Preston's House of the Dragon Watch - Episode 5, We Light the Way

[@valerian8329]

"Rhaenys dressed like a pirate wench". I had to laugh really hard at that line

[@onetwothreefourfive12345]

Yeah why was she dressed like that lol

[@ousmanjallow7866]

Hahaha

[@parokki]

I used to think Brandon Nightsking was an exaggerated comedy character who nitpicks every single detail and goes on long rants about seemingly minor things. After watching a few of the After Parties I've realized he's literally Preston with a grumpy voice and all the others are the characters with distinct personalities.

[@PainCausingSamurai]

They're all Preston: NightKing is his nitpicking critical side, Sweetrobin is his analytical side, and Chad is his enthusiastic side.

[@NicSantiagoG]

@@PainCausingSamurai A Preston must have three heads

[@shavedata5436]

I'd say Sweetrobin is Preston

[@SallionMang]

Man I hope he reads this 🙏

[@e22ddie46]

He's said before they're all him

[@Sector441]

It's strange that Laena has to come out of the castle to greet the king when Laenor has already been out there the entire time right next to them and didn't make any move at welcoming them.

[@Spongebrain97]

On the scene with Rhea Royce dying I think it would've been more appropriate if she was riding her horse and out of nowhere Daemon, flying on Ceraxes, swoops over her on his way to her castle and that sudden shock is what scares her horse and causes Rhea to fall off and die. It is more ambiguous if Daemon intentionally did that or if it was an accident, which he wouldn't feel bad for, and it follows the story of how Rhea mysteriously died which is open to interpretation

[@MakoTheFrog]

that would make too much sense though, and this entire show and the latter half of GoT has basically just been a game of "why didn't they just do ... ? that would make so much more sense" i mean, you'd still arrive at the same end result just not in a stupid and nonsensically flawed way.

[@Brandonhayhew]

They butchered the character development to skip to the point of the civil war. Horrible rushing storyline

[@MiddleEarthGirl75]

This ^^

[@clumsymonday]

Call me crazy, but I straight up suspect that they did intend to have Caraxes in this scene. I mean you can kind of hear him anyhow? The scene is just so weird, it looks like they cobbled it together from a scene that was meant to be completely different. I wonder if perhaps they filmed a scene where Caraxes scares her horse and the dragon either ended up looking crummy or they ran out of time/money to do it and just edited it to exclude Caraxes as best they could and ended up with the nonsense we saw. Apparently they cut a Vhagar scene already and so maybe 🤔?

[@Spongebrain97]

@@clumsymonday yeah right as Rhea goes near that cliff and is about to notice Daemon in his cloak, you get the vibes that there is gonna be a dragon jumpscare

[@Theodosius_fan]

Writers really seem to think that GOT was popular because of the violence porn, not because events like Neds execution or the red wedding fit perfectly into the story and make it go into the right direction

[@joeyrozic1100]

im just still waiting for ice spiders.

[@daviddunsmore6213]

It’s so bizarre that the show does a really good job at keeping many things ambiguous and open to multiple interpretations (the moon tea, Viserys’ illness, the white stag, Daemon’s motivation in the brothel scene, etc.) and then takes an ambiguous tourney death and turns it into a blatant murder with no subtlety.

[@plz7788]

Based on what we heard from the behind the episode interviews (see for instance Daemon at the brothel), I'm more inclined to think that this is just happenstance due to mistakes and or indecision among the writers.

[@thatoneguy4209]

I like alt shift x but at least you're willing to call out when stuff don't make sense Edit - I appreciate the love you give celtigar I mean the velaryons might have the Driftwood throne but the celtigars have a valyrian steel ax and a horn that can summon krakens

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

Does Alicent know about the secret passage? Because if not, she would presume that Rhaenyra used the door, that Criston Cole was guarding. Edit: What makes you think that Alicent wasn't talking to everyone? Or that she just started with Criston Cole, just to confirm that Rhaenyra wasn't in her chambers that night? No matter how you try to spin it, it was logical for Alicent to talk to Criston Cole. Edit: Having rewatched the scene: Alicent never asked about anything concrete, only "a rumor", and it's clear that she doesn't want to spread anything. Meaning that starting with the most loyal servent that is "sworn to keep secrets", makes a lot of sense. I don't think she "planned" for Cole to "spill the beans". I think she hoped for him to tell her that Rhaenyra was in her room all night.

[@julianaharmatiuk2662]

Preston BTFO Edit: still btfo

[@lizdevine2525]

This was exactly what I was thinking during the scene between her and Criston!!! Thank you!

[@nailtoolofamusement]

Only if Allicent believes Rhaenyra to be as naive as to come back and tell Criston what she was doing outside her door. Otherwise there's no way for Criston to know what Rhaenyra did that night and no reason for Allicent to believe he does. She didn't look like she ever expected him to be the lover either.

[@DivingDog0]

Criston was Rhaenyra's sworn sword. He followed her everywhere. Even if he didn't follow her to the brothel, it can be assumed he at least knew where she was or that she'd confided in him immediately after events. Neither was true - but it's not inconceivable a thought.

[@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin]

@@DivingDog0 But wouldn't it be odd to think he would spill the beans even if Rhaenyra did tell him? Criston is sworn to keep secrets.

[@iaingoldie1542]

“Do you even know what honor is?” ‘A Horse’

[@wisdommanari6701]

I smiled so much when he brought in the horse puppet

[@thoughtsuponatime847]

Got Em!

