S02.E03: The Burning Mill

[AimingforYoko]

Nice to see Emma and Olivia get a scene, considering it'll probably be their last. Alicent knows now, at least. But she feels momentum is too strong to reverse it now.

I'd love to know what Larys is up to. Is he working for Alicent, or himself.

[SeanC]

Really nice to see Milly Alcock again, albeit only briefly.

[Constantinople]

Security in King's Landing is the worst I've seen since every suspect in 24 managed to escape the perimeter.

[WearyTraveler]

8 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

I'd love to know what Larys is up to. Is he working for Alicent, or himself.

It's Larys, he works for no one but himself.

[scarynikki12]

Genuine question: do any of the characters actually like Cristy? Even Alicent doesn't like him personally. She just uses him as a way to (metaphorically) fuck Rhaenyra and alleviate her own horniness. 

On Twitter there were rumbles of a surprise cameo which turns out to be either young Rhaenyra or Aemond's dragon but I was so hoping we'd get a flashback to Balerion burning Harrenhal. I mean, Daemon had visions there so let us see the Black Dread in all his glory.

Speaking of Harrenhal, that place is a mess. The best thing for it is to just divide up the castle among five or so rich families and turn it into something functional again.

I feel bad for Rhaena feeling inadequate for not having a dragon and having to leave with the babies but I hope she takes Baela's words to heart and sees that being trusted with this kind of responsibility is a major point in her favor. And your mom died in childbirth, not because of anything specific to Pentos. She'd have died just the same in King's Landing if that's where she'd been when her contractions started.

Aegon just can't help himself in being King Jackass. Shame Lorys talked him out of flying to join the war because he could use a life lesson.

I love Rhaenys being the unofficial Hand of the Queen. Those men are way too eager to go to war and I'm wondering if some of them want to use battles as an opportunity to switch sides.

The talk between Rhaenyra and Alicent was great. Rhaenyra now knows her father never betrayed her and Alicent was confronted with the truth that family members having the same names as each other can be confusing enough to cause a civil war. Of course, Alicent being Alicent she'll purposefully move the truth of Viserys' death aside and continue on the current path because her whole identity is tied up in being a Good Person and a mistake at this level undermines that. Also I wonder when she'll realize how her and Otto's actions have trapped her? Had she stood by Rhaenyra's claim this whole time and raised her children to do the same she may have been granted an estate far away from Kings Landing and been able to live a happy life. 

[magdalene]

Rhaenyra is very brave to talk to Alicent like that. Of course it was all for naught as Alicent does not have the power to change anything.

Well, hello Milly Alcock, lovely to see you again!   Daemon being haunted and being stifled and frustrated at every turn is is an unusual punishment and challenge for him.  I hope he can rise to the occasion, it is certainly is not playing to his strengths. What did that witch woman say to him? "You'll die here"?

The full frontal nudity by Aemond wasn't squicky at all.  If you are snickering about that you really need to grow up. The only one who looked bad during that scene was the dumb shit Aegon humiliating his brother. Not a smart move. The only thing that Aemond did wrong was being unkind to the older prostitute and of course he had to save face.

The poor barmaid who got smacked on her behind in the tavern was that maid Aegon raped in the first season.

I could have done without that crow eating out the eye socket of one of the hanged men.

[AntFTW]

Damn, Alicent got all that from Viserys' last words?

Edited July 1 by AntFTW

[mjc570]

"Ditherers of Dragonstone" - to me, the highlight of the episode.  

[KBrownie]

1 hour ago, AntFTW said:

Damn, Alicent got all that from Viserys' last words?

She’s such a clown  

She admits that all Viserys said was “Aegon.”  Rhaenyra should replied to her: “And?”  He didn’t say: “Aegon, our son, not Rhaenyra’s Aegon, nor Rhaenyra should take the throne after me.”  She heard what she wanted to hear. She was always looking for an excuse to get what she wanted and ran with it. Calling Rhaenyra’s sons bastards didn’t work, plotting with Vaemond Velaryon didn’t work, so she used Viserys as to ease her conscience and maintain her self-righteousness. Her and Otto were going to usurp Rhaenyra no matter what once Viserys was dead. 
 

I thought the entire scene between Alicent and Rhaenyra was terrible and I hope that this so-called friendship is over.  It was over when Alicent started going to see the king after Aemma’s death and behind Rhaenyra’s back. Alicent stopped being anything to Rhaenyra in that moment.  
 

