Girls Gone Canon Cast - House of the Dragon S1E6: The Princess and The Queen

Episode Date: September 27, 2022

this episode is about Dreamfyre and Dreamfyre only    SPOILERS: ASOIAF, F&B, KOT7K, TWOIAF, ETC   Links mentioned:  Ser_Travis's theory about Helaena the Dreamer: https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/xosqy9/spoilers_extended_helaena_the_dreamer_and_dark/ --- Join us at our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/girlsgonecanon   Follow us on Twitter: @GirlsGoneCanon   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 everyone and welcome to Girls Gone Canyon Watches House of the Dragon aka Hot D. Season 1, episode 6, The Princess and the Queen. I am one of your hosts, Eliana. And I am the queen, Chloe. I thought that we were gonna- The pillow princess element. No, not, not. But I just wanted to say that. Welcome back. Welcome back. And before we can really tell you our true feelings about this episode of House of the Dragon,

truly a crazy episode, I can't wait to chat about it, we have to warn you about our spoiler policy. Eliana, what do we talk about in this podcast? We talk about in this podcast we talk about everything everything in the world of a song of ice and fire past present future for the most part but i mean we don't really talk about anything in wins really not yet not yet you never know though so if you are not yeah not into those spoilers we are spoiling the books in this podcast we will talk about it so casually if you hear it you might not even notice it and then all of a

sudden you realize so-and-so dies so just do yourself a favor take a break after the season read fire and blood i implore you it's so good read the rest of the main series if you haven't come back we'll be here open arms ready to make stupid jokes and observations yes absolutely but for now please if you would like to preserve your honor and decency you would like your honor and decency to prevail it will prevail goodbye goodbye goodbye okay now that that's over and we got rid of the greens i'm just kidding I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. That was cruel.

That was cold. I would never say that. But what a fucking episode. Before we dive into the actual episode, just a reminder that we will be doing a bonus episode for patrons in the stranger tier and above still in this month, September 2022. patrons in the stranger tier and above still in this month september 2022 i'm the mothers of the dragon part two good queen aliceanne is who we'll be focusing on in this episode head over to patreon.com slash girls gone canon to check it out yeah and usually we also have a weekly regular podcast in which we reread a song of Ice and Fire POV by POV.

So right now we are in the middle of brand chapters, but this week we are not putting out a new brand episode. We are though releasing something thanks to our patrons, but you would like to join us for our read through of brand. We have just started last week. We did a Game of Thrones brand four and next week, first week of October, we'll be back with a Game of Thrones brand 4 and next week first week of October we'll be back with a Game of Thrones brand 5

funny how we're getting close to aligning with that harvest feast you know indeed bring the harvest well we got a little bit to go till then we got a harwood until we don't we harvested oh my god how could you say this one last thing if you're a patron and you're in the

thunder tier or above, you have access to events on our Discord, right? Not just any events. There's a weekly House of the Dragon episode discussion, Fridays, 2 p.m. Eastern Time, Eliana Time, until they close it out, hosted by our friend Maddie. And there are also monthly brunches slash happy hours, and we'll be announcing next month's octobers

in the near future yeah but 24 7 we do have our discord channels in which people are chattering away fiercely debating just like everyone in this episode so eliana there's a whole new intro in this episode i was wondering when they might do that. You know, like, I'm like, when are we going to introduce some more of these little symbols? And I actually spent a good 27 minutes this morning. No one from my job looked at me. I spent

27 minutes just, like, breaking down the old intro versus the new. What's new in this intro? And there are three additions I noticed. one was very much in the background with allison with four bloodlines kind of streaming down and one of them actually looks like it joins a little bit together so i think that could maybe reference aegon and helena marrying out of maybe reaction that we'll talk about later and then there's another new set of Lena's symbol, Damon, with his rogue prince helm, and the twins, twin golden eggs.

And then, of course, there are the three lines coming from Rhaenyra to represent Jacaerys and Lucerys and, of course, baby Joff. Baby Joff! Joffy! Joffy! Finally a Joffrey we can stan. Yeah, for real though. We stan the previous Joffrey from the previous episode, not the other series.

As much as you could stan a minor character, one would say, she says. Yeah, he was great. We loved him for the few moments he was there. Which is kind of the only downfall of this episode. I mean, the series in general and the way it's going, there's just so much where I kind of, I just want a little bit more with some of these characters in general.

And we'll talk more about Harwin as we go along, because I think Harwin was done really well. I actually think that Omission worked really well in that plot's case. I think it all came out perfect and sad. Oh god, sad. Lena is where I was really feeling like i had been burgled in the night i love what we got and we'll definitely dive into that but i didn't want more lena however the one argument i will make for all this that like i see what they're doing in the bigger picture is they're making it more fleeting in the way that they can do vignettes right because a lot

of these stories these targaryen stories in the in fire and blood and in even the world of ice and fire those stories are very you can go in and out you don't get those details and they're choosing the details they want to portray really well and fleeting over the others and letting the mind wander which i think does work well in a lot of cases and they might be preparing us for other iterations of House of the Dragon after the dance. Okay, but they should have given us Lena claiming Vhagar. I deserve that scene. Lena claiming Vhagar is literally everything I want. So we were robbed of that.

And Harwin's ass. Yeah. I've just been thinking, like, we didn't even get to see his ass. Is this Game of Thrones or not? It is and it is not. You know, I don't know. This is House of the Dragon. Not to objectify the least problematic man that's ever been on this show.

Yeah, he's actually the best man. He's the best person. Ryan Condal read Fire and Blood, and first of all, he was like, Chloe's right. I agree with her on everything except one thing. Ryan Condal's only been wrong once. We'll talk about that today. We'll get to it, yes. But he read it and he

was like, damn, Harwin was the best character. I respect that. Yeah. So, let's get into it. Let's talk about Harwin's son. I mean, I'm sorry, those are not... He would never. He would never. These are just... Treason. These are just rumors spun

by Rhaenyra's rivals. That's what the show leads us to believe and it does open with an amazing masterful scene that echoes a little bit of Emma's birth and shows a little bit of maybe some of how Rhaenyra felt in response

to Emma's last birth. It was really gritty and was an amazing way to introduce the other Emma Emma de Arce to introduce them to us. That was an amazing way to introduce the other Emma, Emma de Arcy, to introduce them to us. That was an amazing way for them to become Rhaenyra on screen. It was pretty flawless. I didn't feel confused about what was happening. No, it's not confusing.

It was kind of funny, right? Because it starts out with just like the audio in a black screen. And you think that you're like, oh, it's Game of Thrones, right? It's just moaning and groaning. And then you come in and then it's a birth, right? It's this moaning and groaning, and then you come in, and then it's a birth, right? It's something harrowing. Especially, again, like you said, you've got the specter of Emma

really looming over everything, and it pointedly has no maesters and no men, right? None of the men are accompanying Rhaenyra for this birth, and I think that makes a lot of sense, especially when you put it in the same context as Emma and as what happens with Lena's birth

right or Lena's birthing in that it allows Rhaenyra to control the situation that there's not going to be a man there who's going to be looking out for the best interest of the father or the child right that hopefully

they're all looking out for her interests especially because and it's not just like a maester thing because when lena's giving birth it's in pentos it's about the systemic way that patriarchy kills women for what yeah we didn't actually talk about this we cut it this is the first thing you're getting to learn of outtakes on girls gone canon for house of the Dragon Season 1. We cut that we were going to talk about Bridgerton. Spoilers, Bridgerton. It has a plot where there is a character that is giving birth and it's not looking great what's going on.

And the doctors come to the son. The eldest son. The eldest son. Her heir. The dad's heir. Not her heir, but the dad's heir. Yeah, not even the dad's heir not her heir but the dad's heir yeah yeah and comes to him and says what do you want us to do and he ends up saying well talk to her what the

fun what me what do i say and she tells him she's like now you have to make this decision this is now on you this is he's like i can't deal with this it should only be her decision and we do see like that was a faulted decision on her part they explore that but yeah she's very protective of the way that she's giving birth to these children yeah i mean she's very protective of her children in this episode especially yeah that's true that is true like she's like what i just fucking got this child i'm gonna not gonna let anyone else carry this child we'll get there there's a couple of lines that stood out to me right in terms of they said oh god he's kicking like a goat when he's born and i was like oh how interesting because we see a goat eaten later on in this episode and also when the child is born they're like super overjoyed and

like oh my god it's a boy and they're like you know more or less the vibe is congratulations you fucking did it because the midwives are saying like praise the mother and like on one hand it's a god but also it's praise you praise be to you praise be to she reynira and they're just so happy that it's a boy and like reynir you did such a good job again tying back to emma Yeah. Balon. And then you depressed me because you talked about how, you know, like the goat kicking and later the goat getting dracarysed

and then it makes me go Joffrey then gets dracarysed in the pit when he dies. Then he falls off. Yeah, he falls off. What do you think really happened to him? A bunch of dragons that have been being mauled by humans all day? What do you think's gonna happen to that boy?

I mean, who knows? It could be a lot of things. We never know. He could be both burned and dropped. Who knows? Alicent requests and sends her handmaiden to come and say that she wants Joffrey to be brought to her to be examined. He's not

Joffrey yet, by the way. He will be soon. Rhaenyra chooses to make the trip herself immediately with Laenor, who's being somewhat supportive, as much as he can be in this moment. Just to show how bad it is, they haven't even cut the umbilical cord yet when the request comes in. They're like, I guess we gotta do this. Get ready for the big debut. Yeah, and when they finally get there, it's a harrowing trip. They have to go past all of these people, including Lord Caswell. That was a cool minor drop that we get to see. And he's kind, to be fair.

And she puts on a good face. But it sucks. Emma de Arce killed this. Literally, they walked up these stairs and they're like, fuck, every five words. And this kid's first words will be fuck, in my opinion. Absolutely. every five words and this kid's first words will be fuck in my opinion absolutely if you listen to emma de arce's renera or girls gone canon your first words would probably be fuck yeah we drop f-bombs left and right absolutely so kristen cole guards this room naturally that they got to and

it's horrible right like that's such a bummer he got a haircut and he's even slimier than before and i'm so mad and so you can see kind of where Laner gets a little kick of his toxic things going on. He's like, oh, that guy that killed my lover and is ruining my waifu's life-u. Yeah. You can see why he's like, we're naming it Joffrey.

