How To Fix House Of The Dragon

How To Fix House Of The Dragon. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 2 Episode 8 Ending Explained & Breakdown | Review, Easter Eggs & Theories. Season 3 predictions, Daemon's Vision explained and more. We break down the final episode of the Game Of Thrones prequel HOTD, covering the characters and families involved, The Fire and Blood book and the Targaryen lineage, Blood and Cheese, Daemon, Rhaenyra, Alicent, The Greens, Aegon, Aemond, the Iron Throne, the differences, The Heir to the Throne, Vermithor, Hugh Hammer, Ulf, The Battle Of Rooks Rest, The Death Of Rhaenys, Dragon Vs Dragon and so much more, lets jump right into it!
#HouseOfTheDragon #HOTD #HouseOfTheDragonSeason2 #EndingExplained #HouseOfTheDragonSeason2Episode8 #HouseOfTheDragonBreakdown #endingexplained #HouseOfTheDragonEndingExplained #EpisodeBreakdown #HBO #EasterEggs #GameOfThrones #GameOfThronesPrequel #Theories #FireAndBlood #Targaryen #GOT #Daemon #rhaenyra
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/* ---- VIDEO INFORMATION ---- */
Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show, I'm your Host Paul and this video I wanna talk House Of The Dragon.
-
There's been a lot of backlash over season 2 with most of it boiling down to the finale. As a whole the season kind of just felt like set up with it not really having a massive pay off.
I even had a tweet go semi viral earlier in the week where I talked about what I think the main problem was. I said it felt like episode 8 in a 10 episode season and I think if we'd had two more entries then those events would have left fans a lot happier. Those would either feature the battle of the gullet or the storming of Kings Landing or potentially both.
What we've been left with though is more of a tease of whats to come and a two year wait for whats likely gonna be another 8 episodes. However I think the issues go beyond just structure and that it involves the two key characters. Throughout this video I wanna talk about how we can fix the show and make it so that it pays off in the end.
Obviously this is just my opinion and if you disagree then drop yours below. If you agree please hit the thumbs up and make sure you subscribe for videos like this every day. With that out the way, thank you for clicking this, now let's get into House Of The Dragon.

[@heavyspoilers]

Let us know your thoughts on the season below

[@THOU713]

They lost the plot. The destroyed the characters

[@LaReinaZorra]

No one is rooting for these asinine plotlines on Reddit. It’s all X “fans” needing everyone to be sexually confused & repressed or sex crazed. Condal & Hess are hacks. GRRM needs to stop letting these wolves in sheep’s clothing take his works, only to trash them.

[@joshyguerrilla]

I like the aegon/viserys mirroring. Like father like son

[@bhaines2209]

They need to hire people that are not only as invested as you are, but with a semblance of actual talent, intellect, and integrity.

[@JoeUchiha-gs5ru]

Meh

[@MrStrosty]

When Alicent asked her to run away together I thought I mis heard or mis understood her because that came out of nowhere and made no sense.

[@ameliacraiig4193]

I HATED the way that whole final scene was written.

[@TheLamocho]

and for the internet to run with it and ship the two together as lovers was even more confusing. Do you mean if Alicient asked her maid to come with her and avoid war, that would mean she had romantic feelings for her too.?

[@singstreetcar5881]

They literally murdered her grandson

[@jacksonperez5615]

The fundamental issue is that this isn’t a story between Rhaenyra and Alicent, this is a civil war between the greens and the blacks. And deciding to act as if both of these women are the good guys and struggling in a patriarchal world is killing the show

[@Zarab923]

As a woman, the way these two characters act they make the case for why women should NOT be in charge of anything lol

[@JohnathonGxx]

100%

[@smarti1144]

That has to be a part of the story though. Isn't the main reason Rhaenera is usurped because she is a woman? The problem is the storytelling just isn't as good as the early seasons of Got. They can be women struggling and still be ruthless and villainous. They have made them boring and make decisions no one would make during a war. No need for the sexual tension between Alicent and Rhae. We didn't need all those spooky harrenhall visions.

[@eurongreyjoy2]

In the OG they're struggling in a patriarchal world. That's not the problem. It's how nonsensical and uneven these developments are.

[@ThisIsMyHandle333]

No. It has nothing to do with any of that. It’s that it’s just plain slow and boring GRRM is pretty hilarious complaining about writers when he doesn’t even write

[@vinni3c]

The problem is HBO hired some woke writers who "think they know best"

[@LaReinaZorra]

Also, they need to let the “friendship” root die. It makes NO sense & that is what they are basing everything on.

[@marielalara1202]

This. I liked they're relationship in the first half of season 1 , but now too much has happend and it's just silly that Alicent would still try to be friendly with Rhaenyra.

[@goochmcduck4285]

I know they were never even friends!

[@haikelareff]

@@marielalara1202 its not 'friendly' ..its a desperation..chill your tits

[@dudeofstuff]

I didn't understand why that happened, its like they retconned their own writing. No one thought they were friends after season 1.

[@wiktoriagrochola3256]

@@marielalara1202 right? children died on both sides and Alicent is like 'let's run away together'... 😫

[@478Johnnyboy]

Daemon spent a whole season raising an army. That did not need to take 8 episodes and he didn’t even leave for Harrenhall until like ep 2.

[@canon6356]

His character arch needed 8 episodes- you don’t just let go of 30 years of resentment over night -

[@edwinborja3570]

⁠@@canon6356he never lets go of his resentment, I believe that was the point of his character in the books and goes out like a badass. I get it for show purpose since they are going in a very different route, and since Damien is a fan favorite in season 1, but in S2 he’s not that good imo. All this is from the show because in the book he basically gone for a big chunk but the show can’t have Damien disappear. Imo the show is very messy. I don’t mind the slow pace, my issue is that it’s incoherent and the pacing is dragging it with this filler that’s probably not going to matter. I get I’m open to seeing something different for the show, but dam it’s just not good. They are forcing this blacks is good and green is bad. Aeomon wants the throne, rhaeneyra doesn’t want war because the song of ice, is like wtf. Where are we going with this.

[@watermage25]

​@@canon6356 if you are unable to make your point in a few episodes of having Dameon in Harnhall then you did not write a compelling story. The audience understood what Dameon was goung thru after the secind vision. It was a waste if time point blank. Literally keep the visions to the few ones with Viserys and end it.

[@canon6356]

@@edwinborja3570 you know how real life is more complicated than the history books? Bc people write with a limited, often bias POV… fire and blood isn’t suppose to be the reality of the time, it’s a maester 100s of years later reading parts of the accounts of a couple of maesters and a court jester named mushroom - and they wouldn’t know what happened in private or secret unless that information got out publicly

[@fifimac2007]

Totally agree

[@tyronemayers1943]

DAEMON SPENT THIS WHOLE SEASON IN AN ILLUSION LIKE HE WAS TRAPPED IN A DAMN GENJUTSU

[@Kalleesto]

Yep and I loved it. It was so masterfully done. It was hard to tell what was real and how much peril he was actually in throughout all the Harrenhal scenes. Like an, albeit mild, horror movie.