Rhaenyra risking herself to go see Alicent was such a dumb move on her part. She’s had more than enough evidence that Alicent does not value her in any way. Alicent says all the right words, but every one of her actions prove otherwise. It was frustrating to once again have to watch Rhaenyra humiliate herself and practically beg Alicent for anything while Alicent smugly defends herself and her actions. YOU are the queen Rhaenyra.  Act like it. Alicent ain’t shit. How many times does she have to show you?  It’s over. 

Edited July 1 by KBrownie

[paigow]

Shame! Shame! Shame! - Nun costumes did not change for 300 years....

Is Daemon going to have a Scrooge-like epiphany? 

[paigow]

Even though it is a very low bar, another bonus point for Otto that offsets his pimping demerit is that Gwayne and Alicent are not married to each other...

[peridot]

I can't believe the bodies at the beginning were just from the Bracken/Blackwood fight, I thought an actual battle occurred.

So those followers of Aegon are now White Cloaks? Yikes.  I couldn't stand to have kiss-asses around all the time.  The castle is like a frat house now.  So much for Ulf talking about the rightful Queen Rhaenyra, and immediately saying "Hail to the King" when he saw Aegon.

I wasn't expecting to see so many penises tonight! Aegon is a fool for antagonizing the guy with the biggest dragon, especially after he killed his nephew.

Rhaenyra seemed so naive and foolish with the dithering on plans and actually sneaking inside King's Landing. 

[magdalene]

I don't think I am a pearl clutching prude but I was startled at the real fellatio moment with the erect penis. I didn't know you could show actual porn on non porn?

[go4luca]

I was yelling at Baela to Dracarys the entire forest. 🔥

[Oscirus]

I get the feeling we're going to get more Emmy-baiting scenes. It's going to be like in Game of Thrones, when Tyrion and Cersei couldn't stand each other but usually found a way to be around each other. I have no idea what Rhae was hoping to accomplish with that talk. If anything, she could have wound up being a hostage or worse if the Green Team was actually competent.

It's not a good Game of Thrones until we get a witch spouting spoilers.

It's mostly a filler episode moving people and things around to set up future events. 

I wish Corlys would get over his name obsession

[thuganomics85]

Alicent finally, FINALLY realizes that maybe naming your son after a former well-known Targaryen king could end up causing problems and mix-ups down the line.  Whoops!  To be fair, the entire family could probably learn to diversify how they name their children.  Shake things up a bit, folks!  Name the next one something wild like Chandler or Trixie!

So, not only is Cole now the Hand of the King, Aegon also made his entourage members of the Kingsguard, because that's obviously something he would do.  They really are just your average frat gang, only with armor, swords, and all of the power of being best bros with the king.  Fun times will no doubt be had!

We also meet Alicent's brother, Gwayne, who automatically becomes my favorite member of House Hightower due to him taking one look at Cole and being like "Yeah, I don't like this guy."  Of course, I suspect he will change his tune now that Cole saved him from literally getting roasted, but his initial impression wasn't off!

The introduction of Simon Strong is continuing to full-fill my belief that Larys is just a bad apple and House Strong in general is actually probably one of the better houses in Westeros.  Might contend with House Tyrell as my favorite "secondary" house.

As fantastic as Emma D'Arcy has been, it was still great seeing Milly Alcock again as the Young Rhaenyra in Daemon's vision.  Wonder if she'll pop back up again at some point?

Helaena continues to deserve a better family than this egotistical lot.

Can understand why Rhaena feels like she is being pushed aside and out of the action, but I do think her presence with the younger kids and the eggs could give Rhaenyra the peace of mind she needs once the war really picks up,

I know Rhaenyra will probably always yearn for the times she and Alicent were close and wants to believe they can go back to that.  But I hope this last conversation makes her realize that time has long since past and it's time to prepare for what is to come.  Her sneaking into King's Landing to try and make peace was just way too risky and she can't afford to make moves like that if she wants her family to make it out of this in one piece.

[millennium]

I'm still kind of upset about Aegon smashing Viserys' little city last week.

Have you ever noticed that when someone pulls a gun or a sword and the person at the business end of that gun or sword says "You won't do it," they're almost always wrong?

I really like Alicent (or maybe just Olivia Cooke), but the writers make it so difficult to justify.