[@thatoneguy4209]

Poor Jaime

[@thatoneguy4209]

Oh and now I'm waiting for Glory 🤣

[@FitzChivalry_Chade]

Nothing better than to get to listen to this during work! Thank you Preston for all the hard work you put into these videos. You make my days so much better!

[@JohnTorres1987]

They couldn’t resist killing Joffrey at a wedding.

[@jimmothybiz]

C’mon, Randor Velaryon, the true father of Addam and Alyn of Hull! I thought you of all people would catch that, Preston.

[@psevdhome]

By the power of Driftmark, I have the power!

[@twentyarms]

Rando al'thor

[@ragggedblossom]

Or Daenaera's dad or grandad. She's gotta come from somewhere, and the text only says she's a Velaryon

[@yasmina3999]

​​@@ragggedblossom Her mother is from house Harte, so her relative also hires a faceless man to kill someone in KL ( Jaehaera dies in the same chapter) " The mission to Braavos proved eventful in other ways as well. Lord Follard became enamored of a Braavosi courtesan and elected to remain close to her rather than return to Westeros, Ser Herman Rollingford was killed in a duel by a bravo who took offense at the color of his doublet, and Ser Denys Harte supposedly engaged the services of the mysterious Faceless Men to kill a rival back in King’s Landing, Mushroom asserts."

[@dx3cannons]

The uneven head table is a visual queue as to which family had deeper roots and more power in the match. It was a continuation of Corlys’s power move of making Viserys come to him. When it comes to a family unit, the scales tip in the favor of the Velaryons. Just look at how they entered as a squad.

[@augustleoberonis5369]

So from the characters perspective, why would the King, queen and princess at all plan the seating this way, that's what it should be about, making sense for the characters - not what the show runners want to communicate to viewers.

[@psevdhome]

I like that in this version, Otto unambiguosly says that Alicent has to start a war so that her son can be king, when in the book it only happened after Otto purposely married Rhaenyra to a gay man to make her children seem illegitimate so that he could then have support for Aegon. Otto just straight up causes the Dance.

[@e22ddie46]

And his reasoning is valid. There's a good chance his own grandkids would be murdered to make rhaenyra more legitimate.

[@bram_412]

Yeeeaaah I'm gonna take my horse to that Oldtown Coup I'm gonna, do treason 'til I can't no more

[@Theodosius_fan]

Is he wrong though? Ottoman sultans strangled their siblings to death even when they were the clear heir. Rhaenyra and Alicent have become estranged and Alicent has to fear that she or one of her allies kills her children (like Alexander the great’s generals talked him into murdering his brother, or in universe Tywin kills Rhaegars kids). The story is actually very good in making it into a dilemma. Both sides have a good reason to fear the other and feel that they are the rightful claimant

[@KateMich12]

@@Theodosius_fan Alicent has no reason to believe Aegon is the heir. Periodt. Viserys could not be more clear in the show that Rhaenyra is his heir. It’s not even a question.

[@psevdhome]

@@Theodosius_fan Alicent might be afraid.. That is not the same as Rhaenyra being likely and motivated to kill her kids. That is an asspull. If her motivation is to get hated as much as possible, then it makes sense to kill her half-brothers and potential heirs. If she wants to intentionally cause instability. But otherwise, no, it makes no sense, and Otto is instigating war and rebellion by suggesting it. Also the Ottomans were crazy and unstable, and they killed their siblings because they had tribal inheritance, which split the realm among their children, which then caused those split kingsdoms to go to war so that one of the heirs could have the whole kingdom. It is not exactly the same, in fact it is entirely unlike the feudal Targaryen dynasty.

[@ZombicidalMadMom81]

That ending confused the shit out of me too; Criston used to be such a fascinating character to me, but now I just hate how stupid he is. When Laenor's bf approaches Criston like "hey, I think you and I have important stuff in common, maybe we should be friends/work together for the ppl we care about" Criston's response is to beat him to death?! What?! And he's just allowed to leave? Just wander out w/o anyone stopping him, and why go to the Godswood, since when does he worship Old Gods? And how is Queen Alicent the one that finds him, and she's all alone? This was during a time when noblewomen were never allowed to be alone for a multitude of reasons. To guarantee virginity for one thing; royal women literally had bedmates back then to sleep w/ them, this is even done in the ASOIAF series. Cersei had that Fairweather lady as her bed mate for a while if I remember correctly.

[@KingOfWinter]

When chad summerchild was just standing there listening to Brandon and sweet robin talk about Criston getting mad and he just chimes in with “I guess Criston likes duck” that had me rolling lol

[@nickweston6472]

The warhammer jokes are just fantastic.

[@lonemotheo1964]

For a serious Q&A Q: What could Larys Strong motive be.... He's dad seems to be trying to keep the peace but Larys is definitely creating a rift between Rhynera and Alicent

[@smack80]

I think the Strongs are trying to be on all sides. Dad: Peace. Larys: Allicent. Harwin: Rhaenyra.

[@romulusnuma116]

I feel like Larys motive is separate from his families because a stable realm only benefits them

[@miguelbranquinho7235]

Can't he have a different motive than his father? He's a separate individual.

[@thibautnarme6402]

I think Larys is mostly a plot device, because the show doesn't know how to create tension between the queen and the heir otherwise (as they chose the path of friendship in the first episodes). I would not read to much into it, as his character and motivation may very well change if the plot demands it in the future.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@thibautnarme6402 He's a most mysterious character in the book too.

