Westeros.org on House of the Dragon, Episode 2: The Rogue Prince

In this episode we'll provide a brief recap of the episode, followed by discussing a few of the changes from FIRE AND BLOOD, some added background details concerning passing references in the show, and some dragon facts! We do dig into a particularly thorny, controversial issue in the course of it.
The new wireless microphones worked 50% as well as they did last episode, as Linda's microphone was somehow picking up interference. We'll try and get that sorted before the next video!
See www.westeros.o... for our "Not a Review" of the first six episodes.

[@daydreamer2361]

we appreciate your honesty and your respect for the canon ❤

[@SunnyDayTeaFactory]

The dragon silhouette in clouds was visually a nice touch.

[@maegorbalerion]

I don't know if you'll answer but I wanted to ask what do you think about the anogrion in valyria, whether it could be a revelation in the asoiaf lore, whether it's something that comes from george himself. Toussaint also spoilered that the dragons could be the result of alchemy and this could be close to Barths theories. I was also thinking that dragonbinder could be part of this lost valyrian technology connected to blood magic and could become useful to daenerys

[@WesterosTV]

We've no idea about whether the Anogrion came from George or not, honestly!

[@dhoakohime]

Oh!! One question!! Are the 3 stolen eggs sold in Braavos the same that eventually end in Daenerys hands? (Still at the beginning of fire and blood, but it kinda makes sense)

[@ibeg1951]

Also the character of netty...a black girl claiming a dragon is more impactfull if velaryons are white... After seeing laena claim vhagar in the show....netty will not look or feel original or special

[@WesterosTV]

Interesting way to look at it. Yes, I suppose if you've only seen these silver-haired, white people riding dragons and then Nettles does it, it would be more striking.

[@ibeg1951]

@@WesterosTV that is why george lets her live...and her dragon. ;)

[@claudio9939]

The part about Mysaria preventing pregnancies (10:30), couldn't It just be that she takes moon tea often?

[@WesterosTV]

I think her phrasing made it sound like she made a permanent action rather than just keeping at the moon tea. That said, we don't know what constant use of moon tea might do to fertility...

[@honeywine3166]

Is house celtigar missing? Was weird when Laena said “We must unite the last two surviving Valyrian houses. Targaryen and Velaryon.”

[@maliziosoeperverso1697]

Celtigars are of Valyrian descent but are in no way Valyrians culturally

[@WesterosTV]

Photos from the location where they filmed the Stepstones showed a Celtigar shield was on display. So I think they're around, but perhaps seen as particularly "impure".

[@abviixi9136]

Having Creole features myself and oft being called "ethnically ambiguous", you are entirely correct about Brazil and the other Lusophone Nations, where my ethnic background is from; I appreciate the honest opinion regarding the canon and the ripple effects a casting change such as Coryls & co. can create. Representation is important, but at what cost to the source material? Also, castings as you both mentioned play parts in shaping characters as well, take it with a grain of salt. However, I am leaning more towards the Velaryons in this period being outliers, or the exception, rather than the rule. I do appreciate when diverse castings occur, but not for the sake of tokenism, if there are subtle changes that occur, having substance behind the decision is preferred to an empty gesture. The source material heavily references other countries and continents with multitudes of ethnic groups. SO I am genuinely interesting in seeing how far the retcon will go and does GRRM expand on said changes in other periods impacting Targaryens, Velaryrons, Celtigars, and perhaps lost Valyrian families such as Jaenara Belaerys.

[@WesterosTV]

Thanks for that interesting response! I feel like George feels that his presentation of the Valyrians is fairly straightforward, that they're one race in origin, one "ethnotype" so to speak, and he's established too much about this to reverse course. That said, this doesn't disallow people with Valyrian blood who have other features -- I'm thinking the Black Pearl's children, for example -- who are canonical, and more that might be introduced.