Classic Game of Thrones for Rhaenyra to slip away for a day trip to King's Landing.   Took all of 20 seconds to get there, nobody at Dragonstone even noticed she was gone.

What was the significance of Daemon dae-manding to be addressed as "your grace?"   Is he implying he is an equal to Rhaenyra?

And what about Seasmoke being upset, perhaps lonely?  That was left dangling.

I hoped Gwayne Hightower had been recruited by Alicent to resolve her Creston problem once they were away from King's Landing.   But no, Gwayne seems like just a playboy knight, meanwhile the show's most obnoxious character gets to live another episode. 

Baela identifying Cole from that height made me realize that everyone in GOT world seems to have perfect vision, if not better than 20/20.   No one in this show uses corrective lenses, nor does anyone complain of poor or diminished eyesight.

Corlys seems about as necessary to this show as his son.  Rhaenys, however, is indispensable.

 

 

[bluvelvet]

4 hours ago, magdalene said:

I don't think I am a pearl clutching prude but I was startled at the real fellatio moment with the erect penis. I didn't know you could show actual porn on non porn?

I was shocked too to be honest. Unless that was a prop penis but still. 

[Cristofle]

It was really nice to see Milly! I had no idea, completely unspoiled about that. I was thinking "How is Daemon running into another Targaryen in Harrenhal?" until she turned around. I'm sure it says something about Daemon's psyche that Rhaenyra is so young in his mind, heh. As ever, Matt is the best - great little moment from him without saying a word. 

Rhaenyra is an idiot, WTF. I did kind of laugh when she was like "...I didn't start this well" when it FINALLY seemed to hit her what a bad idea this was. But then, Alicent was an idiot for assuming Viserys saying "Aegon" at the moment of death in a drug-induced stupor meant he had changed his mind. 

Man, I wanted Baela to set Criston on fire. THE WORST. 

Ewan did a good job when Aegon was humiliating Aemond, but the way Aemond responded was pretty typical of him. It's clear his biggest bully was not Jace or Luke, but Aegon, and he always takes that aggravation out on someone else. He hasn't learned better since he was a kid being cruel to a little girl who just lost her mother and had nothing to do with the kid prank - this time he took it out on a woman who we have only seen be kind to him. 

[Haleth]

3 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

something wild like Chandler Chaendler and Trixie.

Fixed it.  And Taryxy?  That one's harder.

Rhaenyra's heart was in the right place, wanting to appeal to Alicent as a mother to stop the war, but honestly, what did she think would happen?  Especially after they both realized Aegon's ascension to the throne was due to a misunderstanding of Viserys's last words?  Oops.  My bad.  Did she think the Greens would just walk away?

 

 

[Spartan Girl]

Let’s be generous and assume Alicent really did genuinely misunderstand the last words. She still knew what kind of person her son is and yet she still moved to have him crowned and disinherit Rhaenyra despite her own admission that she would be a good queen. So I don’t feel sorry for her.

Every time I get sucked back into this show, they always bring up that stupid prophecy and I’m reminded how much GOT screwed the pooch and burned us all…but let’s not open that can of worms again.

[KBrownie]

29 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Did she think the Greens would just walk away?

Why not? They certainly expected it of her.  
 

Alicent sent Otto to Dragonstone with terms expecting her to abandon the throne. All her little letters were probably urging her to do the same. Her and Daemon were just arguing last week about her continuing to even consider abandoning her birthright to the Hightowers. 
 

The writers have frequently made Rhaenyra look weak and naive when it comes to what the Hightowers, particularly Alicent, are capable of.  No one who’s been paying attention really thought Alicent was going to admit she’d messed up or show any remorse for anything she’s done. Alicent is a delusional and raging hypocrite. In addition to expecting Rhaenyra to walking away, but never doing so herself, she had the nerve to call Rhaenyra a kinslayer as if her psychotic son wasn’t the one who popped off the slaying of kin. But she makes excuses for Aemond killing Luke, but is outraged when it happens to her.

I really hope we are done with this so-called “friendship.”  It wasn’t much to begin with and was over the minute Otto sent Alicent to Viserys and she agreed to lie to Rhaenyra about it. It’s been over far longer than it ever was a thing. 

[scarynikki12]

23 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Let’s be generous and assume Alicent really did genuinely misunderstand the last words.