[@barrannugrahakodri8695]

​@@Kalleestolol, no wonder the series sucks with fans who defends every dumb thing the writer does

[@I-ONLY-BUILD-MECHS-AND-DUSTERS]

@@Kalleesto Yeah I absolutely loved all that time spent rehashing things we basically already knew. And I only had to wait 2 years for this.

[@michaeldpa1333]

Dragon Weed!

[@tasteslikesalt4672]

1. bring back 10 episodes a season 2. don't take the best part of F&B and ruin it (Blood & Cheese). 3. don't milk the material into a season longer, you're left with a dead season where everyone has to wait until other parts of the events catches up (Daemon just chilling in harrenhal until the rest of the world goes through major plot points)

[@agi_b]

what "best part" of blood & cheese that was missing for you? r*ping a child? what a bummer we didn't get to see that huh

[@ThisIsMyHandle333]

lol I agree with 1 and 2. This is definitely getting The Hobbit treatment. But Blood and Cheese is nowhere near the best part

[@TweedTones]

They ruined blood and cheese , no nettles, ruined the white worm by giving her way too much screen time and horrible dialogue. Ruined the consequences/actions of alicent and Rhay, that final scene with them was atrocious. I’m not fully checked out but I was hoping it would be somewhat in the league of season 1. It’s not even close

[@Tim_is_a_hooligan]

Blood and cheese was definitely the biggest letdown that could’ve easily been another red wedding

[@aegnor2102]

blood and cheese isn't ruined

[@JayCeeGee]

PLOT TWIST - Nettles is right there out of camera view below Rheana and she has already claimed Sheep stealer :D

[@trixietrx2346]

That would be SO AWESOME in so many ways! Make it happen!

[@veronxska]

This is what I was also thinking 😂 we never got to see Rhaena claim the dragon because it has already a rider

[@courtneycherry5582]

I told my husband that but I wasn't hopeful 😂

[@xdraconicgaming5204]

@@JayCeeGee I think they didn’t include her because of the stuff with Daemon. Pretty creepy honestly.

[@tigerlancer]

@@JayCeeGee if nettles doesn't show up in HOTD, for real. Then, I'll just convince myself that nettles is a faceless men of braavos, and killed rhaena and took her face and claimed sheepstealer for herself as 'rhaena'. 🤣 After that, rhaena heads to harrenhal and seduces daemon. (technically, it's not incest.) 🤣

[@nydabeats]

Simple... Hbo needs to give them the budget to actually make a full season battles and all. Cutting out the last 2 episodes messed up the overall pacing of the show.

[@iSnipeJoe]

Season 3 episode 1 : Rhaena is rejected by sheepstealer almost burned when nettles appear to calm her dragon, we learn that nettles snuck in dragon stone and tamed the wild beast feeding him fresh sheeps, she’s the one who flew sheestealer to the vale ! Fixed

[@TheVisitors44]

😄 I joked with my family at that scene, “The dragon is going to toast her and Nettles will walk up and be like, “Eat your snack and let’s get going”

[@samuelfarquharson965]

I think the big issue that NO ONE seems to mention is that when season 2 was first commissioned, it was for 10 episodes, but HBO cut the budget at the last minute right when the writers strikes were going on. I think when you're watching something on TV, it's easy to forget that these shows cost a lot of money to make. The Battle of the Gullet for example, is probably going to cost even more than the average episode because water based sequences cost way more than your average sequence.

[@danyelldoesnot]

Fair point! I'm one who was a little disappointed with most of this season, but your argument does make sense and does make me give this season a little more grace.

[@jacksonperez5615]

This doesn’t absolve the issues the writers clearly have

[@478Johnnyboy]

They cost a lot sure but they set that standard with years of GoT episodes. Now i get budgets may need to be cut. But they could have worked in a stronger ending than what we got.

[@TerraJ-ug6nc]

I call bullshit seeing as how they were willing to pay $1 billion for each episode and no episode limit for s8 of GOT I'm calling bs on they cut the budget just cuz... They probably tried to get in front of the strikes

[@samuelfarquharson965]

Believe what you will, just know that HBO is owned by Warner Bros who lost A LOT of money leading up to the second season. Also, I'll probably get a lot of flack for what I'm about to say, I don't give a rat's arse about what GRRM's opinion is. Maybe if he spent less time preaching about the current state of modern media adaptations and more time ACTUALLY writing the next instalment of the franchise he seems to have forgotten about, Winds of Winter might not have taken 13+ years to release.

[@McBenNC]

The only character with any development this season was Cole. And only because of the battle of Rooks Rest. Dude went from cocky and invincible to clearly shaken and downtrodden. Everyone else felt like they stayed the exact same

[@johnnyskinwalker4095]

Well Alicent went from hungry for putting her children in power to offering her son's head! lol We could say it's development even though I'd rather think it's bad writing.

[@TurnTheAntenna]

Things They Spent Too Much Time On: -Daemon in Harrenhal -Jason Lannister traveling to Essos -Jace's pity parties -Alicent camping -Rhaena running around the Vale trying to find Sheepstealer -Hugh Hammer's family life

[@nreyes02]

I think the biggest issue was the fact HBO cut budget on their golden show. It was originally written for 10 EP, but writers forced to rewrite for 8 EP. It’s crazy that the new CEO isn’t thinking, “Hey we could get so much more money, if we fund this show.” Too bad corporate greed unfortunately has taken over.

[@bensenzo]

Nice excuse 😅 What about the writing? Was it the budget as well😅

[@nreyes02]

@@bensenzo What about the writing was bad? While I will say it had flawed moments, it wasn’t story and character breaking like seasons 5-8 of GoT. Literally, if the show had 10 EP, we would’ve had the Battle of the Gullet and Fall of King’s Landing for the next two ep.

[@DeftPetal]

@@bensenzo ⁠HoTD hoped to begin pre production in October 2022 but was pushed back and eventually began around January of 2023. The WGA strike began May 2nd 2023 and ended in the same year on September 27th. Not only would this have impacted the writing process of preproduction but the entire production schedule was during the WGA strike from April 2023 to September 2023. Which would mean that during filming they had no leeway or room to adjust the script due to the writers strike action as well as the budget cuts due to the WB and Discovery+ merger. The writers did what they could with the time given and budget restraints when they were originally promised more.

[@nreyes02]

@@DeftPetal That’s what I’m saying. It’s unfortunate those events happen because we really could’ve had a great season. I felt like Ryan and Sara did an amazing job with what was given to them, I’ll be it with some flaws.

[@hez859]

​@bensenzo thr writing wasn't even that bad dude. Also, cutting two episodes doesn't sound like a big deal but it is especially when the outline was for 10 episodes

[@antelopedon6341]

The biggest change that has cascaded throughout is removing the age gap between Alicent and Rhaenerya. They were never meant to be friends and making that change has led to the opportunity for these ridiculous out of story meet ups. Completely takes away agency to be the ruthless competitors they actually were.

[@BionicIguana]

Led to the opportunity for the best scenes in the series, how very dare they. I swear to god, some people.

