Oscirus

Not a damn thing. She gave mercenaries control over nukes. I get the feeling this won't turn out well for her. Other thoughts: Allyn talking about being of sea and salt? Subtle HOTD writers, really subtle. Instead of showing us he's Corlys's heir like they've been doing the past fw weeks, why not just have Allyn use the same phrase Baela did to ensure that we understood this was his intention? I appreciated that all four dragons that gained riders on this show gained them in different ways to highlight the differences in attitudes of the dragons. If that was an ambush plan by Rhaenyra at the end without her being on her dragon, she's an idiot. That scene could've really turned out badly if Aemond was a crazy as everybody thinks he is. I believe Ulf lacks experience, so Silverwing basically went wherever she wanted to go.

I kind of like that they gave some complexity to older Rhaenyra. She was becoming a bore with all her white-knighting. Now that she's desperate to win a war, hopefully we'll get more of things like this happening. But yea morale wise, our good queen definitely got in the dirt

Aemond saw a dragon that he didn't recognize with a rider flying over King's landing. He wanted to find out who they were/belonged to. The moment he saw them approaching Dragon Stone, he had his question answered. I doubt he knew anything about the three dragons on the ground, with Rhaenyra standing out in the open. Otherwise, he would've ended the war right then and there. So Rhaena tried to claim Seasmoke at 14? Interesting. There goes the theory about Sea Smoke wanting to get with one of his old rider's relatives. I'm not sure how I feel about her abandoning watching Rhaenyra's kids to go off dragon chasing, but at the moment, it seems selfish. Jace's problem arises when his legitimacy is called into question, which could ignite a second Dance of the Dragons, especially because the queen has two other heirs who aren't women or illegitimate. The fact that Hugh is Damon, and Viserys's nephew adds an interesting dynamic. His talk with his wife sets off all kinds of alarm bells. It feels like he's a mercenary and just got the second-biggest dragon in the war. Team Black should keep their eye on him. While I found the meet-cute between Ulf and his dragon charming, I can't say I fully trust him, either. This is just a reminder to all the writers that it's okay to exclude Alicent if there's nothing for her in the episode. Oscar Tully making Damon his bitch was a chef's kiss. Wonder if that demonstration will come back to bite him in the ass in the future. So at this point, Larys is just being sneaky, just to be sneaky. There is legit no reason to withhold the news of a new dragon having a rider from Aemond other than to be a dick. As a matter of fact, I would argue that Aemond not having this information hurts him. The second half of his plan where he's working to get Aegon better, is an actual good plan. It's problematic for Rhaenyra to rely on Myseria as much as she does.

People were calling Aemond foolish for making a deal with pirates to break the blockade; Rhaenyra is trusting legit strangers with nuclear weapons, that's worse. Also, Jace is right, just not in the way he thinks. Much like parading that dragon's head through the streets, having bastards riding dragons kinda removes the aura of the targs riding them. Yes, I know I was advocating for Rhae to use those dragons well, but Jace made me think about it.

They don't need the same mom to be brothers. I believe that the only woman that Corlys would be with for more than sex is Rhaenys. Perhaps the fact that only targs can ride dragons is a lie passed on through the generations to make them appear godlike. Seasmoke went ahead and got his own rider so they would leave him the hell alone

That's assuming Corlys had a long-time mistress. It's hard to do so when the writers intentionally try to sneak their modern sensibilities into the story. I'd be shocked if they weren't trying to imply that he had them while married to Rhaenys. Probably has more out there, but those are the two that wanted to be around him. If I am not mistaken, on the show he basically ignored her for seven years, doubt he was celibate during that timeframe

I think you're right that it would be a great time to attack. However, there is one reason I can see why they wouldn't. Without knowing how far along Damon is on his Riverland project, it could cause problems down the line, leaving King's Landing wide open.

After doing way too much research on why Aemond doesn't just use Vhagar to dracarys the blockade, I learned that in order to do that, he'd have to go to the gullet, which is right by Dragonstone. With that new knowledge gained, I'll pretty much say that using the Triarchy was Aemond's only play, especially since the Greyjoys aren't answering their calls, and offering up Alicent probably wouldn't get them to do that even if they went that route. Apparently, Aegon going down was a good thing for the Greens, as they can now get shit done.