[@SDG.12]

The tonality and the ambience of the montage was a fitting end to the pre-time jump period. Alicent and Cole uniting in a unbreakable bond with Djawadi in the background. Too good. That tiny pause when Cole looks up and the tune enters its climax....so very Shakesperean. Especially given what role he is gonna go on to play. Blows any crabfeeder battle out the water. That scene of Otto pleading with Alicent in the rain was the best acted scene of the show. The guy who plays Otto, great actor. Was giving me Liam Cunningham vibes acting wise, the conviction with which he delivered the urgency of the succesion crisis. For me the choice is simple and it's the Greens.

[@made-line7627]

It _was_ fantastic. And yeah, the greens get too little love

[@iangrimm]

Was really hoping for a return of Jhiqui during the Green Wedding. Or at least Gilbert's great grandfather.

[@carlbates9110]

To be fair the Blood and Cheese situation isn’t morally ambiguous and is straight up murder too. The kind of person who can do that is also capable of killing his wife to make himself available again.

[@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin]

We don't know if that was Daemon

[@nickweston6472]

Yeah but that’s got a really clear revenge motivation. It’s horrible but it makes sense for his character.

[@microflamer4453]

@@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin he and Rhaenyra either ordered it or let the person who ordered it(Mysaria) go unpunished(like Tywin with the Mountain and Amory Lorch) so yeah he's pretty horrible

[@Rodiacreed]

@@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin Who else would it be other than him? Also those people he murdered and crippled in ep1 were randoms they picked. Visery's even told him not to cripple half of the city. Daemon is not morally ambigious, he is pretty evil.

[@carlbates9110]

@@nickweston6472 There was a revenge motive, but ultimately people completely unrelated to the conflict were targeted rather than Aemond, the guy who actually killed Lucerys.

[@jamesmccallum8641]

Know your busy right now with Winds and babby Prestons but are you planning on doing an unserious Q&A at the end of the HotD?

[@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin]

At the end I'll probably have some time. It's been tough cramming them in before the next one comes out.

[@MoejiiOsmanTV]

@@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin busy with winds? What does he mean sry I've been out of the loop I gave up on every seeing wow coming out

[@daboos6353]

@@MoejiiOsmanTV Preston has been writing his own version of Winds collaboratively with a bunch of people, it's actually really really good.

[@DCeasedbrickbuilds]

Winds new rumor points to November…of…20…23…🤦🏻‍♂️

[@AstraLuna-o9i]

@@daboos6353 where can I read it?

[@iliaponomarev1624]

I also got a vibe that Corlys used to be a goose-lover. Because, you know, youth on ships, and ships are all goose, ducks are hard to come by in the open sea. But then he married Rhaenys, and she was the first one in his life who cooked duck properly. And that's when he discovered he's totally a duck guy.

[@chrisrubin6445]

That would totally explain his “he’ll grow “ opinion of Laenor

[@Borgcow]

Pretty sure Daemon would smile and ask those ushers which of them proposed to stop him

[@iamsheel]

The whole show is season eight-esque (specially the cinematography which I can't emphasis how much I absolutely hate) but it has more redeeming plots and writing.

[@catmonarchist8920]

Why aren't there more horse wargs? Seems like the most useful animal to warg.

[@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin]

It would be and there's Lyanna, maybe - I think its because they are herbivores and don't hunt.

[@aleksandarnikolov3182]

Why would you warg a horse? It's one of the few animals that obeys humans

[@catmonarchist8920]

@@aleksandarnikolov3182 Just off the top of my head: get better control when riding, use it to scout at great speed without risking your life, get it to trample people, summon it from afar, have it ride by night when you are asleep, send it as a mule to make heavy deliveries and send messages without having to be there (you could train a pack to follow it), get use of its instincts, and maybe even infiltrate a camp and listen to what's being said because who's going to be suspicious of an extra horse? Obviously it depends on the level of control but even eeking out a tiny advantage in tourneys with it could help you make big bucks.

[@orangecoloredsky3486]

#drogoisahorse

[@kevj4584]

@@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin Maybe I'm late to the party, but it just dawned on me that there's no mention (that I can recall) of people warging sea creatures either...unless you're counting krakens. Could this perhaps be the origin of mermaids in asoiaf?

[@maxmagnus3793]

Love it. Season 8 esque describes both the ending (Mad Dany flashbacks) and the beginning (Daemon jetpack) of this episode. Hot D just went and did strike 1. We'll see if it can recover or if this will be a shark jumping moment

[@poppag8281]

How did Daemon telaport?

[@SockPuppet80]

They're jumping ahead in time next episode, right? How's that going to work out for Harwin Strong - are we supposed to believe that the guy Rhenyra has had 15 seconds of conversations with has somehow fathered a bunch of children on her?

[@bobbehwitchie]

Dear Preston, This is by far the highest quality comedy I've seen in your content. Holy Sh*t. Every subtle observation turned into a well crafted joke. Bravo my good man. Big Fan Bobbehwitchie

[@Mj_Jetson]

Maybe if Criston got arrested after his brawl, tried to commit suicide in the Black Cells with a hidden dagger, but Alicent releases him before he can, that would've worked? Considering that Viserys has collapsed, she kinda has the greatest authority around. Though when they find out he got released, the Velaryon uproar should've gotten him imprisoned again...