I see it as she both was and wasn't genuine. She was genuine in that she knew nothing of the story so it's easy to misinterpret his final words as being about her son. Where it stops being genuine is her latching onto it as a reason for Aegon becoming king. She'd been trying to displace Rhaenyra since they fell out and had run out of ideas. Then Viserys starts speaking incoherently, which she doesn't seem particularly interested in, and says the magic name: Aegon. Alicent can be forgiven for not going to the Conqueror but Rhaenyra has an Aegon of her own so, if Viserys was having a deathbed change of heart who's to say it wasn't about his grandson Aegon? Grandson Aegon has more of those creepy incest genes the Targs value so much so, for all Alicent knew, he was being named the heir. She just chose the flimsiest piece of "evidence" to support her own desires to see the Hightowers on the throne without sacrificing her reputation for being a Good Person. The fact that literally no one believed her story seems to be lost on her.

I want more details on Seasmoke. He's back and seems distressed so are we to think Laenor has died offscreen?

24 minutes ago, KBrownie said:

she had the nerve to call Rhaenyra a kinslayer as if her psychotic son wasn’t the one who popped off the slaying of kin.

Rhaenyra was the master of restraint when Alicent accused her of being a kinslayer. Yes, there was no way in hell Alicent would have believed she had nothing to do with the baby's murder but I would have hit back with Vhagar eating Luke in full view of Storm's End.

I can only assume it's relatively normal for septas to join people in prayer or for council from time to time because that's the only reason Rhaenyra talking to Alicent would go unnoticed.

Now that they've had their talk it's time for Rhaenyra to move on from Alicent. It would be cool if Alicent became a double agent in exchange for Halaena's, and maybe Daeron's, safety but she's digging in and continuing on with the Greens so Rhaenyra has to let the childhood affection go. Time to go war until you find an accepted avenue for peace. 

[baldryanr]

10 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I love Rhaenys being the unofficial Hand of the Queen. Those men are way too eager to go to war and I'm wondering if some of them want to use battles as an opportunity to switch sides.

Maybe the guys are trigger happy, but the two Rs and Alicent are delusional if they think they can stop it now.  Their last real chance for peace was when Viserys was still alive.  If the Greens stand down now then the best case scenario for Aegon and (especially) Aemond is being exiled to the Wall, so obviously neither will go for that. 

[proserpina65]

See, that is why god created doors with locks, so people can't barge in during your sad naked time with madams.

9 hours ago, magdalene said:

The full frontal nudity by Aemond wasn't squicky at all.  If you are snickering about that you really need to grow up. The only one who looked bad during that scene was the dumb shit Aegon humiliating his brother.

Twitter was full of alleged leaks about that scene, so I was anticipating something freaky.  What I got was a beautiful Greek god being humiliated by his asshole brother until his "I don't give a fuck" mask slipped back into place.

I noticed even Aegon's lackeys weren't finding it amusing.  They looked uncomfortable as hell.  If I were Aegon, I'd be watching my back, because while Aemond hated him before but supported him as king, he's likely going to be actively trying to kill him now.

9 hours ago, magdalene said:

I could have done without that crow eating out the eye socket of one of the hanged men.

Me, too, but it's HOTD so we had to have one gross thing in the episode.

Alicent's brother is a dick who isn't nearly as smart as he thinks he is.

8 hours ago, peridot said:

I can't believe the bodies at the beginning were just from the Bracken/Blackwood fight, I thought an actual battle occurred.

It was the aftermath of a small battle which grew out of the fight we saw.

7 hours ago, magdalene said:

I don't think I am a pearl clutching prude but I was startled at the real fellatio moment with the erect penis. I didn't know you could show actual porn on non porn?

It's not tv.  It's HBO. 😁  That particular penis was most likely a prosthetic.

7 hours ago, Oscirus said:

It's not a good Game of Thrones until we get a witch spouting spoilers.

❤️

Anybody who fucks with that asshole Daemon gets extra points in my book.

5 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

To be fair, the entire family could probably learn to diversify how they name their children.  Shake things up a bit, folks!  Name the next one something wild like Chandler or Trixie!

Hell, Dave or Bob would work.

5 hours ago, millennium said:

I'm still kind of upset about Aegon smashing Viserys' little city last week

I've been waiting for someone to smash the crap out of Lego Valyria for half a season so I was cheering it.

5 hours ago, millennium said:

What was the significance of Daemon dae-manding to be addressed as "your grace?"   Is he implying he is an equal to Rhaenyra?

