S02.E02

[AimingforYoko]

No episode title yet.

When Aegon sacked Otto and named Ser Criston hand, I was immediately reminded of Tywin’s words when Joffrey beheaded Ned Stark: “Madness. Madness and stupidity.”

Aegon was most sympathetic when he was raging in grief. It did not last long.

[bluvelvet]

The one thing that stood out to me in this episode is how team Green can’t even find comfort in each other. Aegon and Helaena passed each other even though they both lost their son.  Alicent couldn’t comfort her son as he broke down crying over his child dying.  Contrast this to Rhaenyra and Jace who was able to hug and cry as mother and son. Says  a lot about the individual relationships.

Edited Thursday at 10:45 AM by bluvelvet

[scarynikki12]

This episode felt like watching a play at times. This is a compliment. The fights between Daemon and Rhaenyra and Aegon and Otto in particular felt very theater. All the actors did really well.

I have to say I wish they'd gone the Purple Wedding route with Daemon hiring Blood and Cheese. What I mean is leave the question of who hired them unconfirmed for the rest of the season. It would have been interesting seeing the Hightowers using the baby's murder to their own advantage without confirmation of who ordered the hit. Otto made a point of not caring if Rhaenyra was actually behind it or not because he saw an opportunity to use it to Aegon's advantage so why not play with it for the season? Especially if they were to sow suspicion as to the possibility of a third party taking advantage of the Greens and Blacks focus on each other. 

I'm glad Rhaenyra was upset about the murder both because it was a little kid but also on Helaena's behalf. I'm telling you if those sisters had thought to band together they'd easily put the Hightowers in their place.

While I appreciate Alicent genuinely caring for Helaena she didn't care enough not to make her take part in that funeral farce. Alicent is interesting to me because there is a caring person buried deep down but the bulk of her personality is tied up in being a Good Person and she'll do anything to keep that facade alive. I wonder if Otto will ever hold up a mirror and make her face her self deception about Viserys choosing Aegon on his deathbed? Otto wasn't even there and he knew that story was bullshit. He just went along with it to advance Hightower interests. I love him basically telling Aegon as much in their fight. Not that Aegon or Cristy will care because they're both invested on him being on the throne and even Viserys' ghost showing up to tell him the truth wouldn't change things.

[AntFTW]

The smallfolk in the HOTD universe are dealing with inflation too! It's contagious!

So they just spring Daeron on us this season. It would have been nice to introduce him last season... even a random blonde baby to point to.

[paigow]

Maybe Otto is the last Hand to serve for so many years... In the future, being named Hand is more a curse than a blessing....

[magdalene]

Crispy is such a piece of shit. I hate him the most for what he has done to the Cargyll twins.  That was heartbreaking to watch.

A rat catcher hangs dead. His little dog he abused mourns him.  Poor little dog.

Tom Glynn Carney is a most excellent actor it's no small feat for making me feel some empathy for his character.

It's going to be a disaster for the Greens losing Otto. Hopefully.

How long until Rhaenyra realizes that she needs Daemon by her side. Disaster is coming.

Edited June 24 by magdalene

[scarynikki12]

Another thing I thought was well done was the twin fight. I assume that was Erryk at the end because there's no reason for his brother to fall on the sword right? Anyway, him taking his own life was sad. Opposite sides or not that's his twin who he literally shared a womb with and he may not have been able to live with himself anyway but also Rhaenyra would have had no way of proving he wasn't his brother so killing himself was really the only choice he had.

It was also important for Rhaenyra to see and get the reminder that this war will be breaking up more families than hers. If she wants to win she'll need to be mindful of those losses rather than share similarities to Aegon. Speaking of, Blood quickly and easily gave up Daemon and Cheese so I'm surprised Aegon and Cristy were unable to find the right rat catcher. Do they all have dogs and we only saw the one? Do none of them know each other's name and were unable to point out the guy going by Cheese? Cristy (or whoever) was able to find Blood quickly yet they were stymied by him not being able to recognize his accomplice? Go watch some Columbo and Murder She Wrote reruns and maybe you'll do better should there be a next time.