Fuck Kristen Cooke. Yeah. But I do like it's pointed out, it's portrayed really well, well actually kind of vaguely that Rhaenyra doesn't have to go but she does yeah like she doesn't but she absolutely does it is a game they're mind games between her no Alicent didn't say that Rhaenyra needed to drag herself within the moments that she gave birth and bring the kid to her just that someone needed to and like you pointed out

she said hell no i'll go like i'm not no one's gonna take my child from me without me being there and raniera doesn't want to look weak right in the face of this like it's such a dual problem she's now inherited being both a woman and the heir yeah now she's the royal mayor right now every move she's making is being regarded and there's even this moment where her maids are helping her into a dress right they're like princess you need to change your dress if you're gonna do this and everyone kind of is like oh you're really doing this and it's what a man's last stand in a war would be with a sword right against the oncoming others or some sort of big army moment

this is hers right after the battlefield this is her big you know now i'm really taking my big stride up the stairs to go show her because to her and to allison they're both regarding this as a much deeper political war than i think anyone else sees it the the table later the council table is totally apparent in that and even when they get to the room to allison's room reneara rejects any comfort from her right allison is like give her a cushion and reneara's like no because then she wins yeah no i get it as a very petty person i get it absolutely on her way there right because then everyone gets to see they're like i can't believe the queen's making her do that that's part of the performance as well but also this is kind of interesting to me that rainiera gets to a point in the series and like

do you want to go back and she's like you're gonna have to carry me down here and she that's who rainiera is right she does things till she gets to a point of no return which is very much what the dance is kind of about right it's about people getting to a point of no return which is very much what the dance is kind of about right it's about people getting to a point of no return they've just broken everything so much and laenor at least as you said uh you know he's there just being kind of supportive and at least like it's interesting the view that we get of laenor this episode again i just would have liked more laenor in general, but they gave him a lot of, they tried to flesh him out a lot, I guess,

this episode. I like older Laenor, too. I do, a lot. I think he's great. John McMillan, I think his name is? Oh, he does a great job. He's fun. I mean, he's a friend. You know, they're friends. I appreciate that he says, in an effort to sympathize, that he took a lance in the shoulder,

which plays into all that language in this series and in the main series of The Song of Ice and Fire of how women's birthing beds are the equivalent of their battlefield. Absolutely. Although at the same time, I do appreciate that she's like, can you shut the fuck up, though? Yeah. Like, this is not the time. Yeah. She's like, this is not the time yeah she's like this is not helping as she bleeds out walking to allison's room which is again so gruesome so metal oh my god yeah

viserys is overjoyed though when he sees joffrey and allison gives the side eye right and dude she said the thing oh man this is one of those episodes we were all so my husband you my wife uh my wife me your partner your partner we were all on the couch and your partner's unsullied right not spoiled on fire and blood he hasn't read fire and blood he's watched thrones and he knows the rules he's read duncan egg so he gets the themes he gets the vibes but my husband is a super fan you might know him he's my roommate and you are all right i guess and i'm pretty into it myself you know with my 80 million reads here going on yeah i don't know what this is fire and blood that's such a good book but the whole time all of us each had something to be excited about right like all of us were like oh my god this was the very first one when she said do keep trying you may get one that looks like you so petty and said so well olivia cook killed

that she cooked that she cooked that she cooked that shit if you will a lot of things get cooked this episode well done well done thank you thank you um but yeah it was great and we're all like wow we also we're fed you know from our cooking we're like they did it they said the line we're like thank you ryan condell oh we're we're uh we're easy to please yeah i'm ready for the fighting to begin the girls are fighting again presidential alert well so this series is lost in our but gain a third grandson miracles do happen and i kind of feel like is this series holding and so happy about joffrey in a way that we never the series never showed us him showing like

holding and being super jazzed about his sons by allison yeah he in a way had a detachment he's grown to them in some sorts of ways maybe that's maybe that's silly maybe that's wrong but like he definitely seems way happier holding them and overjoyed i mean overjoyed to see his daughter's happiness and that's kind of feel horrible for alicent it reminds me actually in a way of the way aries treated ellia's kids. Obviously, he was just racist also, as well as crazy, but... Yeah. Yeah. But also, I mean, those are his grandchildren, right?

Like, as opposed to his kids. Which is so interesting that he's just like, I don't care very much for my kids. Right. He's like, my grandkids, that's not my problem anymore. I'll be dead before that becomes a problem. Bye! Yeah, he's

he's excited about those yeah so raniera leaves the room leads out after birth in the most metal horrifying just saddest trail from allison's room but before that laner names the baby without raniera's consent and names him joffrey you know it's funny because before this episode jokingly you know a lot of us were very excited about the polycule. The official Lena, Damon, Lainer, Rhaenyra. Again, they skipped over some of that development of the time they could have spent together and the time Rhaenyra would have been very close to Lena.

That's very disappointing to me in some ways. I would have loved to see that relationship a little more than them going down the halls. And yes, we have to imagine it. So I would have loved to see that relationship a little more than them going down the halls and yes we have to imagine it so I guess that's what we get that's definitely a weak spot for me in this first season not as much in the episode I still like the episode just like

as a whole that's part of the storytelling that I do feel like I could have had a little more of but obviously they're all super fucking damaged like they're not some beautiful sexy queer polycule like the book could sexily imply maybe from mushroom's version at least maybe mushroom's on the such yeah mushroom and i have similar views no um laner's trauma has led him to be absolutely disinterested from raniera from hisunquote. He's busy making out with Carl Corey, fighting,

fucking, thinking about adventures. Yeah. Escapism. And Rhaenyra's kind of been left to bear that weight. Yeah, and raising kids, trying to run a kingdom, and all this stuff, and

her ex-boyfriend plotting against her constantly with her ex-best friend her her ex-girlfriend sorry and yeah i mean i guess it would have been nice if they were as you said this beautiful polycule and i really do wish we had gotten more of raniera and lena together right but it's interesting because maybe it's not it is a friendship and it's not right with she and lanor have it's kind of like a roommates maybe with like a cordial relationship but it's also not quite a partnership and we'll talk about that later on um and as you said right a lot of it is understandable with trauma i think like some people would have wanted to see it go a

different way but i actually am i like the idea that they never really consummated their marriage that they didn't even try even though they said like we'll try to do our duty and then after that we'll have fun but then obviously lenore was just too sad and i mean their marriage started in this horrific way it's understandable that they wouldn't do that and that rain nira you know thankfully she was able to find comfort in someone as well and the idea of them never having to force themselves or each other to have sex with one another is something that i like because then it provides not only a great contrast but a response to the scenes of the series marital raping allison because i think any sort of like sexual activity activity between leonard and ringer it is

forced right it is um kind of a betrayal of their own bodies a violation of their own bodies and each other's and they'd only be really doing it for the sake of what societal and gender norms but here they get to we get to sort of explore both of them and their sexuality they get that they have agency and control over their bodies as opposed to you know force a terror sexuality and to not be breeding vessels they get to have sex not to breed but for Rhaenyra is still reading and kind of still has to do that because of the whole prophecy thing. Yeah, she did get a little more agency in that. And Laenor did.

And Laenor did, yeah. You can see why that's the foundation of Alicent's fucking anger this whole time. She's like, she's never had an orgasm in her life. And she had to fuck the gross guy. She had to be raped by the gross guy yeah she was she had to be raped by the gross guy woken up at the middle in the middle of the night yeah just to do it with

him it's not great it's it's like she got to forego that and at the same time though we're seeing she doesn't get to forego all of that she still has to bear that she still also has to provide heirs that's her duty especially as the heir to the throne. Yeah. And we get to meet the newest of the heirs to the throne. And Harwin gets to. When I tell you how much the Harwin plot, as a bastard, as a bastard, you know, who culture often might not think about us bastards in our place in society. But as a bastard, I want you to know this was great bastard representation and gave me all the closure i will never get with my biological father no it didn't but it was enough for me it was actually powerful i didn't expect to be that

moved by it and i was so gleeful in seeing these boys his sons right they're so sweet. The boys chose an egg for baby Joffrey and Jace. He's so good. Luce is like, Luke's like, oh, well, we chose an egg and Jake's like, no, Luke specifically chose an egg. He's so good. He's so sweet. What a good older brother. They specifically chose

Ereks' egg. I'm so so feelings. Then Harwin asks if he can hold Joffrey, and Rhaenyra asks Laenor to let him, and Laenor's like, oh my god, yeah, of course. And then we have a line, a little change of, you receive in front of the

commander of the city watch a terrible lack of respect. And then, a certain insolence runs in the family, I'm afraid. Crying, screaming screaming throwing up the most like wholesome relationship you don't get to see them fight ever you don't have to see any of it you just see that like harwin actually sacrificed for the throne if we're just gonna throw out so true yeah spicy burning hot takes oh about harwin um and he cooked he was fine being her baby like kristen cole man the fuck up because harwin was fine he was like i'm happy to be your baby daddy and get none of the credit and i'm

happy if you're happy and i just get to watch these boys grow which makes it all the sadder that he gets sent away in this episode when he was just defending the boys. And I love that they skip the relationship so you can imagine it so you don't have to have any of those hardships. I mean, we don't need to see it. We really don't in the end of the day. I didn't really think about it much. I expected we'd get an episode each of

Damon and Lena developing their relationship and then Harwin and Rhaenyra and then next episode both would die and i was very shocked how fast it moved yeah i would have liked those but at the same time it is i i do wish we had seen the things that you said but i i do also think it isn't interesting it's a bold choice from the show to not for harwin and raniera at all when it comes to keeping the ambiguity of the parentage of the kids. We all fucking know. Alright? But it is an interesting

choice because it retains that sort of element from the book, Fire and Blood. But they're like, I don't know. We don't really know. They said it looked like but it could have been. Anyways. Especially because they all commit to the bit. Even what Viserys says later when he gives that big speech of the horse.

