly like that that was wild and that she's responsible for it like my god to put that on her because her her father couldn't i think it would have fallen to it would have normally fallen to basirius yes he has no dragon to do so and she has to be the strength of her family now yes she's what's left right this moment until alicent gets fucking and then and then that's a different that's a different weight on her

that's a whole different dragon that's a different that's a different weight on her that's a whole different dragon that's a different trauma different dragon different trauma um oh my god let's go on to the small council after this because once more a lot of small council this is like a lot in one episode it's time for succession season four that's what i love about it actually like some people didn't like that there's too much talking they said it's game of thrones no this is good give us the courtroom procedural i love it i love the little bickering back and forth the sly bits i mean hell we didn't really talk about it but the sea snake earlier you know the very beginning they're all jolly the first small council viserys is making a tyrian kind of joke that trails off and cordelice is immediately it's like all right can we get down

to business because i don't get paid hourly like this is we're salary in king's landing and i have an agenda to talk about um which of course that's covering some of the stuff in the east that we'll get to in the next few episodes with the step stones and all that but this small council which they say succession over and over again, like 80 times. It is succession. You sent me that graphic, remember? Chloe sent me a little graphic. I guess HBO, as part of their marketing, made a little house roy. It's cute.

Boar on the floor with the swords all pointing in. Did you know they made one for Guy Fieri? I saw that, yes. I was like, what is happening? It's called branding, Eliana. It's called branding. No one wants Damon to be a a king that's clear right uh he's watching them also through this by the way i'm guessing it's through one of the tunnels of king's landing it's a pretty big tunnel thing but you know that's okay i don't really care how he's there it was just like a door and he wasn't even trying it's to hide yeah he just like goes up next to the door and then yeah just listening just chilling and to be fair viserys does like

go out for him right he's like hey my brother's not that bad okay he's just mostly bad uh and they're right though he says so it's time for someone else to be a successor but whomst dot dot dot who could it be who could it be and then there's that line viserys basically says you know he gets pretty upset he's like i will not choose between my daughter and my brother and it's like viserys you have to choose between your brother and your daughter that's unfortunately cauterize the wound cauterize that shit rip that band-aid off cauterize it um and he gets pretty upset you know pretty pretty intense scene and he actually has a line where he basically says a feast for crows he basically literally does not remain but basically he does say a feast for crows and we're like finally acknowledgement for the fourth and fifth

books that were never adapted they really weren't adapted like a finally acknowledgement for the best book in the series actually no literally literally that is our favorite book in the series and they're like they might not have wanted to give you a feast for crows but we do actually they do and post but yet pre-humously yeah the series i mean he's upset right they're based they're saying like okay we need a plan for in case your brother kills he's like what the fuck my brother's not gonna kill me but what if he does i really don't know he wouldn't he absolutely wouldn't his the murderer is at the table the murderer the betrayers the call is coming from within the house judas sitting here at my table oh my gosh judas i actually like the

first time i watched the scene where viserys is listening not viserys where daemon is listening outside and he like chuckles when viserys is like daemon doesn't want the throne at first i took that as like daemon laughing because he's like actually i kind of do but now i what do you think when we were re-watching i was like is he actually laughing because he's like viserys knows me so well and he loves hearing his brother defend him which i mean also because everyone else auto auto is very annoying there's like two non-annoying people on this council it kind of felt like both you know what i mean like a little bit of column a column b like oh the conflict like first of all, because no, I don't really want it, but that's how small you think of me, brother?

That you think I'm not capable? I do think there's a little bit of that there. Yeah, like, you don't think I'm capable? Question mark? Because I could. I could fucking take your throne. I'm gonna take your daughter, too, now that you fucking said it, you old geezer. I'm gonna fuck your daughter. That's what Damon was thinking. That's actually, that's a great observation of who Damon's character is. He doesn't necessarily, he's just like, oh, you think I can't? The moment you tell him he cannot do something, he'll be like,