[@concernedpigeon3219]

Except we have no frame of reference for how “they actually were” because it’s a history book. These were barely characters, they were names with a list of events and quotes that were inferred upon.

[@antelopedon6341]

Except in the history book we do know that Rhaenerya was 9 and Alicent was 19 when she married Viserys. They were not friends and did not form a teen relationship that could be exploited later in the timeline to shift the narrative from them competing against one another in a civil war to working behind the scenes together to stop the civil war. It is a significant book to show change.

[@shericeneil2834]

​@BionicIguana that says more about how uninteresting the rest of the series was then doesn't it?

[@mijanhoque1740]

@@BionicIguanabest scenes? More like dumb scenes 😂

[@shrikrishna19993]

Alicent asking Cole to run away and Cole refusing him is such a better idea. Kudos to you.

[@mmxix8090]

Step 1: hire writers who stay true to the source material and truthful to the world of ice and fire without modern culture biases skewing their work Step 2: your video

[@mystic7934]

Mission: failed before step 2

[@Magdalena8008s]

Yall are ridiculous. "Stay true to the source material" when the source material isn't fact. Its stories being told by people not there based on biases. These writers you call out, are the ones who actual know the source material. Despite what you say. Just because YOU say a thing doesn't make it true. And of course you have to find a way to interject your culture wars nonsense into things. Just stop watching and go be miserable elsewhere. Yall are pathetic. I'd give anything to watch you try for 5 minutes write something yourself and deal with the pressure of actually working in the industry. I'd give anything for such.

[@thaddeusnallphilosophersst6855]

How exactly do you stay true to source material that is narrated from the perspective of a person who is living in the story that they are telling of other people's perspectives?

[@ythandlename]

@@thaddeusnallphilosophersst6855 By keeping the author by your side instead of shooing them away because you believe your ideas are 'better' than the creators.

[@mookieblaelocker6504]

Pretty sure GRRM isn’t trying to be in the writers room full time.

[@bottombarrelbudgetfilms1854]

It's a 4-episode season disguised as an 8-episode season.

[@Gwallacec2]

Can you please do a breakdown and “how to fix” like this for Umbrella Academy? I really want to know how the books ended and how the Netflix Series differs from the books. I’ve looked for ages for a good breakdown but haven’t found any. Great video and great job!

[@ThaFreshmaker]

It you're already familiar on the show and all seasons then you have an idea of that version, as for comics, comicstorian had a video that broke it down pretty well of all comics RIP.

[@the_cheap_ones]

That show is Doomed and ghey

[@StraightTruth-lx7ko]

No it's too late. Pretty much after the first season it was downhill from there

[@micktompson101]

They’re not that long. Just read them ffs

[@smookypooch]

There's only 3 graphic novels & they're like 40 pages long. You could finish in a couple of hours & honestly, they don't really HAVE an ending

[@Jsteve3230]

They just need to up the budget and go back to ten episodes

[@kazetoame]

The thing about Cersei is that, she’s not like her book counterpart at all! Cersei is supposed to be a paranoid hot fucking mess and making bad choices left, right, and center. D&D gave us what SHE thought she was and it was faaaaaar from what she actually is. Kinda undermines a main complaint of the video about using the source material. Cersei never loved Robert either and she had a hard on for Rhaegar……..in the books we see Cersei slowly becoming Robert.

[@UsiQuotidiani.18]

To be fair show Cersei is better in every way that book Cersei

[@kazetoame]

@@UsiQuotidiani.18 No, she isn’t. Book Cersei, Tyrion, and Jaime are the miles better than their show counterparts.

[@veronxska]

I love both book and show versions (S1-6, and some parts in S7). Cersei is my favorite 😂 but her death in the show wasn't as satisfying as I thought it should be

[@AD-ur1fk]

@@kazetoamestill they made cercei and much better villain in the shows

[@kazetoame]

@@AD-ur1fk she’s one note and for most of the last two seasons is just staring out of a window while drinking.

[@twothirtyfours]

Your “villain” is as important, if not more, than your main character. Your villain dictates the pace, the tone, the consequences. This is in all genres and performances. The Lion King, Deep Impact, Die Hard, GoT, even professional wrestling you need a good bad guy! Two “good guys” fighting each other isn’t fun. It’s sad and ultimately boring. You are 100% correct!

[@GamiCross]

Wait for season 3?

[@tcabakatristan135]

I don’t know how you can have faith when this season was horrendous.

[@jefftharakan1457]

@@tcabakatristan135that’s a bit of an exaggeration, the season was overall pretty good in terms of scenes, it’s mainly the finale that got people mad

[@tcabakatristan135]

@@jefftharakan1457 for me personally it was a chore to get through some episodes.

[@MrCollins2000]

@@tcabakatristan135yeah you just want to whine

[@SupimBryan]

@@MrCollins2000 season was dogshit, same people defending it are the same 0 iq ppl that thought season 7 & 8 of GoT wernt that bad. Theyre stretching an already thin source material (literally like 252 pages from fire in blood) into 3-4 seasons of TV. Best comparison is LOTR all 3 of the OG movies based on 1 book. The hobbit? The shortest book? 3 movies. GOT started off the same as LOTR adapting mostly 1 book per season (until they started to run out of source material) but now were adapting 252 pages into 4 seasons of TV? so we got the same 10 fucking scenes of corlys talking to his bastard & an entire like hour of daemon tripping oh & dont forget in the season finale lets spend like 1/4th of the episode on the stupid blockade storyline.

[@erincdale]

If the showrunners keep up their current pace, I can't imagine how on earth they're going to wrap this story up with only two more seasons.

[@robmccullough1654]

It’s not pre 2000. We aren’t waiting a few months for the next season anymore. They really dropped the ball here.

[@darkdad55]

It's not even a FEW. It's 24 months bro

[@michaeldpa1333]

That new Dunk & Egg series starts next year. So something GOT every year.

[@ThisIsMyHandle333]

The one problem of applying GRRM’s quote is that he didn’t.l write a whole story. That book isn’t even written by him entirely, and it’s more of a Spark Notes summary.

[@jakkeday1]

“Fist pump when Cersei blew up the Sept” Mate, you are own your own with this one!!!

[@Charlotte8591]

I was applauding during that scene.

[@asoiaf__]

Actually no the audience reactions were kinda 50/50. Half of them were rooting for Cersei’s revenge, half of them were grieving the loss of the Tyrells 😂

[@tracidavis3565]

That scene where Rhaenyra and Alicent stared at each other for what felt like 5 minutes was brutal to sit through. I agree with the kiss between Rhaenyra and Mysaria was pointless as well. Also, the dumb scenes with Tyland, a minor character, was useless. I could go on. I agree they strayed too far from the source material for what us “book snobs” like. Loved this video Paul!