The metaphor. That metaphor is literally him winking at the audience. Does it matter? even what viserys says later when he gives that big speech of the horse the metaphor like that metaphor is literally him winking at the audience like doesn't matter because it doesn't because that child has just as much targaryen blood as alice in high tower's child does if that more and it doesn't matter also because it's born of the air yeah right like it the problem with robert baratheon and the landannister children, you know, is that they were the Lannister children, no Baratheon whatsoever. It's the inverse situation. Yeah. Right? Like, we could

solve things with Matrilineal. Just like CK2. Just like CK2 Eliana. But it really doesn't matter. Like, literally, what the fuck does it matter that the guy my mom married when I was four is called my stepdad, right? Like, he's my dad. He's the only dude that I've known when I was four is called my stepdad right like he's my dad he's the only dude that I've known since I was four now because the first dude left like why

would that matter and like the opposite is true too like I don't know it doesn't matter like maybe it's fine not to encourage dudes to peace out because they were wrong with their dick in that situation yeah and here Vinyra at least is like okay later come on time to step up you gotta be a dad now all right like that's at the very least of your duties we see harwin step up yeah raise kids yeah we see harwin raise them and it's like even when the boys obviously he does them a favor later when he's like come on to the dragon pit with you but even the boys are like well can't we spend time here can't we yeah but now they gotta go i mean dragon training seems fine well i don't know what the problem was i love how to train your dragon it's my favorite

part of the episode jacarys and vermax oh my god this felt the whole episode felt like a love letter to some of our friends right so like there was this part of the episode. We were on the couch and I was like, Sanrixian, one of our fave fan artists out in the fandom, Mallory. She was on, you know, online, I'm sure. And I just knew somewhere at the same time we were lying that somewhere Mallory was probably screaming at this. Because this was such detail that we saw them in these beautiful winged dinosaurs it really looked like a raptor vernax was nuts yeah absolutely absolutely and i did notice i don't know if this was i mean it's hard to tell everything's so fucking dark like literally dark

hbo's player is just dark and i thought like is like, is it just the show? It's the player. It's literally, even the trailers are fucking dark. If you're not watching it in pitch black, like, it's very hard to see. I found this today rewatching it at 4pm, and it was overcast, and I was like, really? It's the player itself, because when I go back in the app, it is in normal brightness. It is just the thing. They always have app issues. It is just the thing. Interesting. Nene likes that. They always have app issues. I'm just, anyways. But there's scars, I think, on the dragon

hitkeeper's faces. Yeah, which kind of shows the dangers of this job, this hazardous job. And if you don't bond with the dragons, but what it means to have to serve this family and the thing that gives them

power and especially because they're instructing i mean we get so much dragon lore in this episode it was very exciting to hear just little bits and snippets of casual dragon lore not just from tyrian lannister right fantastic true true but we got so much and seeing them kind of tell them basically once you've tamed a dragon to your command, it won't respond to anyone else's training. Talking kind of about, not unlike the Starks and their wolves and that. Ah, interesting. Yeah, absolutely.

And it does tie in nicely with how the Dracarys at the end of the episode goes when you see the training. I will say, you know, the the name vermax just so everyone knows we all we have a dragon named vermithor somewhere else in uh the story but vermax is likely also inspired by the same dragon vermithrax pejorative whom george believes is like the best quintessential like platonic ideal of any dragon in like any fictional story and portrayal. Vermithrax pejorative is the main antagonist in Disney's Dragon Slayer. Ah.

George is really into it. That's so interesting. Maybe we need to cover this. Oh my god. Interesting. Vermithor was Jaehaerys? Silverwing and Vermithor? Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah. And we will see Vermithor soon. Vermithor was Jaehaerys? Silverwing and Vermithor? Yeah, I think you're right.

And we will see Vermithor soon. Vermithor will come up in the story, so I look forward to that. God, there's so many great dragons, and Vermax being maybe an offshoot or similar, that's a great little Valyrian name. Very reptilian, like I mentioned. Almost like a

raptor. Green and pink and red-ish, it seems. like we said kind of dark kind of dark who knows i'm excited because i really do feel like jace is he is the rob of this story in a way right like he's his mother's heir he takes on a lot of her pains and even to the point of extent of how he learns to understand his bond with the animals right away. And feels kind of... We just saw it today. Like, he's learning in this episode.

And even to the point of how he protects his family and his brothers later. And makes plans to send them away to keep them safe. Yeah, and even like some of the other rumors about does he marry Sarah Snow or not. Very Rob-ish. about does he marry Sarah Snow or not? Very Rob Rob-ish. So they play a good natured prank, but really a mean bully

prank on Amon and bring out a pig with wings for him to mouth, which is kind of funny when pigs fly, but it's a huge pig. Where did they get this huge pig? It's a pink dread is what it is. That's what they called it. This really makes Amon mad and in turn he retaliates to go try to clean Dreamfire.

But Dreamfire is like lesbians only. And Aemond gets a little burnt and tumbled up. Some of you might be like, are you implying Helena's gay? Am I not? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I can't believe that Ryan Condal is really making me sympathize with that little Darth Maul looking freak, Aemond Targaryen.

Yeah, I mean... Aemond Hightower, sorry. I just am like, knowing how he'll probably go, I still like, I don't know, I still hate Aemond, and... But it's fun that they're doing this. Also, I realized, is the pig thing... Does it come back to the

boar at all? I'm gonna have to think about that connection a little bit more. That just came off the top of my head, so I have no deep thoughts. I don't know, maybe this is just me. Was the pig prank really that bad?

I think it is, though, because we'll come back to Reina later, but being dragonless makes you feel isolated and alone when everyone around you that has power has dragons and you have nothing. I mean, fire is power. Maybe I just don't relate to dragonrider culture

in the way that this really big thing happened in the UK. I don't understand it. His brother has a dragon. Yeah. his sister's about to claim one probably and his after he fails at claiming the one that she fails which feels really important to me that helena takes dream fire and amand couldn't amand wouldn't understand her and we'll get to that yeah but it is isolating it's fucking isolating when your nephews all have dragons and there's nothing like that is frustrating that is like a you're the runt almost of the family yes darren's

probably at old town we really didn't get mentions of him yet i bet next episode we'll hear that he's at old town as a ward that'd be an easy way to keep him off screen but i don't know like that's that's really rough dude that you're the only one in your family, and ever, but you're the not normal one. Yeah, he's not normal because he's a lunatic, psychopath. Not yet, though! I mean, okay, what if Dreamfire knew, right? And that was why Dreamfire was like, this boy's full of shit, I'm not gonna let him ride me.

Especially, you know, Reyna, older sister, Jerry's this dragon, Reyna, she would never. Yeah would never yeah no absolutely gay riders only i don't think that you're not are you not hearing me that's what i'm saying i know i know i was saying dreamfire dreamfire did probably know dreamfire has very specific eclectic tastes apparently because amen comes to pride to allison and to Helena, who has a special title. Yeah. Bug catcher Helena. Or actually, okay, I realize bug catchers are usually gendered as male in the Pokemon games.

I think they stopped making them only one gender. That's good. That's good. I couldn't find the right sprite to send you this morning about it. I was Googling. I was a little bored. But showing she's just like so cute. I love her. Oh my god, Helena, you're so cute.

She's a lass, technically. Pokemon, OG Pokemon, she would be a lass. Bug girl Helena, I love you. Like that is... What a weirdo. She's in soft pink too. She's very Myrcella vibes. Very much Myrcella vibes. Sorry, I really want to ask are Blood and Cheese as rat catchers

or are they like Youngster Joey so I loved the portrayal of Helena she's hilarious she's showing her mom a bug and she's like seeing all these facts and Allison's like what did I fucking do to deserve this she's not really

but I want to single out the facts because she actually says a couple things yes the first time i watched it obviously there's the line that rang out really loud that we're about to talk about but there was one that preceded it and she says she's showing her mom a bug and she says it has eyes but i don't think it can see and allison's like why and she's like it's beyond our understanding. And Allison's like, huh, makes sense. She says something really off. She's like, yeah, whatever, sure, kid. And she walks away to deal with Aemon. And then Aemon comes in

right after Dreamfire denies him. And Helena says he'll have to close an eye when he says that he was trying to get a dragon. Yeah. Which everyone's like, pew, pew, pew, Helena's a dreamer! Yes, and I mean, I guess she gets it right from the series she gets it from her daddy all these kids today are stunting like their daddy well i hope they're

not stunting like the series oh my god i have bad news they are i mean i guess they do start losing body parts uh so i also want to call out another thing that um i didn't catch this our friend sir travis on twitter pointed out that maybe the line the last ring has no legs at all which i thought was just about the creepy crawly bug i fucking hate millipedes i'm sorry i'm not like cool bug girl you're not no sir travis said that maybe this could be about bran though apparently i guess some other people think it's about Aegon losing his legs later. So Travis is like, I don't know. I think it's going to have multiple meanings, which is true.

I agree. What? I respect that. Travis actually wrote up like a full theory on this already. He wrote it up on Reddit and you'll have to check it out. It's Helaida the Dreamer, I think. All of it, I haven't checked it out fully yet. So I was waiting until after our episode because I want

to get some more unique thoughts with you. I'm slowly, honor and decency will prevail. My takes are for my wife first. Yes. I am for her first, but not even my own husband. Like, you were first because I value him. Yeah, actually, I think same. It shades her plot

completely differently, right, from beginning to finish, from what happens to her children with blood and cheese and the trauma she takes and then her disconnect with her bonded dragon right the dragon she bonds with then of course when she actually dies when she jumps and plunges to her death why did she do that did she see something did she see something that foretold that she better fucking go now or suffer later i don't know i mean like there's a lot of things that i think are surprising me with the way that they're unfolding in this show so i don't know how or the circumstances around

how elena goes anymore maybe she sees a vision of the dragon's death maybe she sees dreamfire maybe in her mind in her mind's, and maybe that makes her go, what if that drives you crazy? I mean, that would drive me crazy. I think about my cats dying all the time on accident, and then I have to, like, talk myself out of it. This gets me really upset, because then I realize cats don't live that long, and I might live that long, maybe. I don't know if I will,

but, like, if I do, like, that's a... Yeah. So, yeah, then I get overwhelmed. Anyways, my dog died a year and a half ago i'm still not over it i still cry i'm not over the one that died for me 10 years ago yeah i'm not i don't know how long it was a while ago but i'm the same but it's uh it never leaves you like so imagine an animal you're magically fucking which i'm magically fucking bonded with my cats but like imagine you're magically fucking bonded to this giant flame-throwing creature and you see a vision

that it or you dies. Yeah, maybe that's it. At the same time, it's like, the great thing about dragons is, for the most part, they outlive you. You don't have that problem as with dogs and cats. Just like all your kids outliving you. You usually expect that, right? Yeah, that's true.

That's true. Yeah, and Dreamfire is like such a mother. If you haven't already, please check out Mothers of the Dragon Part 1 on our Patreon because we talk about Reyna in totality and everything she stands for with Dreamfire and she produces so many dragon eggs, maybe

Dany's eggs. We don't know. It's rumored. It's hinted. I don't know. I don't know. But so many. So many. And interesting because then you have Andrau Farming committed suicide too I don't know if that has any connection but I hate him doesn't excuse that it's not nice but well he only did it because he was doing a murder suicide he murdered three other people well listen that's what happens this shit that's what happens when you don't have a dragon

and that's what i'm saying about amand okay so allison confronts vasiris about veneer's cute little problems and yet vasiris isn't right indifferent about the bullying and allison blames it on veneer's children i'm like dang girl really loves projecting because we all know we've seen these kids if it was not the strong children's plot i'm like allison's just showing up here to the parent teacher conference chewing out the overworked teachers when it's obviously her own kids who are causing the trouble and she's claiming they're innocent angels and you know one of them is but she she's like the series right she is exactly like the series and overlooking her children's faults as the series She's claiming they're innocent angels. And, you know, one of them is. But she's like Viserys, right? She is exactly like Viserys in overlooking her children's faults as Viserys is overlooking Rhaenyra's.