[AntFTW]

For a second, I thought they were going to have the baby's head fall off the wagon as they were trying to get it out of the pothole.

[AnimeMania]

[bluvelvet]

Now onto my other thoughts. Otto is definitely the Tywin of this era. He sees the future fuckups about to happen. He’s also cold, he was already like how can we use this baby’s death to our advantage. Wow 
 

I will admit. I felt for Aegon, kudos to the actor.  He genuinely loved his son, he didn’t want him paraded through the streets and I felt his rage.  It’s a pity he and Heleana are so enstranged. How did they even consummate the marriage with how awkward they are. 
 

Criston is a class A dick, he’s still salty over Rhaenyra AND sends Arryk to his death to feed his own guily. I wish Arryk and made some comment about him fucking the dowager queen. I wish. I hope that tidbit gets spread around the castle. 

I assume the Hull brothers have some role to play.  We had the other brother looking at the dragon, I assume that was moondancer.  
 

Ceraxes looks like he’s grown but Syrax looked the same size as last season even though years have passed??

The twins fighting was sad, Arryk said they were one soul in two bodies 😭 and I don’t know which twin said I still love you brother. Poor Erryk couldn’t live with himself  

Aemond needs a few sandwiches but him believing that Daemon is afraid of him 😂 hahahahhahahhahahahha!!

8 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

For a second, I thought they were going to have the baby's head fall off the wagon as they were trying to get it out of the pothole.

I had the exact same thought. 

Edited June 24 by bluvelvet

[AntFTW]

I thought Otto was right that hanging all the ratcatchers and hanging them publicly for all to see is a politically bad move.

Last week, the downside for Rhaenyra in the murder of Jahaerys was that she could lose political capital. The Houses would have promised to back her could back out because they believe she ordered the murder of an innocent child. Aegon has a slightly different battle in that he's on the actual throne; he holds the seat of power. He has to beat Rhaenyra and also keep the smallfolk satisfied long enough for him to beat Rhaenyra. If Aegon can't keep the smallfolk satisfied or content, he'll be fighting two wars; one with Rhaenyra and one with the citizens of King's Landing.

Edited June 24 by AntFTW

[thuganomics85]

So, the quick recap of the main players reaction to Jaherys' death.

Aegon: understandably angry and breaking things (RIP Viserys badass model city.  Sniff!)

Alicent: realistically crying and probably dealing with a lot of emotions ranging from losing her grandson to wondering how her own decisions played into this.

Fucking Otto: "You know, there is a way to use this towards our advantage, folks!"  Oh, you sociopathic scamp!

 

 

Poor Rhaenyra feeling awful about what happened and wondering why would anyone think she'd have anything to do with it, only to watch her (and Rhaenys) both look at Daemon at about the same time and be like "Aww, shit, it was you, wasn't it?!"  And Daemon... was just like "Yeah, that's my bad, guys."  Definitely don't blame her for not trusting him going forward.  I still think he truly does believe that he loves her, but I think she's right that his anger and insecurity of being passed over for the crown will always be his driving force and it doesn't matter who stands in his way.  His wife, hell, even his children: he will hurt them all (even if its unknowingly/unwillingly) to satisfy his ego.  Of course, I suspect this will just to make him even more dangerous going forward.  Obviously doubt he will ever go Team Green or anything, but I suspect he will continue to be an even bigger wildcard going forward.

Granted, King's Landing isn't exactly firing on all cylinders as Aegon seems to be losing any sense of control and might have just squandered any sympathy he would have gotten with the common folks by murdering every rat catcher in the city.  Yeah, commoners love it when their kings and rules murder innocents to "prove a point."  At the very least, I hope this leads to even more rats just randomly showing up around the castle, to show the infestation getting even worse, heh.

