ElizaD

I feel that it's a character flaw of Rhaenyra's that she's just not doing what she should be doing. The only ally we saw was the lord who first spoke to her when she was taking her baby to Alicent and she doesn't seem to be appreciating him even though he was the only one to greet her now. Young Rhaenyra was actively bad at dealing with nobles but old Rhaenyra is just passive. She's off to Dragonstone for years while Alicent gets to remake the keep and stack it with her allies. Rhaenyra has been counting on daddy to get her out of trouble and enforce her claim, but daddy's gone now. Jace's offer to dance with Helaena may have had a bit of anti-Aegon sentiment motivating it, but it was also the courteous thing to do. He seems to have a greater sense of duty than his mother and, despite his issues with Strong inferiority, I expect he'll be the persuasive good cop to Daemon's threatening bad cop when the war forces Rhaenyra to seek allies. Hopefully season 2 will make the show's world feel bigger with two rival courts.

Robert was having bastard children who were recognised as bastards with no legal right to inherit. It was his supposedly legitimate children with his queen who were his heirs and his brothers after that. Robert was the king and did not try to cast aside his legitimate heirs in favour of a bastard; Cersei was merely the queen consort and violated the succession by passing off her bastards as the king's legitimate heirs. He did not commit treason but she did. When a male ruler did legitimise his bastards, in the era between HOTD and GOT, it was Aegon the Unworthy and his legacy was being remembered as a contender for Worst Targaryen because messing with the succession led to a series of rebellions that took generations to die out. It would actually have been easier for Rhaenyra, as a woman, to put a bastard on the throne - she just couldn't let people know that the child she bore was not fathered by her legal consort. And that's exactly what she failed to do, in a manner that's even more blatant on the show (people are going to be staring when Daemon's children with Laena stand next to their so-called cousins).

Daemon gave Rhaenyra the worst possible advice with his emphasis on Targaryen superiority and fun after marriage. Viserys is a complete pushover who's unable to hold either of them back. With someone like Ned doing the parenting, the odds are that Rhaenyra wouldn't have slept with Criston (so he would remain her ally instead of becoming a strategically positioned enemy), wouldn't have needed to lie to Alicent (so she could believe that Rhaenyra's word could be trusted if she swore not to kill Aegon), and wouldn't have slept with Harwin (so that those who believe in the laws of Westerosi succession or the inability of women to rule would not have been granted massive ammo against her). Someone like grandma Olenna would have made sure that Rhaenyra's first child was either legitimate (Margaery offered to let Loras get Renly started) or fathered by a lover who could pass for Targaryen or Velaryon - then she could get to the part where she (discreetly!) screws whoever she wants to screw. Rhaenyra is so driven by her belief in her rights that she's not doing any of the work. If she has the power of the Targaryen dragons, sure, she might get what she wants. But all the things she's not bothering to do because they're not what she wants to do (legitimate/legitimate-passing children, cultivating alliances with lords, avoiding disasters in personal relationships, doing at least the bare minimum to change the smallfolk's view of her) would still make her position stronger. She's counting only on raw power, and on the lords respecting their vows when she's not respecting any of hers. It's so frustrating and I hope that's intentional on the show's part: Rhaenyra shouldn't be denied the throne because she's a woman, but she'd be a bad ruler because of who she is as a person.

I don't even remember what Dany's two other dragons looked like, so I'm very pleased that HOTD is making its look very distinct. Rhaenyra's dragon has the face of a little sweetie (does she get a boost in size after the time skip, too?) and Daemon's is the creepiest worm - that dolphin-like sound felt unexpected yet so right.

Surprisingly, Liandrin has been one of my favourite things about the show. The book version was a bit too obviously villainous but here it's more plausible that she's just a tough cookie who opposes Moiraine politically and can get the girls to leave Tar Valon with her. Now I wonder, maybe Liandrin looked so terrified when Moiraine revealed she knew about her man because she's been meeting Ishamael himself, not just a random Darkfriend. I thought we wouldn't see her again until season 2, but maybe the finale will have Ishamael's Darkfriend meeting from the book 2 prologue, with Liandrin present.

Does this thread have a spoiler policy for unofficial leaks/images/filming news? IIRC, the Game of Thrones Book to Show thread freely discussed filming and even leaked material (like the season 8 screencaps from episodes that hadn't yet aired). Putting spoilers just in case, a few moments of episodes 7-8 were leaked and they show

If something as huge as this had to happen, this was the second best possible timing for it (the best, of course, would have been after they'd gotten to complete season 1 as initially planned). I expect there was some frantic rewriting during the covid break in filming. Hopefully they were able to give his episode 7-8 character interaction screentime/any possible battle assistance moments to others relatively easily. When season 2 begins, I expect Mat will be feeling guilty about abandoning the others while they will be angry but blame this on the dagger's evil influence. IMO, Mat #1 was clearly the best of the younger cast so I'm very disappointed he was the actor who couldn't continue the show for some reason.