Yeah, because, I mean, like, it is very obvious. Viserys gives a really cute horse metaphor, which is right over Alicent's head. She's like, this doesn't make sense and I won't accept it. This is her new Patreon tier. This story. Alicent says, to have one child like that is a mistake. To have three, an insult to the throne, to you, to House Velaryon,

and the match you've battled so hard to make for her. Not to mention decency itself. What the fuck about decency? No one cares about decency anymore. You're rich. Viserys says, I had a black mare once, black like a raven. One day she escaped her pasture and the neighboring stallion sired a foal on her.

The stallion was silver as the moon on a winter's night in the foal when it was born, chestnut. Just the most unremarkable brown horse you ever saw. Nature is a thing of mysterious works. Alicent says, How do you know? The silver stallion. How do you know it was him? Did you witness the act itself?

Viserys says, the consequences of an allegation like the one you toy at would be dire. Do not speak of this again. To me, I'm like, so you know. Obviously, but he's trying to, I guess, keep the peace. Also, maybe Viserys is like Jon John Aaron giving a lecture on recessive gene. Oh, yeah. John Aaron breeding his dogs. Also, okay. So if the show had stuck

with giving Rhaenys or Rhaenys, if you will. D-nice. The black Baratheon hair with a single streak. I think there's a perfectly plausible explanation for the children being born with that hair color. Maybe they should have done an afterline.

I know they wanted to keep consistency, and it's already a lot to keep track of, but maybe they should have just added a little more confusion, because it's very obvious. It's perfectly plausible under the Baratheon genes. Yeah. The seed is strong. Until it's not. Until it's not. Until it's burned. I mean, a lot of the seeds are strong, I guess. But most seeds do burn.

Yeah. You can burn them. Was George like, you know, I really like that line, the seed is strong. What if I used it again? Actually, that literally might have been the thought process. When he put the strongs in, yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. process when he put the strongs in yeah yeah that's what i'm saying allison vents to kristin and kristin allison to saying things that are a little out there a little outlandish but you know

she's angry she's a little mad she's a little stressed she's been stressed for like 14 years which is a mood allison doesn't really say anything at first but kristin calls raniera a spoiled cunt and allison doesn't really stop him but he immediately apologizes he obviously notices without saying it that he fucked up and he like backtracks and she doesn't say stop but she thinks it though and she says after he apologizes he says it was beneath him she says i have to believe in the end honor and decency will prevail and all the little birdies chirp around her. It does remind me of Damon and Corliss in episode 2 when Corliss is like talking about

Viserys and he's like, he's pretty fucking middling. Damon, he's mids. And Damon's like, well only I can say that about him. How dare you? And it's almost for a moment she's like, that's my ex-girlfriend first of all. Yeah. She's like, I fucked her first. Or I didn't. Shit.

She didn't. She didn't she didn't and she regrets it they're two they're two exes they're who was it someone else made this joke but i did think of it once also but they're reneara's evil exes yeah it seemed very fair to say that about reneara but also like what is it why is allison so obsessed with these we know but also but why it's the boringest shit but maybe this is also meant to be ironic to prepare us for what happens in the next scene because allison's got to clean out her own house first right because she uh then confronts a masturbating aegon the second we're starting in this second year right because we're spoilers off and then she also i would say a secondary title to this scene is that allison just stunting like her daddy as well oh absolutely she's like girl boss gasoline gatekeep the whole how do i put this trauma

onto you she interrupts her son's orgasm which surely is not going to give him any mommy issues ever and she asks him to tell her the truth about the pig prank but of course like most teens he lies and he says that it was all the boys rhaenyra's boys then she gaslights agon and tells him everything her father has also told her about rhaenyra's legacy being their downfall and tells him to put clothes on and then she leaves and she's like you're gonna be the king so you know yeah and it's not even like that right when you're saying she's like her dad she she lays into him right like her dad it's a lot of that idea of generational trauma which i think the show is going to do a great job of doing and talking about because of the way that

we've aged through these actors and aegon is close to the same age that Alicent was when the show started. He's like maybe, I don't know, a year or so younger than that. And also a year or so younger when her father started pushing her to seduce the king. And she's not asking Aegon to do something as cruel as what Otto forced her to do. Not yet. But I do think she is cooler in her delivery and her words than Otto is. And like, don't get me wrong, what Otto makes Allison do is absolutely abusive of him. But also he doesn't verbally abuse Allison in the same way that she is

doing to Agen. This is purely emotional abuse. And he does in some aspects, aspects but like it's very quietly done it's very tenderly done the way it's like a subversive emotional abuse this one is outright verbal yeah it's what it's emotional well i mean it's what it's cooked up to be right like this is obviously like the very subtle soft emotional manipulations and abuse that she suffered from otto year after year bit by bit all the seeds that were sown. She's boiling. She's at the boil- like, she's bubbling over right now. Take that fucking pot of pasta

off the fucking stove, Eliana, because Allison is done. She is- I did take the pot off the stove. She's a woman on fire. Believe it or not. Oh! That girl's on fire. Not yet. It's brimming right over and onto Egan. It's a bum it's sad because

you almost feel affectionate towards him in the scene with the boys like he's acting like a leader to the other boys to his nephews in the dragon pit yeah i was like surprised i was like oh they're like just palling around he actually does as said, have a good relationship with them. And same as Otto tore Rhaenyra and Alyson apart, Alyson is tearing apart the friendship that these boys have.

Yeah, absolutely. It's not just her, you know, but we don't see also, you know, Rhaenyra in there in the pit. Kristen's not helping. Harwin's not helping. Well, but it's not Harwin's not helping. Yeah. Well, but it's not Harwin's job to be there. That's true.

Harwin's job is actually to make himself scarce, which we'll talk about. Yeah. The pig's not helping. That pig needs to start paying rent. So Daemon and Laena are flying their dragons. They have an adventurous little soar over Pentos. It's very beautiful, very fun. You get to see Lena yell Dracarys

for not the last time, that's for sure. And of course you get to see monstrous mammoth Vhagar. She is hoary and beautiful. I love that bitch. I love Vhagar. That was amazing. That was exciting. It's amazing. It's exciting.

Does she have hair? I don't know. I think that's just parts of the reins. I think it's supposed to look like a net, almost like seahairing, if that makes sense. Or it could just be left over seaming or whatever. I don't know. She likes it. You know, she likes it.

I like when we get kind of taken to Pentos then, into the next shot, and the candles on the table at the Pentos dinner table, they kind of look like dragon eyes, actually. You get like a very slow zoom. I missed it. Take a look next time you rewatch this one. And Damon, Lena, Bela, and Reyna. God, God, that was, you know, I'm kind of, I love them.

I love those twins. So this was exciting. that was you know i'm kind of i love them i love those twins so this is exciting they are in pentos and the magister says to them you know why don't you move here this is long term it would be great you guys are great guests and all but also you have dragons and damon you helped that one time with your dragon so like what if you did it again because war is coming because of dorn's new alliance and is fighting over the stepstones and the political conflict is introduced as well as the war conflict later we get kind of a shot of damon after teaching baila some high valyrian so cute talking with lena about this and they don't really seem to come to a good agreement on what to do

family conflict again right we're seeing that these marriages are not so peachy keen i will say what is amazing though is lena's dress oh god yeah she's always got like these cool accents these little like details on the neckline during the wedding it was like ruffles there and this time it's something that has a little loopy golden lace lacework that reminds me a little bit of Sailor Moon's Princess Serenity dress. I love that, yes. What is that? Like, that's originally

a, is it a Dior dress that it's inspired by? I think so. Dior column dress or something like that, which is what Naoko Tatsuyuchi took. Anyways. It would make sense that Lena has the most high fashion. Yeah. Also because she's engaged to the Bravo CC Lord's son, right?

And she has a little different taste. Her dresses look different. Her father has the trade routes to bring in different dresses and fabrics, different materials that you wouldn't see in Westeros. So when you think about their entrance at the wedding, for example, you see that they're very high fashion. They're like couture, baby. They're 10 years ahead of Westeros at that moment for what they're wearing and matching

and coming in looking hot off the runway after New York Fashion Week happened so recently. But I think that's definitely something to think about is those luxurious options they have thanks to trey yeah she's the shayla from the summer i turned pretty character when it comes to fashion i want you guys to know that there was a scene that was specifically crafted for me in this episode and that was when harwin goes world star on Kristen Cole. It was, I mean, we were on the couch yelling at this one too. We were like, yeah, let's get him. Someone should. Kristen

Cole trains the boys in the yard. He's master at arms at this time it seems. Viserys and Lionel watch from above. I must say, Viserys, like us, was drinking something. Lion on the go. Middle of the day. His pain is bad. Good to note. It's obvious Kristen is a little biased

against Rhaenyra's sons. Harwin's in the yard and kind of starts to suggest he's like, Kristen, maybe you're not very fair because you're only teaching the blonde motherfuckers in front of you and you're ignoring these boys that are not my sons. I don't know. I don't know them.

It's just like my thoughts as the commander of the City Watch, your rival, you know. Christian is, he's being unnecessarily rough with Jace, like, the way he pulled him up compared to how he pulled Agen up, and it seems Viserys and Lionel actually kind of take note of that. They look, they all, like, sit up

straight, they're like, huh, that was weird, must be nothing. Then we get Agen 2 versus Jace, they're fighting in the yard weird must be nothing then we get aegon 2 versus jace they're fighting in the yard manu over at natacast actually mentioned already but i was thinking about this it is very winterfell in the yard there's even mention of the straw dummy that they're fighting just like how they were only fighting with play swords and joffrey was like this is silly we should fight with real steel and then they fight and kristen is being a real dick he is commanding it turns into like a wrestling match because harwin is commanding jace

and like they go in the ring in the corner yeah yeah back in back in here's what you're gonna do here's your play and kristen does the same for agan and agan is beating jace and agan is you know following kristen's advice and Kristen says close with him press him backward close with him stay on the attack use your feet don't let him up stay on the attack and I need you all to know at home

that when this was happening and when Harwin flips Kristen on his fucking back like the little bitch he is all four of us on the couch repeating the lines that Kristen said to him, Arya style, right? Like, we were like, yeah, close with him. Press him backwards.

Stay on the attack. Don't let him up. Stay on the attack, Harwin. It was one of the better moments of my life. We were laughing very hard because we were like, yeah, own his ass. Fuck that guy. He was a dick. Yeah.

