Hotd Critical - Blog Posts

I already pity Tom for what nonsense they're going to make him do tbh.

He was already so uncomfortable with the lines he was given about his genitals gone, lines he BTW was informed of in front of everyone without warning , that I cannot imagine how horrible he will feel if they keep this bullshit going.

I find it funny that Condal builds the whole Aegon's character around Mushroom's rumors from the book. Rape? In the book, the closest thing to this episode is the story about a 12-year-old girl who allegedly gave Aegon a blowjob, according to Mushroom of course. Children fighting pits? This was also information from Mushroom. Aegon's inability to have children due to injury? Well, Aegon was going to marry again and said that he'd have strong heirs, which means that he himself was quite confident in his ability to fulfill marital duties. So who said his cock didn't work? Mushroom! If this goes on, in the third season we'll see an adaptation of Mushroom's rumors about Aegon forcing the servants to have sex and watching them. You can start getting ready.

"Isn't it great writing and super feminist when a cunning and ambitious political influencial woman willing to do anything for her children gets adapted into a meek, politically inept character who praises her abuser and condemns her children, grandchildren, father and brother either to death and/or lifelong imprisonment for the sake of a woman she only had contempt for in the source material! ❤️❤️❤️"

That's what some of you guys sound like right now

It kind of make senses now why B&C was so tame. B&C reflects extremely poorly on Daemon & Rhaenyra by extension so they tried to diminish the atrocity of it all and make it as ambiguous as possible so they could move past it in the finale. Daemon realizes “he messed up” and Rhaenyra is allowed to “bring him back into the fold” without it being such a “big deal” add in Alicent’s humiliation where she begs forgiveness without mentioning her dead grandson and betraying even her brother and “kind” youngest unseen child and it all makes sense.

For contrast Aemond’s atrocious action against Lucerys isn’t explored beyond “Aemond regretting it” but then is very much built on by the narrative as he goes on to attempt to kill his brother, physically assault his sister, diminish his mother, and burn a village of innocents. Helaena Targaryen who previously had very little understanding of her dragon dreams blatantly tells her brother without remorse how he will die and then appears to the man who had her son and daughter brutalized (Daemon)in a vision to assist him.

The more we think about Alicent character assassination. The more it get worse.

ryan condal you will not see heaven

And the award for the worst TV adaptation goes to...

I honestly dont like how they have changed the whole "Aemond" perspective from showing him as the fierce and strategic person to someone who simply relies on whispers from his small council and would not know things otherwise. There is no way that the message regarding dragonseeds reached Kings landings,Adam got the dragon, and people sneaked from Kings landing to Dragonstone without him knowing ANYTHING!!! This sudden change of showing him as a weak leader is so unfair to his character arc.

Why is only Team Black preparing for the war? why is Team Green shown as one's waiting for war to happen to prepare for it. I simply don't understand this.

Alicent knew the truth and yet she hid it from her family. Her saying that she has served the realm really doesn't do justice when she is the reason the war is happening in the first place. She should be preparing for it if what she claims " her service to the realm" has been!

I honestly dont understand this writing and I believe this certainly messes up the arcs

The only good thing coming from season two are the top notch visuals were getting for Aemond :)

For science....... here's Aemond mounting the horse in slow-mo.....

Aegon and Aemond in canon:

Aegon and Aemond in Ryan fanfic:

HotD Ep 08 Season finale - Spoiler alert!

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I just saw the scene where Alicent goes to see Rhaenyra in Dragonstone in the Season finale and HOLY SHIT WTF WAS THAT?!

She is literally telling Rhaenyra when Aemond will leave, telling her to attack then and assuring Rhaenyra that she will surrender Kings Landing to her without a fight.

WTF?!

This season is ONE BIG JOKE.

WTF is going on in that writers room?

Unless this is some elaborate promotion stunt where they purposefully shot these scenes to leak them and then the finale end up being totally different, I will have no more reason to watch this show at all.

Season 2 has already been weak in writing and I'm scared they will ruin it beyond saving.

Disappointed by the show in general, tbh. Gravely disappointed. I had such high hopes for this show and the writes ruined it completely.

This show isn’t even fan fiction, it’s a parody at this point. The writers clearly don’t know GOT facts and this episode showcases it big time…

To clarify:

There is no logical reason for kings landing to be experiencing a famine. The reach is their primary suppliers of food, while the water trade is simply for things like spices and salt, which is used to preserve meat. They were never dependent on that for the cities food supply.