[@vikingodin1986]

Grrm throwing shade big time..you hit the nail on the head with this breakdown

[@Outsider_98]

In defence of the show, I think they are building up to that hatred. Is it taking too long? Yes. Was there a better way to do this? Definitely. But I think it’s still fine. Spoilers In my opinion, the hatred will come out when Jace dies at the battle of the gullet. Rhaenyra will be out for blood and will be even more infuriated when she finds that Aegon is missing. This will probably lead to her backing out of the deal and she will execute Otto in revenge, which will anger Alicent (not sure how this will happen, since Otto is currently in jail somewhere). This will also create book Rhaenyra who has severe trust issues and becomes overprotective of her remaining sons. Rhaenyra not going through with the deal also means Helena stays in King’s landing, which leads to her death, and Alicent will blame Rhaenyra.

[@mirror550]

I was thinking exactly the same! Hopefully this is where they are going with these characters... It would make their meetings in Season 2 (as contrived as they were) really bittersweet and tragic in hindsight which would make many viewers think about them more positively (as well as Season 2 as a whole). It's just unfortunate that it will take around two years to see how they will handle their relationship going forward and until then the doubts and critisms won't go away because we don't know what they are planning to do until we get to see the next season.

[@Outsider_98]

@@mirror550 Yeah, a two year wait isn’t going to do this season any favors. But hopefully when season 3 arrives, it will clear all doubts.

[@mandolyn]

I agree about Rhaenyra and Alicent. Daemon, too, they've made it that if not for the last vision, he'd betray Rhaenyra, and Daemon does awful things, but that doesn't ring true to me. I hope it's better in 2 years when we get season 3😅

[@alisterfolson]

Fans: only 8 episodes? Producers: we ran out of CGI money for 10

[@vlifonti]

They need more houses for the dragons. They're all homeless, living on the streets, or in caves. How can you call the show 'House of the Dragons' without any houses? I'm sure HBO/Discovery can get someone from HGTV for the crossover.l

[@Shooshawali]

Love it or List it becomes Love it or Incinerate it 😂

[@cocodee7863]

😂😂😂😂😂😂 imagining vagar chilling in her house inviting sea smoke and vermithor to come for lamb stew

[@alexis4278]

😂😂😂 houses for the dragons would have added more excitement to the season for sure!

[@MrTahart1]

They rebuilding Herron hall for you property brothers gunna show up next season

[@Angieth24]

Tiny Houses, Bigass Dragons

[@frankenviews4069]

So, I think the plan went like this: Season 1 has to be amazing, or else this is cancelled. No holding back. Nothing short of a hit will do. If it's not cancelled then it means actors get to be signed to at least season 3. Shorten season 2 to 8 episodes. 3 main events, Blood and Cheese, The Battle of Rook's Rest and The Red Sowing. Spectacular distractions to hopefully keep everyone satisfied so that fan favorite characters survive and everyone returns for season 3 where they will all die. Hype will be restored. Season 4, Final Season. Have to watch to see how it all ends.

[@capnkate4505]

They made daemon a dread and bore to watch, which is a crime in of itself. The harrenhal thing was interesting the first time. B&C has had little feeling throughout the rest of the season after episode 2 for the most part. It just felt like nobody cared after they initially reacted to it or whatever.

[@marielalara1202]

I feel like we could have done the whole Daemon/Harrenhal ark in three episodes max. They tried to stretch it out and that's why it felt so boring and repetitive. I would have rather seen Jace negotiating with the North and the Vale instead.

[@notoriousbmc1]

I liked season 2 a lot more than season 1. It felt more like Thrones to me. I thought the finale felt similar to finales in GoT. Sure episode 10's had some revelations, but they were basically trailers for the following season.

[@ValyrianPrince]

Lol can’t fool me again. Remember when we did this with GOT? Watch how they destroy Dunk and Egg and you’ll finally see they’re just using the words and corpse to GOT.

[@iamFSRL]

Daemon sitting in Harrenhal as though this is MacBeth or some shit.

[@cocodee7863]

Lmao

[@michaeldpa1333]

Laughs!

[@caliboyrob]

The shows pacing was too slow this season. The Damond visions could’ve been done in one episode maybe 2. Season 3 better be non stop action & deaths. The setup is done now let’s get to the show.

[@bvyner5727]

"They take stuff from the books when it suits them" "They take stuff from GOT when it suits them" "They kill great book characters early when it suits them" and " They ruin endings when it suits them" Yarn talking to the Wildings Dan, Dave, and Ryan.

[@Lazar008]

The Alex from AJS shoutout was much appreciated! Say what you want about him but Alex makes great points that at least get you thinking critically which is what most writers nowadays don’t want you to do. This is ASOIAF, not some mindless garbage. It’s supposed to spur thinking about the gray of life instead of the black or white

[@ADPeguero]

The way this is going it won't surprise me if these writers end up having Rhaenyra and Alicent making out by the end of Episode 1 in Season 3. It's modern day Hollywood.

[@winstenonline]

Episode 1 and 4 is all you need to watch. Anyone who "loves" this season is not a true fan.

[@goated3285]

True fan of what? Most people haven’t read the book and don’t even know what is right or wrong compared to the book, that doesn’t make them not a fan because they enjoy the show. Not everyone is a complainer or cry’s when something doesn’t go their way.

[@winstenonline]

​@@goated3285It must not take much to please you and thats cool. This season was trash and not what TRUE fans of season 1 expected.

[@Milwaukhehe]

Let me guess you love S8 and actually believe all that drivel D&D spouted about their master plan

[@SurlockGnomez]

The main thing as you pointed out is that nothing really happened or progressed apart from 1 main character dying. In the proper GoT you felt that nobody was safe and could die at any point. In this you have the 2 people who caused the war causally going to each others capital and presumably on arrival saying "Hello, is your leader in, I'd like to pop in for a chat and a cuppa Tea.". After blood and cheese you'd think both parties would have upped security a bit, considering it should of been on high alert because of the war thing. It's always easy to complain about things that aren't in a show but here we can clearly point at their visits which make no sense from any perspective - regardless of if they were in the books or not (I don't know as I haven't read them after giving up on GoT books after not making it through a Sansa heavy chapter). As for the very boring topic of comparing books/tv shows/films I'm glad there are differences between the mediums. If they are the same I'd much rather them not spend 200 of million on copying and pasting. Rather they could have spent 10 million on ads for the books and 40 million to me for my consultancy that saved them 140 million; not to mention the time/energy of all the people that would have been involved, that could have worked on something else.

[@awhartig5847]

I have an idea about why the writers have made Rhaenyra & Alicent much friendlier than their book versions. Possible spoilage follows below the cut: . . . . . . I am wondering if Alicent will basically adopt Rhaenyra's surviving sons and raise them after the Dance is done. I might be completely wrong..but think about it this way: Alicent is regretful about misinterpreting Viserys last words. She feels responsible for starting the civil war, and still loves the friend she grew up with. I believe she also feels extremely guilty about how her own kids have turned out, particularly the older boys. I think the writers might be setting this up, that Alicent feels the way she can set things right by trying to be a good foster parent for the kiddos. /shrug guess I'll know in a couple years, lol.

[@cocodee7863]

I don't mind them being different from the books.

[@torelarsenn]

I would truly hate a shitty ending like that.

[@Male_Ficent]

The only change to her end that would be remotely satisfyinf is if Aegon has her eaten alive by his dragon.