And I mean, Aiken was just like, what? Are you sure it's a little kid oh my god you're a person i and you know it's just like also even allison's kids don't seem to really like kristin as a teacher that much either he's like not a great teacher and i i don't know again i how is this being employed literally like as you said lionel and the series are like what the fuck is going on here like I said last episode and I just still can't he struck the literal king consort and you have

one job as a kingsguard protect the king right which then comes to the part of then he's allowed to harm allows harm to come to Rhaenyra's children that he's goading which are the ones who are in direct line to inherit the throne I have to say the EW interview that came out this morning with ryan

condell ryan confirms off screen which i mean we talked about this possibly happening last week that allison begs for him she goes to viserys and she begs for her white knight literally and you know that's her one thing she ever wanted. And she gets it. That's what you get, a pile of shit. She must have, because I'm just like... He confirmed it. He did. Yeah, I mean, that's like the only... He's bad at the one thing that his job is about.

Literally, like, no one cares if you had sex. Right? Lucamore the Lusty, who interestingly is also strong, Lucamore Strong, a Kingsguard, he only got dealt with not because he had sex, but because he got married three times and had a bunch of kids, right? Like, no one cares that you had sex, everyone cares you don't let the king fucking get hurt or die, and here you are killing and hurting all the fucking kings. killing and hurting all the fucking kings and like you it's not just that we have a contrast between kristen and someone else who has vows of chastity in the main series which is john snow and john snow isn't like a fucking weirdo about it he takes account he has accountability he takes responsibility he's like yeah i mean i had sex i deserted um i fought with the wildlings uh also i helped him cross the wall.

Oh, also, I killed Cor in half-hand. And he's not a fucking weirdo about it. He does his duty, right? And his honor doesn't go above his duty. Kristen is doing a terrible job because he's putting his honor over his duty. And moreover,

you know he's not loyal to Viserys. He's loyal to Alyson. Right! A lot of people, actually. Alyson, you know he's not loyal to Viserys. He's loyal to Alicent. Right! A lot of people, actually. Alicent, you know, she feels like she has no allies in this episode, but she has a couple really powerful ones. Yeah. Harwin calls out Kristen on his cruel, poor training skills that he's giving out, and he's, like, picking up the swords in the yard to look busy.

Kristen Cole, in return return cruelly remarks harwin sure does care about these boys more than necessary and harwin goes world star on him screaming at him to say it again and kristin smiling because he knows the truth now because harwin got mad says thought so yeah i just think kristin deserved to have his face punched in like Joffrey's. That's just... Probably the smartest thing the boys ever done. By, like, goading him and then letting him beat the shit out of him so he could figure out,

oh yeah, thought that was the truth. That's the only smart thought Kristen will ever have. Probably. Those are embarrassed. Look, I'm just hoping Harwin did something down there during this fight. It was rough. It should have gone farther.

Absolutely. That's all we can say. It should have gone farther. Legally, that's all I can say. Yep. Rhaenyra heads up a secret passage to then eavesdrop in a conversation. Makes me wonder if this is the passage that she used to use to meet up with Harwin. Interesting. Because she heard what had happened.

She went to go see where he was. And it seems his father beat them there first. And Lionel is very disappointed in his son for making these bastards that he shut his eyes to for a decade, and now it's putting their house under scrutiny. Unfortunately, Arwen really fucked up by fighting a knight of the Kingsguard, even a disgraced knight of the Kingsguard.

We learned that in the Game of Thrones, right? With Jaime in the streets with Jory and Ned and everyone. Oh, I get it now. The millipede having eyes but not seeing and being blind. It's also about the family and parents. Absolutely. Absolutely. Because you were saying about

blindness. But yeah. Marvin, you know you fucked up by fighting Kristen. And interestingly, Lionel is wearing a similar chain to Allison these are the bucket hats of King's Landing right now latest fashion accessory but also I feel like it's obviously

it's different this conversation but Lionel scolding Marvin is meant to give us a little bit of that thematic resonance with Allison scolding Agen earlier in the episode that's interesting all these families that are surrounding the crowd having just so much pressure on them with Alicent's Golden Agen earlier in the episode. That's interesting. All these families that are surrounding the crown having just so much pressure on them. There's something about that chain decor, right,

that goes across the chest. I think it's something that was kind of common in medieval times and seems to be more common to represent the faith and to represent the maester's chain also in some aspects. It's very holy it's very tutor in my opinion but also it's very systemically like it's much more i feel like it's more dude you know more more lionel strong than it is allison so that she's adopted it where she didn't used to wear it interesting it kind It kind of shows, you know, she's

supporting that kind of more masculine framed, faith framed look. I don't know, something to think about. And the chain around her neck is literally weighing her down, you see that. Lainer and Carl come back a little drunk. When I say a little, they're like trotting

down, arm in arm, beating themselves and just slammed when I say a little, they're like trotting down, arm in arm, feeding themselves, and just slammed drunk, just singing the bear and the maiden fair. Yeah. Which, we knew that song was so old, but also... It's a classic. It's a classic, apparently.

Rhaenyra's coat that she's wearing looks very much like the same golden dress she would wear throughout childhood, or not childhood, you know, in the earlier parts of the series. So great continuity there. Still very,

uh, Syracs themed, right? With the creamy gold kind of look, yellow look, but also then with hints of Targaryen, the red and black still creeping in at the shoulder and collar. I think they did a great job of putting emma in those clothing pieces those

colors to evoke millie's earlier betrayal as well it looks great then we also have laner telling rainiera that war is afoot and the stepstone is due to an alliance with doran and starts to tell her what carl's told him and how he plans to go get a taste of adventure on the sea again and rainiera has some more brewing on as well because she tells him all right well you know what Carl's told him and how he plans to go get a taste of adventure on the sea again. And Rhaenyra has some more brewing on as well because she tells him, alright, well, you know what? There are rumors that our children are bastards and this is affecting

us and I need you by my side right now. And he's like, uh... And he makes a face about them being bastards and she's like, they're your children. You're their true father. This scene really shaded in some of that plot of what's been happening the last 10 years too because he goes on he's like i'm gonna go off and be an adventurer she's like no you will actually be staying here by the way because

you will be at my side forever and it's funny because he just like pretends you know like those are my kids and she's like those are your kids you need to pretend they're your kids even breathing this treason could be bad she won't even see it in private yeah not even in private you don't know who's listening we also get a mention i just want you to know that i believed i knew ryan condell would give me another great thing from the books yeah he did because he did, because we get a mention, non-named, of Recalio Rindoon. And actually, I thought about it, and I was like, I thought this was in Pentos, and on rewatch, I was like, no, this

was actually here in King's Landing, when talking about stepstones. Recalio Rindoon is six and a half feet tall, with a gait, one shoulder is higher than the other. Tyroshi has a dyed beard and hair purple with orange streaks, enjoys bathing in floral waters

like lavender, rose water, cross dresses, pretends to be a sex worker, is gluttonous, a drunkard, speaks dozens of dialects of high Valyrian, incredibly foul-mouthed, ambidextrous with swords, super contradictory too, like everything very contradictory, like would grow bones

for a battle to decide what god to sacrifice to he'd be like well we have to sacrifice someone to something but what's it gonna be and uh there's a story in fire and blood where alan oakenfist does some dealings with him and he's like well fine i'll let you go but i require a kiss from you and he's like what if the next time me and my waifu come through you can kiss her because I don't know about kissing you recalio and he's like that's fine he's totally fine with that I love that all comes back in the eight and three regency I really do hope we get to see it recalio is important I'm holding out for a license spring you know what I mean yeah but I was falling off the couch this was definitely one of my big moments i was like arms in the air like i told you all and they're like what the

fuck did you tell us though when we left laner and raniera you know in the last episode before the age up she was the cause of his lover dying and it showed kind of this imbalance in the relationship of that she thought she was getting not that she thought that she was getting the better end in that moment now the gender roles have set in and she's kind of being treated like a royal mare not um like cersei either like viserys calls her my girl when she goes to show joffrey to her and that didn't mean shows joffrey to him and that didn't mean much to me but then later he starts relating her pregnancies to a metaphor about horses and i was like ah she's a vessel interesting interesting and she had to bear all that literal weight and literally bleed dragging herself through king's landing right to the red

keep while he's just burying his sadness and fucking and fighting and drinking there's also that great parallel that he's like i want to to go feel again. I want to feel anything, but mostly adventure on the water. And Lena is actually wanting the opposite, right? Later she says, I just want to go home and see my brother and my friends and our relatives. I don't want to die far away from home. Well, it's also that she doesn't want to die a comfortable life, right? She's a dragon rider. She wants that kind of spirit of adventure that comes She's a dragon rider. She wants that kind of spirit of adventure

that comes with being a dragon rider. And I think the spirit of adventure goes through House Valerian, from their dad, Corlys, who had a lot of voyages, and that show might be in the works. And I do like that they're not playing Laenor the way that they did for Renly and Loras,

which was an atrocity in Game of Thrones. You know, that they're giving him some depth, and even though we have hardly any scenes of him in seeing it, I'm like, wow, what a character. And

again, I love in private, they stick to the bit. And in regards to gender roles, it is really interesting because Laenor, as King Consort, is in a very specific role. He hasn't really had to do anything other than he has all this free time to sit and roll in his trauma. And he only really kind of has to, his only job was, I guess, to kind of bear heirs which as we discussed

earlier like it's a good thing but i think it's a good thing that they didn't force themselves to do that and but because he's a king consort and a man he doesn't hold ladies courts the way that a queen consort would do right and therefore isn't really building alliances in that same way he's not ruling either which is what a king non-consort would do so i don't know he's like having fun but not really doing anything again roommates he's like he's not even paying rent really and reyniero was like all right i'm sorry we can't afford it this month you have to pay this month and i don't know it's just kind of hard because as you said i don't really blame him because he was grieving and he thought he was getting a good deal out of this

and then he didn't. But at the same time, he's not really doing anything. There's kids now in the scene. But also, I'm like, he's kind of acting like I would expect someone of that age to act. But also most people, I guess, of that age don't marry this man, so. Yeah, there's a little immaturity around it because he

never had to grow up and now he has to he doesn't want any of these things really necessarily right like he did them because they're expected of him yeah and so I definitely agree back to what you were saying about how like if they even consummated it it would have been forced especially that night it would have been forced like oh god but let alone ever it would be a very forced thing and neither of them would be consenting to it and they would have to do it in the fucking eye of the patriarchy and god it's just awful to think of like they but they never had to do that they never had to consummate it because of that and so there is somewhat of that weight like you said time to pay rent for the month you need to act like we love each other again. Yeah. People are starting to question it.