[@afcjenkins]

Honor needs to be a series regular

[@jeanne6961]

I laugh at every mention of "parking" a dragon XD

[@thesleeperhasawakened4916]

it be way better if they just cut that daemon killing his wife scene, it would have made the scene where he gets accused, more fun, knowing he is guilty doesn't add anything. the wedding part was so dumb they had all pieces to make it make sense. They could have played it like this: -Daemon gets close with rhaenyra at the wedding -cole sees it gets jealous and goes outside the keep to cool off -Joffrey follows Cole outside and tells him he knows or whatever -Criston gets angry and kills Joffrey and then goes to the wierwood to kill himself. -Alicent sees all of it and goes to him before he kills himself. For me it would off made more sense.

[@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin]

That would have worked for me. You're right, Joffrey's death could have been in private and it would have worked. The public aspect of it ruins it.

[@thesleeperhasawakened4916]

@@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin yes, in private would be way better this it's like if the Hound bashed Jory Cassel's head in the middle of Sansas and Joffrey’s wedding and Robert and Ned just stood there doing nothing.

[@upfulsoul826]

Your version is better. But Cole losing his head like that is out of character. You've merely moved the scene of the crime. Unless he killed him by accident or something. I think GRRM got it right with Cole killing Joffrey in a duel.

[@didrikmesicek4825]

What's even the point of Cole killing Joff? I don't see a motive. I remember he did it in the books in a tourney, and Viserys was "displeased" but I assumed that was meant in a way like "what is this overly-violent idiot doing, he'll upset the Velaryons" Surely if intent were assumed Corlys would have him arrested? Viserys would obey if threatened to lose the bethrotal, right? Now, in the show, why in the fuck would he be animalistically angry at Joff? Laenor, yes, given that Cole is a pretty idiotic primitive invertebrate. But Joff is his natural ally and that was shown in the scene before. Unless the idea of that scene was to try to appear that Cole feels scared by Joff knowing? But that doesn't enrage someone, if anything it makes you do a premeditated murder so word won't get around?

[@thesleeperhasawakened4916]

@@upfulsoul826 I only meant to rearrange the scenes in the script they already had in place, there are 100 ways you can do things better if we going with a blank slate, but yeah the best thing to is to stick to the source material like you said.

[@jbug1979]

the whole duck/goose/meaty/greasy/poultry thing made me 🤣🤣🤣

[@lukaszsmith]

Criston demanded a trial by combat and won it real quick.

[@TheTonyEntertainment]

Yep that's it

[@jewsco]

This show perplexes me as it can be so good at times and so bad at times too. This could of been an all time episode of the beginning and end were done better. If you want to make it clear cut the Daemon has a hand in his wife’s death have him watching on a hill as someone he sent there kills her. Heck have that other Royce guy do it as Daemon promises him the Vale and then that scene where Daemon says he is going for it better. As for killing Joffrey have it happen somewhere out of site of everyone except maybe Alicent and Criston can have plausible deniability and also owe Alicent for keeping the secret and the episode is 9/10 or better

[@TanookRoI]

The feast scene murder is the narrative equivalent of Tony Stark being transporter beamed in and killing someone with a lightsaber. It completely breaks the world it's supposed to happen in, it can only occur because numerous characters suddenly decide not to be their characters, and leaves an unsolvable situation in it's wake that gets dues ex machina'd away by a 10+ year time skip. It's distilled GoT Season 8.

[@Oscar_Lasco]

Yea. It bothered me so much it made me check A Wiki of Ice and Fire. G.R.R Martin isn't flawless but I couldn't believe he would write some thing so dumb. And sure enough, book Criston didn't murder book Joffrey but inflicted him a wound during a tournament celebrating Rhaenyra's wedding and Joffrey died 6 days later. And there's no reason to find this death suspicious. In medieval time, if the Church wanted to forbid tournaments and jousting so bad, it's partly because that kind of deadly accident wasn't rare.

[@poppag8281]

I don't think its that bad but if they don't address it I will be pretty annoyed

[@trevordavis6830]

I think the act itself is mostly in character for everyone involved. Most of the people there had no idea what was going on when it happened, and even the people who could directly see what Cole was doing didn't do anything on account of both the shock of it and the assumption that Kingsguard wouldn't attack somebody for no justified reason. While its very questionable for Cole to do it, I think it makes sense from the perspective that Cole is really cracking from the pressure over the direction his life is going. He basically sacrificed the only thing he valued in his life(his Kingsguard vow) has basically signed his own death warrant, and can now be blackmailed by growing list of powerful people only to become a whore for the princess, who could now have him executed at any time. Cole is essentially in super panic mode at this point and seeing Joffery casually blackmail him was the final straw for him. Its incredibly dumb and illogical, but Cole is not a logical person(if he was he would have never slept with Rhaenyra) and isn't thinking clearly due to his emotional state. The issue I have is how the show plans on handling the consequences of this murder. Cole being able to walkaway like he did was already pretty dumb, but there has to be some kind of resolution for what Cole did. Not only did Cole murder a guy out of the blue, but he murdered a guest of the King in the throne room, which is supposed to be one of the worst sins a person can do in Westeros. So if the next episode they don't explain how Alicent had to pull some exhaustive and expensive manipulation tactics to let the King believe Joffery attacked first, I am going to be frustrated by this plot point.