I absolutely could. Watch me. I've done it ten times. Watch me. He's one of those bet you canters, right? He's like, oh, bet? Bet? Oh. oh yeah i think that's more of a part of it and not necessarily even that he'll be reactionary against it but i do think that when viserys takes allison to bride um then both of them feel shunned like rinny yeah and him are like what the fuck dude i thought we as a family had this figured out and we as a family not my best friend who's my age like it's just gross for her i understand but i guess she also dates her uncle so maybe she can't judge but hey listen eliana stepmom porn is a lot more popular than uncle porn well that's a ship i'm finding that one's fine you know but uh speaking of allison okay otto hightower so

something that i really like and i think the gentlemen over at not a cast menu and emmet are going to talk a little bit about this uh that otto and viscerys both are the most level-headed bitches in this episode but they both have one scene where you're like oh you crazy oh you're fucked up okay so mysterious is obviously the emma scene and otto's is this scene because i don't listen i would never talk good about him however i will say he does make some points throughout the episode like he keeps them on track business-wise i get he's a conniving fuck, but he makes some points. So Allison and him are talking, and Allison's like, pretty, she's had a hard day, you know, her mom died not too long ago, it seems, and she had to go to this funeral, and she feels for her best friend's family, and

she's just sad for them, and just when she thinks she's about to bond with her dad and get a nice hug from him, be like, oh, we could talk about mom. You know how we're sad over losing him. He's like, I'm going to need you to go put on your dead mom's dress and go fuck Viserys. He doesn't say it like that, but he says... He basically says that. Yeah. Basically says that.

And also, pretty sure he got the idea from Daemon, right? Yeah. And it's funny because just like me and you just said about Daemon, right? That Daemon's reactionary. That if you tell him no, he's going to go, Daemon, yes. Otto's the same way. A lot of this is reactionary. Like, he pissed Damon off earlier, Damon pissed him off at the tourney. Damon's pissed about him right now, Damon's gonna go fuck Raniera. He's pissed right now, Allison's gonna go fuck Viserys. There's a lot of reactionary fucking going on, I feel like. But that part's perhaps not as reactionary,

because I think Otto has been calculating and planning this for... A decade. A long-ass time. In Fire and Blood, you can see him starting to try to sneak in there, because Alicent, who is older in Fire and Blood, used to read to Jerry's. Yep. Which, we get a little tip-off. A hot tip, too. Yeah, Which we get a little tip off.

A hot tip too. Yeah we do get a tip off. It's kind of cute. Allison is. She is like us all for real though. Like I love Rhaenyra too. And I love Allison too. Young Allison's fun.

Because she like. She's like alright. So she puts on her dead mom's dress. It's beautiful to be fair. And it's actually. Take a look at it. If you're looking back at photos. Or re-watching the episode. It a dark green dress uh-huh and it has black flames kind of creeping and encroaching

across the dark green which is a metaphorical because the greens and the blacks the factions for house of the dragon uh but the flames the black flames they're winning this episode finally like yeah emma's dead so that sucks but ran But Rhaenyra is going to be the heir. You know, the blacks have a plan. Things are good. And the greens are being overtaken, which explains kind of Otto's reaction here. He feels that slip of power a little bit as Viserys is struggling with who he's naming heir. And he knows that he needs to secure kind of that dynasty.

So she goes in this dress, which also resembles the Hightower sigil. It looks like the flames from the high tower sigil she goes to viserys who has been playing warhammer all night because he's depressed he is he's literally playing warhammer all right he's building a lego dragon stone it is adorbs it is beautiful uh but it's actually like an authentic scene so she takes a giant book because she's like, I don't fucking know what to do. My dad gave me no directions. And she's covering her body with it. Yeah. She's hiding behind the book.

She's hiding her, I mean, her breasts, right? Yeah. She doesn't. Her boobies. She's afraid to, she's like, I don't. Them titties. Know how to be sexualized or flirt? She's like, yeah, she, it's because it's obvious what he's sending her for.