[@OneOnOne1162]

I've enjoyed these last two videos, but I was just wondering: Why aren't you guys doing outright reviews this time around? Sorry if this question has been answered elsewhere but I hadn't seen an answer yet, though I know you guys said you weren't gonna do them in episode 1.

[@WesterosTV]

In brief: HotD is based on the Targaryen history published in F&B... but it was originally written for TWoIaF, and used by us. It feels weird to us to critique something based on material George initially wrote for the book we collaborated on.

[@OneOnOne1162]

@@WesterosTV Alright, fair enough. Although personally I'd see it as more critiquing/reviewing the specific execution that the showrunners have given the material rather than the original material itself. But at any rate thank you for the answer and I look forward to future videos.

[@naboob]

I love you both, keep up the good work. ❤️

[@WesterosTV]

Thanks!

[@ardaraith]

I’m really enjoying the show!

[@WesterosTV]

Glad you're enjoying it!

[@brenngerteran6058]

Best Regards from to Venezuela 👍

[@WesterosTV]

¡Y saludos desde Suecia!

[@sazu5963]

Sooo my opinion on this, as a black person: you both have already mentioned it: we will have Nettles, a original BLACK character from the BOOK. I think, making the Velaryons black, will take away her uniqueness (as in, how is this black kid from the street capable of doing certain things), when half of the cast is black/mixed race. I always go with the lore, if George says they're white, they're white. But I actually like Steve Toussaint thus far, he has a strong presence.

[@WesterosTV]

He really does. He's also rather tall, too, and I think that can be seen on the screen as well and really adds to the sense of his being someone important.

[@abhisheknotani95]

I liked the episode, but I can now already see some minor scenes where there are logical inconsistencies to make it seem” cool”.Hope they don’t dial it up too much!

[@abhisheknotani95]

Prime example being the bridge scene , Otto going to Daemon with 20 men and being surprised with the dragon!

[@WesterosTV]

I read it not so much as being surprised by the dragon, as not quite believing that Daemon would threaten them with Caraxes. That may be generous, but it reads the most easily to me. But sure, there may be an element of "rule of cool" in some of the decisions they have been making. II will say the visuals were fantastic for that sequence.

[@DarthQueefious]

Before hearing your thoughts on the topic... Corys talking about his family being pure blood Valyrian came off as strange to me. I see people rationalising the look of House V by pointing to the Summer Isles but, whilst I don't recall the intricacies of Valyria and Valyrian family trees and migration (despite reading most of ASOIAF and watching GOT) wouldn't that invalidate the idea of being pure blood? Regardless, it does all feel very odd for a bunch of families who were so obsessed with blood purity, to the point that incest was part of the culture, to have such stark differences. If they had 'race swapped' some other family or character/s it wouldn't be an issue for me. What they have chosen to do, the way it impacts long-established worldbuilding, feels, in the political climate we find ourselves in, so on the nose and somewhat distracting Experts on any subject can always tie themselves in knots to make sense of anything, but there's no way mainstream audiences with any familiarity of Valyrians (GOT watchers) aren't thinking this is pretty outthere, even if many would be too embarrassed or scared to say so.

[@WrathDrago]

Not just GOT viewers but ardent readers of the books ( with common sense ) know he was a diversity casting. The actor is fine as a performer, but he just does not look the part of a Valyrian with the typical pale skin, purple/light blue eyes and silver/gold hair features of the Valyrian race. How do they explain Jaehaerys and Alysanne mother, Aenys wife and of course Aegon, Rhaenys and Visenya mother? All Velaryon. You are right, alot of people will be too afraid to criticize the casting because they will be branded a racist, when it's a perfectly valid critic!

[@WesterosTV]

From remarks in this episode, it seems the Velaryon marriages recorded in the books have not happened. The Velaryon have not given a Targaryen lord/king a bride since before the Doom. So maybe they turned Alyssa into Aenys's sister or a Celtigar or Qoherys or something.