But possibly just as questionable, Aegon has now booted Otto and we've got a new Hand in the from of.... Cristin Fucking Cole.  Oh, boy.  He really is just the king of falling upwards, huh?  I did briefly warm up to him for a second since his initial reaction did seem more along the lines of "You sure about that?  Don't know if I'm ready for that responsibility, king!"  But like we saw earlier with Erryk, he'll probably be sauntering around in no time and acting like he's king shit.  Ugh, he's like the combination of every worse aspect of middle management!

Did love that Cole's grand plan of one twin pretending to be another one was just a few short pratfalls away from belonging in an Adam Sandler-like comedy.  I'm sure it took all of their will not to borrow the Spider-man pointing meme!

Show knows its audience and made sure to let everyone know the dog is alive!  For now, at least....

Smartest folks in the series so far are definitely the Whitecloaks who exited stage right once they saw Cole and Erryk was getting personal.  Although, I want to believe at least a few were hiding behind doorways to overhear the drama!

Still on Team Protect Helaena and Jacaerys at all cost.

There is always a risk with lionizing characters on this show, but the more it goes on, the more I'm really starting to believe Viserys was holding things together.  He wasn't a perfect man or king, but it's literally been about a week since his death and everything has just gone to hell in a hand-basket.  He might not have been the king Westeros wanted, but he apparently was the one they needed.  Folks will probably be thinking of his reign as the "good old days", once this is all over.

Enjoyed the premiere, but I thought this was definitely better.  Really laying the groundwork for an interesting season and the actors seem to stepping up their game even more, which is impressive since they were already pretty great last season.  Right now, I feel like Emma D'Arcy and Tom Glynn-Carney are standing out the most, with Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans right behind them.

[magdalene]

14 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

Speaking of, Blood quickly and easily gave up Daemon and Cheese so I'm surprised Aegon and Cristy were unable to find the right rat catcher. Do they

They hung Cheese and that was the dog he kicked. I recognized his face right away. They just don't know they hung the right one among all the others.

[AntFTW]

24 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

Another thing I thought was well done was the twin fight. I assume that was Erryk at the end because there's no reason for his brother to fall on the sword right?

I... don't... know.

Because I'm under the impression that the twin that gets his leg slashed was Erryk. If that's the case, Erryk dies first and Arryk falls on his sword.

...but it confuses me that Arryk would say "your grace. Forgive me."

Edited June 24 by AntFTW

[scarynikki12]

2 minutes ago, magdalene said:

They hung Cheese and that was the dog he kicked. I recognized his face right away. They just don't know they hung the right one among all the others.

Oh for sure. They did get him it's just they don't know which one he is. My point is how bad a job they did in the investigation that the big solution was to kill all the rat catchers rather than find out which one is called Cheese. They didn't seem to consider finding out which ones have dogs (assuming dogs aren't common among the catchers) and then finding out which of that group is called Cheese. Blood told them his accomplice was a rat catcher and then all of them were hanging from the walls for the whole of King's Landing to see. 

It's all good as it's meant to underscore how much Aegon and Cristy suck at this.

[magdalene]

10 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

Oh for sure. They did get him it's just they don't know which one he is. My point is how bad a job they did in the investigation that the big solution was to kill all the rat catchers rather than find out which one is called Cheese. They didn't seem to consider finding out which ones have dogs (assuming dogs aren't common among the catchers) and then finding out which of that group is called Cheese. Blood told them his accomplice was a rat catcher and then all of them were hanging from the walls for the whole of King's Landing to see. 

It's all good as it's meant to underscore how much Aegon and Cristy suck at this.

What will happen to the poor dog though? That kind of thing concerns me.

Aemond needs to eat a burger.  The poor thing thinks Daemon is afraid of him.

Oh, and on the shallow end of the pool Jace is an utter babe.