[@Sonny_AA]

I remember when Tv shows had horrible first seasons followed by ever improving 2nd and 3rd seasons. The streaming age seems to have turned that on its head. Hopefully the message is "received" and they'll adjust. Making the two Queens BFF 4-EVA has quickly diminishing returns as the atrocities pile up. The Dance of the Dragons should make us feel sorry for the Dragons, the smallfolk and thats it. The people waging the war are horrible and they should let that be the main story/ cautionary tale.

[@RexMckinnis]

Can you name some shows that started off bad but gradually got good?

[@barrannugrahakodri8695]

​@@RexMckinnis- Bojack Horseman

[@Watch.Ur_Step]

the writing issues are what they are. but the bigger problem is the undertaking of a story like this, while Discovery/Warner Bros merger as created budget cuts across all properties. we didn't get a good fluent season because they couldn't afford to make one. that is the real issue here.

[@nicolepatras3927]

Totally agree. We lose intrest when they take that long to bring a new season.

[@cameronrmwarren]

the actresses for the younger versions admitted to playing up a sexual tension between them

[@StraightTruth-lx7ko]

I peeped that from the beginning. It's obvious they had a romantic relationship while they were young.

[@chuckincharlie776]

That’s cool and all. No one asked for that and the books haven’t even remotely eluded to that. Further proving Paul’s point

[@cameronrmwarren]

@@chuckincharlie776 ...he said it was just the internet trying to put them together my point is its not just the internet the actresses admitted to hamming it up

[@hez859]

​@chuckincharlie776 lol get over yourself dude. OP has a point. Paul made a mistake thinking it was an internet influence

[@idgaf2386]

Ofc they did, the actress who plays young alicent is a lesbian, just as Sara Hess, trying to push their own personal life and sexuality into a story to feed their own narcissism.

[@UrbsLive]

House of the Dragging on

[@LegalEagle3223]

Part of what made the early seasons of GoT so good were the moves Cersei was making, and even what Dani does. The softening of rhynera and Alicent butcher how clever and cruel the characters were in the book, and it doesn’t add anything to the plot of the show. The nun scene was just as ridiculous as Alicent showing up in the last episode. Like why??

[@cleigh113]

That's what George RR Martin wanted to be part of the TV world Well it's not quite as glamorous as you thought it would be is it? Maybe he should work on finishing his damn book instead.

[@kamsiyonnaobi2242]

Am i the only one that wanted to learn more dragon seed characters? Hugh's daughter died off screen??? I think they missed the opportunity to tell us more about the small folks POV. Book readers know how important the small folk are to this civil war.

[@off010]

You guys remember what happened to Andrzej Sapkowski with the Witcher show? It was a complete woke DEI disaster.

[@kevaughnmerrill6534]

Why would Rhaenyra capture Aliscent at Dragonstone? Aemond wouldn't sacrifice his claim to save his mother. He knows "Alicent has love for our enemy. That makes her a fool." Aegon might consider the deal, but he's not in power. Also she just belittled him into taking the risk at Rooks Rest. Helaena doesn't have the power to save her even if she would want to. Her best hope would be Daeron, who is a squire sworn to Lord Hightower. Is Lord Hightower gonna consent to bending the knee to ransom the Dowager Queen? Probably not. Ransom her to Criston? The kings hand in name only? For what gain? If Rhae lets Alicent go, she takes KL in 3 days without a fight. If Aliscent is lying, she can capture KL with fire and sword. Why take a worthless hostage?

[@captironsight]

The way I would compare it is like you are in a cafeteria lunch line. They scoop out the last tiny burnt portion out of the food and force you to watch as they reset the food tray and start handing out real portions to the next person in line. You got jipped, but hey, at least you know when you come around for seconds, youll get the good stuff.

[@awwhellnaw8214]

😂😂😂

[@cocodee7863]

They did you/us dirty. 😂😂😂

[@mattyboyb523]

I give videos like this a thumbs up as guys like Paul (and his team) are working so hard to put these together which are generally very intelligent takes on these shows or movies but I’m just getting(gotten) so fed up with the negativity associated with everything Hollywood gives us these days. I thought the show was great. Yeah we could nit pick till the cows come home over these productions but they are still very very entertaining. I agree with some of the points made. I was even wondering what are they going to do, after Rhynera takes over Kings lamding will she get fat and ugly and become so cruel everyone hates her. ?? Probably not because they are too afraid that this is bad TV. All in all lots of great points but if they had gone further this season with more action and deeper story plots we wouldn’t have had a show to talk about till next summer cause it would’ve take that long. And before anyone says no no they can get it done faster you better be prepared to NOT complain about the weak CGI or rushed editing

[@Dani-rz8dj]

Wow could not agree more with every single point you’ve made here. STOP CATERING TO STANS AND MAKE A GOOD STORY!!!!

[@Liaam_back]

1. Manage expectations 2. Reduce wait time between seasons Makes for a better show overall, no reason why they aren’t filming right now, writers have had plenty of time since S2 started filming idk

[@xxwhispersxx2856]

They've just started writing too. They won't start filming until March of 2025 probably. So we will get another June 2026 release.

[@Nikki-sf6bs]

I loved it I just wish it was longer. Haters are weird.

[@beige_projection]

Finally, a big youtuber covering this series that doesn't sugarcoat its problems. It had pacing issues and the finale was dull, but I hate that in most of the discourse, people are only talking about that. It makes it seem like being boring and having a finale that is a letdown was its biggest and only problem, but to me the biggest problem with the show is really how they destroyed the characters, especially Alicent. I just don't see a way for them to "fix" Alicent's character. She was my favorite character in S1 and was really compelling. The way they destroyed her character in S2 has made me drop the show. I won't be watching the show in S3 unless I get good feedback from those who have read the books, which I think is very unlikely at this point. There's no going back after what she did and say in the S2 finale.

[@whatliesbeneaththeweave3518]

The main issue is that it needed 10 episodes in order for the slow scenes to make sense. 2. Rhaenyra will FOR SURE turn into the mad queen. But we do need to see her gradually evolve from being the “Realm’s Delight” to “Mad Queen”. Rhaenyra was raised by a kind-hearted gentle father who promoted peace. It would be weird for her to suddenly become ruthless. 2. I do think they wanted to portray Alicent as a Cersei figure. And they did a great job of that in S1. BUT THERE’S AEMOND. Aemond and Vhagar is such a dynamic villainous duo, that there’s no point in making Alicent evil. (that would be redundant) . If Cersei’s kids were dragon riders with the largest dragon in the world, there would be no need for her be ruthless 😅 . I agree with you about Daemon and Rhaena’s scenes. Those could’ve been more condensed. We didn’t need to see Daemon with his mom.

[@VFTBReacts]

To be fair I don’t care what GRR Martin says if it don’t start with “the winds of winter is finished”

[@ThePlaybackRoom]

GRRM just gained major respect from me cause he is SPOT on about the “writers”

[@cleigh113]

George rr Martin is a little bitch, he won't take any responsibility at all and blames other people every time there's a hiccup with these stories- he wanted to be in TV well he got what he wanted.