[@brettadams111]

After having watched several episodes past episode 2, I think the Velaryons being black has helped a lot in establishing and showing who is related to whom as a quick reference. I think it was done for visual appeal rather than story reasons. It makes clear, for example, who the children of Rhaenyra really are.

[@WesterosTV]

That's possible. I think in our interview with Ryan, he didn't bring that up as a part of their thinking, but it certainly could have been part of their thinking.

[@Skepticktok]

As a black fan of the franchise I really like the performance of the actor playing the Sea Snake while fully acknowledging that black Velaryons don't make sense given what we no about the tradition of incest in the Valyrian culture. I am curious about the King's comment that he would marry by Spring's end when we know that the seasons in Westeros are not always predictable. Spring's end could be three months or three years away.

[@WesterosTV]

We like his performance too. We'll see him in action next episode, and the 5th episode has a couple scenes we quite like but really emphasize how driven he is.

[@chall6761]

The actor has given an very solid, if not great performance so far. I expect the best has yet to come.

[@V_i_vi_an]

I love Corlys character so far, he wad already great in F&B but the show really is giving him great lines and the actor shines in the delivery department

[@DisappointedDunsky]

I really appreaciate the honesty! I remember when the casting for Corlys was first revealed, a lot of ASOIAF KZbinrs were bending and streaching the lore to say that it doesn't break canon. As someone who's half black, I almost find that more offending lol. Like don't lie, they're clearly supposed to be white. I would've preferred if the showrunners didn't pick a house that's canonically supposed to look like Targaryens, but hey at least they're honest about making the change for diversity's sake and I respect that. Thanks for keeping it real and not lying out of fear of appearing "racist" :)

[@WesterosTV]

Thanks, Dunsky! Much appreciated. :)

[@NolanDaddy]

This brings me back to how people instantly said there must be other ways to tame a dragon because Nettles is black and can't possibly be a Targ but in my mind I instantly said oh that's Daemon or Corlys daughter by a summer islander .

[@WesterosTV]

She is definitely a dragonseed, IMO.

[@Biattack716]

Thanks for doing these video essays. I appreciate the discussion on race, I dont mind the change too much but it makes sense from where you guys are coming from why it is an issue. Glad to see you guys replying, ill be sure post something in the next episode video.

[@WesterosTV]

Thanks!

[@SaudiHaramco]

I don't really understand why they had to change the whole Targaryen-being-kinda-racist thing. I mean it is kind of an important underlying theme of ASoIaF that Targaryens see themselves as superior being due to their Valyrian blood. It's not like George is portraying the idea of keeping the bloodline pure in a positive manner. It's clearly shown that ultimately the Targaryens aren't any better than any other family once they've lost access to their WMDs. So the Velaryons are supposed to be of "pure Valyrian blood" but also apparently Valyrians aren't an ethnic group? So they do mix to keep the Valyrian blood pure but they remain ethnically distinct? idk..

[@WesterosTV]

I really don't think it bears too much deep scrutiny, either, but at least for the present period they've made efforts to make it fit together. And as we said, they admit it's a change.

[@thelousyllama]

Hello Linda. Im POC (indian) and i enjoy your youtube channel and ASOIF. I want to thank you for your honesty on such a difficult. I was so proud to see Indra Varma as dornish. And i understand the need for diversity, which may go against the lore. I would prefer for a diversity casting to make sense or does not veer far away from the story line being sensible. Thank you for opening up. My guess is most of the namecalling against you comes from people who never experienced true racism

[@f3rnand3r2]

Glad to see you uploading videos again. So far Im enjoying HotD, like the good olden days before S4 of GoT !

[@WesterosTV]

Thanks!