I think that's exactly it.  By tradition, the Prince Consort, which is what he is, would be addressed as "my prince".  "Your Grace" is reserved for the monarch.  His demanding that Simon Strong use it instead indicates that Daemon views himself as something of a co-ruler instead of being Rhaenyra's subject.

5 hours ago, millennium said:

No one in this show uses corrective lenses, nor does anyone complain of poor or diminished eyesight.

Well, no one but Aemond.

2 hours ago, Cristofle said:

I'm sure it says something about Daemon's psyche that Rhaenyra is so young in his mind, heh.

She was still impressionable and overawed by him then.

2 hours ago, Cristofle said:

Ewan did a good job when Aegon was humiliating Aemond, but the way Aemond responded was pretty typical of him. It's clear his biggest bully was not Jace or Luke, but Aegon, and he always takes that aggravation out on someone else. He hasn't learned better since he was a kid being cruel to a little girl who just lost her mother and had nothing to do with the kid prank - this time he took it out on a woman who we have only seen be kind to him. 

Although I don't entirely disagree with you, it's not like he could say anything to the King in front of other people. I was so sorry for Aemond in that scene.  He was in a place where he clearly felt safe and in barges his asshole brother who immediately starts humiliating him just like when they were children.  For a moment he was still that broken kid wilting under the weight of Aegon's bullying and then you can see the moment when his mask of ice cold indifference slips into place.  And yes, he aims his words at least partly at someone who doesn't deserve it, but I suspect he's never going back anyway because Aegon has destroyed that for him.

15 minutes ago, baldryanr said:

Maybe the guys are trigger happy, but the two Rs and Alicent are delusional if they think they can stop it now.  Their last real chance for peace was when Viserys was still alive.  If the Greens stand down now then the best case scenario for Aegon and (especially) Aemond is being exiled to the Wall, so obviously neither will go for that. 

It was too late to stop this the moment Viserys died because there was no way Otto was going to let all his plans go to waste.  Both Alicent and Rhaenyra were delusional to think there was any way this was going to end without violence and bloodshed on a massive scale.

Edited July 1 by proserpina65
Edited to remove spelling, grammar, etc., mistakes. I was up way too late on a school night.

[Chicago Redshirt]

25 minutes ago, baldryanr said:

Maybe the guys are trigger happy, but the two Rs and Alicent are delusional if they think they can stop it now.  Their last real chance for peace was when Viserys was still alive.  If the Greens stand down now then the best case scenario for Aegon and (especially) Aemond is being exiled to the Wall, so obviously neither will go for that. 

I may be naive, but I think Rhae was not crazy to think that pious Ali would come to her senses and persuade Aegon to abandon his claim given that a) she knows Rhae would be a good queen b) she knows Aegon  is a spoiled brat who will be a terrible king c) she knows that thousands of people will die in a war that should offend her faith. And that's when Rhae believed Ali was straight-up lying about Viserys naming Aegon successor on his deathbed. With the underlying justification for the seizure of power gone, surely someone who regularly visits the Sept of Baelor and prays for guidance would do the right thing and avert a long and bloody war, right?

Well, it turns out that Ali likes power a little more than she likes her faith.

Rhae was stupid for thinking that she could waltz into King's Landing, have a talk with Ali, and waltz back home, though. There's no in-universe explanation I can see for why Ali did not rat out Rhae the moment she walked far enough away that Rhae couldn't carry out her threat. Also, I daresay that if it came out that Rhae killed the queen personally in a sept on top of killing a baby, any other support that she might have would fade away. Yes, Daemon might pursue a claim for the throne.. or Jace. but what self-respecting lord would keep to an oath to someone who did such a thing? I think she would immediately lose the support of the Starks, for example. I suppose there's the flipside that the Greens would have shown themselves very vulnerable.

[proserpina65]

5 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

but I think Rhae was not crazy to think that pious Ali would come to her senses and persuade Aegon to abandon his claim

She might not have been crazy to think Alicent might be willing to listen to her but she was naive as hell to think that Aegon would be persuaded now that he's had a taste of power.  I'll cut her a little slack since she hadn't seen him in years until the dinner from hell, but only a little.