[@poppag8281]

@@trevordavis6830 I agree completly

[@Jenvick]

I'm crying over here. Honor is a fucking horse 🐎 🤣🤣🤣

[@AstraLuna-o9i]

Really glad that Preston isn’t part of the toxic positivity circle jerk surrounding Hot D. It’s frankly annoying seeing people bend themselves into mental gymnastics pretzels to try and explain the writers shitty decisions, like they did throughout seasons 5-8 of Game of Thrones. The Dragon Scent excuse for the random horse rearing is one of these “fans fill the plothole” excuses for poorly thought out writing, which were a huge occurrence during the previous show, and one of the reasons that it seriously went off the rails, because D&D had millions of fans plugging their plotholes with fan theories, instead of calling them out for crappy writing. You can like something and still point out it’s flaws. You don’t have just blindly praise it, and make excuses for its weak points, because that gives the creators a false sense of achievement, and they will continue to make crappy writing decisions.

[@ClaireYunFarronXIII]

Rhea Royce was poisoned by her enemies.

[@TobeWilsonNetwork]

5:43 Like I said, that horse got Rogue-Princed

[@dime_with_a_mind]

I gasped at the same time as Chad with the season 8 quality comment.

[@dianacrow8701]

Okay, but that Black Goat of Qohor is seriously adorable. I'd follow it anywhere

[@pj9615]

I honestly thought GRRM was consulting on this show. So many aspects of the book have been realigned to make things happen in a logical fashion, making Rhaenyra and Alicent similar ages so they are emotionally closer and therefore have more fuel for their feud, having Otto send Alicent to Viserys when he’s bereaved so he gets attached to her instead of making a political alliance. But this episode is repeatedly disjointed and illogical. Things are happening because they need to happen now, not because it’s a natural consequence of events. I find it hard to believe GRRM would approve this, especially since so many previous events made more sense than the books. I agree it’s getting season 8-esque.

[@television1088]

I think they are so deep in the book story, they forget that the show has to tell it's own story so they just leave out a bunch of important stuff. They need an outsider who has NOT read the books, to consult on the show script, to make sure it isn't garbage.

[@honeybee4016]

Um...the opening credits say GRRM is the co creater AND executive producer so I don't think not enough consult with him is a problem. What I do think is that over time people have made up so many theories and convinced themselves that these theories are what happened in the story And so now it doesn't matter what GRRM and HBO put out, people are always going to think it's inadequate

[@bethgray7825]

Very excited for this review :) been waiting!

[@gaius9240]

I have been watching Preston while painting warhammer years and I’m really enjoying this new golden age

[@arshadjilani6645]

Wasn't the wedding ceremony at the end essentially a shotgun wedding? At the beginning Viserys clearly states this is the welcome feast, which would be followed by 7 days of feasting and games before being rounded off by the royal wedding. After the violence that broke out, I think they just quickly got the wedding over with.

[@FreeFromAllThings]

I didn't understand why would Daemon killed his wife personally, I could understand if he conspire and it happens someway, but go there and personally kill her by chance...

[@Teabagsforlife]

He did it for 2 reasons. The first is simple enough, he hates his wife and can't bare the idea of living with her. And the second, is because after he was cast out by the king he lost his influence at court ( not including Rhaenyara ) and potential for any future gains. But his wife stood to gain a handsome inheritance which Dameon realised would be his because they had no children if she " suddenly " died.

[@FreeFromAllThings]

@@Teabagsforlife I'm not saying that it is impossible that he is involved in her death, what I'm saying is it quite lame that he did it personally in this manner. I could easily imagine he hire someone or has some spies around his wife, who did it, but doing it personally is very risky and a bit stupid I think. Also the way how Christon killed the guy is a bit off, while in the book George presented a quite good and beliveable way.

[@Teabagsforlife]

@@FreeFromAllThings it was risky. But the fact that he's Targareyn and the king's brother means people would take his word. And that's proven by the fact that his wife's cousin accused Dameon and it ment nothing. Dameon knew he would get away even if their was suspicion. And Joffery being killed by Cristin? I don't understand why Jacob made such a big deal about it. Yes Cristin should have been arrested, but Joffery as a character had about 7 minutes screen time. And he wasn't anything special.

[@thoughtsuponatime847]

Why not feed her to your dragon?

[@trevordavis6830]

I think its just to condense and simplify the story for the audience. The showrunners have to fit a lot of events and changing character dynamics in only a few 1 hour long episodes, so they try to reduce the amount of characters and steps to certain schemes when possible in order to help fit more story in and make it more easy for a casual audience to understand.

[@misterscorpius1446]

"Don't let that guy park his dragon" Excuse me?

[@Rodiacreed]

The thing that annoys me about the Dance of the Dragons is that people will give every excuse possible for Daemon, Rhaenyra and the Blacks, but Aegon, Aemond, Criston and the Greens they always condemn every sneeze they make...

[@GaryCrant]

Who does that? The account in Fire & Blood is very biased against the blacks. In the end the Greens started the conflict and once it started both sides were horrible.