[@Cecil_Harvey]

Maybe Vhagar had a small head but bigger body than meraxes

[@1080lights]

The real crux of the problem is that the Velaryons and the Targaryens intermarry a few times and by this point they should look much the same. The other aspect is that the Targaryen incest means that the external genes are going to stick around for a few generations at least. Aegon and his sisters were children of a Velaryon mother, too. So their son Aenys should’ve been half black at least. He married a Velaryon, and his son Jaehaerys should be three fourths black. He married his sister, so their kids should be too. Their kids Baelon and Alyssa married each other, so Viserys and Daemon should look three-fourths black too. Alyssa’s daughter Jocelyn Baratheon married Jaehaerys’s son Aemon. These two parents would give birth to Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was. She should be mostly black. Rhaenyra is this daughter of Viserys and his half-Targaryen cousin. She should be half black. At this point, if we assume this is how House Velaryon has always looked, then House Targaryen at the time of the Dance should mostly look like black people. But they don’t.

[@WesterosTV]

From my interview with Ryan, he doesn't seem to think of it as an issue, but at the same time he seemed uncertain how exactly to explain statements in this episode and later in episode 5 in light of that. I feel like they just feel like it's not that big of an issue, and will be someone else's problem if they explore the era of the Conqueror or Aenys. (Though to be fair, Aegon and his sisters had a Velaryon mother... who was herself half Targaryen, so they were notionally 1/4th Velaryon. And then there's the question of whether you believe Aenys is really Aegon's son or not, in which case he's 1/8th Velaryon, not 1/4th.)

[@umwha]

Is it the case that the velaryons are portrayed as always being black? Or it or what we heard earlier that he alone had a summer islander mother?

[@umwha]

Damn, they really broke the canon on this one. I remember many people defended this descision because it was supposed to be only the Sea Snake himself.. Here’s how they should’ve done it. Have Sea Snake himself be a bastard by a summer islander. Or have him come from a cadet branch of the house that specialized in long distance trade. That’s it. If you respect the canon it’s not hard to come up with

[@WesterosTV]

We see a number of other Velaryon kin in the series and they are all black. I think people clung to the idea that the text allowed for Corlys having a Summer Islander mother or grandmother (it doesn't, really, given Daella Targaryen's reaction when she first met a Summer Islander), but the show did not go that route.

[@lorenzobolis5166]

Thank you for sincerely expressing your ideas, whichever they may be, instead of falling victim to nonsensical cancel culture.

[@WesterosTV]

We think that being truthful about it is the best policy. We have a long, long track record of noting and often complaining about all sorts of changes, this is just one of a piece regardless how charged people try to make it.

[@umwha]

22:30 - They targaryens took brides from lys because they have the Valyrian look. Yes but they changed that too by making Mysaria a dark haired Asian person . The book canon was that even when the Targs marry out they still marry people from the same gene pool. The idea that they want to actually mix races is antithetical the canon.

[@WesterosTV]

I would not go quite that far since we do have examples as time progresses. I mean, even in this period, Daemon was married off to a Royce who had no Valyrian ancestry but did have rich lands, and before that Jaehaerys and Alysanne married or tried to marry daughters off to the Arryns and the Manderlys who again lacked Valyrian blood. As to Mysaria, she actually reveals that she's probably not from Lys -- she says she was enslaved and sold away from a homeland she doesn't even remember.

[@umwha]

@@WesterosTVYes, what I mean is that Targs had a strong tendancy to choose same/similar gene pool marriages, especially for the marriages of the heirs. Additionally, there is some that the Arryns (and therefore the secondary Vale house, the Royces) have special descendancy - considering the house was said to be founded by a king who 'rode a giant eagle'. Arryn features include 'blond hair and an aquiline nose'. Even if we discount the Arryn marraiges the tendacy remains clear. I appreciate the necessity of implying show Mysaria isnt lyseni - but in the book she was implied to be lyseni looking, considering she was called 'White Worm' emphasising her 'race-apart' like paleness. Additionally, dont you feel there was a strong implication that Mysaria was the daughter / grandaughter of Saera, who fled to lys? Daemon clearly had an (apparently innate?) incest preference, in that he didnt like his Royce wife, did like Mysaria, wanted Leana, and later liked Rhaenrya. Not a huge point but it is another piece of characterisation of just how weird Targs are, lost.

