The Reel Rejects - A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS EPISODE 2 REVIEW – THIS IS PEAK COZY WESTEROS!!

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Starting point is 00:00:27 Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Thank you to Hewle for sponsoring this video. More on them in just a bit. How are you, G? Oh, dude, I'm doing Splendacular. Let's watch episode two, guys. Because sometimes I sneak past you. That was another...

Starting point is 00:00:50 I can't say that either. Can't say that either. A lot of C words you cannot say. Yeah. You can say? Sorry. This is a test of the automated curse words. Well, crud.

Starting point is 00:01:08 If you see this video, we made it. Well, guys, also, the full reaction watchful, where you get a sync up with your own copy. That is available for our Royal Rejects. We call them our patrons. So thank you guys so much for joining our Patreon and help offset copyright stuff. Like how we get demonetized sometimes for one second words. It's kind of crazy.

Starting point is 00:01:30 So thank you for supporting us. And you also get some teas at our rejignation shop.com. Barcode right here on screen. all right michael how you feeling man i really love this show yeah elaborate a little more why well for one um it is so nice to just not be worried about the entire state of the world of westrose and to just be on this jaunty little adventure uh and i i think sir duncan is just such a lovable two-fus and it's so hard not to root for him and i think egg is just such an excellent little brilliant silly magical whimsy just like the perfect foil to sir duncan um this episode in

Starting point is 00:02:26 particular like as a big lore horror i loved seeing i appreciate that they don't feel the need to say everybody's names and you just see the sigils and the different houses and um and so like if you're a super nerd you're able to appreciate the brilliance of like oh house tully eating the head off of a fish and then throwing it is wonderful because you know they're the lord paramounts at the riverlands um and then it was uh sort of i think the ultimate differentiator between the hedge knight or a knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Game of Thrones. When we hear a Tully say by the old gods and the new, it is a very distraught Catlin Stark during the Red Wedding.

Starting point is 00:03:16 Begging. Meanwhile, this guy's like, by the old gods and the new, poop. And that juxtaposition, like the fact that that future Tully came to mind in that horrific scene, I'm like, this show is so much lighter and fun. And I love this just like. They're exploring this world in such a fun way. Even egg being like, you blackfire bastards. I mean, it's such a wonderful thing.

Starting point is 00:03:40 And I have to say something I was most excited about in this episode was the creation of the sigil and the story behind that. You know, I tried to do it myself yesterday or whenever we watched the last episode, you know, when we saw the shooting star come down because it's just such a special thing. And if you're rewatching Game of Thrones Keep an eye out because Breanne of Tarth Stumbles upon that shield Sigil in the show I don't remember that all. It's there by the blink of an eye

Starting point is 00:04:15 I don't remember most of games. All done. Yeah, I think about it all the time. What did you guys think? What are you, John? How are you feeling, man? Yeah, I'm continuing to, I feel very similarly to Michael but with all the less like knowledge of the lore, obviously. Like this, you know, this is more my flavor of show,

Starting point is 00:04:39 and I am also kind of marveled at the way in which they are willing to create something like this that feels also kind of of a different tradition of stuff. Like in British telly, I'm used to seeing more paid to going into time periods like this and putting the resources into bringing them to life. And, you know, doing that here. hear in a way that certainly gives you a certain level of carnage and action. There's a joust and that scene is really intense and it feels like you're one of the people running around in the chaos half of the time and you're really plugged into how the crowd is.

Starting point is 00:05:11 It's like it's got spectacle and it's got the irreverence that a show, you know, some other show of an older tradition might not have. But also it has some of the cozy tones and it has just a lovely way of like I like stuff like this because it helps make all the other things of the grand. greater more, you know, momentous pieces feel part of a more living, breathing world. You know, like it adds light to the map and it just makes it feel like an alive place where, yeah, there are people who are not concerned with the literal state crafting and all that stuff who are just trying to make it by.

Starting point is 00:05:47 And yeah, I love the performance of Sir Duncan so far. And especially seeing him play off egg that much more. This episode was really fun, getting to know what their dynamic will be. wondering what the deal with egg is. Just, you know, who is this, you know, mysterious lad. But, uh, do you have any predictions? It's got to be important somehow.