Edited June 24 by magdalene

[Kmr]

30 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

Another thing I thought was well done was the twin fight. I assume that was Erryk at the end because there's no reason for his brother to fall on the sword right? Anyway, him taking his own life was sad. Opposite sides or not that's his twin who he literally shared a womb with and he may not have been able to live with himself anyway but also Rhaenyra would have had no way of proving he wasn't his brother so killing himself was really the only choice he had.

It was also important for Rhaenyra to see and get the reminder that this war will be breaking up more families than hers. If she wants to win she'll need to be mindful of those losses rather than share similarities to Aegon. Speaking of, Blood quickly and easily gave up Daemon and Cheese so I'm surprised Aegon and Cristy were unable to find the right rat catcher. Do they all have dogs and we only saw the one? Do none of them know each other's name and were unable to point out the guy going by Cheese? Cristy (or whoever) was able to find Blood quickly yet they were stymied by him not being able to recognize his accomplice? Go watch some Columbo and Murder She Wrote reruns and maybe you'll do better should there be a next time.

To be fair, Blood was literally caught red handed with the head so wasn’t exactly great detective work.

Otto definitely is great at being political but being a family man, he is a bit lacking.

Don’t usually comment on wardrobe but Jace in the Targ outfit looked like a true prince.

Loved Rhaenyra and her scenes with Daemon and the White Worm.

Also liking the expansion of the story now with the brothers and the Hugh family 

Edited June 24 by Kmr

[AntFTW]

1 minute ago, Kmr said:

Loved Rhaenyra and her scenes with Daemon and the White Worm.

Same. I thought they were really well done. This is maybe the first time the White Worm was interesting to me.

5 minutes ago, magdalene said:

Aemond needs to eat a burger.  The poor thing thinks Daemon is afraid of him.

Yeah...

He's a little thin.

[peridot]

I was tearing up a bit at the aftermath of Jaehaerys' murder.  I seriously thought his body would fall off the wagon when it got stuck in the ditch.  I'm glad nothing like that happened.

It's so odd that Alicent kept referring to him as "the child" and not her grandson.  I guess to distance herself from her guilt? Though that didn't seem to last long with her jumping back into bed with Cole.

I have no good words about that piece of shit Cole.  I hate what he did to the twins.

Holy crap at that scene between Daemon and Rhaenyra.  There's no coming back from that conversation.  It would be something if he decides to turn against his wife.

[Stardancer Supreme]

Otto ain't shyt. It turned bad all the way around real fast, though. From forcing Helaena to parade her son's body about town, simply marveling at the sheer stupidity in the people surrounding him, and him losing his position again... It's hard being Team Green! Now there is a mention of the 4th Targaryen child; how was he sent away from the castle? Otto expecting these children to follow instructions may be folly yet. He was sick to find that his brilliant plans were laid waste almost instantly!

I'm sad about the Cargyll twins. I had hoped that Arryk would simply join Team Black with his brother, because why would Crispy throw away a key person in the Kingsguard like that? I guess Erryk was really salty that his twin left him behind in King's Landing. 

Now we have 2 Hull brothers. Are they both Corlys' bastards? I can see why Alyn keeps a bald head; that white hair may have been a dead giveaway about his parentage. Speaking of bastards, since Aemond is cavorting in the brothels, does he have any white haired babies floating around? What happened to Aegon's bastards? Is Aegon going to force Helaena to have another heir?

I'm glad Rhaenyra finally read Daemon for filth. She shouldn't be able to trust him because he is the ultimate wildcard. Didn't like the way he snubbed Baela though. This one won't be Father of the Year.

Was that Moondancer or Seasmoke in the skies of Driftmark? I wonder if anybody thought to attempt to pair Seasmoke with Rhaena, since she does not have a dragon...

20 minutes ago, peridot said:

I was tearing up a bit at the aftermath of Jaehaerys' murder.  I seriously thought his body would fall off the wagon when it got stuck in the ditch.  I'm glad nothing like that happened.