[@thedragondemands5186]

"Dornish incursion"?

[@majorianus8055]

yup. Dorne is technically independent at this time, and there would be plenty of raids and counter raids at the border. Because of this, the Marcher lords of the Reach and the Stormlands near the Dornish borders like the Dondarrions are the ones with the most experience in real combat.

[@WesterosTV]

There's always a little trouble on the Marches, at least until King Daeron the Good succeeds in his union with Dorne.

[@gatsu718]

As long as there's some attempt at logic made for a change in race i dont have much of an issue with it, Unlike something like The Witcher Netflix series where theres a rainbow of races for no logical reason.

[@Bleeebloo]

I wasn't going to bother watching the series. But now I saw this pop up I'll be watching just to catch up with Elio and Linda afterwards! Missed you guys.

[@WesterosTV]

Thanks!

[@JS-ok4dx]

Hey guys, always love your opinion on the shows! What do you guys think Otto’s plan was when he got to Dragonstone? Negotiate with your arch nemesis who has a bigger army and a dragon? Forced plot for the cool scene.

[@WesterosTV]

I would read Otto as calling his bluff, that Daemon would not in fact go that far. He may have misjudged, but... I don't know, I think mostly Daemon would have sent him back to King's Landing with his tail between his legs, and wait for his brother to come out in person to talk to him. Rhaenyra short-circuited that.

[@uriustosh]

Daemon is a predatory sociopath who has only done bad, rude, or vile things on screen so far. The only nice thing he does is speak not rudely to the niece his is trying to groom. Yikes. Daemon fanboys are creepy af, like being a Ramsay fan. "oh but Matt Smith..." Makes me want to vomit reading people writing "cant believe how fast Im shipping for Daemon and Rhaenyra" Gross! In the moral of his world and ours Daemon is a monster.

[@m_squared5775]

THANK YOU!!! thought I was the only one. Also, he's not the best at anything. Cheated in the joust to unhorse the Hightower knight then got his ass handed to him by an unknown in the melee. Little girl Rhaenyra called his bluff in 2 seconds to get him packing from Dragonstone while the whole time sounding like Ramsey Bolton (go back and listen) and lets not forget dude has erectile dysfunction which is probably why he hates his wife (projecting). Someone pls tell me why this character is cool? Dude is straight up a whiny b**ch!!!

[@umwha]

Regarding the Purple eyes. If they ever depict Aegon and the early Targs, we could have them have magically bright purple eyes, and explain that the eyes faded over the generations as the line became remote from Valyria itself. The implication being it wasn’t solely genetic but rather denoting a magical charge sourced from Valyria itself.

[@WesterosTV]

Fun idea but I doubt they'd do it unless they insist the actors can wear the contacts.

[@umwha]

@@WesterosTV Shouldnt this be very simple CGI?

[@alansmyth6183]

Do you guys think we will see Cannibal in this series? Great work

[@WesterosTV]

Thanks! I do believe we will.

[@ibeg1951]

Good build up episode Glad they had balls to make that laena scene

[@WesterosTV]

I'm surprised people were so troubled by it, but I've found a lot of people who are very online are deeply hypocritical when it comes to how they judge the merits of fantasy and interpret how it is depicted on screen.

[@ibeg1951]

@@WesterosTV reading his books you have all these disturbing images of very young girls treated badly...joffrey with sansa or ramsey with sansa...for example But they watered it down so much in the show it was cringy to watch... But arranged marriage with girls was part of history...and to see it like this scene was impactfull

[@thedragondemands5186]

in the behind the scenes videos they describe Valyrian architecture as "Brutalist"

[@WesterosTV]

Yes, that's a good term for the style of architecture they established in GoT for Dragonstone.