Starting point is 00:06:11 It's got to be someone's house. I don't know, take your roulette wheel. I guess anytime someone is notably bald, I'm like, are you hiding blonde hair under there? But, uh, but I mean, it could be anybody, you know, And I like kind of not having a great idea of that now. I like that John is Ned Stark in season one being like, I have to figure out, is Joffrey a bastard or not? Opens book, blonde hair, blonde hair, blonde hair.

Starting point is 00:06:46 Oh my God, we figured it out. He's a bastard. That's John's logic in trying to figure out, ooh, is egg. Yes. He could just be a kid. He could just be a kid. And I'm excited for, I, you know, I like that I don't care if he's anything important. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:07:02 I'm happy that he could just be a kid. I know that this is the kind of universe where he could probably be somebody important. But at the same time, I like that it's just the right amount of cozy and just the right amount of thronesy, you know. How are you feeling, gee? I feel like it's a very fun show. It's a really great characterization. I like what they've done with Dunk because. I think they've they lean much more into the sensitivity of this guy like there was the horse scene that was the most telling to me because I remember the horse scene being like a moment where it was a disconnect for me when I was like well that definitely wouldn't be me and that tells you something about this character it's very transactional yeah yeah that's exactly that's the exact word for it you know and for him to have because I think in the book he actually shows like three horses or something any any I think he

Starting point is 00:07:56 brings him, it's been a while. And he, he exchanges, he sells one, but it is just a transaction. And to take the riding, put it down to just one horse, make it a personal sell, put the weight of it,

Starting point is 00:08:11 even him talking to the horse about possibly buying him back. I'm like, yeah, this is exactly the characterization they've done differently for him to make him more soft. But what I love to is the inverse,

Starting point is 00:08:24 where I thought, and during the joust scene because as cool as the jousting stuff looked and there were some stuff that was definitely like CGIed but I was like appreciative of the CGI because they because it's at night they were able to mask it like pretty well yeah it's one of the rare times I wasn't really thinking about it at all there's like one shot move the movement I think really it helped with that yeah there was one shot where it looks CGI and I was like I don't care it looked good yeah it's still better than John Snow's rubber sword during the battle of his yeah well there was a little yeah well there was

Starting point is 00:08:56 like it was a shot where he I think it's when he's like getting back up on the horse or it doesn't really matter like it was well done it's like it looks cool it's remember that shot in like the two towers when uh legolus gets on the horse in that like weird way i don't know if you guys remember that shot yeah he's it looks like they reversed the frame or something that's exactly what yeah that's a little bit what i was thinking about here was like whoa that looks cool though like and but that scene was to show the the fear as well of what dunk was going through and I like the interpretation because to me it was reading as like a panic attack that he was having going in there.

Starting point is 00:09:31 And I love how instead of him ending on the note of, I don't know if I can do this, I'm scared. He uses it to, you see the way of how he's become who he is because he finds a strength. He's like, I'm going to honor this. Now I have a mountain to climb and now I'm on a mission. You know, like they lean into the fact that he's like super tall as a thing to make fun of him about. It's the thing they call out a lot in the material, but here in this world of the show, it's never used as a way to intimidate.

Starting point is 00:10:02 You know, it's just a way to make fun of him and bring him down. And so I love how they're slowly letting him morph into like tough moments. Yeah. Like with the tug of war. And then like at that very end to have the monologue and show the moment where most stories would be like he's just panicking

Starting point is 00:10:18 and we're going to end on the fearful note, but instead to end on the note that he's going to do legacy. You want to say it's interesting. It's interesting because I interpreted that entirely differently. Which moment? The perceived panic attack. And like when he was... So when he was watching the joust, he was aroused.

