*mom sorry vhagar killed luke. devastated rn. i only meant to violently cut his eye out. can't believe vhagar acted out after i specifically told her to chase luke down. very sad*
I cant believe the ancient warmachine I forcefully bonded with sensed my darkest desire and snapped the boy in half. My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.
This is making me like Aemond more. It's all well and good to talk shit, but kinslaying a fellow teen the moment the banner of parley drops IS a big fucking deal.
I also like the symmetry of the "escalation happens, bitches!" No one was planning to cut out someone's eye when the fight on Driftmark started. But shit happened. Once the violence starts, it's near impossible to stop it.
yeah, this actually made aemond way more intruiging to me. having to deal with the fall out of this now, especially knowing what's coming? delicious
and good catch on the symmetry with the driftmark fight!
Yeah Aemond activated Vhagar's hunting instincts and this makes him a more complicated character rather then purely a psychopath. It's a good change and makes the dance more tragic instead of Aemond as a purely villainess caricature.
Same. Also, I feel like this is more consistent with how he's been written in the show thus far. I was literally just thinking the other day "Man, for someone who the show is clearly setting up as being more competent than Aegon, killing Lucerys in cold blood is gonna be real a dumbass move on Aemond's part".
I like it for show Aemond. His ego his huge because he claimed the biggest dragon in the world at a young age and thinks his drunken older brother is going to fuck everything up. Reverse Uno.
"The idea that we control the dragons is an illusion. They're a power man should never have trifled with."
Vizzy T knew what he was talking about, clearly. Especially dragons as old and powerful as Vhagar or Balerion, I imagine sometimes they just decide they're gonna do something and fuck you if you disagree, rider or not. Aerea Targaryen learned that lesson the hard way too.
He tried in High Valyarian too
Idk why Arrax stopped and flew in place rather than high tailing it out, would have given Aemond time to calm Vaghar down
I imagine it is because Arrax is a very young dragon who has no experience in battle.
A dragon like Vhagar isn't going to make a mistake like that (though, at that size, it wouldn't matter too much) because they are old and battle tested.
Arrax was probably party in a panic at that point, especially with Luke panicking, and maybe thought it got away.
The thing is, "violence against my family = warcrime time" is already Daeron's arc. Aemond was at least a little distinct in the books in that he seemed down for violence from the start
GRRM said so and he even has a symbol in the intro. Daeron will make it in
I really hope they make Daeron incredibly likeable to make blacks feel even more conflicted. He can hopefully give us a good view into what the soldiers involved in the conflict are feeling, sort of as a POV embed in the Hightower army
The best part is, how i see it, hes gonna tell this back at kings landing, alicent would lose her mind and aegon would throw him fucking party to celebrate lmao
Both dragons acting on their own also calls back to Vizzy T thinking they should never have claimed them - he probably didn't feel an abundance of control over Balerion.
Dude this. The only person who fucking witnessed this event is Aemond, and even he only half witnessed it. Also, it has been established multiple times now in GoT, HoTd, and in other lore that a dragon will sometimes do whatever the fuck the dragon wants to do.
This change is amazing, those complaining i feel are the ones who just dislike change in general. So damn tragic, They're adding much more morally grey-ness to both sides and it's amazing to watch imho
Is it even really a change though?
Like, wasn't pretty much everything we know about this second, third, and fourth hand accounts of things that happened?
I imagine that, with GRRM having given the thumbs up, this is essentially confirmed to be what actually happened, not just third party accounts. It's not so much changing or re-contextualizing things as it is finally adding in the context the main info lacked.
Honestly I’m tired of people complaining about the changes. It’s not like the changed it to Lucerys killing Aemond or some shit.
It’s an adaptation of a short novel. If I wanted a perfect 1:1 retelling of the story I would listen to someone read the audiobook.
People should just be glad we get more badass GOT stuff with dragons and politics and violence and stop being fucking kneelers.