[@NolanDaddy]

I absolutely love ASOIAF and LOTR so it hurts me deeply that the two men who I consider the goat's of writing decided to make all of there magical human species the whitest of white . I'm not gonna lie to be cool like some other black people and say it doesn't cause conflict within myself when I see all the human heroes are white and all the magical heroes are also white and the only time a black or other is mentioned is in a foreign , degrading or in Tolkiens case straight up evil way . But these books are written by white men and whites conquered earth so it is what it is .

[@ThreeEyedJuan]

Do you think they should've built a bit more story leading to King Vis choosing Alicent Hightower? Great content. Loved the website since time immemorial.

[@WesterosTV]

I think they are trying to cover a broad span of time and needed to figure out how to make it work. It moves quickly, as you'll see next episode. It is pretty much in keeping with the source material, though: everyone was urging him to marry Laena, but Alicent had caught his eye and he chose to follow his heart rather than doing what made the most political sense.

[@SunnyDayTeaFactory]

​ @Westeros Love is the death of duty

[@LuisBatistaR]

"Is Corlys Velaryon black?" is the new "How many children Scarlett O'Hara has?"

[@Morfeusm]

Correct answer is of course none of that is really important 😂

[@CT_Phipps]

Good George R.R. Martin reference.

[@Streetanger]

The Velaryon change is also a practical one in a way. The show wouldn't have been made without diversity, it is now mandatory with all sorts of quotas and regulations. So they made a smart choice to incorporate diversity while making it remotely logical their own worldbuilding. Most other properties don't do so much thinking, when it comes to diverse casting.

[@WesterosTV]

Yes, there's a number of ways to do it. I like how THE GREAT just tells you right out "We're not history" and just has a very diverse cast without bothering to acknowledge it. They're just actors playing Russians. On this show, they've taken the step of acknowledging they've made a change and then they tweaked the setting somewhat from the canon to try and make it work better. I'm not sure it works 100%, but they made the effort.

[@DarthQueefious]

They could've just changed some other House/Character/s I don't think these quotas, even if they were evenly applied, will last long ($ is King). In 20 years, people will look back on this short era of entertainment history as a curious episode, as we do will lots of moral panics of the past.

[@Elmarby]

@@WesterosTV Yeah, The Great did it reasonably well by just not caring overly much. People weren't depicted as ethnically black. They just happened to be black actors playing Russians and no more needed to be said about it. If I had to quibble I could question the absence of Caucasian and East Asian ethnicities that Russia does have. But on the whole their "don't worry about it" approach to race worked well enough. By the way, my hat off to you two even daring to touch the third rail of race. Good to see reasonable people not being cowed by some of the unreasonable things happening on social media.

[@Roberco]

A multi-thousand pound fire breathing dragon born of blood magic defies the laws of physics and lift takes flight. Fantasy fans: “agree” One of the characters is black Fantasy fans: 🤨

[@WesterosTV]

We've no objection to black characters in these shows, and complained of the number of black characters that were dropped from GoT. But there's a character in the next season who almost certainly is at least in part, and I expect them to stick to that (and if they don't, we'll complain about that, too). And a couple other characters, similarly important, who _could_ be with no problem. Beyond that, we also discussed how the very central Hightower family could also have been black and actually have it be _less_ of a worldbuilding thing than the choice they made. In fact, they could have been black _in addition_ to making the Velaryons black, and that would actually kind have been interesting (not that there's anything wrong with the actors playing the Hightowers now, they're great). The issue has to do more with the very specific worldbuilding behind why the Valyrians in the books look like they do. As George said, he made a choice to have them look like what we see on GoT -- the pale hair, pale skin (and purple eyes that they couldn't achieve because the contacts bugged the actors) -- because it feeds into their obsession with the purity of their blood, and that in turns ties into both the power of their magic and their ability to control dragons. That's why the Targaryens practice full-sibling incest, like the Ptolemaic dynasty, and why many of their marriages "outside" of the family are almost always to people with Valyrian blood (either offshoots of the Targaryens themselves, or families of high Valyrian ancestry like the Velaryons). George mused that maybe if he could go back in time, maybe he should have made the Valyrians black... which goes to show that whatever way he made the Valyrians look, he thought of it as a given that they would have one "race", one shared look, because they would inbreed do much to try and keep the power of their blood pure . And as we say in the end, if the Valyrians _had_ been black, and then a random high Valyrian white family appeared, we would have the exact same reservations. BTW, we also complain about the dragons having too many legs on the Targaryen banner!