I get the feeling that Alys's agency will be removed, and it will either be a hostage situation or Stockholm syndrome of some sort.

Helena was raised with love, likely cuz Alicent sees herself in Helena, which makes her piss-poor parenting of the two boys even more inexcusable. A lot of people compare her to Cersei, and I tend to see the comparisons. It's a similar dynamic with a few key differences; she spoiled the first kid, but unlike Cersei, she realized her first kid was a monster, so she pretty much avoided him until such time as she needed him. She ignored the spare, but unlike Tommen, Aemond absolutely needed a mother figure to help him, especially against the bullying. Aemond has constantly tried to prove himself, but he's been largely ignored since he's a spare. This is likely why he wants to fight Damon; he needs to prove that he's the baddest in the land, and as long as Damon's alive, he isn't. I think Daron might've been the same regardless of how he was raised. He had a dragon early in life, so he wouldn't have been bullied. I think his feelings towards his mother were always complicated. After Luke, the fact that she looked at him with disgust all the time likely brought his negative feelings to the surface, and he got rid of her at the first opportunity. If she had put in the time, he would've been a helluva weapon for her.

Half of the whispering campaign feels like its going too far, that lie about Aemond and parties is going too far. There is more than enough to whip up frenzy without using an easily disprovable lie. Hell even last night they questioned that aspect.

The dragon seed thing does make me wonder if the Baratheons from the Game of Thrones could've ridden dragons if they were available. So rhaenyra is gonna see Allyn and demand to know how he conquered the dragon and Allyn's gonna be all, I dunno, he just came to me and demanded that I be his rider

I guess he could open the gates to alleviate some of the anger of the blockade, but there isn't much else he can do. His only real answer is breaking the blockade. To do this he needs to build his navy. While the solutions he's considering are bad for the long term, they're pretty much the only viable solutions to the current problem (assuming there's a storyline reason he can't dracarys those ships). Politically, I agree. While I still don't see Larys as a particular threat, and he would've been an enemy regardless as soon as he made Otto's hand, it's not particularly wise for him to not keep his eye on Aegon for the time being. Also, yes, he definitely needs to find a way to get rid of Aegon without getting his hands dirty if possible

True, which is why I think making Otto his hand over a yes man like Larys was so crucial. We shall see if Otto can smooth out the bad parts of his leadership style.

I'll be in the minority, but Aemond's doing a helluva job as prince regent so far. He's addressed the blockade; he's targeting Damon on two fronts, setting up a Damon vs Aemond matchup in the near future (Probs not a good idea since it'll leave Kings landing wide open, but that's his only mistake so far). He's also bought back a competent hand while getting rid of/ limiting the power of the snakes on the council. Sure, he's evil as fuck, but still quite competent. Larys not liking Aemond doesn't really do anything to him unless Aegon has a wolverine-type healing factor and a guaranteed rider to take Aemond's place. At best, Larys is ingratiating himself with Aegon if he ever recovers. Finally, Rhaenyra made a good move. Not sure how I feel about the love triangle that's happening, but at least the tension with her son is working. I hope this doesn't sign his death warrant soon due to his trying something reckless in the war. I can't imagine it feels good for somebody to hear so many times that they ain't shit without Damon. The Harenhall stuff has to be coming to an end now that Aemond and crew are headed there. I would be shocked if Damon vs. Aemond happened in season 2 since Aemond is being stationed as the big bad and is legit the only thing that stands between Team Black and total victory. Finally, I'm not sure how I feel about Seasmoke practically forcing somebody to be a rider, but at least we get Corlys to bond with his sons now since that's pretty much all he has left these days. It's kinda crazy that Alicent is one of the two main characters on the show and she has nothing to do. The only people on the show that might like her at the moment is Aegon and Helena. Her asking about Daeron doesnt endear her to me

Fun fact one of the reasons that Aegon the unworthy earned his moniker is because on his deathbed, he legitmatized all his bastards and caused three wars by doing so. Going back to that Corlys-Baela conversation, the writing is questionable. It worked from Baela's side because she didn't know what Corlys knew, but certain things were weird. As far as Corlys knows, Rhaenyra was one of the people behind Laenor's murder; adding Rhaenys's death to the docket should only exacerbate the situation he should be legit pissed. Also, that Baela quote about all dragon riders wanting to die like Rhaenys was stupid because you'd figure that Corlys would've called bullshit on that since he knows her better than anybody else; also, how many dragon riders died like that? Also true. Cole being the only real role model for the boys also likely didnt help matters.