[@s1gne]

There is nothing to fix, it's a good show. If expectations are too high it's not the shows fault, lower your expectations and have a great time 😀 And yes, the show was maybe a bit more character building (deamon gathering an army, having visions so he'll join Rheanyra instead of fighting her), Aegon fighting to survive while his brother is taking over, the conflict between Allicent an Rheanyra, the common dragon riders against the elite, Addam (And Alyn) fighting for recognition from their father, etc. Story building.. it's not just a battle against the enemy but against themselves too. A lot of channels are very harsh in their opinions: "was it bad? , "How to fix?" , "ruining the show" "complete disaster" in the thumbnails, "This is worrying", "we need to talk", Disney should be worried" in the titles. Those are not very positive thumbs and titles and when you view the vids the makers usually expected too much. I, myself am a real pessimist., everything sucks.. but that means everything can only get better. I start watching a show thinking it'll be bad and in the end those are good shows no matter what. And if it really sucks.. i was expecting that 😉

[@iheartlofi]

The show has to slow down so the Stark army can catch up. There’s no teleportation in this show.

[@mijanhoque1740]

LMAO watch it properly, there’s seasons 7&8 levels of teleportation in this. Jace literally goes from the North to Dragonstone in 1 episode, he also goes from the Dragonstone to the Twins in 1 episode. Rhanerya goes from Dragonstone to Harrenhal to back to Dragonstone all in a single episode, it’s insulting

[@CoreyskillaHoN]

@@mijanhoque1740 Bro, they're riding dragons? Probably equivalent of a few hours car ride between destinations when you can fly lol

[@mijanhoque1740]

@@CoreyskillaHoN Few hours? LMAO it takes days to months to go from one location to the next. It took Robert months to get from Kings Landing to Winterfell. HOTD has bad writing and levels of teleportation, there’s no excusing it.

[@CoreyskillaHoN]

@@mijanhoque1740 read the first sentence of my reply again

[@mijanhoque1740]

@@CoreyskillaHoN Dragons ain’t jets mate or have super sonic speed 😂🤦🏻‍♂️, it’ll still take days and months of travelling. Stop excusing bad writing.

[@ManforSomeMarkets]

It would have been great if Rhaenyra just arrested Alicent after their conversation like “You won’t sell out your son? I don’t need you to open the gate, we will do it our way.”

[@MJC1891]

It wasn’t that bad. It’s not an action show. They did rush some thing but I think I next season will be a banger. Lots of battles

[@newdilemma8577]

2 battles at best . They have a budget and I doubt they can do more than that since dragon cgi cost soo much

[@MJC1891]

@@newdilemma8577 I could only imagine how much it cost with the rooks rest battle

[@xxwhispersxx2856]

​@@newdilemma8577if they stopped giving meaningless scenes to Syrax, Caraxes, and Vhagar the cost could definitely go down a smidge.

[@benmacleod7000]

Similarly to how you liked Cersei, I really enjoyed Tywin Lannister a lot. He was ruthless but had a true reason to be and was well written and executed well by the actor. A good well written character plus good acting means they will be either loved or loathed by the fans. Everyone hates Joffrey because he was a well written psychopath with good acting.

[@Milwaukhehe]

Anyone who believes Tywin was justified needs to be locked up and put on a list, let me guess you simp school shooters too?

[@CharlesBHamlyn]

I'm struggling with your argument about Alicent's character change not being believable, specifically her willingness to sacrifice Aegon. You pointed out she tried to defend him at his coronation but so what? That was a looooooooong time ago in her character development. When she did that, she honestly thought her husband WANTED Aegon to succeed him (and now she doesn't), she didn't know what sort of king he would end up being (now she does), Aegon was whole and youthful (and now an invalid with no male heir and no way to make one) and most importantly, her side of the battle looks utterly hopeless now, so the choice is "Will you sacrifice one son to save the rest of your family"? Which is still a hard choice, and not one she makes easily I would point out, but it's hard to fault her choice, given the stakes and where from her perspective, her side has lost (even if they somehow win). I hear what you're saying, that the writer's seem afraid to make one of them the villain but I think that's very much intentional. BOTH of them were heavily influenced by the prior king, a king of peace, and of bending over backward to avoid conflict at any cost. The Black Queen (I hate spelling the names out) embodies her dad over and over again, hoping to avoid war and unnecessary death. The Green Queen was overridden by her dad and Cole in the Aegon thing and they ultimately convinced her that it was for the best. But she's seen the truth of things and sees the Black's restraint while her own sons and Cole keep wanting to push the fighting/war to the next level. I think the point of her little camping trip was to come fully to grips with the idea that yes, she's on the complete wrong side of this war and wants to abandon it with as little further loss as possible. I'd imagine most people fighting a seemingly losing battle, at some point have to think "Ok, how do I get out of this situation without total annihilation?" This is her moment and I personally thought it was executed well.

[@leykimayri]

Dude, Aegon's coronation was like a month ago in their time, maybe even less lol

[@shaun1114]

Aye, for real. Not to mention, he should of mentioned that Alicent gets on a rocket with Rhaneara and blasts off to the moon and sacrifices Helaena to the moon people when she becomes an inconvenience.

[@rohitkumar-dc3xb]

So according to u alicent has only one reason to defend Aegon at his coronation because his father chooses him, not because of her motherly instinct. Also if alicent want's to protect her family, then why she had not arrested rhenrya when she visit's kingslanding in ep3. I think biggest problem with alicent is that she think she is smart which she is definately not. Also who is she protecting now ? She almost made a pact with rhenrya to kill Aegon & Aemond. Plus Daeron is in the war, maybe from next season Alicent with rhenrya creates a grand plan how to kill his last son as well.

[@shaun1114]

@@rohitkumar-dc3xb "To the Mooooon" - Alicent and Rhaneara probably

[@rohitkumar-dc3xb]

@@shaun1114 & End the season with their kiss on the moon & dragon dance.

[@Lisette916]

TBH, television has changed for the worse. Creating shows for only 3-4 seasons has become the trend and doesn’t make for great entertainment anymore. They’re so quick to move onto the next creation that makes for lackluster content.

[@robertstoner4973]

Uhh.. You want a GoT 7/8? Cause rushing it is how we get a GoT s7/8

[@LowKeyJaded]

They aren’t rushing. They are dragging. Which is equally as bad.

[@KellyJelly9976]

The Rhaena and Sheepstealer thing was the most frustrating to me with Daemon Harrenhall slumber party a close second

[@Master-hunter2000]

I still find it cheap that they did not even bother making a new intro song

[@Alejojojo6]

Its like star wars, the song is the song of the whole universe. Like Star wars iconic music is in ALL its shows, this is about the same.

[@Baytuh]

does it need fixing tho? I'd say wait until s3 before we throw around hyperbolic words imo.

[@chaindead]

Ryan Arey kissing Paul, was a M. Night Shyamalan level of twist.

[@os44881616]

0:27 c'mon lot of ppl said that

[@atreestump]

I have to (very slightly) disagree. Since the events in the book are unreliable narrations, I've felt like the show is telling the story in a way that lets the viewers decide for themselves, which side is right or wrong by avoiding making either side look like the definitive villain. They both have good and bad moments

[@adonisdstud]

I agree

[@rj-mc4ko]

The whole unreliable narrative is a cop out and terrible choice of writing.