Well, we do know each other, but as friends. Yeah. Even then, there's a little resentment building. Yeah, yeah, there is, but... Won't matter, because he dies next time. Yeah, I was like, yeah. I was like, we don't need to deal with it that long, I guess. Exactly, which is something

I actually really like. These complex moments are good. They're fleeting, which is nice, because then you can marinate on them a little bit later and appreciate them just as much more. Reyna and Lena share a moment about her dragon egg. Reyna is very upset because her egg is not hatching. It's been eight years. Her mom tells her, most of them, spoiler, they don't hatch. And we'll get you one that will hatch i promise reina's more worried she won't be allowed to stay in pentos because she doesn't have dragons and as

the magister said they do and that's important her mom says there are many ways to get a dragon not just through hatching an egg you can bind a dragon to if you want to be a dragon rider which is not at all reina's thing as we know yeah that's not for her that's not her but she gives her kind of a pep talk she's like look at me i ride the biggest dragon in westeros what could go wrong for me and we see earlier damon is giving bela high valyrian lessons and reina says to her mom, she's like dad ignores me. And you can see like she does feel alone and less worthy. Aemon probably feels similar, right? He's probably like everyone ignores me because I'm not cool with a dragon like them. It's a very

horrible hierarchy to have to fit in. Like what happens when you don't have that instant magical touch like all your siblings or cousins or aunts or uncles and she does end up hatching morning one of dreamfire's eggs who is pink and beautiful and sweet and i really look forward to seeing her hopefully soaring in the veil wouldn't that be beautiful but definitely i think such a great parallel for reina and amon to be the anchors of the

only ones without dragons and how that really isolates you in this family. Yeah. I mean, I guess especially because the one person who didn't have a dragon because it died, at least he was the king, so he didn't have to worry about that. Like, Viserys and Aemond might actually get along better

than they understand. Maybe. Well, it's also apparently, so there's a scene that was cut in regards to of course there was. Reyna and Daemon's relationship where after Reyna dies, you know,

Daemon comforts and holds both girls is what I've heard. So. That's sweet, though. I would like to see it. There's a lot of deleted scenes that I would like to see. I know.

Maybe we'll get them. Maybe they're saving them for, like, the Blu-rays. I think they did that with Game of Thrones or something, right? Yeah, there were some, too, where they didn't finish the CGI and they still put them on, which is kind of nice. Yeah. It might be that.

It's also, like, maybe it didn't fit, like, 10 ways in the time slot. But, like, just make it longer. Anything with dragons, I figure, will never come out. I mean, let's be real. They're not going to spend the money to finish it. Just give us a little green tennis ball. Damon and Lena discuss the Pentos offer. Damon is pro-Pentos originally, but he really misses Westerosi wine.

A mood. But he doesn't miss Westeros. He claims. Liar. This all comes off the tail of the message that, of course, Rhaenyra has had another child, which he asks. He's like, did your brother happen to mention if it vaguely looks like Ser Harwin's strong enough? She's like, no.

He did not, lol. Yeah. Laena tells him that she'd rather die a dragon rider's death, but she'd also rather be home at Driftmark before them with her family and friends instead of in this foreign country a visitor. There's also something interesting here where Laena says that damon spends all of his time reading accounts of dead dragon lords from the pentoshi library all day that stood out to me

and makes me wonder what he's looking for a purpose in life yeah that too that too very much but dragon dreams dragon dreams, dragon dreams, it's a theme. It could be. It could be. Or did he, like, stumble upon something right in Reddit because the Pentoshi libraries might have it because they were once part of the Valyrian freehold. Yeah. Which is why I don't

really, I didn't really understand why they're like, this is not where we belong. We're blood of old Valyria. And I'm like, there aren't a lot of the people here in Pentos. Well, not exactly. I don't know. Pentos was very technically anti-slavery. Anyway, the relationship between Daemon and Laena is really interesting, right?

They're ten years into this marriage. I do think that he loves her and he lusts or lusted after her. You know, they probably had, like, great sex at some point, but he's just not in love with her and she knows that he knows everyone knows that kind of like reina and laenor but also completely different because those two never had lust between them yeah right place and right time just like harwin

probably was for rhaenyra yeah i mean that's really this like laenor is not the same as laena for daemon but laena and Harwin are absolutely... I mean, this episode shows you the carved path. Like, as Otto Hightower said, the path forward has never been clearer. Like, obviously, this chessboard has unfortunately been cleared in one episode. Yeah. For some boning to take, some dragon boning to take place. Speaking of chess boards,

let's talk about the small council meeting. That was pretty good. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm getting better. So the Brackens and the Blackwoods are fighting. Allison says this is a Lord Grover Tully problem and not their problem, but Rhaenyra says something interesting.

Yeah, she says, and yet the Brackens and Blackwoods will use any excuse to spill each other's blood. So this dispute bears looking into. There will be country folk who know where the lines have been drawn for generations. That is easy enough. Hmm. Could that be a metaphor for something in the end?

Like, there's just something interesting in their fight in this scene because everything comes to tension comes to blows for both of them right like every little thing everyone else is just nodding their head especially beesberry as we know because he's you know god bless his heart but she's getting a little old allison and reneara though they're like no one else is here it is just us fighting and allison is like no the middle managers have it and rainier is like it's our duty to like the realm to take care of this stuff and in rainier's case the lines have been drawn for generations especially the country folk will know or not know of who should be the heir of that area of the barakans and the Blackwoods, but also maybe of the area she's attempting to rule.

Yeah, I mean, apparently all you need to draw that line is have a dick, but... That's what you draw it with. Yeah, exactly, exactly. If you can pee like that, you know, anyways. Absolutely. The Stepstones comes back to the top again. Thanks, Thailand. Thanks, Thailand.

He is definitely in this episode, believe it or not. I missed it last night. Saw it on rewatch. Rhaenyra and Alicent butt heads about the Stepstones as well. Rhaenyra's like, it's our responsibility again because we left it unmanned and we should have raised some defenses and we did not.

There's this great back and forth. I was hoping our negotiations with Sunspear might persuade them to see reason to trust a Martell is to be disappointed says Viserys interesting very interesting and you know I will say a lot of fun things going on in this small council

scene they're giving us the Muppet Tullys thank god thank god thank you Ryan Condell thank you HBO thank you Sesame Street IP which is no longer owned by HBO but maybe it was related. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was a coincidence. I will say it seems like Rhaenyra was actually maybe

trying to get some stuff kind of done. Maybe she was just throwing, I don't know, stirring the pot. But also she was talking about real business, and then Alicent moves to end the meeting as soon as it starts to get hard and Viserys is relieved and I'm like

oh I've seen this scene before this is literally exactly what Otto Hightower did every fucking small council meeting they would start talking about business Damon would start talking about like hey maybe we should address something in the stepstones and then Otto was like let's talk about the tourney isn't it fun let's talk about the giant

party right and not have to actually do any fucking real work and get stuff done And then Otto was like, let's talk about the tourney. Isn't it fun? Let's talk about the giant party. Right? And not have to actually do any fucking real work and get stuff done. Avoid conflict and let it brew instead. And let it just fucking steam up until it rises. And that's so interesting because there's so much in this meeting that I'm like, Allison, are you serious? Oh, they were good at driving wedges between the family members.

I mean, because this is like what they're supposed to do. They get the tax money from the small folk and the medium folk and the whatever folk. They get the taxes. And then what do they do with the taxes? Like, this is unfortunately the boring part. Yeah, they buy really beautiful green dresses allison knows but like this is the boring stupid part of it all and it matters yeah absolutely and they're like we don't want to actually have conflict and she's like we need to have conflict right that's demonstrated by uh when she deals with the stuff on jason but like also

when rainiera was like saying all these things these like very interesting like competent smart sounding things about this is how we take this is what we should have done how we hold the stepstones and protect the interests of the country from the triarchy regaining it and I was like oh fuck Frank was

right she is Stannis I hate agreeing with Frank for those of you that don't know frank bum user at frank b-u-m-b on twitter is a stannerman and frankly a disappointment frankly sorry sorry frank but usually a pretty big disappointment and agreeing with him about how much he loves stannis or how much you love stannis is usually you know know, that's the killer. That's when you know, you're like, shit, I agree with Frank. And Eliana went full Frank. And I do agree, though, like,

she's being the queen who cared. Yeah. I literally yelled that when this, like, aired in the episode. Like, I assume when me and you were talking, I don't know if you remember, I was like, she's Stannis. Fuck. I hate agreeing with Frank. But it comes for us all. It does, it does.

And I mean, Frank is right, you know? Stop saying it. A lot of what we see in this exchange, it is similar also to, and the parallels between Rhaenyra and Stannis are a bit similar to how in the main five books that

should be seven, there are parallels between Stannis and daenerys right and how they're regarded by the public and the relationships with jon because of that i do think that the parallels between stannis and daenerys though their parallels are very different i think from the ones between stannis and rhaenyra though there are parallels like for example we see that rhaenyra like stannis has a deep understanding of how the laws of Westeros work, and combined with this, as well as her ability to solve problems that may or may not have conflict involved, like when Daemon stole the dragon egg, that she is not just competent, but capable. fail to build the necessary alliances and connections which are often you know built through the politicking of human interactions and charisma uh as we saw by the missed opportunities in at the hunt but unlike stannis i do think reyniera has a harder climb ahead of her

right like we do see that reyniera can be very charming the public like her well enough unlike stannis but um they just don't love her as a sovereign. They don't like that idea at all. And it's a double bind because the thing that, like, to be elected king or queen, you do have to have the likability aspect. Unfortunately, popularity is

actually a big deal in elections, even though people say, oh, I want to vote for someone just because I know their name or like them. That's a big deal and it's a big way to avoid civil unrest like yeah well people people don't always vote through logic well what they vote through how someone makes them feel and reneara's in the double spoiler they don't vote in westeros no no i know i know i'm but like they did they're saying like people won't accept her as a leader and that's a double bind

because the behaviors that would endear her to the public and to the lords mean performing things like being courted or acting, which means therefore acting like a prize or object publicly performing and acting as compassionate

which means also performing things like motherhood and that could win her love because then she's doing a great job of performing her gender role but these are also behaviors that within a patriarchal society are therefore

associated with femininity and therefore not associated with leadership because women can't lead obviously and it's also kind of funny because in our coverage when you and I did fire and blood episodes

and covered the dance in our Patreon episodes all 80 of them all 80 of them towards the end there we criticized Agen III, Rhaenyra's son who has not yet been born in this time for doing the same thing right like he fails to do the political performances that would win him the love of the public he doesn't go on tour see the people he rules and we're like what the fuck are you doing kind of like how reneira cuts your tour short and on one hand i'm

like we could say that aegon learned these from Rhaenyra, but also I think it's kind of more like possible that it comes from a lack of tutelage, same as how Viserys didn't really teach Rhaenyra. Her uncle didn't really guide her that well politically either. They're just like, do whatever the fuck you want. That's how you do it. Just exert force.