 I deliberately opened another tab on my computer once I saw the wheel fall in the ditch. I didn't want to see that poor baby's body fall into the street either. I'm not letting HotD hurt my feelings any more than necessary.

Crispy failing upwards never ceases to amaze me. He's a pisspoor Kingsguard; now he will be an even worse Hand. I wonder if that was who Larys had in mind to be Aegon's Hand?

Edited June 24 by Stardancer Supreme

[Affogato]

42 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

Oh for sure. They did get him it's just they don't know which one he is. My point is how bad a job they did in the investigation that the big solution was to kill all the rat catchers rather than find out which one is called Cheese. They didn't seem to consider finding out which ones have dogs (assuming dogs aren't common among the catchers) 

Dogs will be common. Even in NYC today terriers are used against rats. 

[scorp01]

First off, I want to say the acting from everyone is top notch.  Loved all the performances.  But the writing and story are infuriating me and we're only on episode 2.  I haven't read Fire and Blood, but I know the gist of what's going to happen.  My problem is with the way the show is taking liberties with the story and basing so many things on "mistakes" and "misunderstandings".  I would much rather see BOTH sides actually take accountability for things instead of what we're getting.  Having the show lean so heavily on "it wasn't my intention" and Rhaenyra's side is good/Aegon's side is bad just isn't interesting.  

And don't get me started on the Alicent/Criston Cole relationship.  I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns.  If the show had made it a one off thing for the first episode I could have accepted it I suppose.  But at the end of this episode when they go back at it again, UGH.  Why, Alicent?  Cole deserved to be pushed away after the Arryk/Erryk debacle, the mass ratcatcher hangings and taking her father's position as Hand.  I was never a big Otto Hightower fan but he everything he said to Aegon/Criston was so true.  Now he'll be gone and everything will go haywire.  

[paulvdb]

2 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

Blood told them his accomplice was a rat catcher and then all of them were hanging from the walls for the whole of King's Landing to see.

And all he said was that he didn't know the ratcatcher's name. If anyone had half a brain they would have just put all the ratcatchers in a line-up and have him point out his accomplice.

[KristenR]

12 minutes ago, scorp01 said:

My problem is with the way the show is taking liberties with the story and basing so many things on "mistakes" and "misunderstandings".  I would much rather see BOTH sides actually take accountability for things instead of what we're getting.  Having the show lean so heavily on "it wasn't my intention" and Rhaenyra's side is good/Aegon's side is bad just isn't interesting.  

When everyone was freaking out about the DEATH OF A CHILD, I really wanted Daemon to just say, "You know we're having a war, right? Lots of children are probably gonna die." All the pearl clutching here was weird.

[AntFTW]

By the way... does Aegon not know he and the Greens usurped the throne?

He was screaming like a baby yelling "I declare war!" and I'm thinking "the war started the moment you were crowned. It's already happening."

[millennium]

I'm so tired of the misogynist trope that when a women protests a man's advances, she really wants him to fuck her, and not only that, it makes her hornier if he takes her by force.

I hate Creston Cole even more now.   As if it's not enough that he's sleeping with Alicent, he gets a Hand job to boot.

 

 

 

[paulvdb]

22 minutes ago, AntFTW said:

By the way... does Aegon not know he and the Greens usurped the throne?

No, he doesn't. Alicent said that Viserys changed his mind on his deathbed and declared Aegon his new successor. So as far as Aegon knows he is now the rightful heir.

[Helena Dax]

Aegon might be a fucking, evil idiot, but the people I hate the most in Team Green are Alicent and Cole. The hypocrisy! "Father, I have sinned" she says with tearful eyes. And five minutes later she's having sex with Cole! At least, when Rhaenyra was having sex with Cole or Strong she didn't give a fuck. And don't get me started with the oranges boy. He's scum and the twins are dead because of him.

Also, do you think Cole knows that Alicent is whoring her feet to Lord Larys?