I don't know where people are getting all the info (Twitter?), but elsewhere I saw someone refer to the showrunner as having said that season 2 will have two El- characters (Elayne and Elaida, then). Of the two early Reds Elaida is far more important, so now I'm wishing the show had just cast Fleetwood as Elaida, given her everything she's doing this season as Liandrin, and figured out some non-Darkfriend way to get the girls to the Seanchan in season 2 - they're certainly making bigger changes to the books than that. Show Liandrin is starting to feel like such a big deal that I'm curious how they're planning to make Elaida stand out. Whatever happens, I hope Liandrin gets some of Galina and/or Alviarin's material and stays relevant longer than in the books. I hope hidden Forsaken just refers to Lanfear's disguises and a return to Jordan's original plan of Taim being Demandred. Elaida was the #1 example of how people who don't serve the Shadow can still screw things up for the Light and the more prominent Show Valda should be the Whitecloak version of that. There were eight Forsaken statues, right? Four men and four women. Ishamael and Lanfear are a must. Two of the women looked like Semirhage and Graendal (I thought she might be in danger of being cut because there's so many Forsaken schemers but maybe the show wants the sex appeal). That leaves Moghedien or Mesaana (in the White Tower) and three men - I'm guessing Demandred, Rahvin and Sammael. Show Rand can learn to channel from LTT's memories so Asmodean is not an absolute necessity.

The last episode is titled The Eye of the World but I'm wondering, is there a way to twist the plot so that something reveals Rand as the Dragon in episode 7? I like the idea of the flashback with Tigraine's death/Tam finding Rand being the opening of the last episode, but the flashback should come after the reveal for the most impact. Maybe the Ways will have some of the vision element of the portal stones? If the show decides that only one method of fast travel is needed, the stones might get cut. I read that the show has cast Lews Therin and, surprisingly, Latra Posae, the leader of the female Aes Sedai. Episodes 7-8 should have a lot of flashbacks, plus the Malkier exposition, and I'm curious to know how the show has arranged them. The last episode's title makes it sound like it has the biggest event and not just GOT finale-style wrap-up and set-up for the next season.

I'm worried right now that non-readers will be disappointed when Rand turns out to be the Dragon. He hasn't gotten anything cool to do and has mostly been Egwene's boyfriend. I hope Loial at least sells the Aiel angle when they meet. Even if we're getting Tam/Dragonmount flashbacks they might not land emotionally. The show gave Nynaeve such a big moment that I can already see the rage when the saviour is Rand instead. There was a short Logain teaser that was cut in a way that made me think Mat would get Rand's book moment of seeing him in a cage. If the show treats seeing ta'veren as more like Min's visions, maybe even a gentled Show Logain can realise what the boys are and start laughing.

Any pacifist philosophy in a fantasy series with monsters is a tough sell, but Maria Doyle Kennedy really made the most of her scenes. Now I wish she'd gotten a major Aes Sedai role so she'd be around a lot more and help make this setting feel grounded in reality. Kate Fleetwood's Liandrin is promising as a tough antagonist, but despite all the screentime devoted to Aes Sedai and Warders in this episode none of it landed with the sense of honesty MDK brought to the Tinkers and their view of the wheel.

I read that the showrunner originally asked for a two-hour premiere. Maybe Amazon just wanted to get the main plot going, but I feel the premiere would have benefited from at least another fifteen minutes. Now the departure felt awfully abrupt for such a big move in the lives of these village kids: it didn't feel like they got to respond emotionally to something as unthinkable as this Aes Sedai claiming one of them is the Dragon. I also wonder if there's something on the cutting room floor about Perrin and his wife, because it felt like they were on the verge of a divorce and he got by far the least characterisation of the kids.

I wonder whether they could adjust the timelines a bit so that Perrin meets the Tinkers before Rand goes to Rhuidean. Most non-readers will have forgotten about them during their time offscreen, but if the show has Aram picking up the sword before Rand's vision that could give viewers the experience book readers had with figuring out what's going on.

Maybe Thom will explain the heron? He had his bonding scene with Mat, next episode I hope he will have a similar moment with Rand so that their reunion in season 2 will feel like it's earned the emotion. When Rand is revealed as the Dragon, I'm expecting a flashback to Tam letting it slip that he's adopted (that would have ruined the mystery the show is trying to build) and another flashback to Captain Tam finding the baby.

I don't think there's another male character in the rebel Tower storyline who could take Bryne's role, so maybe that would mean one of the show's Green sisters would get to be a great general (the Battle Ajah should do more to live up to its name). I hadn't considered the show might drop Bryne, but now I actually want it to happen. Considering all the other choices the show has made and how it will likely make Moiraine/Siuan more than a flashback fling, I don't see TV WOT having both those women end up in relationships with men. Thom will have a good role to play even without a Moiraine romance, but Bryne does surprisingly little for such a relatively big name.