Yes. And she refuses to admit that's what he's sending for. Or like, you know, out loud be like, so it's obvious what he's sending her for and she refuses to admit that's what he's sending for or like you know out loud be like so it's for like she straight up says how am i to entertain him i do not think he wants me there right now in his chambers at this hour like alone and he's like come on you're so close honey you're almost there she's like i know but i'm trying to not be it's a honestly it's a very genuine scene though because she says to him you know she says i remember when my mom died how everybody treated me and i just wanted them to say i'm sorry for what happened to you and she extends that kind of grace to him which i'm not sorry right

now maybe in a week i'll feel better about it but i'm kind of mad at vasari's right now yeah but she doesn't care about emma as we know she does she cares about i'll probably see you later she cares about rain euro she cares about emma in the context of rain euro yeah um and the conversation i mean she does not fuck him it doesn't seem this evening she seems to you know read some stories and chill while he builds his Legos. And then they part, I'd guess. She just literally comforts him. Yeah. Like, what she says is, like, as you said, right?

It's genuine. And it was a legitimately nice, real moment. It shows they get a connection, too. Like, I mean, I do like that because we don't really hear much about their relationship in Fire and blood from either of their perspectives and the love for one another and i mean i think this is a good way for them to start that bond because she feels alone and he is alone right now they're both oppressed by otto hightower they're both victims of otto hightower wow and that right there is enough for chemistry as we see honestly because look at raniera and her honestly even damon and her had a little yeah raise your hand if you've been victimized by a high tower the next scene very different from the quiet of these chambers is the brothel with damon and the

way that the music and the sound at the front starts it almost sounds like it's blended with childbirth screams like it i don't think it is but it sounded like emma's deathbed um and he seems to be kind of out of it and all of this i mean it's so much sensory while we were watching i told you i was like i could never be in this place this is horrible it's just noise and people fucking and fighting and jeering and cheering and drinking and all this i'm like how do you even get anything done at this place? I hate this place. He does not look happy at all. Like all of this is happening around him

and he's just sitting at a table dissociating, same. He's not having a good time at all. Yeah, it's actually like, again, great scene of characterization. He's alone, he's fully clothed. He's not fucking, right? And that's, as you said before, like the image that

people have of damon as like this party boy he said like he's sad for his family he's sad for his brother he's sad about emma i mean everyone liked her they they were probably fine she was emma's probably like oh my god your brother my brother-in-law so stressful but you know he's sad and then part of it is like i wonder is he here does he come to the brothel a lot that apparently he bought because he's keeping up he's putting on a performance of what it means to be playboy prince i mean what happens when you lose control of that area of king's landing too we see that for cersei look at um in clash look at what happens i mean obviously they're fucking hungry um and you know

there's no economy it's a very different king's landing but look at the riot in king's landing and yeah how much they don't spend any time the lanisers don't spend i mean sorry the baratheons don't spend any time endearing themselves to the small folk in any sort of way and not that damon does either to be fair he's very cruel and he's all about order and justice in his own terms with his sword that said he at least like is worried about how that affects their kingship i mean that is an important part of your economy to just not pay attention to yeah he knows how to talk to i guess the common man right which is something that we actually see aria being good at and how to gel them yes i haven't seen that yet and actually did he did he do it or did he have

someone else do it it was someone else we don't know how good his gelding skills are to be honest i'm hoping we don't learn i also actually i have no idea how that's gonna go now that you've said it he i don't know i've heard that this series is actually more violent less um cauterized sexual assault yeah but i heard like some of the reviews have said that the series has like way more depictions of violence so i don't know but it's game of thrones it's back and so it's kind of like it's funny right it's not funny but it's interesting they he's obviously having a bad time and they're like visceria they're like damon why don't you give a speech why don't you give a toast i'm like let him just drink his like whiskey by himself my god and had he not made the toast he would not be in trouble and we do not see

what he says he stands up he's about to say it he's saying and then it cuts this was so clever it was well done that they don't show him saying it because it's kind of like a game of telephone in a way. And here we are. The council decides there should be punishment for Damon's words for what he said. And Otto Hightower is leading the charge. Again, reactionary to one another all day long. Their fights are crazy, But Otto leads the charge. And he says that, you know, it's corroborated that he said he called Balin's birth and death the air for a day.