Daemon is a dumbass, it's just I can't stay angry at him for too long.  D'Arcy said that he was a boy pretending to be a man and I totally agree. I'm surprised he doesn't stomp his feet from time to time,

I must say, I've enjoyed Otto's frustration at being surrounded by idiots. 

As many others, I have noticed that the relationships within Team Black seem to be healthier, generally speaking. Jace and Baela have a nice relationship, so did Jace and Luke, and Rhaenyra seems way closer to her children than Alicent. Of course the relationship between she and Daemon is a bit fucked up, but at least they're open with each other. 

Not gonna say anything about Aemond, except that he's delusional. 

[RobertDeSneero]

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Fucking Otto: "You know, there is a way to use this towards our advantage, folks!"  Oh, you sociopathic scamp!

I think it's admirable to not let grief make you do irrational things.  He's the opposite of Aegon and Ser Criston.

 

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

There is always a risk with lionizing characters on this show, but the more it goes on, the more I'm really starting to believe Viserys was holding things together. 

Otto was the one holding things together by keeping power out of the hands of Daemon.  The problem is the Aegon isn't much better, so we're seeing the same level of chaos we would have had if Daemon has been able to take the throne.

[baldryanr]

Jace and Baela look like two decent people who are committed to each other.  I expect at least one of them to die horribly.  Corlys and Rhaenys seem to be in a good place too (guess his taking off for years is water under the bridge) so something bad has to be coming.

10 minutes ago, RobertDeSneero said:

Otto was the one holding things together by keeping power out of the hands of Daemon.  The problem is the Aegon isn't much better, so we're seeing the same level of chaos we would have had if Daemon has been able to take the throne.

Any good hand would have been able to hold things together - Papa Strong was able to do it for years and likely would have been able to do so for even longer if Larys hadn't killed him.

[jenn31]

8 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

No episode title yet.

Title of the episode is 

Rhaenyra the Cruel

[Cristofle]

I thought going into this show that it would be Otto I hate the most, but no, it's definitely Cole. The absolute epitome of failing up and blaming everyone else for his fuck-ups, and he got the twins killed over an absolutely moronic fucking idea, all to hide that it was HIS fault Helaena was not sufficiently protected. I'm just waiting for him to die at this point. And the last scene with Alicent made me uncomfortable.

That said, while Otto was correct in his assessment of Aegon, this is pretty much entirely his fault, lol. He was so determined to get his blood on the throne, and as it turns out, his blood is a petulant little monster who is terrible at pretty much everything he does. I saw him get that in the moment, that everything he's done has led to the absolute worst option being on the throne. 

Oof. Daemon. I don't know exactly what he said to Blood and Cheese, but this is still certainly much more his fault than he's acknowledging. And he often can read other peoples' weaknesses well, but he can't read his own accurately. Viserys didn't fear that Daemon was better than him - as Rhaenyra said, he didn't trust him. 

Thank God the little boy's body didn't fall out of the casket, that was freaking me out the entire scene :/ I felt terrible for Helaena, being put on display like that. 

Nice scene between Jace and Baela. Two people who actually seem to like each other. LOL. 

Parts of this episode were really hard for my mom (who has not read the book) to understand, especially newer characters. And she probably should have rewatched S1 before S2, lol - for the more casual viewers, I think two years really is too long, and it's not doing them any favors. 

[jenn31]

4 hours ago, AntFTW said:

He was screaming like a baby yelling "I declare war!"

Had a laugh at that. Er… you’re already in a war. Not too swift, this king.

[Spartan Girl]

10 minutes ago, jenn31 said:

Title of the episode is 

Rhaenyra the Cruel

In the same episode where Aegon has a bunch of innocent people publicly hanged, no less. I just love Westerosi double standards, don’t you?

Aegon is definitely who Joffrey would become if he lived longer.

Did not need to see the child’s corpse.

I am baffled that there are people that actually like Criston Cole.

Edited June 24 by Spartan Girl

[paigow]

How long until Aegon gets bitten by a rat?