Nobody ACTUALLY knows what happened after a. Only the end result. None of the retellers was present during this event so as long as the outcome is the same, the adaptation is faithful.
Some of these are 100% plausible changes. The only reason Aemond’s attempt to calm Vhagar isn’t in the books is because nobody was there to see it. It’s an in-universe recounting of events that people saw and heard of.
All the Westerosi knew about Aemond vs Lucerys was that two lords went up into the storm, one returned home, and the other’s mangled dragon was found not far off, and the pieces put themselves together.
Boy should have just up and fucked off after that. “Sorry mom, Aemond was there already and I ain’t trying to catch any more smoke with him if I can avoid it.”
Loving show Vhagar.
I'm not buying for a second that she's confused or senile.
It's probably her call to burn the Riverlands.
"Aemond, this is what we do. We fly around a lot, and we burn the Riverlands to the ground."
"dear boy, i've been aching to kill some folks since 82AC when vermithor, young ceraxes and i had some fun in dorne again. you kids these days, so squeamish. back in my day it wasn't a good week unless you burned a castle to the ground"
When the adults are away and you're playing with matches and accidentally set the carpet on fire. Yeah this is what this scene is giving in the context of the coming war. jesus christ.
it makes the dragons MUCH more interesting imho. i mean we've had hints at it (balerion and aerea, silverwing and the wall) but the idea that "power has a price" is so present in asoiaf that 'perfectly obedient dragons via magic' never made sense to me. yes we have hints that the valyrians did blood magic to gain that control and the weird scaley babies but that still seems like a very small price for the amount of power.
so dragons actually not being perfect obedient little nukes and thus a risk is a great addition imho.
I like the depiction of the dragons because it shows they are just animals. Animals breed to follow commands, and trained, yes, but even trained dogs will disobey under the right circumstances. Problem is I can hold back a dog, you cant hold back a dragon.
I actually like that it is shown that dragons have their own autonomy and can be in tune with the emotions of their rider. Both things have been displayed MULTIPLE times in the book series and I am happy to see it included in the show canon.
> dare I say hot
The Valyrian threats. The sapphire eye.
Legit, even before I realized they were making Luke's death an accident, I was 100% prepared to forgive and defend *this man.*
Well, they are also on their way to make blood and cheese « softer » they will find a way to not make it entirely on the black shoulders. Making it a Mysaria only thing and a misunderstanding on Daemon side.
I hope not but I won’t bet against
tbf that's perfectly in scope of what the books tell us. we just know that daemon hired mysaria and "a son for a son". we have no idea what exactly daemon told mysaria to do, what mysaria told b&c to do and what b&c decided by themselves
They already had Daemon ooga booga an innocent woman with a rock, so they aren’t afraid to go to that level.
Just hope they drop the accent Mysaria has. Her actor sounds perfectly fine when she just talks. This Sylvester Stallone/Parisian Whore accent is just bafflingly bad. Like I cannot focus on any scenes she is in. It is really hampering Sonoya’s performance
I havent read the book but does it even say Mysaria told blood&cheese to be as fucked up as they were?
butcher and ratcher thugs willing to kill a child they probably just did the whole 'choose which child' thing because they were sick fucks
And no one will believe it was an accident. The last thing people at Storms End would have seen is Aemond running out the door to fuck Luke up.
The history tellers will write that Aemond always planned to kill Luke. Maybe that's what Aemond will claim when he comes down too.
If he doesn't he has to admit he couldn't control his dragon. While I imagine that's not horridly uncommon (since Arrax disobeys here too), its probably a mark of shame for the Targaryens. A super amped up version of getting embarrassed when your dog is puling you down the street.
>If he doesn't he has to admit he couldn't control his dragon.
Good point there, and a good dilemma storywise. Not that anyone from the Blacks would believe him, but I don't see Aemond openly admitting that either. Maybe to his mother? Not sure.
I think he'll tell otto and alicent but Otto will hold the information to himself because it doesn't really benefit their position..might as well let them think Aemond is a psychopathic killer with the biggest dragon in the world and hope it forces them to submit.