Starting point is 00:10:35 I think when he had those visions, I think what he was most scared of, what was creating the anxiety is the thought that his entire existence and legacy is going to end up in the mud on a road. I felt like that was, yeah, and I think we're on the same page. No, we're having a fight. We're fighting right now, Greg. Yeah. Oh, Rejected is now 2026, and I've been thinking a lot about what health actually means to me right now, and I'm sure a lot of you are too. Last year, I made a big deal about dropping, like, 50 pounds,

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Starting point is 00:12:39 And yes, this is an ad. However, this is something I have genuinely come back to. So thank you, Hewell, for sponsoring this video. I'm just a bad lesson. I mean, that extra layer to that. Yeah. I don't think the fear it's, self of the joust. I don't think that's what made him anxious. I think it was more the what my life

Starting point is 00:12:59 will be if I don't give myself this opportunity. And even more so, I mean, sure, this guy spent the majority of his life sort of living in real time, seeing that his mentor, his really his only family is by and large, by societal standards of failure. You know, but at least he was a good person that, you know, gave back when he could and tried and, you know, but realizing that this person that was so important to you, in the end, amounts to the level of nothingness in this society that is all about status and legacy. I think that's such a beautiful sort of thing for him to have to contend with

Starting point is 00:13:42 because it forces him to not just do it for himself, but also do it so that this person that he loves. It's like, you know, when they talk about like, There's the first time you die where you physically die and the second time you die is the last time anybody ever says your name. He is on a quest to make sure that that his master doesn't have a second death. And I think that's beautiful. And I like that as a wrap around throughout the episode getting these. I like the motif these first two episodes have had where you're cutting to him in these little brief moments,

Starting point is 00:14:15 which utilizes a particular kind of humor that's very now in a subtle way, the cutaway. but and sometimes they're very silly but sometimes they're very sort of thoughtful and uh and yeah as you know this contemplation of yeah my whole everything i know came from this guy and this guy is you know perceived status i'm learning to be sort of disillusioned about but also wanting to do it justice is yeah a nice new one well it's also the the the the looking past the initial perception of how someone comes across, you know, like when you look at Sir Arlen, there's a lot of things where you wouldn't suspect this guy to be an honorable hedge knight, you know? He seems like disgusting. But he's actually got like a really great heart. And then when Duncan, people make

Starting point is 00:15:04 fun of him all the time, call him stupid. And then you have even Egg here, who is talking about his shortcoming of literally being like too short to rise to the status he wants to be. And it's a lot And then to your point, too, you know, like, I was actually hearing something about it briefly today of how, like, kind of counter, it's not a counter to what you're saying, but it kind of is like, we're fighting against. It's what I love about with the depiction of this show. So it's just he wants to, like, honor the legacy.

Starting point is 00:15:35 It's a much more personal type of legacy. It was just to honor because fame and popularity and all that. That's also, like, fleeting. Like, you know, and like, you know, even like the most famous people now in, in this world now, like the most famous really can think of

Starting point is 00:15:49 in like 30 to 50 years most people won't even know their name. You know, like people think of anyone now like Ryan Reynolds even. Like I bet you're like 50 to 60 years from now there's going to be so many people like, oh,

Starting point is 00:16:02 people are going to be like the creator of Mint Mobile. I like classic films like Red Notice. My point with that is like I like seeing just Ryan Reynolds, if you hear this, we're so sorry. I thought that a way to single you out of all the famous stuff, all right, Barry is great.

Starting point is 00:16:21 But like the whole idea of like in this world that is often depicted in Game of Thrones, is often depicted as a very cruel world. And he's surrounded by cruelty here. But you get these doses of surprise niceness, you know, like the blacksmith. And just his entire mission here at hand of this one guy who's entered in the attorney

Starting point is 00:16:43 and he says to all he wants to honor his master of people looked down upon it didn't even like bother to bat and i remember who this guy was even though he fought some really important significant fight i think that's the brilliance of and i'm i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that george r martin sort of had this in mind when he picked this time period do you know like other than having read the books do you know any of these other Targaryians Barapheans or like all these noble houses and noble names

Starting point is 00:17:17 These people are all just like I never fucking heard of them And I think it's sort of a very clever thing Because you know we all know DeNaris We all know that's why all the Targaryans are named Agon Yeah For real Aagon Aron

Starting point is 00:17:30 Aron Damon Darn Lagon Cheagon Bragan Raygarn Raygar

Starting point is 00:17:40 I think the brilliance of this is that even though in this moment they seem so powerful and they seem so influential, we have the benefit as an audience of having a glimpse at the future and realizing that nobody remembers them either. And that's sort of, I think, a very beautiful, you know, which is why I appreciate that in Game of Thrones there is that little slight ode to sort of. Duncan the tall. Spoiler alert, John, by the time of Game of Thrones, Sir Duncan the Tall is dead. Wow. He doesn't live to be 130 years old. No. No, I actually, I only think there's one character in this that is also in Game of Thrones.