Yeah. It's actually, I think, one of the best scripted moments in this. That's actually a runner up for my favorite scene now that I think about. It was cleverly done. The lines are so good. They're well delivered. moments in this that's actually a runner-up for my favorite scene now that i think about it um it was cleverly done the lines are so good they're well delivered and you really see the characterization of these brothers like they there's a lot of pain there's a lot of love and that's why there's that pain uh dr finn dr kavita finn uh in her review of today's last night's episode you know pointed out that like the way that we get this information as you said right it's not we don't see it it's a

little reminiscent of fire and blood and in my headcanon one of the people who gossiped is mushroom yes mushroom was one of the people who said oh demon said air for a day and i mean he doesn't deny it it's funny because the way it was said he obviously is in his grief which he defends himself and he's like us people grieve differently brother but at the same time he doesn't deny it he admits it he takes his punishment he is know, to leave and go back to the veil, to his bronze bitch, to Rhea Royce. That won't last long. And, um, go back to Runestone until, you know, you decide to go war for a crown. And I don't know, that fight is epic between them. You know, there's a lot of emotion. You could tell Patty and Matt have great chemistry. Yeah.

Because he tells him, he's like, brother, like like you've always sent me away all you do is send me away you say that you love me and you stand up for me like it's some sort of fucking gift but all you do is send me away to the veil to here to there like why don't you want me question mark which is a lot of those feelings like we said of what reneera you know felt alone of having a brotherly heir on the way you know it brings some of those feelings to the forefront um and the way Viserys receives him it's on the iron throne his steel is bared black fire is out it's very much it reminds me of like Robb right with the sword across his legs in uh the first couple books and that threat that very perceived threat he means business

and it's not even necessarily that Viserys means business against Daemon so much as he has been called to the table to take action by the council yeah and he's like dude I defended you and this is how you repay me by with this joke of all the things that it could have been it was this right that that pushed him over the edge it was a personal thing and i think that's what makes it such a strong narrative choice it was a personal slight not anything political that finally forces the series to act and you were my brother damon actually literally and as we can see all damon wants to do is be there and like love his brother and be loved by him and it and he's like why don't you see me worthy or good enough for this it also reminds me of another set of brothers stannis

and robert's relationship and how stannis yearned to have that sort of closeness with Robert and to be acknowledged as competent by him, right? And he, Stannis also got shoved around to a couple of roles, or maybe mostly just one role on the small council, but he's like, how come I wasn't made hand? And you can see Damon's kind of asking, like, why don't you make me hand? And as you and I have kind of chatted about now offline like i mean he would have gotten shit done i think obviously they would have curtailed each other's worst impulses and been good they could have been good but alas viserys dies out of high tower is oppressing us okay sorry so the next scene is the big scene the final scenes of thrones of this episode um and we're

going to talk about it kind of intercut together uh because at the front you know the song of ice and fire scene it's intercut with the air coronation whatever scene the air ceremony the arimony uh it's intercut with the arimony. First, you know, we are kind of, we talk about prophecy. And there's a little ditty going around these days from 2018 where George kind of hinted and let audiences that read his stories know during the Fire and Blood press tour that a god knew about the others. There are very light hints throughout the story. Fire and Blood. Not heavy. They're not heavy handed at all. They're, you know, you have to really love the text, fire and blood, not heavy. They're not heavy handed at all.

They're, you know, you have to really love the text to, I think, see them. Because even I missed a lot of them the first read through. I wasn't looking for that necessarily. And because it's in a different POV structure than what we're used to, it's very different. You can see some of that in the Alisan and Silverwing at the wall, for example, and some of what Aegon did. And even, I mean, I think there might be some connotations for Jaqerys here. Jaqerys, my very strong son of Rhaenyra and going north to Serra Snow.