Also, Aegon didn't have that tutelage because Rhaenyra dies. And he comes to detest those that are giving him any tutelage. Yeah, and he's obviously distrustful for good reasons. Well, bad reasons. I mean, there are reasons that make sense for a lot of it. But also, none of us want to do the things we don't want to do when they're emotionally taxing parts of our jobs. But you know, we buck't want to do when they're emotionally taxing parts of our jobs but you know we buck up we do it anyway that's not necessarily an inherent trait you know that's like a learned trait and it's easier when we have mentors who admire who teach us how to do that and no one taught these two people how to do that agan you can see is really left on his own quite

literally a lot of ways because everyone's dead except him yeah literally the only person who comes back is his baby brother. And yeah. Then he brings a whole lot of trouble back. Yeah. Rhaenyra stands and makes an offer across the aisle to Alicent that they are one house and this tension must end between their families. I thought this was really nice.

I was very like that she took this out of her and she's like, I will do this. I will be the bigger person. She offers that they should betroth jacaris the heir or jacaris i'm sorry i'm still in between everyone i'm sorry for those of you at home listening release uh jacaris the heir to helena and also would be giving them the next egg from syrax's upcoming clutch whenever she releases the clutch of eggs viserys is so happy he's like so judicious wow i love this the clutch of ice. Viserys is so happy. He's like, so judicious. Wow, I love this. The people of Whoville are

happy. The Who's of Whoville are really happy. But Alicent is like, yeah, we'll consider it. And on first blush, it does seem similar to Otto trying to be like, hey, maybe Aegon and Rhaenyra are spread, but I don't really think it's the same in terms of the whole part of continuing the line and reproduction and the ages.ra's wed, but I don't really think it's the same in terms of the whole part of continuing the line

and reproduction and the ages. It's kind of funny because she Aegon's it though herself. Or she Viserys' it. She then is like, well fine, I'll marry you to Baelor. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. And then Alicent's like she's got her own ideas.

Yeah, and all of this of course is horrible. Horrible situation. Interrupted by Rhaenyra's breasts lactating. And Alyson is like, uh, Rhaenyra, check yourself. And then says they'll consider it. And she's like, time for a bad husband. Yeah. And I don't know. It kind of sucks that it's Alyson using that internalized misogyny in terms of like oh no your boobs are lactating to be like we gotta end this meeting how embarrassing when we're talking

about real shit but you might not have noticed it had she said nothing for a minute like she could have finished her sentence but you know she was just checking rainier out and looking at her babies well that is what happens for allison doesn't it ah friends to enemies you know friends to lovers to enemies how sweet it is and Allison actually says after this she leaves with Viserys in the hall she says how sweetly the fox speaks when it's been cornered by hounds and he's like she's sincere

she's like she's desperate she feels the earth washing away beneath her feet and she wants us to ignore her transgressions and for me to marry my only daughter to one of her plain featured sons what is this cersei talking about doran don't be rude the proposal is a good one viscera says we're a family let us put aside these childish quarrels join hands and be stronger

for it and she says you may do as you wish husband when i am cold in my grave wow alice so they're a little estranged huh oh definitely i think that's why you know and especially when she's just like fuck you and lets him sit in the chair i think that's why he misses emma yeah yeah my wife and i are not great it's kind of funny because i think this is this is where the reactionary marriage comes in with aiken to helena this actually gives great purpose that like she immediately was like, no, because husband, listen,

I came up with the perfect idea and ignore me a couple episodes ago saying the Targaryen customs are queer because Agen and Helena are going to get married and it's going to really strengthen the succession, you know, give you great Targaryen heirs-ish. And you're going to love it, you know? It's funny that she's forcing them to wed under succession circumstances, purely reactionary. Yeah, it's kind of funny because imagine marrying into that family and being like,

okay, I guess I'm going to let my sibling children wed now. Because people are not raised to feel that way everywhere else I mean Harris and Allison are one thing right

like they had like 13 kids they expected half of them to get married to each other and the other couple they were like

we'll figure it out yeah but I mean you only have so many and the Targs are starting to

get away from that like that was their goal they're like I guess we now have to start to kind of you know date other people stop fucking ourselves only also is this fox

in the hound thing is that a fox in the hound reference which is also about two childhood friends that get torn apart by society possibly i was also thinking of like the fox in the hair in a way of how whatever when the fox like tricks the turtle in the hare and the hare is like yeah i'll do anything to get ahead and the turtle's like no and the fox like steps on the turtle to get across and i don't know it's a whole fable but basically the whole thing is like the fox and the other guys they're like no i'm being tricked and that leads to their doom i'm being tricked that leads to their doom. I'm being tricked, that leads to their doom. Not unlike Allison, who's like, every turn, she's like, ah, it's a trick, it's a trick.

You're the best of friends. This is a song from Fox and the Hound. So Lord B's very, real old. They're showing it in how he's behind on things, which I guess kind of plays into later. Allison takes Viserys to his chambers, where Lionel then shows up to submit his resignation, and how he's behind on things which i guess kind of plays into later allison takes the series to his chambers where lionel then shows up to submit his resignation uh even though harbin has been fired lionel's like okay okay you know what uh i'm just gonna take him home to avoid further scandal

allison helps the series get into his chair when they first arrive and he starts joking to Lionel. He's like, I can't even go to the bathroom. I'm always being fussed over. And at the very end of the scene when he asks for help, she basically flips him off and she's like, nope, bye. That was pretty sad too, in a way. You know, she wanted to be there to hear

what Lionel said, to hear the drama and that's why she made herself useful and stayed and acted somewhat loving but yeah totally loving not that she owes this man anything to me i don't think she does no she doesn't but then he's like i actually need help and she's like you shouldn't talk shit to lionel strong then maybe if you hadn't made your cute clever little asides i would be helping you yeah that's true that true, that, and also because I guess, she's like, why aren't you acknowledging that there is

grandsons? Yeah, she's pretty mad. She feels like she's going crazy. Yeah, that's true. She's like, why won't anyone admit it? I will say, though, RIP to Lionel, a good and honorable man,

very honest. That's's it I love him he's like if you feel like that's the right thing to do sounds good Sarah says you know he's like alright he's like I wasn't gonna go here but love it great idea you remove yourself from the equation Allison then brings her struggles

to Larry Strong and she doesn't really ask for a solution but boy does Larry Strong plan one. I just can't believe she's like, my father would give an impartial thing and Larry's like, are you fucking sure? And I'm like, be serious, Allison. There's no way Otto Hightower was ever going to do anything honorable or impartial. To be fair, like, yes. She's like, no, but he'd be impartial to me. Yeah, right. And she realizes, okay, no, you're right. She does get serious. But I was like, in the heat of the moment, I was like, are you kidding me? Larry's goes

to the black cells and he finds some volunteers and gives them their own new little sigil to follow. Yeah, he's got a new sigil. It's a firefly. It's a firefly, which, it's funny, right? Because fire, like the one at Heron Hall, though apparently in some regions

of the u.s they call them lightning bugs where my partner grew up they don't call them fireflies they call them lightning bugs i wonder if that will come up at some point but anyways it's also funny because there's a lot of things to say about fireflies fireflies mate by you know flashing their butts they're attracted to so the female will like be like on like a stalk of grass or something and then will blow a certain pattern a beacon that attracts the male so i'm like is that uh larry's responding to the beacon of the high tower as a firefly they come over to it and also yeah fireflies can beautiful, they can be symbols of hope, but also not always. For example,

in Japan, the term Kotaru, which is also the name of Sailor Saturn, the soldier of death in Sailor Moon, the fireflies are sometimes called to be souls of the dead. That aligns with rings of power, too, right now.

No spoilers. Wow. There is something else. There's, like, this Victorian superstition that when a firefly or lightning bug gets in your home, it means someone's gonna die soon. Well, interesting. What if there's three of them in your home? Oh, God. I mean, when Larry shows up, time to die.

Time to die. Time to die, but not in the cool Roy Batty way. Yeah. Well, speaking of time to die. Oh, shit. This one's kind of cool in the Roy Batty way. Lena dies a dragon rider's death. Lena goes through a terrible childbirth and and Daemon is given a familiar option.

Kill your wife and save the child, or let it play out. The next shot ends up being her facing down Vhagar, begging Vhagar to light around fire, commanding Dracarys over and over again. Until finally, reluctantly, Vhagar submits. Dude, it's hard just writing it the obvious episode one parallels with emma i personally like this change uh in the after episode the writers talked about it was bullshit for lana to just go out collapse in childbirth i had heard this rumored as a leak like in the last few days and I didn't believe it I saw like the photo from the trailer and people were like look that's Lena and I didn't believe it whatsoever at first I liked the way they did it I thought it could have been cheesy had it been done differently it was well

done and I think especially as we explore the bond with dragons so deeply in this episode and the high valyrian and the dragon scrolls that are kind of lingering around the plot. I think it's actually a pretty good adaptation choice. Yeah, and I think it's important that what they were showing right in front of episode one and also what you were talking about at the beginning of the episode is Lena gets to choose to go out on her terms, right? And she gets to have that control over her body. And it's great that Daemon doesn't take that. It's interesting because he doesn't. He did probably kill his first wife anyway um accounts very maybe yeah i mean we

don't see it someone pointed out you don't actually like see it on screen it's intimated though but in regards to going out with the dragon rider's death right part of it shows selena's connection to home her wanting to keep those family traditions how that's a deep part of her but also i think it recontextualizes then ringer's ultimate death at the hands of agan the second because fire and blood portrayed agan burning ringera as an atrocity which when you do it in front of her child uh probably yeah definitely atrocious and cruel but now it kind of means that if this is a dragon rider's death how Agen kills Rhaenyra maybe was actually giving her some of that dignity and death and kind of like respect

I guess but I think the point is that you choose it with your dragon I thought that it might not have always been chosen with your dragon because if you lose if your dragon rider let's say you're fighting another dragon yeah that makes sense that's the dragon rider's death usually the other dragon maybe I assume does it because you've lost

to be fair like that is foreshadowing the events to come throughout the entire series. Well, these dragon riders we lose, right? Daemon and Aemon's fight and Rhaenys' fight against everyone. And it foreshadows what's to come there and shows, like, Laena was like, I'd rather choose it right here, right now. Laenar, please do it. Yeah.