Starting point is 00:18:29 Oh, fascinating. Well, I'll be on the lookout. You know what I like? You know what I like. This is my last thought. I know which may now. All right. I'm going to be on the lookout. I want to be on the lookout.

Starting point is 00:18:38 It'll be on a second. It'll be the most. It'll be a fun character, I'm guessing. It's just weirdly enough, Hodars just there. Why not? He's holding the door for the Lord's as they. Can we really quickly,

Starting point is 00:18:51 I just want to say, I absolutely loved the hand of the king, and I loved the juxtaposition of those characters. I love seeing the tension. And it's nice because I feel like we're not going to spend too much time there, but just enough to be like, oh, this feels, it feels right.

Starting point is 00:19:10 Well, I forget. forget everyone's names. That's okay. Me too. The hand, yeah, that's why I feel like a Targaryen or something. Brother Targaryen. Amen. Not going to be the King Targaryen. But the, yeah, the Hand of the King, who was really nice to dunk.

Starting point is 00:19:28 What's cool is he was so nice, but the world of Game of Thrones has programmed you to be like, but what's this guy's real? Well, his real angle is the more leverage of names he remembers, is the more efficiently evil of a hand of the king he can be. I mean, you have Taiwan, Lanast, there's like no shortage of really bad hands. But I've always found that role to be so interesting because, like, sure, there's the king,

Starting point is 00:19:57 but the hand is the one that really controls. What did you think of him, though, John? Did you find him, like, sincerity? You feel like there's a discus something malicious up here? That's one thing I, like, why do you mean? you said that thing about like, okay, what's this guy's deal, though, what's his angle? Is he going to come back and be some kind of snake?

Starting point is 00:20:15 You know, he's the key to getting Duncan into the tourney at this point. But, you know, and that's been fun about this show so far is every time, and especially watching romance lately too, we've been in this mode where like every time I'm like, oh, God, some terrible is lurking around the corner. Usually actually in this show, it turns into something thoughtful or something wholesome. And because Game of Thrones has that all the time, that's sort of like tragedy could strike at any moment. I think the interesting thing is he's in that position, right, of he has nothing to lose.

Starting point is 00:20:46 Like, worst case scenario, Duncan dies during the tournament. It doesn't mean anything to him. Best case scenario, Duncan wins and is now forever indebted to him for being the one that got him in in the first place. And I think, I don't think there's necessarily like, yeah, it's nice, but his intentions always have, by virtue of the position that he's in, he's always fact. and how can I leverage this? It's also not so subtly imply that, you know, there's a some tension within the house. Sure.

Starting point is 00:21:21 You know, and like, not to get in the weeds, but like I appreciate that Blackfire rebellions come up now in both episodes, but like being a darker-haired Targaryen is not a good thing for a Targaryen that wants to be in power. Sure. Sort of the visual of, oh, you're not, you know. So, anyhow. All right.

Starting point is 00:21:43 That's our thoughts, guys. What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments below. Are you enjoying this show? I really hope they are. Please enjoy the show. If you feel like it, I don't want to tell you how to feel. Please clap.

Starting point is 00:21:56 We'll find out. Well, thank you guys for being here. Thanks, Michael, for bringing your A game. Thanks, John, for bringing your egg game. My A.G. My A. Thank you guys for being here. We'll see you all very soon.

Starting point is 00:22:08 Peace.

The Reel Rejects - A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS EPISODE 2 REVIEW – THIS IS PEAK COZY WESTEROS!!

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