(Also if it’s a water blockade…how is it that all they have to eat is fish?)

Even with the gates closed, they have store houses of food. The supplies within them could last the city a little over a year. So unless they aren’t pulling from them, there’s no freaking way that in mere weeks they’re experiencing wide spread famine to the point of rioting.

The whole food shortage thing seemed like a flimsy excuse to get the small folk to praise rhaenyra. But it makes no sense since she ordered the blockade and a few ships of food will not be enough to sustain the small folks long term.

It’s like the writers can’t make things make sense. They keep trying to spoon-feed viewers into liking rhaenyra. Now they just keep defying logic to make her either the winner or the victim in universe and it just…doesn’t work. Not at all.

I am so tired.

Honestly, I'm DEVASTATED they've completely cut Nettles and are doing this whole Rhaena x Sheepstealer thing.

Not just because that means we will most likely never see Morning but because Nettles was such an important part of the story. Not just because of the battles she fought but because of her crucial role in Daemon and Aemonds battle and deaths.

Believe what you want, whether she was Daemon's lover or bastard daughter, it was Rhaenyra growing so paranoid after the two dragonseeds changed sides and ordering the ASSASSINATION of that young woman that pushed Daemon to go on that su*cide mission after Aemond.

With Nettles needing to flee and Daemon realising Rhaenyra doesn't trust him anymore and is willing to go after him/his lover/his daughter, he was willing to sacrifice himself and his dragon while bringing down Aemond & Vhagar.

Had it not been for that, the whole story would have been totally different. Perhaps the war would have raged on for far longer as well.

At this point it feels like they won't even do Rhaenyra's paranoia arch and her demise. That they won't have her order Addams arrest, imprison Corlys, order the assassination of Nettles, etc.

It feels like they've turned her into an empowered, always rational, never doing any wrong feminist-icon while her book version was SO much different.

That's what I liked so much about the books and the entire GoT/HotD universe; that there are no good people, only bad people and worse ones.

"Choose your favourite war criminal" type of stuff. That's totally missing from this show, in my opinion. It's all too black and white. It's almost... boring at this point.

At this point, I hold little hope for the rest of this show to get much better. Even George has (indirectly) spoken out against this change.

LOL you took this so out of context it's funny, really.

No, that man ain't the brightest. His temper makes him do less than intelligent things all the time. That man is a war criminal. Yes, so are many others in the show and books but that doesn't make his actions any better. It also doesn't make anyone elses actions any better or worse. Aemond has done horrible and inexcusable things. His tragic backstory and (as mentioned) the handsome face of Ewan do NOT make that fact dissapear.

I'm sick of the whole infantilization of adults (fictional or real) and their crimes purely because they are good looking, that is the only thing I was trying to say with my comment! This is not hate, only a realistic understanding of him as a character with all his aspects.

Lastly: I am NOT a native speaker but I am trying my best and learning everyday. To go for my spelling and/or grammar is such a low blow, really goes to show your character.

Originial Post & Comment:

This person can't even finish a proper sentence, can't even form a coherent sentence, can't make a point without resorting to aggressive hate mongering, and they're calling Aemond a "stupid, violent, impulsive little psychopath". TB does take on after their faves.

The comments under the new HBO podcast episode with Ryan Condal can’t be fit in one post but here are some of them to give you the idea of what’s going on:

In a nutshell, this fandom learned not to hold back from GRRM himself.

I find myself agreeing with this woman’s thoughts on Alicent’s character this season. Which is a shame in many ways…

(Tagging those who might be interested in what this video has to say, I apologize if any of y’all have been trying to get this off your mind only for me to tag you here lol)

@alicentsgf , @lemonhemlock , @thewitchqueenofharrenhal , @spacerockfloater , @gwenllian-in-the-abbey , @forgotten-fossilised , @florisbaratheons , @applepie2523 , @tessarionbestgirl , @queenvhagar , @the-daily-dreamer , @chocobroing , @lunamond , @gojuo, @fearthhereaper , @abla-soso