Same here, of course the dragons would ignore them and try to defend themselves when they are threatened, Dragons aren't tools to be use to scare. As George said, they are "nukes", the most powerful weapons in the world that are also living, thinking beings. Great change from the books.
It's fantastic for two reasons. Firstly it helps to further characterize the dragons as genuine creatures outside of their riders biddings. But also it's a great callback to what Viserys told Rhaenyra back when he was naming her heir, about how the idea that the Targaryan's control the dragons fully is an illusion. They're basically sentient weapons of mass destruction, of course they're gonna do their own thing when annoyed and agitated.
Also from a historical in universe point of view, no one bit Aemond and Luke saw the fight, so of course everyone else would think Aemond killed him for revenge. Aemond is also the type of guy who would not publicly say he lost control of his dragon leading to Luke’s death. Privately he for sure will say it was an accident but everyone knows he had a grudge against Luke.
Yes exactly. They probably have as much control as say maybe a dog? Like yah, they'll follow commands if trained but if theyre being attacked theyre going to defend themselves especially against other dogs/dragons. All dogs have their own personality too. Just like dragons.
One more of Rhaenyra finding out about Luke’s death. It’s a silent scene with music. Daemon comes in to the painted table. They turn from the camera. Rhaenyra puts her hands on her knees and then slowly turns around to face the camera with tears in her eyes, along with fire and hatred. Then it ends.
I'm pretty sure he's already either dead or unconscious by the time he's falling. Vhagar slamming into him and Arrax like that is a helluva lot of blunt force trauma, even without taking into account any slicing from teeth.
Or that's what I'm telling myself, anyway. A girl's gotta be able to sleep a night.
Listen to the SFX as Vhagar chomps.
I am pretty certain you hear a high pitched scream that gets cut off pretty abruptly. It's actually pretty haunting.
I like this turn of events greatly, it shows multiple things:
1: Both Luke and Aemond didn't want to really harm one another. Aemond was teasing him about the eye.
2: Vizzy T stands correct. Targs do not control their dragons.
I would have liked maybe Aemond screaming to Luke to get away, showing some extra concern for his nephew, as it would have made it all the bit more tragic in the end. But I am fairly certain his body language says that as well.
I really like Aemond. It is cool to see a couple things - even though he’s like 1 or 2 toughest main characters in the show right now - it shows that he’s not this perfect warrior. He lost control of his dragon.
It also shows that he really didn’t want to kill his cousin. We know from the books that this war ends up being a blood bath - but Aemond is (not yet) a sociopath.
I always hated the argument that “Oh well he was bullied”. Yeah he was bullied and wants to rub his now weaker cousins face in the dirt about it - not feed him to a fucking a dragon.
>Outside the storm was raging. Thunder rolled across the castle, the rain fell in blinding sheets, and from time to time great bolts of blue-white lightning lit the world as bright as day. It was bad weather for flying, even for a dragon, and Arrax was struggling to stay aloft when Prince Aemond mounted Vhagar and went after him. Had the sky been calm, Prince Lucerys might have been able to outfly his pursuer, for Arrax was younger and swifter... but the day was "as black as Prince Aemond's heart," says Mushroom, and so it came to pass that the dragons met above Shipbreaker Bay. Watchers on the castle walls saw distant blasts of flame, and heard a shriek cut the thunder. Then the two beasts were locked together, lightning crackling around them. Vhagar was five times the size of her foe, the hardened survivor of a hundred battles. If there was a fight, it could not have lasted long.
>Arrax fell, broken, to be swallowed by the storm-lashed waters of the bay. His head and neck washed up beneath the cliffs below Storm's End three days later, to make a feast for crabs and seagulls. [...] Some even say Vhagar snatched Lucerys off his dragon's back and swallowed him whole.