[@romulusnuma116]

I think it's a reaction to the books being so anti them that it make people see them in their best light

[@Theodosius_fan]

true. Otto and Alicent act in their interest like everyone else, but it is somehow evil when they do it. Also if we take real history as a president they definitely have good reason to fear that Rhaenyra will kill Aegon II

[@Theodosius_fan]

@Immortal Science of Hauntology not really

[@thatoneguy4209]

Yeah I was hoping the show would be very ambiguous about who was the rightful heir and who was the good guy of the story but then it gave her the white stag and everything and I knew who they were going to favor

[@Oscar_Lasco]

I checked A Wiki of Ice and Fire to see how book Joffrey got killed. And, like Rhea Royce, it was pretty much an accident. Joffrey took part in the tourney celebrating Rhaenyra's wedding and Criston hit him in the helm with his morningstar during the fight. From what I read, it was probably an accident due to Criston's lack of restraint (he also severly wounded Harwin Strong in the same tournament). Moreover, in real life, a lot of knights (even kings) died from jousting accidents.

[@jean8884]

I feel way more anticipation for this than for the actual episodes of the series. Thanks Preston.

[@Cookie12670]

I always look forward to your reviews. Keep up the great work. I appreciate how well you know the books and will not hesitate to call BS when you see it.

[@macnsteez3938]

Lol this was great Preston. My biggest gripe with the story so far is how they've written Alicent (and daemon to a lesser extent). Imo it's a huge missed opportunity not to make her character like a teenage Cersei (convinced she'll be queen, arrogant, beautiful). Making her best friends with rhaenyra at the start makes her obsession with rhaenyra's sex life/ reluctance to wed Viserys weird. The books always gave me the impression she and otto were schemers from the start, like it was implied she was sleeping with the old king Jaeharys.. It would've been smarter if they hadn't tried to make her so innocent in the show cos it's not convincing to me. She IS innocent in a way, but only in that her father moulded her to be this way. Nonetheless in the book I think she saw the conflict with rhaenyra coming way before she does in the show

[@soniaiboyako4023]

Alicent being best friends with Rheanyra makes her reluctance to wed Viserys weird? what the hell are you saying lmao i've heard the tired and vile "she seduced the King" but never "it's weird that she didn't really wanna get with him to begin with, even weirder since she's his daughter's best friend"... It not entirely being platonic aside - her being worried about Rhaenyra's reputation being put in jeopardy if her actions ever get found out (which they would have, had Otto not gone straight to the King.) also makes all the sense in the world when you remember for instance their conversation as they were studying: Alicent clearly supported the idea of Rhaenyra on the throne and even seemed to take it more seriously than the Princess herself, so yeah she's gonna be confused/mad when Rhaenyra handles it with complete carelessness while still acting like she's all in, especially if she's going to bat for her. Y'all can't go "it's how it is in their universe" for the weirdest shit but get confused about why a character is worried about what might happen to her friend if the general public finds out what their Princess is getting down to (and Rhaenyra knows that, hence why she was sweating so much when it comes to her kids)

[@macnsteez3938]

@soniaiboyako4023 I mean that's just a blatant misinterpretation of what I said but go off queen haha. So I'm not gonna bother reading the rest of your essay, hope you had fun tho!

[@soniaiboyako4023]

@@macnsteez3938 that's quite literally what you said but i would've loved for you to elaborate so that i can understand how else it can be understood. and i did, thanks!

[@pewpsquad]

LOL “For a good cry while listening to some Cure records”

[@ayobios]

“That’s So Daemon” haha nice

[@mimimarie7968]

I read somewhere that Joffrey was meant to tell Criston about Rhaenyra using moon tea and that's what set him off. Maybe they cut it? It would make the rage murder less confusing.

[@Teratoma..]

During the wedding violence I just kept saying "Uhhh, KINGSGUARD?!"

[@syalem]

Theory: crab feeder was a Celtigar bastard who could warg crabs, got crazy by being boiled alive as a crab and did his thing as revenge for his crustacean people.

[@samcarter9254]

I gotta say, Preston's work on these HotD 'Watch' epsiodes is absolutely next level. Ducking fantastic work

[@duguit79]

Where did Daemon disappear after the scream at the wedding?

[@PrestonJacobstheSweetrobin]

Good question.

[@TheDelinear]

When Westeros throws off the yolk of feudalism, a newly free Sweetrobin is definitely going to be an amazing wedding planner.

[@TheDayMang]

*yoke, yolk is from an egg

[@QuarterRican04]

Omg preston really had me googling whether the velociraptor in bravos thing is real, and IT IS

[@AnthonyAvon]

7:44 This bit is comedy gold and I'm so sorry that anyone new to the channel would probably not get it at all.

[@conniebenny]

Hilarious, as always, and spot on with the analysis too 🙂

[@BudravenOG]

"But isn't life a reverse shit sandwich?" Brilliant. I laughed until I choked. Thanks for giving us access to your fountain of knowledge, Preston.

[@kingslayer2999]

So much of people near the wearwood tree that I'm half expecting Bran Stark face to appear on the tree watching all this from the Future 😳

[@echo1844]

Sincerely think they had daemon murder rhea so the wedding feast scenes would have way more tension and have the audience having no idea the limit of what daemon could do. Not saying that’s a very good reason to do the change but I think that’s the only valid reason they chose to change it, like why not just cut away when the horse rears, never reveal the face of daemon, hell just have daemon talk a bit so we understand their dynamic better, anything, it was a real weak point. Watching the scene I was convinced daemon was being quiet because he was going to kill a snake or something that rhea hadn’t noticed that was gonna spook the horse. But they just went with him being a pantomime villain for that one scene. Rest of the episode was really solid, although I would have liked some more interaction between all the valaryon family members, but the ending I think people are being a bit harsh about, I liked the chaotic build up to what felt like an inevitable brawl and having viserys confused perspective on how it happened, there’s possible explanation for the kingsgaurd slacking/ assuming criston was stopping someone who posed a threat and then it was all hushed up to prevent further wedding scandal idk hope there’s some throwaway lines in the next episode between criston and allicent to explain him still having the job. Edit: about allicent asking criston and it not making sense…isn’t he rhaenyra’s personal guard/champion (is the show doing that) I remember viserys quickly asking him where rhaenyra was at the start of ep3, he probably guards her door moor than anyone else and is more likely to have discretion with the queen than say a servant, maybe?