 

7 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Rhae was stupid for thinking that she could waltz into King's Landing, have a talk with Ali, and waltz back home, though. There's no in-universe explanation I can see for why Ali did not rat out Rhae the moment she walked far enough away that Rhae couldn't carry out her threat. Also, I daresay that if it came out that Rhae killed the queen personally in a sept on top of killing a baby, any other support that she might have would fade away. Yes, Daemon might pursue a claim for the throne.. or Jace. but what self-respecting lord would keep to an oath to someone who did such a thing? I think she would immediately lose the support of the Starks, for example. I suppose there's the flipside that the Greens would have shown themselves very vulnerable.

Agreed.  She was counting on Alicent's sense of self-preservation when she made that threat, but it was foolish to do so and it could have (and still could, I suppose) ended very differently.

[baldryanr]

6 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I may be naive, but I think Rhae was not crazy to think that pious Ali would come to her senses and persuade Aegon to abandon his claim given that a) she knows Rhae would be a good queen b) she knows Aegon  is a spoiled brat who will be a terrible king c) she knows that thousands of people will die in a war that should offend her faith. And that's when Rhae believed Ali was straight-up lying about Viserys naming Aegon successor on his deathbed. With the underlying justification for the seizure of power gone, surely someone who regularly visits the Sept of Baelor and prays for guidance would do the right thing and avert a long and bloody war, right?

Maybe, just maybe, Alicent would have been willing to go to Aegon, tell him about the misunderstanding, and beg him to give up the throne.  But what idiot would think Aegon would give up just because his mom asked him to, especially after what happened to Jaeherys?  When it comes to loved ones to protect, Aegon has far less to lose - in fact, one could argue that Jaeherys was the only person Aegon truly cared about.

[Spartan Girl]

“I know I have, at times, been unkind…”

Unkind? You’re referring to demanding to have her son’s eye cut out to avenge your Aemond? Which, by the way, only happened because your current fuckboy kept egging him on to bully Rhaenyra’s kids.

[proserpina65]

8 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

“I know I have, at times, been unkind…”

Unkind? You’re referring to demanding to have her son’s eye cut out to avenge your Aemond? Which, by the way, only happened because your current fuckboy kept egging him on to bully Rhaenyra’s kids.

Not this crap again.  The fight happened when Daemon's daughters and Rhaenyra's sons confronted Aemond for "stealing" Vhagar.  Aemond did not start that fight, although he did escalate it at every opportunity.  It had nothing to do with Aemond bullying Rhaenyra's kids because up until that point, they went along with bullying him.

[baldryanr]

36 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Which, by the way, only happened because your current fuckboy kept egging him on to bully Rhaenyra’s kids.

There are many, many reasons to hate Criston.  There's no need to stretch to include other ones. 

[AntFTW]

10 hours ago, Haleth said:

Rhaenyra's heart was in the right place, wanting to appeal to Alicent as a mother to stop the war, but honestly, what did she think would happen?  Especially after they both realized Aegon's ascension to the throne was due to a misunderstanding of Viserys's last words?  Oops.  My bad.  Did she think the Greens would just walk away?

It’s too late to put that genie back in the bottle. Aegon is on the throne, and I highly doubt he’d be willing to give it up due to a misunderstanding.

Honestly, it doesn’t even matter that Alicent misunderstood Viserys because Otto was always going usurp the throne from Rhaenyra anyway. Otto had already planned for it. He didn’t really need Alicent to say that Viserys changed his mind. For Otto and Alicent, that became a good and convenient excuse.

Edited July 1 by AntFTW

[Dobian]

Aemond continues to be one of the most interesting characters on the show.  Is fratricide in his future?  Aegon is surely asking for it.

[PatsyandEddie]

42 minutes ago, baldryanr said:

There are many, many reasons to hate Criston.  There's no need to stretch to include other ones. 

I don’t agree it’s a stretch in any way. It was evident in the training yard especially when Cristin provoked Harwin Strong as he was trying to teach one of Rhaenyra’s sons some sword fighting technique. ( Yes, HS was the biological father but Laenor Velaryon claimed the boys as his own )

Christin aided and abetted the bullying himself. 

Edited July 1 by PatsyandEddie

[KBrownie]

16 minutes ago, Dobian said:

Aemond continues to be one of the most interesting characters on the show.  Is fratricide in his future?  Aegon is surely asking for it.

Well, he’s already a kinslayer, so why not go ahead and kill his brother. He got a pat on the back and excuses made for already committing what is supposedly a huge crime in Westeros, so it’s not like he has to fear any punishment if he did it. 