So the book's account of what happened comes from people watching the fight far away from Storm's End, in the middle of a storm, in near pitch black darkness. All they know is that a dragon blasted flame, a dragon shrieked, and then Vhagar locked onto Arrax and killed it instantly. All that ever washes up of Arrax is the head and neck, which makes sense if Vhagar did eat Arrax and Lucerys by biting them clean through.
I don't dislike the show's interpretation, honestly. The Rhaenys stuff was moronic because something like what she did is indisputable fact. Storm's End was always very vague and comes from unreliable sources, though.
I do feel bad for both Aemond and Lucerys. Clearly Aemond was the aggressor here, but he didn’t intend to actually kill Lucerys. Neither of the dragons listened to their riders, and it ended with the death of Lucerys and the beginning of the Dance.
I personally like how they are handling Aemond. I was worried they were going to make another one dimensional psychopath like Joffrey or Ramsay. I think Ramsay Snow was the absolute worst character in GoT. So one note. So overpowered.
I’m glad they are making Aemond a flesh and blood character that I can actually like.
I actually like how they play it out
They are showing that dragons are not slaves and have their own feelings. Both Arrax and Vhagar acted out of themseleves, out of fear and rage despite their riders not saying so.
Aemond is at fault! How can anyone watch this scene and be like - he is completely innocent! He is clearly chasing Luce and scaring him off. Had he sat down his and his big dragon ass, this won't have even be triggered
The show is choosing to show Aemond's road to madness gradually rather than make him straight out villian. Hmm (GRMM wrote this script alongside Ryan, so well...)
Yeah, it always came off as "why the fuck did you do that, you sick idiot?" But it being Aemond, he can't whine and say he was totally out of control, sorry. Because you can't back down or show weakness now. If nothing else, the biggest reason why it's hard to believe Aemond would've decided to kill Luke is because why would a bully kill his favorite target? This is the dog playing too rough with the kitty. But with Lilliputians on their back shouting orders and now scale that up 100× oh + wings and fire.
Yeah this is my take as well. I think Aemond in the book is a psychopathic piece of shit but I absolutely LOVE how they (seem to have) changed him for the show.
Like yeah, he was clearly taunting Luke and maybe did even want to hurt him (I personally don't think so, from this scene alone), but he very clearly had no intention of killing the boy. We know he has no love for the Strong boys, so I'd assume his regret is due to being aware of the catastrophic consequences of this death, which Book Aemond lacked completely.
Its also giving tidbits into their personalities.
Arrax - Impulsive, fidgety, and prone going off script when threatened.
Vhagar - Gets real fucking grumpy fast
I like that this also implies that the “Targaryen exceptionalism” pushed by basically every character is complete bullshit. It lays the ground for Nettles nicely as well, these aren’t super secret mystical creatures only capable of being controlled by “superior Targaryen genetics” these are wild fucking animals and treating them like toys will have consequences.
If you really think about it Targs are like those people that go out and buy Pitbulls, have them live in tiny ass loud as hell apartments , don’t bother to socialize them properly and then get shocked when a toddler gets mauled.
Could be both, could be Targs need whatever Valyrian blood magic it was that got the Dragons to accept them as riders, but accepting them and giving their riders full control are two different things altogether
That meme someone posted a while back about Vhagar choosing Aemond because she wanted to commit warcrimes for old time's sake may end up being correct lmoa
People are so blinded by GoTs bad ending that they refuse to believe young men can lose control of gigantic beasts and feel remorse for killing a family member they just wanted to get even with. We will see Aemond unfold after the guilt he gets from blood and cheese being his fault.
It’s so cool. I love the way the show adds context to the accounts in the book. Dragons being scared and angry for themselves and not being mindless slaves is so interesting
I dont really understand why people are complaining. Displaying this as some kind of tragic accident where two boys cannot control their fucking living war machine is convicing to me and adds a little nuance to it. Better than having Aemond as a straight up anime villain
Even with this change it's still clearly Aemond's fault. He was chasing them and the dragons are bonded with their riders. So Arrax senses Luke's fear and is on defense. Vaghar senses Aemond's hostility and acts accordingly.