Edited June 24 by paigow

[paigow]

7 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Was that Moondancer or Seasmoke in the skies of Driftmark?

Moondancer is supposed to spy on Aemond...

[ferjy]

33 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

In the same episode where Aegon has a bunch of innocent people publicly hanged, no less. I just love Westerosi double standards, don’t you?

I think the title is more based on the Greens trying to paint that picture of Rhaenyra for everyone. We heard the crier shouting out “Behold the works of Rhaenyra the Cruel!” during the procession. And it worked, the townsfolk started chanting out that she’s a monster. 

 

[Haleth]

5 hours ago, millennium said:

I'm so tired of the misogynist trope that when a women protests a man's advances, she really wants him to fuck her, and not only that, it makes her hornier if he takes her by force.

And when a woman is angry enough to slap a man she really wants to have sex. I saw this happen in two shows in a row.

Who was the family with the sick daughter and overpriced groceries?  Have we seen them before?

[ferjy]

5 hours ago, paulvdb said:

And all he said was that he didn't know the ratcatcher's name. If anyone had half a brain they would have just put all the ratcatchers in a line-up and have him point out his accomplice.

Yep, couldn’t fathom why they didn’t do that. All a plot device to show Aegon’s shortcomings as king.

 

 

[baldryanr]

13 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Who was the family with the sick daughter and overpriced groceries?  Have we seen them before?

Yes, he's the blacksmith who petitioned Aegon last episode.

15 minutes ago, ferjy said:

I think the title is more based on the Greens trying to paint that picture of Rhaenyra for everyone. We heard the crier shouting out “Behold the works of Rhaenyra the Cruel!” during the procession. And it worked, the townsfolk started chanting out that she’s a monster. 

Absolutely, it's not producer commentary on Rhaenyra.  And Otto is 100% correct that hanging all the ratcatchers is going to turn the public against Aegon, especially with the blockade continuing to squeeze them.   Sure, the death of an an innocent child is horrific, but it doesn't affect their lives in any meaningful way. Watching their own kids starve or innocent family member getting hung is going to be much more impactful.

[steph369]

8 hours ago, peridot said:

I seriously thought his body would fall off the wagon when it got stuck in the ditch.  I'm glad nothing like that happened.

It was an effective scene. When they started jostling the cart to get the wheel out of the hole, we were all waiting for the stitches to tear and the head to go rolling down the street. Whew!

[Spartan Girl]

49 minutes ago, ferjy said:

I think the title is more based on the Greens trying to paint that picture of Rhaenyra for everyone. We heard the crier shouting out “Behold the works of Rhaenyra the Cruel!” during the procession. And it worked, the townsfolk started chanting out that she’s a monster. 

 

Yeah, I got that, I was calling out Team Green’s hypocrisy.

[Chicago Redshirt]

8 hours ago, AntFTW said:

I... don't... know.

Because I'm under the impression that the twin that gets his leg slashed was Erryk. If that's the case, Erryk dies first and Arryk falls on his sword.

...but it confuses me that Arryk would say "your grace. Forgive me."

It could be that realizing how steadfast his twin was to the point of death or other factors made him realize that Aegon/Crispy were pieces of shit and he renounced his allegiance to them at that point.

It could be that he realized that there was no way he was going to outfight Ser Lorent in his condition and wanted to say/do what he could to be buried with his brother rather than have his head placed on a spike outside Dragonstone.

9 hours ago, magdalene said:

A rat catcher hangs dead. His little dog he abused mourns him.  Poor little dog.

i prefer to think of the dog thinking, "That's what you get, you prick. I only wish I had thumbs so I could have hanged you myself."

8 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

Oh for sure. They did get him it's just they don't know which one he is. My point is how bad a job they did in the investigation that the big solution was to kill all the rat catchers rather than find out which one is called Cheese. They didn't seem to consider finding out which ones have dogs (assuming dogs aren't common among the catchers) and then finding out which of that group is called Cheese. Blood told them his accomplice was a rat catcher and then all of them were hanging from the walls for the whole of King's Landing to see. 