[@thibautnarme6402]

If you have make assumptions and hope for retcon lines in subsequent episodes, in my book this means that the scene was badly done. As audience I shouldn't have to make the effort to understand what's going on, this is not art film, it's a blockbuster show on a popular streaming platform back by one of the biggest entertainment conglomerate in the world. Another instance of the show going for a cool-looking scene scene rather than a coherent one.

[@DepecheMol]

Couldn’t the achieve exactly the same without showing he straight up kills her? Maybe he even talks with her but we don’t see it? The wedding scene has the feeling cause Damon is there and the Vale lord can still make the murder accusation

[@echo1844]

@@thibautnarme6402 do agree if something needs to be excessively agreed outwith of an episode then it’s shitty writing, but I’d do think what some are calling plotholes are actually incidents of the audience not being treated like idiots, the plot is covering a lot and you need to fill in the blanks sometimes because you aren’t gonna get a whole explanation spelled out. Again, sometimes it is just shitty writing.

[@thereadingtree3492]

Thanks for a crisp, honest, intelligent, and amusing review.

[@randomfox12245]

Everytime Preston brings up the fucking Velociraptor I lose my shit lol

[@enzobodean2599]

Thank god! This was long overdue, Preston

[@mc26collum]

His deep take on the game and now house is just precious!! Thank you. And I love he keeps forgetting gravel voice and starts in mid-sentence.

[@equinoxomega3600]

When I first watched the scene of Daemon and Rhea, I thought that Daemon was using telepathy to make her horse rear.

[@RPanda3S]

I thought it was to show us that Daemon has magic, like some kind of reverse-Axii shit

[@tarlochansingh620]

The loved the ending of the review. I just love how you use these silly characters to show how silly some of the scenes in the episode were.

[@temptationofmemories]

To be fair, Daemon did try the polygamy route first and Viserys said no, so now he is resorting to murdering her. Also, you are right it would’ve served him better if her death were more ambiguous.

[@Brassblitz]

"A word my lady, we are but poor lost circus performers. Is there a village nearby?" "There is nothing nearby. Not for miles." "Then there will be no one to hear you scream."

[@colbyhenderson7742]

A little “greenhouse” sarcasm never hurt anyone.

[@polythene21]

Horse warg line was hilarious

[@lohegrin5469]

I hope next episode starts with an explanation for what exactly happened between Cole and Joffrey before they do the big time jump, otherwise this would feel very bizarre. Anyway, since we’re now at the halfway point of the season, I think a comparison with the first season of GoT is appropriate. And I have to say, for me the biggest difference so far is that I don’t really care that much about any of these characters. There simply isn’t anyone I’m really rooting for, nor is there anyone I hate. If I compare it to GoT, by the middle of the first season I was already rooting for Ned, Daenerys and Tyrion, while I hated (in a good way) Cersei, Jaime and Joffrey - it’s safe to say that‘s how most people felt. But I don’t really have any strong feelings for the characters in HotD so far; they all feel pretty ‘dry’, for lack of a better word. Unfortunately I fear the upcoming time jumps and change of actors won’t be helpful in this regard. I mean, if we compare the shows directly, in GoT the characters had very distinct personalities from the very first episode; you could describe each of them with a few words and everyone would immediately know who you’re talking about. You had the honorable statesman, the boisterous king, the witty dwarf, the snarky tomboy, the spoiled prince, the arrogant kingsguard, the wicked queen etc. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for HotD. None of the characters really stand out, with the exception of Daemon. I mean, what is Rhaenyra’s most defining personality trait so far? Being a bit bratty? Or Alicent’s? How would you describe Otto? Ambitious maybe? But couldn’t the same be said for Corlys? What the show lacks are distinct characters who clash with each other due to their different personalities, not just because of political disagreements. Look at the way Robert and Cersei loathed each other in GoT, or how Ned disliked Jaime or Littlefinger, or how Arya clashed with Joffrey, or how Cersei and Tyrion despised each other. These people were all nominally on the same side (at least at first), and their conflicts were entirely due to their incompatible personalities. In HotD, so far the only character who clashes with others in that way is Daemon. Everyone else just kinda gets along with each other; their disagreements are mostly political. I hope the tension between Greens and Blacks in the second half of the season will focus more on personalities instead of just a disagreement over who should be heir.

[@exerciseMyDemon]

Heads up, people who’ve seen screeners say there is ZERO explanation in e06.

