Black dragonriders: Rhaenys, Rhaenyra, Daemon, Jaecarys, Lucaerys (RIP), Joffrey (but too young/small to count), Baela, Rhaena – is that correct? Seems they actually had 8 but maybe he wasn’t couting Joffrey.
Green dragonriders: Aegon, Aemond, Helaena, Daeron? (also young and small)
Am I missing someone on the Green’s side?
One of Daemon’s daughters does not have a dragon, her egg never hatched. She wanted to claim Vaghar but Aemond beat her to it, and I guess she never bothered claiming another. That is why they focused on her when they were talking about the unclaimed dragons. You got the greens correct.
OK well she better get on that then! (literally and metaphorically)
This is going back to episode 9, but was anyone else thinking that when Aemond was seeking out his brother, he’d be better off simply stabbing him and leaving him for dead? Was he considering that? Did he intentionally decide he’d rather remain a prince than be king?
What should Luke have done differently when he spotted Vhagar lurking near the castle? I wanted him to flee immediately. Or ask for the Lord’s protection.
Maybe try to stay calmer and control his dragon better? it was a rough spot, neither one meant it to go that far. Blasting a dragon five times larger in the face was probably a bad move, but that was all Arrax.
Wow, they certainly ended the season with a bang! I like how they showed Rhaenyra as tentative and unsure in her early hours as Queen (esp. since she would be still grieving for her father and for her stillborn child), but then showing greater confidence and decisiveness once she knew the Valaryons were behind her. After the choking incident I kept expecting her to tell her uncle/husband, “Don’t you ever lay hands on me like that again - I am your monarch as well as your wife.” Interesting power dynamic there, and we know what became of his first wife.
The actor playing Lord Baratheon actually looked a good bit like King Robert from GOT S1. Very tense, well-done dragon chase at the end.
Looking forward to S2… whenever it finally comes.
At least he didn’t go for the divorce rock.
Matt Smith finally gets to play a king-consort and still had to bend the knee at his wife’s coronation.
I finally watched the last episode, and can’t wait for Season 2. In terms of planning, it seems like the Blacks should have assumed the Greens were doing same calculus as they were, and that perhaps Jaecerys should have been given better “what if?” Instructions.
I don’t see how Valeryons had any choice but to back the Blacks. The Sea Snake’s grandchildren are all married to Targaryens, so how could he just sit back and remain neutral?
I’m very interested in the dynamic between Daemon and Rhaenyra in the next season. Their alliance and marriage is the product of needing each other to achieve their ambitions. Rhaenyra has known forever that Daemon wants to be THE king. At this point they need each other, but they both must imagine a future with the other eliminated. Daemon to get that ultimate power, and Rhaenyra to maintain hers. Perhaps that choking scene drove home this point for her.
And as I mentioned very early on, the beauty of this show is there are no good or bad main characters, and everyone has good reason for their actions, especially when considering the accepted practices of that world. It’s very unique this way. The other thing that I mentioned that struck me, and that distinguishes it from the GOT era, is that alliances and fealty are much looser. I wonder if these became more solid in the GOT world due to the upcoming mess that I expect we’ll see in Season 2 (assuming I’m not dead of old age by then, and still have what’s left of my wits about me).
Otto told Rhaenyra that he was already in negotiations with the other houses so she knew he had a head start. Telling Jace that he would be welcomed by someone she knew to be wishy-washy was a terrible miscalculation. No what-if could help if Aemond was already there - except maybe if you see Vhagar parked there, fly away. Maybe she was hoping that Aemond had been sent elsewhere.
If Daemon had been there when she made this decision, I believe he would have stopped it. She was still thinking that diplomacy would work in the face of treason and that the other lords would act honorably. In that way, she is a lot like Ned. At least she will get to learn from her mistakes. It was interesting that it was mentioned that a Stark would always honor an oath. I guess we will see that come into play next season.
All that said, it was so sad to see Jace and his young dragon be the first ones to pay a price in the war.
First of that was Lucerys, Jacaerys is her first born and Joffrey her third “strong boy”. Aegon and Viserys are her sons with Daemon. Second there are still huge taboos in Westeros about kinslaying AND messenger slaying so the apparent danger SHOULD have been minimal. They were also in the middle of peace negotiations. Aemond wasn’t even trying to kill him, he could have easily done that at any point.
I ask again - did nobody but me notice a guy who looked very much like Eric Idle in the war planning scene around the table? I’m not seeing anything online about it, but I think it’s still possible it was him in a cameo.
You will have to be a lot more specific than that, there was at least three war room planning scenes at length, not counting the one at the end with the death being told. There was a lot of people in the background, including one I would say was wearing a GRRM hat. So need at least some rough guidance, and it seems unlikely if he was shown in a fleeting moment, then why bother cameo?
I seriously doubt it.
Maybe it was an uncredited cameo, but IMDB lists no HOD credit for him: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0001385/filmotype/actor
I think had he been in the episode, it would have been publicized by now.
Is attacking another dragon with a blast of fire ever a good idea? Wouldn’t they be basically immune to that? I guess you could toast the rider, but Arrax simply tried to burn Vhagar’s flank and to no one’s surprise, it did nothing.
Well it pissed her off enough that Aemond lost control, so it must have hurt some at least.
The last two episodes have been very enjoyable and I look forward to further episodes. The plot is getting really good. Still not much humour.