Yeah. Yeah. So lots of interesting takes on this prophecy. I, for one, am exhausted with it, though. Like, I know this is going to be the talk of the town. We're going to talk about the prophecy probably all season because it looks like it's in the future weeks as well. So I don't have a ton to say about it. I think there's some connotations involved for what this means. But Viserys, you know, he's about to lay some truth on Rhaenyra as he says, hey, so you want to be my heir right you're cool with

being an heir if so here's everything that comes with it all the dark secrets oh she's like oh she's like yeah i do and that it means dad loves me but maybe it means i have to be some sort of savior i'm not ready for too so allison cloaks her before the big ceremony which is marriage in the song of ice and fire universe so allison and raniera got married in episode one season one the heirs of the dragon i don't make the rules lady gwynn from radio westeros taught me this um that's what this means metaphorically sansan sandor anyways they all taught me this boram and baratheon rick and start corlees all bow to her um but they bow

yeah i mean i guess they get on one knee right at the ceremony to pledge but then at the end they only all bow and i was like that seems a little small i want something more grandiose come on y'all a little bit a little bit why are they not on their knees and i've noticed it's not even just that there's a shot in the weeks to come where Viserys is exiting a carriage with Alicent. She's fucking pregnant as shit. Like, so pregnant. Like, is that girl pregnant? But he exits the carriage and they all, like, do a half bow.

They don't even kneel in the weeks to come shot. And I'm like, where's the fucking pride here? Kneel for your king. Give a full bow. And also it was so short, right? I was like, where's where's the you know the scene in mulan where everyone gets on the ground i'm like everyone get on your this is important put your face on the ground yeah lick her fucking shoes they look expensive i actually feel that way a little my god um that is a bummer like i know that's a silly thing to get but maybe it just didn't work out for choreography

in general and the way the cameras are set and like, they didn't want to film in that way, but it does feel like a letdown. I'm like, that's your fucking queen, mate. Yeah. Respect. Interestingly, she doesn't look, you know, you're talking about like the responsibility of it. And I am going to talk about the prophecy a little, but not in terms of what it means for A Song of Ice and Fire,

the main story, but what it means for this story. But she doesn't really smile. She doesn't look happy at this pledging ceremony. This is a heavy fucking crown to wear. I mean, it does actually look heavy, but it's not a light thing to take on. I mean, it's good that she isn't just da-da-da, happy-go-lucky about it. That would be a bad sign.

Worse than the signs for everything else to come. She has crown braids, which I'm sure people have talked about already. Oh, I love her crown braids. Yeah. I try to do crown braids on myself. Don't try to do crown braids on yourself. It's, they're heavy. Literal heavy.

Like, they're hard to do. My hands hurt when I do them. My arms were so tired and my hair is very thick, so. It's, they're heavy, literal heavy. Like they're hard to do. My hands hurt when I do them. My arms were so tired and my hair is very thick, so. It's a lot. They'd make good crown braids though. They do. And that's because she has maids. Yeah.

Yeah. That is exactly it. As these Lords are swearing, specifically when Rickon Stark kneels down and is swearing to her, it cuts back to the prophecy. And Viserys says this. Ambition alone is not what drove him to conquest. It was a dream.

Just as Dany's foresaw the end of Valyria, Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men. It is to begin with a terrible winter gusting out of the distant north. Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those winds and whatever dwells within will destroy the world of the living. What? or queen strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and the dark agan called his dream the song of ice and fire what this secret has been passed from king to heir since agan's time and now you must promise to carry it and protect it keep it secret keep it safe and of course in that moment after he says that it flashes back to him at the heir coronation whatever ceremony he says

promise me raniera yo what could it mean anyways what what does it mean what does it mean you know it's hurtful that all this language of terrible wind gusting riding on those winds of winter hurtful hurtful i felt that when we watched it i did feel that yes like this was an attack against me yeah all of us really yeah and yeah so what i like about we're bringing prophecies they actually are playing a role in the story the the original series game of thrones removed a lot of the magic from the books right they didn't really lean into any of that and i mean the magic and the prophecies have a purpose right they they can be a huge part of characterization and motivation and that's how

this prophecy operates here which is exactly how it should right like in the way that it does in shakespeare the prophecies and macbeth are kind of what drive him to take the actions they don't happen like if he didn't listen to them he's like that's really silly the prophecies in Macbeth are kind of what drive him to take the actions. They don't happen, like, if he didn't listen to them, he's like, that's really silly. The prophecies would have never come to pass. And I'm not saying this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I'm saying that they drive character motivation and action and the story forward.