[proserpina65]

21 minutes ago, PatsyandEddie said:

I don’t agree it’s a stretch in any way. It was evident in the training yard especially when Cristin provoked Harwin Strong as he was trying to teach one of Rhaenyra’s sons some sword fighting technique. ( Yes, HS was the biological father but Laenor Velaryon claimed the boys as his own )

Christin aided and abetted the bullying himself. 

He did it then.  We did not see him encouraging Aemond to continue any bullying later and it's most definitely not the cause of the fight at Driftmark.  That's what I would consider stretching.

[tennisgurl]

I loved briefly seeing Millie again!

I am glad that at least Alicent and Rhaenyra both know the truth about what Viserys said as he was dying, even if its not going to change much in the grand scheme of things. Rhaenyra learns that her father stayed loyal to her until the end while Alicent learns that everyone, especially the Targs, naming all of their kids the same thing is probably not a smart idea. 

The Song of Ice and Fire really was the gift that never gave wasn't it? Not only was that stupid prophesy part of what created this whole messy conflict, but its all going to end up makin things even worse generations later and wont actually mean anything in the end. Of course, while I do think that Alicent did think that Viserys was talking about crowning their son king, she and Otto would have tried to take the throne no matter what happened, this is just what has allowed her to justify it to herself. Even now that she knows the truth she doubling down, I hope that Rhaenyra finally realizes that their friendship is totally over. 

The Red Keep needs better security yesterday, just about anyone from murderers to enemy queens can wander in and out whenever they want. 

I love that Daemon came in super hot with full amour, with wind and rain behind him, ready for an epic battle, only for Simon Strong, who is not an idiot and correctly suspects that Larys murdered their family members, to immediately bend the knee and invite him to dinner. He so badly wanted to have a big badass moment so that he can forget what a dick he's been. 

Gwayne Hightower might be an asshole, but he isn't wrong that Cole is an unqualified social climber who stole the job as Hand from his much more qualified father. I really wish that Baela had managed to roast him but no such luck. 

I feel bad for Rhaena, she still obviously feels massively insecure about not having a dragon and knowing that the best thing she can do for the war effort is to take care of the kids, but being given the children and the remaining dragon eggs is no small thing, it was sweet of Rhaenyra to really impress upon her how much she trusts her with her children and the eggs. 

That poor bartender, she's the same maid that Aegon raped back in season one, it seems like things still haven't improved for the poor girl. Aegon and his bro squad are so cringe, he's an immature bully pretending to be a badass king who's surrounded himself with lackies and wont stop pissing off people that he really needs on his side. Aemond looked like he was contemplating some kin/king slaying for a minute there, but he cant go through with it. Its not like he can defect to the blacks after what he did to Luke and he isn't going to want to sit this war out. Their whole family is just such a mess, and that's just the family they aren't in the war against!

Edited July 1 by tennisgurl

[Spartan Girl]

44 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Gwayne Hightower might be an asshole, but he isn't wrong that Cole is an unqualified social climber who stole the job as Hand from his much more qualified father. I really wish that Baela had managed to roast him but no such luck. 

Hopefully, he gets his comeuppance soon. But then, GOT characters don't always get what they deserve...

[PatsyandEddie]

Milly’s cameo was excellent and I did love her calling out Daemon for making messes that she had to go around to clean up after him. It was interesting to see the emotional response that Daemon had to her sitting quietly by the fire, humming, while she sewed up the wound on Jaehaerys. I wasn’t expecting tears and a look of , dare I say, remorse?

[iMonrey]

Why were they hanging up Hightower banners on the walls of the Red Keep? Or, are Targaryen banners also green? I get the show wants to make of point of "Greens vs. Blacks" but it makes zero sense for Kings Landing to be flying Hightower banners. Aegon's claim to the throne is through the Targaryen line, not the Hightower. And it wouldn't help his cause to remind people how the Hightowers helped him take power either.

11 hours ago, magdalene said:

I don't think I am a pearl clutching prude but I was startled at the real fellatio moment with the erect penis. I didn't know you could show actual porn on non porn?

While that was undoubtably a prosthetic dong it was still the most graphic depiction of fellatio I've ever seen on a TV show - even on a pay cabler.

[AntFTW]

4 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

While that was undoubtably a prosthetic dong it was still the most graphic depiction of fellatio I've ever seen on a TV show - even on a pay cabler.

