House of the Dragon
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Instead, the Blacks suffer only a shortage of dragonriders, but even that may prove surmountable.
Its not a cliffhanger or even a surprise twist not really.
Whats more, episode five achieves this height twice in the space of an hour.
The fruit for sale in Kings Landing is rotting.
Ser Criston parades Meleyss decapitated head through the cobbled streets, but his spectacle doesnt have the desired effect.
The smallfolk arent awed by the sight; theyre spooked.
1 Blacksmith that will definitely be important later puts it, theyre just meat.
God is dead, and power loves a vacuum.
Rhaenyras small council talks endlessly of ground troops and dragon counts, but she isnt a queen.
Shes a queen in exile.
She cant fight a traditional war because she doesnt have traditional resources.
So let Mysaria start dropping propaganda leaflets on the smallfolk or, you know, the Westerosi equivalent.
Kings Landing is the crown jewel of the kingdom, but holding it leaves you vulnerable to losing it.
has gone from I do!
to Kinda … to Not.
Jot over the course of several episodes.
Never let it be said that Matt Smith cant deliver a joke under that monstrosity of a flaxen mop.
Alas, Daemon declines to burn them alive because dead men cant fight.
How could a person who hears the anguish of the Bracken innocents on the wind feel any different?
And shes not the only Daemon-skeptic roaming the halls of Harrenhal.
And who are you stealing from?
doubts in his eyes.
That said, its not like things are going well for Team Green.
The sound of the maesters peeling armor from Aegons scorched body can only be described as … squelchy.
Even Helaena looks upset, and she hates Aegon.
Aemond, on the other hand, has no squeamishness about taking in his own handiwork.
The direction in this scene is impeccable.
We hear the garbled scene as though were underwater or listening through Alicents dumbfounded ears.
Like the ship had already gone down or like none of it matters.
Its not that he doubts Rhaenyras cleverness or even that his loyalty is flagging, he tells her.
Its just a sexism thing!
Make babies, not war.
Maybe they should ask Daemon for help?
Rhaenyras beginning to doubt herself as the others do.
She didnt get a boy childs soldiering education but that of a geographer.
Without Rhaenys by her side, she looks to Mysaria for guidance and her stepdaughter for consolation.
Baela Targaryen emerges with her grandmothers confidence and an easy sense of self.
At Rhaenyras request, Baela goes to Corlys, who is down bad on Driftmark, grieving his wife.
Rhaenyra may not have caused their deaths, but their deaths made the life she has now possible.
But with Rhaenys and Laena gone, Rhaenyra is also the only mother Baela has left.
But when he wishes aloud for Baela to be the heir of Driftmark, her refusal is assured.
Shes not one for salty shores.
She wants to die as her mother and grandmother have died before her, in a blaze of dragonfire.
And the Tullys cant expect to sit this one out for much longer.
After Daemons disastrous attempt to court them, theyll likely flip for team Aegon/Aemond.
All must choose, or so the HBO marketing goes.
Rhaenyra doesnt scold Jace for treating with the Freys without her say-so, at least not much.
Theres little more that anyone can accomplish from a tiny speck of land on Blackwater Bay.
Soon, its dragonback or bust.
But there are strangers out there, hearts thumping with the blood of Old Valyria.
After all, dragons arent gods, nor are their riders, as King Aegons barbecued body reflects.
Its all just meat.