And they also create a sense of irony, right? Because Viserys could have had his heir, he could have had his wife and a happy family and not just kept Emma breeding, right? He had all of that and he chooses to hurt and have an active part in killing his wife. You can choose she could have just, she would have just died. But he chooses to take an active role in leading to her death because of this prophecy. And that creates a sense of irony and tragedy in that he didn't have to. He loses his son anyway, and I don't think it's supposed to justify it.

It doesn't justify him. It actually kind of is like, oh, it's kind of worse. And it's going to play a role in Rhaenyra's characterization, right? Again, we're hearing that Millie Alcock and Emma Darcy have said that Rhaenyra is conflicted about her motherhood and being forced into that. Again, part of it being from the trauma of her mother. But now she's going to be like, oh, God, we need to have enough Targaryens that some of them are going to make it. For whenever this happens someone's gotta tell the heir right someone's gotta unite this realm and so she keeps having children even though that's not what she wanted she wanted to be a knight she wanted to eat cake she wanted to

have her cake absent and eat her too whoa well I mean am i wrong uh that that seemed what that scene was about am i wrong if i'm wrong maybe they shouldn't be baiting me into it uh they are baiting but um i mean it full force it adds such a dimension to this story that wasn't quite there before so if you've read the princess and the queen or the rogue prince that's one thing if you've read fire and blood that's the next step. If you're watching this, this is a third dimension to add on to this story, especially with this prophecy, in my opinion. I think it makes it so much deeper of just character motivations.

I mean, Alicent and Rhaenyra both are going to think that they are birthing the princes that were promised. Yeah. That's very apparent. That's so apparent. And prophecy is a sword princes that were promised. Yeah. That's very apparent. That's so apparent. And prophecy is a sword without a hilt. Yeah. Speaking of weapons.

Speaking of weapons. Unless, did you have more to say? Yeah, I was going to finish my thought. Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry. No, it's okay. No, no. I mean, you look at the kings to come and each one of them do some crazy fucking shit, right?

Aegon the Unlikely, Summerhall. What could it mean? What was he chasing? Baelor. Did some fucked up shit for his sisters? Some religious icon shit? Thought he was, like, the one? Where'd that come from?

There's just every single one of them has a little bit of a thought. Hell, I would never defend Aegon for. But, legitimizes all of his bastards on his deathbed. Oh my god. You know? Could be. Interesting, interesting. They have the blood of the dragon.

That is really interesting. And it's funny because they all always think it's themselves, right? Tunnel vision. Complete tunnel vision. I almost wonder, will Reindeer not think it's her? And that's why she keeps making errors or something? Because she's been told her whole life until now, like, it's not gonna be you you girl it also adds another dimension of that blood purity for example and that you know in fucking laner quote unquote which doesn't happen um but you know in burying his children and bringing them to the court. Alicent's line, do keep trying. Maybe someday you'll get one that looks like you from the books.

Like that is a, wow, Alicent, crazy bitch. You out here. I like that for you. Like she's crazy and problematic and I love that for her. But that line specifically is like, that adds a whole dimension to the blood purity between the Targaryens and, you know, what they upkept from Valyria. Like, yes yes that was already

tradition but upkeeping it in Westeros was important to them why makes you wonder is it not only one layer of like her having the strong boys maybe they're not enough prophetically speaking too to her like maybe she realizes she needs pure blood for or she thinks it like who knows what she's she could be thinking anything we've never seen her thoughts on a paper we're gonna find out we're gonna find out i'm excited i don't necessarily know if that like matters at all but the blood purity makes me think maybe they thought that by keeping that line pure they would be closer to finding the chosen one when that bad time 172 years from now comes yeah i don't really know i don't know and um or is it just because everyone keeps telling her you have a royal womb you know and well also can't trust anyone else besides targaryens

yeah but apparently can't trust them either as we see from the dance of the dragons yeah i guess the big final thing you know me and you were watching that after show um which we don't know what it's called i think it's after the show i don't know but they talk about the cat's paw dagger and how it has kind of some runes on it and that this dagger the runes on the dagger tell the story of the prophecy yeah it's like they said that the prophecy is imbued or something and the tiger and i was like wait does it have runes and you recently sent me they actually worked on they they made runes for the show just for the show so weaponry with those runes inlaid on it i mean that feels who knows what it means what it means for any of text however hey season eight makes sense no no i'm just kidding i'm just kidding don't be mad at me