On top of that, I'd say the prosthetic was probably attached to a dummy or a prop. I never thought GoT would be topped in their brothel scenes but here we are.

Edited July 1 by AntFTW

[sugarbaker design]

11 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Why were they hanging up Hightower banners on the walls of the Red Keep? Or, are Targaryen banners also green? I get the show wants to make of point of "Greens vs. Blacks" but it makes zero sense for Kings Landing to be flying Hightower banners. Aegon's claim to the throne is through the Targaryen line, not the Hightower. And it wouldn't help his cause to remind people how the Hightowers helped him take power either.

While the banners were indeed green, they also included the Targaryen three-headed dragon.  I would hazard to guess that the banners are Aegon II's specifically, reflecting both his Targaryen and Hightower lineage.

[baldryanr]

11 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

While the banners were indeed green, they also included the Targaryen three-headed dragon.  I would hazard to guess that the banners are Aegon II's specifically, reflecting both his Targaryen and Hightower lineage.

We saw something similar with GOT - Joffrey had a joint Lannister/Baratheon banner and Renly made his green to acknowledge the Tyrells.

Fun fact - the actor who plays Ser Simon Strong is named Simon in real life AND was knighted a few years ago.  The only real knight in the cast.

[proserpina65]

33 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Why were they hanging up Hightower banners on the walls of the Red Keep? Or, are Targaryen banners also green?

These are Aegon's banners.  They're green and gold to reflect his Hightower heritage and the color of his dragon.

[bluvelvet]

In regards to the bullying when they were children, I agree with the poster that said Aegon was probably his biggest bully. In that scene last season wasn’t Aegon the one who initiated the pig prank? 
 

Alicent said “you know what Aemond is” like she didn’t play a direct role and how he turned out. Unfortunately those kids grew up feeling unloved. You could see the difference again when Rhaenyra was saying goodbye to her youngest children. Little Joffrey hugging her and saying “mother/mom”.   Rhaenyra is steadfast in the fact that her father loved her. 
 

Filler episode, kinda dragged. 

[proserpina65]

9 minutes ago, bluvelvet said:

In regards to the bullying when they were children, I agree with the poster that said Aegon was probably his biggest bully. In that scene last season wasn’t Aegon the one who initiated the pig prank? 
 

Alicent said “you know what Aemond is” like she didn’t play a direct role and how he turned out. Unfortunately those kids grew up feeling unloved. You could see the difference again when Rhaenyra was saying goodbye to her youngest children. Little Joffrey hugging her and saying “mother/mom”.   Rhaenyra is steadfast in the fact that her father loved her. 
 

Filler episode, kinda dragged. 

Oh, Aegon definitely was the ringleader, and surely bullied Aemond in private too, but Jace and Luke played right along with it.  But yeah, none of those kids got much affection from either parent.  Seems like Alicent did try more than Viserys did, but not nearly enough to make a difference.

I actually thought this episode was better paced than the first two.

[proserpina65]

I didn't like Milly Alcock's performance is season one so I didn't care about her appearance in this episode.  I did, however, find it interesting that when Rhaenyra appeared in Daemon's hallucination/dream, it was as the impressionable, malleable teenager and not the adult who'd started following her own path.

Also, on my list of things I think the producers' weren't aiming for: me wondering if Aemond was going to go back for his clothes or just stomp back to the Red Keep buck nekkid.  (Wouldn't put that past him, honestly.)  Admittedly, it was only after my third viewing of the episode that the thought crossed my mind as I was trying to fall asleep.

[paigow]

5 hours ago, baldryanr said:

There are 10  reasons to hate Criston.  

Edited July 1 by paigow

[meep.meep]

2 hours ago, AntFTW said:

On top of that, I'd say the prosthetic was probably attached to a dummy or a prop. I never thought GoT would be topped in their brothel scenes but here we are.

speaking as an average viewer, it isn't something we were asking for.

Whatever happened to the rest of the gold pieces that Blood and Cheese picked up from the table where Aemond and Ser Crispy were plotting?

 

[proserpina65]

Just now, meep.meep said:

speaking as an average viewer, it isn't something we were asking for.

Whatever happened to the rest of the gold pieces that Blood and Cheese picked up from the table where Aemond and Ser Crispy were plotting?

 

I imagine Blood had them on his person when he died, unless Larys had him searched and kept them for himself.