"Helaena does not ride. She has no taste for it". That one line summarizes so many issues with the writing of Helaena (and even Alicent) this season. Women in this show who get in Rhaenyra's way are not allowed to want ANYTHING! Rhaenyra has been presented as the just, equal, rightful ruler so of course they can't risk her looking bad by maybe presenting us the perspective of another woman, a dragonrider who claimed the mount of a previous Targaryen queen, who tragically lost a son because of the war, who was a beloved queen by the smallfolk, whose council was listened to by her husband the king, and, most importantly, never suggested (in the book) that Aegon back down from his claim, only that he should pursue a peaceful resolution before going to war. Queen Helaena's death sparked the uprising of Kings Landing that would lead to Rhaenyra's own downfall and death. Helaena baby you deserved so so so much better than this. She deserved a proper coronation, she deserved to grieve her son, she deserved to ride her beloved Dreamfyre, and we should have seen her struggles and triumphs of being queen in a time of war. Aegon even declared that only his mother and wife be honored and recognized as the two legitimate queens during the dance 😭 This show did her so dirty and i will never forgive them 💚💙🩵💛

I know that right now we're all pissed at the horrendous character assassination Alicent has gone through this season (God I'm the first one who still can't believe her eyes), but this awful representation of the green Queen on screen has at least given me some newfound appreciation for book!Alicent and all she stands for.

Alicent, the young girl who stood by Jaehaerys's side as he passed.

Alicent, who became queen against all odds and watched in horror as her foolish husband dismissed her sons' claim to the throne in favor of her step-daughter.

Alicent, who knew what she wanted for her family and fought tooth and nail against Rhaenyra to protect her children.

Alicent, who demanded Luke's eye in exchange for Aemond's when she realized Viserys didn't care for the wellbeing of their son.

Alicent, who cleverly plotted Aegon's ascension and put her plan in motion the moment her useless husband kicked the bucket, disregarding his wishes in order to save her kin from the blacks.

Alicent, who witnessed the atrocity that was blood and cheese, helpless to do anything as her grandson was butchered and who then later on said she wishes to bathe in the blood of the men who had committed this horrible act.

Alicent, who remained loyal to her side till the bitter end, and kept taunting and threatening Rhaenyra even after she took the capital.

Alicent, who never recovered from her children's deaths and lived only to erase Rhaenyra's legacy, trying to convince her granddaughter to kill Aegon III despite the end of the war.

Alicent, who spent her last days in imprisonment, seen as a remnant of the past, a grief stricken woman fueled by vengeance, unable to see a future with Rhaenyra's blood on the throne.

Alicent, who died alone and defeated still thinking of her happy teenage years and her beloved family.

She was fierce, she was loving, she was manipulative, loyal, clever, brave and even fucking evil when she had to be, but at least she felt real.

She had agency, knew what she wanted and how to obtain it.

Never forget what they took from us.

they are hanging ....... posters ......... in king's landing .......... asking the illiterate smallfolk .......... to come to dragonstone to claim dragons

"Based on Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin".

No, not really, more like loosely inspired.

Helaena is going to point towards jahaerys, not even made to choose just point which one is the boy, and then dip without even fighting them 😭😭😭 they had to be bound and gagged and here she's will leave her kid in the hands of a murderer? Omg!!

Westerosi propaganda??

"if you believe westerosi historical propaganda" you guys it's so unbelievably over

Alicent sweetheart you know I love you to death but please for the love of God you have to drop this Rhaenyra bullshit.

My brother in Christ your 6 year old grandson was BEHEADED! You 6 year old granddaughter was threatened with RAPE by men sent by your beloved's allies. You can't keep simping, even your son is calling you out on it.

The writers are fully to blame for this dumpster fire. Like why can Baela, Rhaenys and Nyra go apeshit during the dance while all Alicent says is "peace plz."

Give her at least an ounce of book!Alicent's exaggerated swagger and rage I'm literally begging you.

If you had the chance to change something about the dance of the dragons (TV show or book), what would it be? For example, how a character dies, which team a house is on,or an entire character personally. How would you change it to make the story better, in your opinion?♥️🖤💙💚

Ohh anon i've got a list.

When it comes to the tv show there are a few choices the writers made that just don't sit right with me.

Laenor

I do like the characterization they went for, he's a pretty cool dude who really loves his weird, dysfunctional family. What I really don't like is how they handled his death.

See I truly can't stand it when a character is sugar coated just because they're the protagonist and thus must be righteous and always objectively correct.

So to witness the writers white wash his murder, having him flee to essos instead of being killed by Rhaenyra pisses me off. I get that after showing them being good friends it would be very odd to have her kill him.

But that's the thing, they should have opted for a more ruthless Rhaenyra in the first place!