oh my god uh a lot of it really still does not no a lot of it really doesn't but but hbo knows that which is why they read the books this time and had george take an active role uh they want to do it right yeah we're just saying what hbo is thinking yeah they speak with our mouths wait wait no wait um uh we are not sponsored by hbo we do not get garbage trucks full of money dumped to our doors weekly i mean if they want to though we're open to the garbage trucks and money you're still open to the money yeah okay we're open but but if we don't seem critical enough um i think i'm just excited i think there are things that i would of course criticize like there were some i know some people felt like some of the ending scenes felt tacked on and i'm like yeah yeah kinda i mean it felt suddenly like they rushed it but i but i do think that prophecy did have to be in this episode to give that motivate character

risation for the series and set up i mean it felt cinematic it felt it did it felt cinematic me and you were watching it and it was over and we both were like shit wait we have to wait a week it felt like a movie um i was engrossed i felt like every scene i mean it was well paced nothing dragged too long my in fact my only criticism would have been it was overstuffed however i think it was all stuff you needed to cover it was really fast i have no idea how it would feel to a viewer who has never read the books because I'm like, there were a lot of people and a lot of different things with world building, but thankfully they don't have to do all the heavy lifting because some of the world has been established. Yeah. And not only that, but then also I think they were heavy

handed in the first episode, but they weren't in a bad way like it was concise and clear that they were like this is this person this is their name we're saying it in passing but in an important statement that tells you something about this character okay next scene hey look there's that character we talked about and it reiterated it well it reinforced characters and their names and their roles and I think that they'll be able to balance it moving forward my only worry is like is it hurry up and wait? Because now we have what? An episode to get them to Stepstones because that'll be a big thing going on

and then two episodes of the Stepstones? I don't want that. I don't know if it's two episodes of the Stepstones but it has to be like, I think, I assume wrapped up in the next like two episodes because it was already brought up in this episode. Yeah. Episode three maybe. Yeah. Episode three, maybe. Yeah.

It's just also, that is something that I am worried about. Is the whole season going to feel too rushed? They're covering huge spans of time. We know there's going to be a time skip. They're covering a bunch of different things that happen over like, I don't know, 10 to 20 year period. Throughout all of it, right? This is linear, but not close together not at all which i think is i mean to be fair they did do the emma erin thing this episode and they flattened the

ages just to kind of bring that to light and i think i think this episode covered a lot of that in fact this episode covered a lot of stuff i did not expect to be covered yeah i agree and it makes the most sense for characterizations how they did it like Alice and Rhaenyra you wouldn't give a shit about them if they didn't do it this way because the dance is not full of great people it's full of a lot of scheming and drama and pettiness back and forth and backstabbing and you need to like them a little at the front for it to make you feel something and you don't really in the books you know like I mean we like Rhaenyra because we're girl bosses gone canon but like you they're not great people like you get through the book you get to the mid

end and without this whole thought of like oh they all think they're the savior they're just assholes with dragons yeah i didn't really comment on it but i now see why that reviewer said yeah everyone's like a really kind of great and that's not a bad thing that's a good thing i don't need someone to like root for but i can see what that means now after we see how viserys was portrayed yeah oh yeah it's kind of hard to like support him after that it's great i mean it's really great it's a great way to bring him as the ruler and complicate him right at the front like that. Yeah. I mean, I don't support Viserys.

I'm not going to like him. But I think they've done a fantastic portrayal. And as you said, deepening Patti. No wonder George is so excited about Patti Constantine's performance. He's like, oh my god. You know, 10 million people tuned in last night to watch this live i love that one that one uh little video someone took of new york where all you can see like all the apartment buildings flashing at the same time because they're all watching it

ah it's so good you know i mean to put it into context game of thrones i mean season seven finale was 16.9 million people uh winterfell episode one of season eight when it premiered april 14th 11.8 million people watched it live like as it aired so we're already close to those numbers i think that house of the dragon if they continue at this pace with this level of cinema, this level of just like gorgeous decadence, this opulent set and these actors in this drama, I think it'll surpass Game of Thrones. I don't think a lot of people think that, but I feel pretty fucking confident that it will. I think it could, but I don't think it will have the same cultural impact no agreed because game of thrones changed the game of thrones game changer of thrones i mean it really did right like