[@barrannugrahakodri8695]

Bad writing is still bad writing and the writers' bias is showing throughout

[@Vis_Electra]

To me it feels like they are trying to 'reach new audiences' as it's called these days. Hints: 1) Refusing to show any brutal fight scenes or any brutality at all to appeal to kids. 2) Portraying the Velarions as they did in the show to check boxes, even tho it made Viserys look extremely stupid. 3) Portraying every member of the Green Council/Royal Family in the worst possible light (except Helaena, but she is busy being depressed). 4) Portraying Luke as this great guy that everyone loved and respected, even tho he never achieved anything on screen. 5) Man on man stuff in Season 1 or woman on woman stuff in Season 2 that no one asked for. I am not sure if I am watching a fantasy war story or a bitchfight teenager drama with extreme levels of jealousy.

[@muslimrevert9462]

One of the writers Sara Hess seems like a woke DEI person. She will go far with Kennedy at Lucasfilm.

[@SonRagnar]

They all are lol 😂

[@YungRaze21]

​@2ndprize-c4fno wonder this season sucked ass

[@BigBeast227]

With how they have spent the last two seasons softening the book versions of Rhaenyra and Alicent, to likely make them more likable and appealing for tv audiences, the showrunners likely don’t have enough time to wash away all of that goodwill and make them come across as villainous - without everything feeling rushed. I feel like the show versions are going to come across as more sympathetic and less terrible.

[@DocM49]

Was I the only one that liked season two. I thought it was good.

[@bikiminhas2315]

It was, it's just book readers doing book reader things.

[@DocM49]

@@bikiminhas2315 I guess I just don’t get it. I’m not saying it’s the best show ever but it was good and fun to watch.

[@xxwhispersxx2856]

And that's totally fine! That's great if you enjoyed it and I'm glad you did. I enjoyed the first half and then blacked out in the second half lol.

[@Milwaukhehe]

As long as you remember the time period this all takes place over a setup season isnt the worst idea, extremely risky

[@MrDezokokotar]

@@bikiminhas2315 I didnt read the book and i agree with this review. It was disappointing.

[@dominiqueodom3099]

1:18 thank you so much for using this reference. Ive been saying this since season 1 ended that theyve really whitewashed Alicent and Rhaenrya's evil deeds and its starting to really hurt the show at the cost of "Women are powerful " messaging and its starting to get irritating

[@lovelyhatter]

"Man this show fuckin sucks, anyways want to buy some of our merch that celebrates this show?"

[@carlosdcpcg]

The irony 😂😂😂

[@austina3329]

I didnt even care to finish the finale episode. What a waste of everyone’s time

[@austina3329]

Just feels like HBO doesn’t have the budget because the show’s been so poorly received so they’re scrambling to create memes and tik tok content in hopes of new fans joining in on watching. I suspect every season will have fewer and fewer viewers

[@zyxyuv1650]

People were *mostly* positive about the show before Season 2 Episode 8. I remember even S2 E7, people were still really excited / uncertain about what would happen next. But after Season 2 Episode 8 came out, suddenly there was a major shift in opinion towards dis-liking this show. "it could go either way" and somehow this episode caused people to "realize" that the show is bad.

[@xxwhispersxx2856]

Some of the reviews have been outright lies too. Like the one that said that Alicent would scream for vengeance after Aegon was burned. 😂😂😂

[@kell7689]

I personally really enjoyed it. Even after reading the criticisms, I think it did just fine. Alicent asking Rhaenyra to run away wasn't weird to me; it was irrational and that seemed realistic considering the state of despair Alicent was in. It was a bit slow, but I don't mind that when it's GoT dialogue. Only downside is the long wait for next season.

[@d3athth3kid]

The issue is the internet breeding hate for every and any community because of easy clicks.

[@roddur1000]

cope

[@jimmyramos1989]

@@roddur1000sounds like advise you need for yourself

[@barrannugrahakodri8695]

Bad writing is bad writing

[@d3athth3kid]

@@barrannugrahakodri8695 You are crazy if you think that this is an example of "bad writing" 😅 talk about cope

[@Male_Ficent]

​@@d3athth3kid it is

[@MRLONG758]

If only i could give this video a million thumbs upS

[@toneriggz]

Make it one more season instead of two. Throw all the money at the final season. No more tripping balls at Harrenhal.

[@natebruggeman9878]

More tripping please

[@wildawake.experience]

Damon tripping at Harrenhal for 7 ep.was truly unnecessary! lol

[@benjamingarrett9960]

I do t think the Battle of The Gullet should've happened in season 2. We need to see more Jace, and they'll be throwing a shit load of money at the battle (which I hope will be on screen for 20+ minutes

[@pyramidion5911]

All this season did was prove D&D right. The soccer moms and football players need everything spelled out and dumbed down for them to follow along. The show finally included the symbolism and deep lore and treated the audience like intelligent people and all you guys did is prove you don't deserve any of it.

[@DeftPetal]

Everyone crying about this season’s lack of action and bloated dialogue scenes are just outing themselves as seasons 6-8 GoT enjoyers. They clearly don’t understand developing characters thoroughly, slow burn arcs that deal with up-keeping ideals or losing resolve through trails of trauma and set up for larger scale cataclysmic events where turning back is not an option. Media literacy is dead or rather as still born as Visenya II.

[@user-dh3ez1ky7i]

@@DeftPetal nah it's not near the quality of got 1-4. The personalities and politics in that show had me locked in on their every word. Something is missing in this series

[@pyramidion5911]

@@user-dh3ez1ky7i you just proved their point. If you enjoyed the first seasons of GoT, which were essentially copy pasted from the books minus the deep lore, then you would really enjoy the books. And if you enjoyed the books, you should have really enjoyed HotD because it is even more like the books than GoT.

[@Milwaukhehe]

Are you surprised? I dont know why youre giving D&D credit since the dumbed down everything spelled out for them version of the show was S6-8

[@barrannugrahakodri8695]

Lol, bad writing is called deep these days.

[@paultosinijaola1653]

I don’t think people are taking into account how hugely the strikes affected the show. I think the writers had to rush before the strike happened.

[@CindyA715]

100% agree with your assessment. Who the hell was responsible for that BS with Alicent at DragonStone… “Come with me.” What BS. The whole thing with them being almost the same age and good friends is ridiculous too. The show definitely suffered with the writer strike and HBO pulling money back so they could only do 8 episodes, which is really a kick in the teeth, because had they gotten into the Battle of the Gullet at the end it would have been great.