[@hollyriver22171]

I see what you’re saying but also GoT was super fresh back then and it was also a story on a much larger scale. Here we’re mostly dealing with one family and one location. Like it’s very difficult for characters to be as distinct when they’re all part of the same key storyline and all kind of have similar paths of getting there. If this were truly its own independent show I do think I’d struggle a bit connecting, but as a spin-off and sort of zoom in on one small part and time of an already established universe, I think it works well. I say that as someone who can connect with these characters though, like especially Alicent and Rhaenyra. I don’t think characters being distinct is necessarily the only real measure of quality. Like the characters in rings of power are super distinct for me but I can’t connect with any of them 😅

[@hinasakukimi]

rhaenyra seems like a snarky tomboy to me. alicent is dutiful, otto is sneaky etc. they're not clashing with each other right away though, it's more of a slow burn. they're setting up just how deep these relationships go before they all fall apart and begin despising each other. you gotta have some patience :)

[@RijaMo]

Yeah they shoul've had Joffrey killed by Criston outside the party. Probably when taking a piss or something. But hey you said ot yoursrlf Preston. There's not much "cliffhanger" scene in the series so they went ahead and add one.

[@MrPhbahia]

Preston really went full Preston on this one hahahaha

[@pater2671]

I Wait every week for these videos they make me Laugh everytime thank you preston !

[@geoffbeidler]

Had to wait all the wait to the end to see the long-awaited return of Lady Jailbait Dondarion.

[@jennifera.4511]

I've just read that 10.000 ships is confirmed. I thought I would be sad because of TWOW, then I remembered Preston's fanfiction and how he and the fans manage to plan, write and edit a book quicker than Martin regardless of offline matters. I always have a blast with your Hotd videos lmao

[@eversor10]

Hail Lord Celtigar LORD OF THE CRAB RAVE 🦀

[@fabrimuch]

I look forward to seeing Lady Jailbait's character evolve after next week's timeskip! Also more Blood Goat of Qohor appearances, yay!

[@petrmaly9087]

As someone who actually mopped blood after a wedding party, you usually don't want to disturb and wait until everyone is out of the room.

[@kimberlyrobinson3992]

Okay, obviously, there is a book in there about the background to THAT story. So, please write it quickly.

[@ruthbennett7563]

So, since we’re being real here: no one poured some sand or sawdust over it… or threw a rug over it? I think it was all just a chance to introduce the “Refreshments for Rats” symbolism hero of the Three-eared Rat.😂😂😂

[@petrmaly9087]

@@kimberlyrobinson3992 Nope, just working in a hotel in Scotland for couple of years. Although there are interesting stories from it, but I bet other people have similar ones.

[@petrmaly9087]

@@ruthbennett7563 I assumed it was sort of "everyone, get out, septon, come here, get them married NOW!" moment. The whole wedding was jeopardised and the king probably didn't want to lose a single second, just getting them married ASAP. Solving other issues like a bloody stains, fresh corpses and kingsguard on the run after punching the future king later, that could wait until morning. Keep in mind, he started spitting blood and probably feared he might die then and there, so ensuring his daughter is married was the most important thing in the world for him at the moment.

[@andrayellowpenguin]

OMG Preston you're incredible! 🤣🤣🤣

[@FieryWACO]

There was, at the least, a few minutes between the revelation that Lonmouth knows Cole's secret and the fight. We can't really say for sure what happened to spark that. Perhaps Cole just saw an opportunity and took it. Perhaps something else happened only tangentially related to the revelation. Joffrey did say that he thought Cole is handsome.

[@nyz7971]

omg Preston said everything I was thinking and more

[@hacman8732]

Who hasn’t had a cry to a cure album

[@mimimarie7968]

Hear hear. Many tears shed while listening to pictures of you on the cd player.

[@hacman8732]

Love song for me, even though boys don’t cry.

[@mimimarie7968]

@@hacman8732 If you were born in 87 then we were probably emo around the same time lol.

[@unclegumbald989]

I think it’s becoming more & more apparent that **yes** , Viserys **IS** being poisoned slowly. “Died in his sleep” is exactly what a conspiring maester would say…

[@amsbeats841]

My suspension of disbelief came crashing and burning down to the ground this episode. But don't worry, it was an accident even though its' skull was clearly bashed in with a large rock. Nothing fishy there!

[@alecatnight1540]

Really glad the story is addressing that queen summerchild doesn’t have a lord commander for his queensguard

[@glasseyestrong4416]

Exceptional video, hilariously entertaining!! Thanks for your unbiased reviews and breakdowns of HOTD. I always look forward to your analysis and honest criticism. This show has great moments but also terrible and completely illogical scenes.

[@cameronjadewallace]

Perfect thing to wake up to

[@lamsreacts]

‘Argue about how fast they’re killing king viserys’ 😂😂😂😂

[@jbug1979]

It didn't seem like premeditated murder as the part of the horse falling was ambiguous. Then he picked up the rock.. but she did say "I knew you couldn't finish". This to me meant that she wanted him to kill her. Was it because she knew she was and didn't want to live that way? If so, then it could be seen as an act of merci. I don't know, but I don't think he went to the Vale with the intention of murdering her.

[@bobvila6055]

There is a scene coming where somehow Alicent seems to be pointing a dagger at someone, possible Rhaenyra, I don't exactly recall and I can't find it again, but yeah I wondered what the hell that could possibly be and now...I think I know what to expect. Such a colossal disappointment. "Yeah so sometimes we just like to take an event that made sense in the context of the world and change it in such a way that requires nonsensical things to happen to create moments we think people will be shocked by. Right yeah, when things make no sense its shocking, right? You like that, right? I mean, its a game of thrones wedding, something completely insane HAS to happen, right?"

[@shaneoconnell9279]

Like the rusted Green Dragon Inn at the crossroads sign, there couldnt be two crab based factions. Love the American Pie like Celtigar riff