Don't make me go out like this. This isn't how I want to go. And I don't know it just felt more powerful the choice of it because like to me it's like when you're still gets eaten by her nemesis's dragon yeah so i don't think it's very dignified i think it's actually like more embarrassing that she walks into it and he's like well i'm gonna have my dragon eat you now because you're that stupid that you walked into your own home i think the eating is meant to be disrespectful. The consumption is disrespectful, but if she wishes and honors him as like,

give me a dragon rider's death at least, I wonder if they'll do it like that. Because it's abomination. Yeah, it's a couple of things going on. And he doesn't choose it for himself. Okay, speaking of fucking depression. This is... This scene was so special to me.

I didn't even know I was going to care this much. Harwin saying goodbye was so beautiful and sad. Like, I actually... I mean, I was just in tears at the end of this episode. It was really well done. I was, like, sitting on the couch like, oh my god, why am I crying? Harwin, the dialogue in this scene when he says goodbye to the boys is so sweet. He says, be good to your mother, l lads I'll visit when I can that may be

some time Jace I'll return I promise I will be a stranger when we meet again maybe with a stranger and then of course Rhaenyra lies she says we'll exchange letters by Raven won. Won't that be fun? She says.

She's heartbroken, too. She has to put on this big performance right now. She can't touch him. She can't look at him in the sight of other people right now. I mean, she's grounded from Harwin. But Jake's like, what's going on? And he leaves, and Jake turns to her and he's like, is Harwin strong, my father?

Am I a bastard and she says you are a targaryen that is all that matters you have my blood it's all that matters right the inverse of ned stark i mean he even says i'll return i promise yeah i promise jace i promise and of course jace going on to the bastard northern girl. There's something going on there, that inverse of- I mean, just the idea of you're a Targaryen and that's what matters. You have my blood. Especially when bringing up Rhaenys of the OG3, right, of the Conquerors. And Rhaenys' bloodline could possibly have stemmed from a bastard, you know? bloodline could possibly have stemmed from a bastard, you know? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it does the knife say, from my blood, not from my lung, so. You have my blood.

Rhaenyra then plans to leave for Dragonstone, and we have her reciting back to Laenor, his counsel of, the wise sealer flees the storm as it gathers. Kinda reminds me of what Corlys said in episode 2 to Viserys about how the best way to elude a storm, you can either sail into it or around it, but you must never await its coming. And Laenor says to her, a wise sailor flees the storm while it gathers, regroups, and plans their attack, and that is, of course, what they're going to do. Yep. Well, next we have the Curse of Harrenhal. Is this what having a brother is like i think so oh goodbye to the least problematic baby daddy in the show absolutely i'm still personally viserys did it that's my team i'm on team viserys did it you know i appreciate a good adaptation i do yeah yeah i don't know it really seemed like they were

gonna go that way and then they didn't but i'm holding a hope that there's a reason they had laurie's do it that'll pay off in terms of you know unraveling characters stuff and motivation that deepens and like feels really good because george is clearly happy with this adaptation but in regards to the burning at heron hall harwinwin trying to rescue his dad, his dad trying to get out, and them both burning and dying together, it actually really reminded me, speaking of the Starks, of Brandon Stark trying

to rescue his father Rickard when Ares was cooking Rickard. And Brandon was trying to get to him and save him and get to his sword. A well-done reference, Eliana, which I usually prefer medium rare, but a well done reference.

That's true. It's very Brandon and Rickard which again is what makes me wish it was Viserys that did it. That he did it to shut it all up. Shut Alicent up. Shut up. Because he is kind of losing it a little in some ways in indifference. We get this little monologue

from our Firefly. God. He says, What are children but a weakness, a folly, a futility? Through them you imagine you cheat the great darkness of its victory. You'll persist forever

in some form or another, as if they'll keep you from the dust but for them you surrender what you should not you may know what is the right thing to be done but love stays the hand love is a downfall chilling our first uh as some have pointed out our first little finger the climb overture and i love that they chose laurie's to do it i don't know i kind of feel like his character he's definitely interesting he's a messy bitch who's here for the drama and i love that i'd love to watch him ride those waves though i did feel like he had a better purpose though we didn't know so i'm like i don't know why i felt this way but i feel like he has a

greater purpose overall in the books or that he was like never anyone's one man so it's interesting to see him cling to allison you and i have talked a little bit offline about how i mean we find it interesting because neither of these characters really had anyone in the books you know i mean in the books they're very isolated characters you didn't you didn't know if they had any friends if they could talk to one another or anyone they aren't seen is talking to each other in the book so it's interesting they chose these single players in the dance to join them together and feed into allison's neuroses dare i say yeah yeah and it's not unlike what we see for cersei in the first season and even in the first few books all books cersei's kind of fed into by some of these lines. And this overture specifically reminded me of a couple things.

First of all, the speech in Season 2, Episode 7, A Man Without Honor, Game of Thrones, when Cersei says, The more people you love, the weaker you are. You'll do things for them that you know you shouldn't do. You'll act the fool to make them happy, to keep them safe. Love no one but your children. On that front, a mother has no choice. And it also echoes really well to its kind of counterpart

in, I won't say this is Clash, with Sansa where she says and the bastard stuff comes through here a little, in different ways Though Joff would cry whenever Robert picked him up, his grace did not like that. His bastards always gurgled at him happily and sucked his finger when he put it in their little base-born mouths. Strong boys.

Robert wanted smiles and cheers, always, so he went where he found them, to his friends and his whores. Robert wanted to be loved. My brother Tyrion has the same disease.. Robert wanted to be loved. My brother Tyrion has the same disease. Do you want to be loved, Sansa? Everybody wants to be loved. I see flowering hasn't made you any brighter. Sansa, permit me to share a bit of womanly wisdom with you on this very special day. Love is poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same which is exactly what larry says love stays the hand love is a downfall interesting and i do think it does end up being a downfall for both allison and and renera yeah i don't know i i'm interested where they see where they're going

to take larry's character with this because he does have mysterious endings in Fire and Blood 2. And by Fire and Blood 2, I mean Fire and Blood also, not the second volume. We are waiting for it. Look under a tree. But it does lend credence to our friend Matt aka Joe Magician's theory that perhaps, I don't know, was Larry's

did he not have a problem killing his brother and father because Harwin broke his foot right and like his family covered it up lionel doesn't seem like that kind of dad i don't know very sandor gregor your dad but like a dad who actually like cared and also you you here and last night we're talking about it being kind of like little finger and that is what he does to allison right he ensnares her in this plot and she's like oh this is not this is not what i was part of um same as little finger does with sansa there and he's like you're complicit now it's like is she this is just like me oh my god you're right it's just like when they asked selena

if she wants to take care of someone she's like yeah for sure take care of it yeah they're like oh is this not what you meant? But it's kind of funny because when she finds out, Allison's all like, honor and decency will prevail. I'm sorry, I'm never going to let that go. And I'm like, how can you say that when this is what you've permitted? These are the people you're like,

this is now your side. This is your plans and thoughts now too. Why are you not getting rid of this dude? He's being super weird about the hibiscus plant. I will say that I do love the physicality of Olivia's acting. Her hand like goes to her throat. Not unlike Sansa with the hair in it when she figures it out. Will she start picking at her fingernails now again?

Now that she's got all these plots? Maybe. Which will maybe parallel to when raniera is bleeding from the iron throne interesting very interesting i'm very interested in that and larry's is for sure becoming like the little finger side character there's even a shot in the trailer for next week where he is like staring at her at lena's wake and like he's making this eye at her like why yes you're still connected to me because even here he says to her like well i know you'll reward me when the time comes and she's like i didn't tell you to do this i just

wanted someone to listen to me talk this is the worst rumple stiltzkin deal that i did not sign up for i just wanted a therapist he did not get proper sign off from management when he chose to do that this is a violation of oh my god uh i did watch the trailer real slow-mo i want you to know tell us i took it real slow get ready for chloe's kickback lena is put to rest lots from the lake if you watch it slow-mo you can see the caskets in the trailer knock against the other caskets in the water of her ancestors which is so cool that's a that's a really cool touch when her casket hits down in the water it is on them the family on drift mart or dragon stone post funeral i'd guess it's dragon stone because it's right before you know the dragon pitting at dragon stone they were all planning to meet there anyway looking aghast

everyone damon raniera corlees i'm guessing they've been wakened in the middle of the night everyone, Daemon, Rhaenyra, Corlys I'm guessing they've been wakened in the middle of the night someone has stolen Vhagar the twins wake Jiseras to tell him Baelon, Rhaena wake him up get ready to find out who Daemon we see

I think it's Daemon on a spiraling set of stairs possibly subduing someone Laenor is fighting someone it's Karrie so we know because that's's gonna happen next episode what a bummer two uh weddings and a funeral or two funerals and a wedding oh two funerals and a wedding a hooded person is in a shipyard with lots of orange and yellow flags waving about they have a hood up see some blonde hair kind of looks like damon there's a little line that

gets set over it there's a debt to be paid, which makes me think of blood and cheese. So it just makes me think it's Daemon. And could be the Free Cities, could be Dorne, right? With those colors. Lots of the Aemond fighting going on. The twins, Bela and Reyna, even look roughed up and

bleeding in this shot. Like, you focus on them, and I think Bela might have a bloody lip, and Reyna may be a little scuffed up around her eyes. Everyone is fighting. Everyone's blitzing. Everyone's matched up with someone. Otto's back. He has the hand of the kingpin back on. Boo. Boo. Get a job. A different job. Larius looks knowingly at Alicent during the wake. Alicent is in the midst of the fighting

grabbing the dagger that she will apparently cut Rhaenyra's hand with. And there's a shot of Otto where he's lifting Aemond off the ground in the dark outside so maybe it's post-Vhagar. But that is what I spotted with my little eye. If you've

spotted something else in the trailer, we would love to hear from you. Yeah, you can let us know by telling us on social media. You can send us a tweet on Twitter at twitter.com slash girlsgonecanon. That's at girlsgonecanon, C-A-N-O-N. Or maybe you want to send us an email at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Yeah, and if you haven't already, please subscribe to us over at a podcast platform near you that you love to listen to, like Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, Acast, iTunes, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Audible. We're on everything. slash girls gone canon where we are releasing a bonus episode this month for patrons in the stranger tier above five dollars and up about aliceanne for mothers of the dragon part two

most of the dragon part two yes milfs milfs milfs and if that's not enough we have a back catalog of 49 other special patreon episodes this is our 50 50th, our golden anniversary. So check out those old episodes or join us weekly for our House of the Dragon discussions on Fridays, 2pm ET, or monthly for brunch and happy hour in the Discord. That's for Thunder Tear patrons

and above at patreon.com slash girls gone canon. Thanks everyone for joining us this week. We'll see you next week after a time skip of one week I have been one of your hosts Eliana and I have been another one of your hosts

Chloe honor and decency will prevail blood and cheese oh my god rude rude that's not, still not okay, but I'll probably forgive that war crime too.

At least he didn't kill this wife. Goodbye.