It's all good as it's meant to underscore how much Aegon and Cristy suck at this.

My assumption would be that "Cheese" is a nickname that he adopted for the purpose of the assassination mission, not something he regularly is called. Or at least, there were efforts made to determine if any of the royal ratcatchers had gone by Cheese and they came up empty. Blood said that he couldn't identify him, and my other assumption is that dogs are relatively commonplace among ratcatchers.

As incompetent and Aegon and Crispy might be, let's remember Larys is also involved in the search for the murderers, and he is good at extracting information and thinking logically.

6 hours ago, paulvdb said:

And all he said was that he didn't know the ratcatcher's name. If anyone had half a brain they would have just put all the ratcatchers in a line-up and have him point out his accomplice.

Blood also said he didn't know what he looked like IIRC. If that's true, then a lineup serves no purpose. If it's false, then you can't trust his lineup identification to be true. Also, the implication was that Aegon beat Blood to death before any such lineup could be arranged. So it's somewhat moot to think that Blood could have narrowed things down.

Which is not to say that they couldn't have taken the dozen or so ratcatchers that might have been used and exonerate at least some, if not all. But nuking them all from orbit might be the only way to be sure.

[Cristofle]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

I am baffled that there are people that actually like Criston Cole.

The absolute WORST, I am still pissed off. I am reaching wanting him to die on Joffrey and Ramsey levels. 

[paigow]

49 minutes ago, Cristofle said:

The absolute WORST, I am still pissed off. I am reaching wanting him to die on Joffrey and Ramsey levels. 

You mean poisoned AND eaten by dogs????

[Haleth]

7 minutes ago, paigow said:

You mean poisoned AND eaten by dogs????

That would be a good start. 

[PatsyandEddie]

IIRC Haelena was talking at the “family” dinner last season about her marriage. It sounded like Aegon was drunkenly assaulting her until she got pregnant. It also seemed to me that Aemond has feelings for her. 

[sugarbaker design]

Eve Best continues to shine.  The way Rhaenys was staring at Daemon at the Queen's council said so much more than words ever could.

[iMonrey]

4 hours ago, baldryanr said:

Jace and Baela look like two decent people who are committed to each other.  I expect at least one of them to die horribly. 

I was worried about Baela as soon as Rhaenyra told her to patrol King's Landing. We saw more of Baela this episode than we ever have before, I thought that had to mean her doom. Also, we've been shown the scorpions perched on the Red Keep walls, like Chekov's gun. 

I don't know if anyone watched the after-show interviews they do, but someone (either the actor playing Aegon or the show-runner himself) commented on the scene where Aegon and Helaena pass each other on the stairs and how it showed how they had grown respect for one another. I was like WTF? That's not what I saw. I don't think that scene read the way they intended. To me it read that Aegon just didn't want to deal with her.

And yeah, Aemond is one skinny white boy. I think he's got some weird mommy fixation too, hence the older hooker and the glass of milk and just wanting to be cuddled. 

I actually thought sending the twin over to Dragonstone to pose as his brother was a pretty clever idea, although in my head I kept hearing the theme song from The Patty Duke Show. 

[ChicksDigScars]

It seems like they are setting up Crispy to die some horrible and incredibly satisfying (for the viewer) death, eventually. For every heartbreaking death, they SHOULD have one that makes you jump off your couch, throw you fist in the air and say "YESSSSSS, motherfucker!" Before, that was Otto (for me). Now...yeah, not as much, even though watching Otto choke to death on his dinner while dining completely and utterly alone, so that no one can save him, would work for me.

You may be pretty, Crispy, but you're a fucking douchebag. And not even a SMART villainous douchebag. A pretty boy with an empty head on top of his shoulders. The little head seems to be doing all of the heavy lifting.