Laenor's death in the books (at least for me) was the first instance of Rhae Rhae making morally wrong choices in order to pursue her ultimate goal. It was compelling! Here she just takes the easy way out, without having to make a tough choice.

Also his survival really fucks her up when you really think about it. Now all her sons are bastards since her marriage to Daemon isn't valid, and for the upcoming season 2, how are they going to handle Addam and Seasmoke? Laenor is still alive, his dragon won't accept a new rider. This doesn't make any sense and just causes plotholes what the actual fu-

Sidenote: After Laenor's very moving speech on how he was done goofing off and was now willing to really step up for Rhaenyra and their family it's super strange to imagine him ditching them all immediately afterwards Lol.

Rhaenys

My gosh, where do I even begin with this woman?

She too is pretty cool at the start, but then episode 9 rolls around and I roll my eyes.

She's so hypocritical. She tries to shit on Alicent for "toiling in the service of men." When that's all she does in the goddamn story!

She wants Baela to get Driftmark, tells Corlys about it, he shuts off the whole plan cause he wants a kid who he's not even related to on the driftwood throne, and when she complains about it he dismisses her.

So what does feminist Rhaenys do about it?

She... submits to her husband, something she conveniently forgets about when talking to Alicent. My god. Just remove this entire exchange, it hurts to watch.

And the coronation scene, Jesus Christ! It was so cool in the books, why did they have to ruin it? Had they replaced it with something better I wouldn't have complained, but this is just, the worst.

Rhaenys shows how badass she is by.... Brutally crushing hundreds of small folks to death and almost slaughtering the greens.

Cool, cool, absolutely necessary. Thanks Sara.

And you know what's even more infuriating? When she flees to Dragonstone to inform Rhaenyra of all that happened. She says she didn't kill the greens cause she didn't wish to start a war. I'm sorry what?

That would have ended the war at the start! As glad as I am that Rhaenys didn't barbecue them it makes absolutely no sense!

If she had killed them there would have been no dance in the first place!

I hate these dumb show only moments. They needlessly complicated an already complicated story and just mess everything up.

There's probably other stuff I could rant on, like how Aegon was made a rapist sorely to make the audience think:

Oh look! The greens are so baad, they believe a rapist alcoholic douche should be in charge instead of our empowered dragon queen, they sure do suck!

Or how house Velaryon was disrespected and mistreated by D*emyra but still somehow decided to support Nyra's claim.

They didn't really have a motive to be greens though, so I think they should have stayed neutral. Their fervent black support makes no sense.

The writers really should have given them more reasons to back up the blacks or had their beloved queen treat them better so that their loyalty made more sense ( I mean holy hell I wonder how they will handle the two betrayers and Corlys's arrest lmao).

But other greens have already shat on these awful decisions and I won't beat a dead horse.

Book

When it comes to fire and blood I surprisingly have very little complaints, except of course, the Jaehaera situation.

My poor baby deserved better, I've made a post about it in the past

(where I ranted and said stuff I kind of regret now, don't post while very angry guys I don't recommend it)

tackling how the little queen was unnecessarily killed off and how her death genuinely adds nothing so why was it added? God I get upset just thinking about it lol.

Some people say George did it cause he needed Aegon's kids to be born after Viserys's, and apparently he couldn't fathom a married teen not having kids until her 20s, which is veery weird.

The more plausible theory is that he got rid of her cause he wanted more Velaryon queens to showcase how close they used to be to the Targs.

Which is something I had understood already thanks to Alyssa, the sea Snake and all the Velaryons who were masters of ships but whatever.

Can we talk about how:

Mysaria never got pregnant by Daemon and miscarried?

We never saw Alicent in labour despite of the fact that she's a child bride in a marriage she had no say in?

Laena DIDN'T bear a deformed son that would shortly afterwards die and drive her to despair? Or that we didn't see her want to ride Vhagar one last time and dying on her way there and Daemon carrying her dead body back to bed?

Rhaena and Baela barely got consoled while we get endless scenes of Jace and Luke being attended to?

We didn't get to see Alicent crown Helaena at the coronation before Rhaenys unceremoniously interrupts them? The making of the Queen that captured the hearts of the smallfolk so much that her suffering caused the largest uprising in King's Landing?

Are we going to talk about how all that TOOK from all these female characters to give to a select few (e.g Rhaenyra) so as to market these grey female characters as being more 'sympthetic' than other female characters whose stories were so badly represented or in some cases utterly disregarded and not followed upon (like Rhaena and Baela)?

Peace out.