From Aemond's point of view, he was maimed and faced the most trouble for calling the boys bastards, and he didn't even receive a simple apology. Hell, his sister basically called for him to be tortured to find out where he heard that from. Which is why I doubt that she'd punish them at all, and even if she did, Aemond wouldn't know about it. But yea, Alicent is a problematic mother. The fact that Aemond of all people had to cool off his mother when she went crazy, and he protected his mother when it was her spreading around the bastard rumors, is especially eye-opening considering how shes always treated him. It's an especially strange statement considering all the candidates for Driftmark that Baela knows of are of fire and blood. At this point Rhaena might consider that a consolation prize for not having a dragon. They'll see it as Targs involving them in their bullshit and now that the greens have proven the Targs mortality (great job Criston), the city is ripe for the population to rise and overthrow the government, last thing they'd want after booting Aegon is another Targ coming along and doing similar things.

In terms of leadership, I believe that each bad king in GOT had a hand to keep them in check. Here, these fools have Crispy, who, lol. With Aemond, I still go back to Alicent and Otto. That kid at the funeral wanting to wish condolences was empathetic; that kid who scolded Aegon on family duty could've gone either way growing up. However, once that kid lost an eye on the best day of his life, a crime that was largely unpunished (regardless of how people see the situation). That kid became a walking time bomb brimming with anger and resentment. Add to that mixture that he has the largest weapon in the land. Is it any wonder he's now a bully after being largely disrespected/ ignored throughout his youth?

OK, that supposed kick-ass line from Baela is gonna make her look hella stupid in the future, given where she ends up.

Kinda crazy that he hasn't at least tried to bust up some ships with vhagar. Also loved Jace negotiating. WTF you scared of Vhagar over there when I have a dragon right here? If team black wins, he's gonna make a helluva queen.

I imagine that Corlys is her navy and they're currently participating in the kings landing blockage

Not sure how Corlys as the hand will fly; I'd imagine that a couple of weeks of people deferring to Corlys will probs piss Rhae off. Also, it's kinda crazy that she's just getting a hand. I tend to believe most Targ kings(or kings in general) would be shit without a proper hand. Hell, Joffrey had a decent reign, and he was worse than anybody on this show in terms of ruling. Love that Daemon tries to threaten with his dragon and the Brackens (?) just dare him to use it, thereby calling his bluff. This show shows the importance of training for king. Neither show had any real training to rule and the lack of training shows.

This was very much a team black episode. The decision to parade Melys's head and the revelation about the mortality of dragons was a foolish move, and I fear it may have serious consequences in the future. I suspect it was Cole's misguided idea. Alicent, this is what happens when you, as the queen, parade in misogyny. Larys is right can't start a war over Rhae's right to rule while at the same time having a queen regent. Kinda kills the message. Yea Larys and Cole betrayed you, but they were right. Looks like Aemond might at least be more sensible by having the rat-catchers cut down. Not sure how I feel about Baela scolding Corlys while he just sits there and takes it. He doesn't strike me as somebody who would listen. I'll take it because it at least gives Baela something to do. Lady of the Vale being pissed that she was given baby dragons is relatable. I'd be pissed as well since they're providing very little protection. They're really playing up this sexism. Gentler sex? Could ole dude have been more condescending? Glad Rhaenyra sent him to be smacked around by Damon. The Damon stuff is boring. I'm getting the feeling that Helena will be Aemond's Alys Rivers. I dig Jace's relationship with his mother. He's a hothead, and it annoys her, but she accepts it to a certain level because he means well and gets results. Love their plotting at the end. I especially love that they're finally addressing the unmanned dragons that they have access to. Team Green might be in serious trouble as the only advantage they have is Vhagar. A starving kings landing is serving as a prison at the moment.

The contrast in moms stood out too. You have Rhaenyra pulling Jace to the side when he was starting to become unruly and telling him the story of ice and fire to show that this was bigger than this war while Alicent just dismissed and told her son to stfu when he came to her.

It's even weirder because she had obvious agents since we know that the yellow cloaks are loyal to Daemon