[@Aliexei]

Multi-thousand pound fire breathing dragon born of blood magic is of the setting. It is written in the source material. Race swaped Corlys isn't. Thats a problem. Imagine if they made Jalahbar Xo white. Fans would have hated that.

[@thedragondemands5186]

@@WesterosTV they should have just given us the in-universe explanation months ago. Withholding it only led to speculation and argument.

[@Roberco]

@@WesterosTV Thank you for the reply 🤍 I am a huge fan of you both. My comment was not directed toward you two specifically and I should have specified that. It was an unfair generalization but more an attempt on addressing where, in regard to different aspects of fantasy world building, we choose to more easily suspend our disbelief (myself included). If I offended in any way I apologize sincerely. As always you both approach all of your talking points from an incredibly thoughtful and objective approach. I remain a huge fan and happy to see you both back.

[@OneOnOne1162]

That's not how fantasy works. This is such an exceptionally poor argument, I don't know why so many people keep making it. Fantasy doesn't mean "anything is possible no matter what at all times." That would lead to a completely incoherent world and story that doesn't feel real, tense or immersive. If suddenly someone was able to pick up a stick in Westeros and use it as a magic wand to vanguish their enemies that would also be awful. Especially if there were previous scenes where that character was surrounded by sticks and about to be attacked but didn't think to pick up a stick and use magic to fend off their attacker. Because that would come out of nowhere and be inconsistent. In fantasy anything is possible, yes. But whatever that fantastical thing is it must be established as part of the world and it must be consistent with its own past depiction and the world as a whole. If you establish all dragons breathe fire in book 1 and then suddenly in book 2 all dragons breathe ice and there's no explanation given, that's terrible writing because it's inconsistent. If you establish in book 1 that all dragons breathe ice and then in book 2 they continue to breathe ice, that's fine. Nothing wrong with ice dragons. But there is a problem with just introducing them out of nowhere in a way that's inconsistent with previously established facts about and the world as a whole. Like suddenly the Iron Throne being forged in a dragon's flame doesn't make sense anymore if they're ice dragons. Neither does Harrenhall anymore. That's when there's a problem.

[@CT_Phipps]

I feel like the issue with Corys and his family can basically be summarized as, "Maybe it doesn't make sense but it's what they went with and Steve Touissant is a fantastic actor so let's just move on." But fantastic review otherwise. I look forward to your thoughts on every episode.

[@Face6099]

I don't see why there couldn't be dark skinned/silver haired people in Free Cities for Velaryons to have married into same as for Targaryens and Lyseni. I get that the change raises some questions, but all of these logistical questions can have very simple answers that don't break the believability of the world.

[@WesterosTV]

You mean non-Valyrian people who were dark skinned and silver haired? I suppose they could have made up some other group of silvered haired people who are not Valyrian, but then the Velaryons are not the pure Valyrians they profess. I take it from the comments made in this episode and another episode, as well as the interviews and so on, that the Velaryons have looked as they have done all the way to the beginning of their family in Old Valyria before the Doom. So the Valyrian race on the show includes ancestrally white and black families in its origins.

[@Face6099]

@@WesterosTV Yeah I meant in the same way Lys is said to have 'blood of old valyria running strong' and if the show version had Valyrians with different skin colors it would follow that Lys has people of various skin colors and silver hair.