sci-fi and fantasy wasn't taken seriously as a visual medium until game of thrones you can't do that again and lord of the rings but yeah yeah For TV. I mean, it changed the way we watch TV. Not just through fantasy and sci-fi and all these ideas, but it changed every way we watch TV. I mean, everyone wanted to make their show the next Game of Thrones and look for the next way to make it an epic high fantasy.

And then they were like, I don't want it to actually end like Game of Thrones. Never mind. Sorry. Go ahead. I do think that House of the dragon will overcome a lot of those issues that game of thrones had with storytelling and plot and everything and that comes from a budget that comes from an expanded writer's room um but they have a lot of pros going from so far i think it was a magical first episode i think george should feel really proud of what he's created because that was just beautiful to see on tv it was a love letter to a song of ice and fire fans yeah so much in this that was such a love letter to us i look forward to the rest of the season

it was also an attack with uh those references to wins a winner but otherwise a love letter a love letter also that but isn't a love letter. A love letter. Also that. But isn't a love letter also an attack? A little bit. Think of Damon. Sometimes. Think of Damon. Sometimes. I mean, like, you read some author's love letters or, like, other famous people's love

letters and you're like, this is something. Thanks so much for listening. You guys, we will be back next week. Every week we will be posting our episodes. You should see them, I think, Tuesday nights, Tuesdays, somewhere around there. Keep your eyes peeled. But we will be posting these for you weekly

during House of the Dragons. And also be sure to check out our main series, our Song of Ice and Fire POV coverage. Indeed, indeed. And if you want to keep up to date with when those episodes come out, be sure to follow us on social media. You can find us at Girls Gone Canon on Twitter.

That's Girls Gone Canon, C-A-N-O-N. Or maybe you have thoughts. Feel free to shoot us an email at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Yes, and make sure you're subscribed to us on a platform, a podcast listening platform near you. We're on all of the major ones like Google Play, iTunes, Stitcher, Acast, and the Amazon podcasts. You name it, you'll find us. Give us a Google. Or you can also check us out at our Patreon. Patreon.com slash Girls Gone Canon gets you a private RSS feed

with a backlog of bonus episodes. Almost 50 episodes actually yeah about a song of ice and fire his dark materials and a couple other series and books and stories that we really love so we urge you to check that out stranger tier and above five dollars and up we'll get access to that but if you join in the thunder tier the ten dollar tier you are in for a world of fun at our discord tier you are in for a world of fun at our discord world of ice and fire fun and yes that is a thunder tier the sound of thundering hoes but hopefully not anything bad happening yes on our discord they are going to be doing weekly discussions yeah hosted by our friend and very impartial host maddie she's very impartial she, Maddie. She's very impartial. She loves no sides in this war.

Is this a joke? And she's a great host, though. I'm excited for her to host these. And not only that, but we do a monthly brunch happy hour where we have a drink with everyone, chit chat. That's August 28th, 2 to 4 ET, 2 p.m. ET for the discussions weekly on Fridays. And, yeah, I think that's, that's it. Oh, there's other activities, you know, I think some people are organizing a Breaking Bad watch slash rewatch because I only got up to somewhere in season two. And then like, it's not because I didn't like the show, something just happened. And like, I didn't

continue, right? Like, time to go back. yeah and i i actually have always really wanted to finish it so some people will be watching while i will be watching for the first time and then of course at some point hbo promised me that the historic materials final season is coming out they showed new scenes yeah during this during this it was awesome yeah we uh i can't wait for that we'll be covering that too so if you're into that make sure you subscribe to us below as always i have been one of your hosts chloe and i have been another one of your hosts eliana what is this

are you not? The dragon. I'm still singing it. Oh my god. I can't whistle it. I can't whistle it. Can you? No, I can't whistle. I can do a high-pitched dog whistle, but that's it.

I can't do any. We'll see you next week. Goodbye. Goodbye.