[@TheStraightestWhitest]

It can't be fixed. It's already too late. With Aemond knowing he'll die at Harrenhall, Aemond and Aegon basically being full blown enemies at each other's throats, Daeron not even being introduced yet, Rhaenyra not being a classist bigot but rather a flawless angel, Nettles not existing, and Alicent being okay with the execution of her sons, the show is already beyond recovery. It's dead. Nothing that made sense in the book can still make sense now, and I'll explain why in order of the things I mentioned: Aemond would never go to Harrenhall knowing he'd die there. So no Gods' Eye battle can logically take place. Aegon and Aemond being enemies because Aemond is a Disney villain (literally Scar from The Lion King) means no powerhouse duo, and thus no reason for either to do the many things they did on behalf of the other, to save and help each other. This has a direct impact on Rhaenyra's seizing of King's Landing and Daemon's fight with Aemond. Daeron not being introduced yet means he can't fill this role of brotherly camaraderie either, making the aforementioned even worse. Furthermore, he's arguably the MVP of the entire Dance who turned the tides in favor of The Greens twice. Why the fuck does he not even exist yet??? Rhaenyra's bigotry, classism, racism and narcissism in the book is what makes Hugh and Ulf turn from her because she mistreats them since they're ''peasants''. But in the show, Rhaenyra is fully supportive of the peasantry and even said herself ''Let us raise an army of bastards'' like the beautiful, flawless, angelic woman she is. So yeah, that ruins the entire switch up (though I got the sneaky suspicion Jace is being set up to be the one to make Ulf and Hugh turn on them because a man is allowed to be a bigot, and in fact they'll love writing the fact that it's only due to incompetent and bigoted men that Rhaenyra's side took losses). Nettles not existing means Sheepstealer will be a loyal force to Team Black (Rhaena) instead of an independent party who basically draws Daemon away from the conflict, which makes the Daemon/Aemond fight even less sensical. On top of this, Nettles was also a huge mirror for Rhaenyra's bigotry, which is part of the reason that Daemon basically ditched her and would've left the Dance entirely had he survived his conflict with Aemond. But again, Rhaenyra is a beautiful perfect angel like all women except for Alicent always are, so no mirrors allowed, and thus no Nettles, and thus the third layer of removal of the setup for the Gods' Eye battle between Daemon and Aemond. As for Alicent being okay with this shit, her not being okay with it was (along with Tyland withholding the crown's wealth even as he was tortured and mutilated by Rhaenyra, which likely also won't happen as Rhaenyra is a magnificent, kind, perfect goddess) literally the reason Rhaenyra lost any and all favor with the common folk in King's Landing, which was the direct cause of the rebellion that expunged her from the city, which led to her death at the hands of Aegon and Sunfyre as she fled to Dragonstone and got clapped by them there. Literally none of this can happen now because Alicent sold out The Greens, meaning no common folk revolt can logically take place against Rhaenyra since The Greens (Helaena and Alicent) will allow in and condone her ascension to the throne, meaning they'd logically have the wealth and provisions of the crown, meaning no revolt from the peasantry, meaning no fleeing from the city, meaning no burning and eating alive at the hands of Aegon and Sunfyre. The show is dead.

[@saitothelegend]

The problem, the SERIOUS problem is people have short attention spans and wanted a payoff in season 2 and it’s OK that it’s a setup. Y’all can’t bitch about season 8 of GoT being rushed then bitch about HoTD season 2 being too much build up. It sends the wrong messages to creators trying to build a good long form series.

[@Rawrzee]

I disagree. I would’ve been fine with a setup if they’d focussed on the actual important things to set up. Why the fuck would you skip Jace in Winterfell when it’s SO integral to Cregan marching at the end and seeking justice? Why would you prioritise multiple scenes of an arc for Daemon that DIDN’T exist? Daemon didn’t need to ‘come to terms with what he’d done’. He was always equal parts bad and good, but his loyalty to his family was never in question. We dont need a made up ‘Daemon hating a usurper then proceeding to want to usurp his own wife too’ period. Why spend time on a random Mysaria make out session then drop it and not acknowledge it next episodes? The adaptation of Blood and Cheese so Helaena didn’t have to choose and thus undermining her eventual loss of her sanity, instead they’ve built her into some all powerful dreamer? The writing was wasteful for 8 episodes. There are key integral moments in the book that hit hard, they’ve either missed them, changed them or undermined their eventual formation in later seasons. It’s lazy, unfinished and confusing. Theyre trying to work in various storyline’s with limited time and episodes, while adding extra unnecessary plot points at the cost of necessary ones. GOT on the other hand was slow at the beginning, but always left you with ‘holy shit I’m so excited to see what they do next’ kind of momentum. They invested in the key characters, their storylines and the moments that really hit you hard.

[@FacelessPropaganda]

Thank you for this, I really needed this video!

[@addisonwalker5550]

I'll catch heat for this, but the show needs more masculine characters. While Alicent and Rhaenyra surely have their role, there is too much pussyfooting and indecisiveness. Daemon, Criston Cole, and Aemond had potential but the writers make them out to be second-class characters that are at constantly held back by the women in the show. The reason we like Cregan Stark, despite very little screen time, is because he displays strong values, with a sense of duty. Let the men be men. Thank you and have a good day.

[@YoutubeISPROPAGANDA]

Too much girl power and a random lesbian kiss that didn’t make sense… while there’s nothing wrong with feminine leadership the way they’re writing it is a chore

[@BlueHeartEye]

Yeah you are going to catch heat for that. The purpose of the show showing us more of Rhaenyra than someone like Aemond is because it’s showing us the strength in choosing what’s best for the people. Rhaenyra, though it is a ploy, sends gifts and tries her best to avoid war, which is something a good leader should do. Aemond is not a masculine character with potential he is a sociopath man-child who murdered a whole city of people because he felt down. The “pussyfooting” that Rhaenyra’s side shows before sending Meleys to meet Cole is because she understands the value of the lives at stake. While I do agree that we should let men be men and not be afraid to show masculinity in media, you are missing the point behind these decisions that the character’s make.

[@TerraJ-ug6nc]

Y'all like Cregan cuz he a Stark and you wanted to see the starks again... Literally none of them are held back by women all of s2 every last one of the men did what they wanted in front of the women face sometimes and did not care and none of them were second class so what are you talking about? You just wanted to be sexist like you sound like the dude who tried betray Rhaenyra in the finale

[@addisonwalker5550]

@@TerraJ-ug6nc in the main series you had men like, Jon snow, ned stark, twyin lannister, jaime lannister, tyrion lannister, rob stark, even bran stark who all played their roles well and stood with honor, despite their differences in opinion. We hated joffrey and that bolton kid because they displayed feminine qualities with a lack of moral compass.

[@addisonwalker5550]

@@BlueHeartEye Rhaenyra's indecisivness is what killed her son in the first place. Same with Alicents grandson during blood and cheese. Arguably Arryck and Erryck as well. The fact they tried to avoid war this whole time has led to tons of backstabbing and unnecessary treachery. I said what I said.

[@nyceflix]

I agree with a lot of your take, and admittedly I have not read the source material. Regarding the two Queens, Allison had not endured the great losses when she stood before the dragon. Faced with losing everything and being undermined from everyone she thought she had power over, she's isolated and alone. The people are against her and she now might believe there was a misgiving on her part in regard to Vacerys' wishes. Aegon as far as she knows is done for, handing over this shell is not the loss it once was. Outside of that, I agree with everything else you said.