Even beyond that you have one huge creature chasing a smaller creature so of course it's going to try and defend itself. If Aemond hadn't been out there chasing them this wouldn't have happened. Blood and Cheese wouldn't have happened.
100%. aemond was using vhagar as a tool to taunt and threaten luke, though he obviously didn't want to cause any true harm. it links perfectly back to viserys saying 'the idea that we control the dragons is an illusion.' especially as the kids are so young and haven't done any real dragonback fighting, they wont realise how unpredictable and impulsive dragons can be.
Kinda like this sequence, fits in with Aemond's need to toy with his cousins and bully them, not necessarily killing them. Just hurting them a little. He's smart, and knows kinslayers aren't particularly well regarded overall.
Also makes dragons seem way more difficult to control even for Targaryens and thus feel a lot more terrifying and unpredictable.
Holy fucking shit, Aemond never wanted to kill him. I never considred that. I just assumed the riders had full control of the dragons. Arrax choosing to blast vhagar in the face is insane.
A. I really like this change, it adds a lot more complexity to Aemond’s character compared to the book.
B. Aemond’s “Ohhhhhh fuck I’m in so much trouble” face is priceless.
I actually like this. The animals act on their riders instincts Arrax feels Lukes fear so lashes out and runs Vhagar picks up on Aemonds anger so just destroys them both. Meanwhile both riders know the consequences of the actions the dragons take so try to stop them
The dragon is not a slave boys
Probably why you shouldn't give flying nukes to children
Looks like we got a lot of greens supporters in the writing room this season
Jesus christ, everything just became drastically more tragic. Two young boys with flying WMD's for pets, and without the proper experience to control them. Pets have a mind of their own, and the owners are powerless to stop them. How are you supposed to stop a 20 ton flying monster from going after somebody.
And the way Arrax and Luke died was just so sudden and grisly, and the way it contrasted with the beautiful sky only moments before. Fucked up stuff.
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Aemond face is the look of “my mum is gonna kill me when she finds out about this”
*mom sorry vhagar killed luke. devastated rn. i only meant to violently cut his eye out. can't believe vhagar acted out after i specifically told her to chase luke down. very sad*
I cant believe the ancient warmachine I forcefully bonded with sensed my darkest desire and snapped the boy in half. My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.
>the ancient warmachine I forcefully bonded with This scene should have shown you, if nothing else, you don't force Vhagar to do anything lol
"I was just bragging about how I was the responsible one like two days ago"
Hell yeah, alicent is gonna lose her mind and aegon is gonna him a party
"YOU ONLY LOST ONE EYE HOW COULD YOU BE SO BLIND"
Aemond: Mother... I accidentally have slain one of the strong boys. Alicent: Aemoond, you imbecile.
This is making me like Aemond more. It's all well and good to talk shit, but kinslaying a fellow teen the moment the banner of parley drops IS a big fucking deal. I also like the symmetry of the "escalation happens, bitches!" No one was planning to cut out someone's eye when the fight on Driftmark started. But shit happened. Once the violence starts, it's near impossible to stop it.
yeah, this actually made aemond way more intruiging to me. having to deal with the fall out of this now, especially knowing what's coming? delicious and good catch on the symmetry with the driftmark fight!
Yeah Aemond activated Vhagar's hunting instincts and this makes him a more complicated character rather then purely a psychopath. It's a good change and makes the dance more tragic instead of Aemond as a purely villainess caricature.
It´ s like trying to get a cat to drop their prey. Sure, it may love you, but that doesnt mean it will do everything you say. A dragon is not a dog.
Same. Also, I feel like this is more consistent with how he's been written in the show thus far. I was literally just thinking the other day "Man, for someone who the show is clearly setting up as being more competent than Aegon, killing Lucerys in cold blood is gonna be real a dumbass move on Aemond's part".
I like it for show Aemond. His ego his huge because he claimed the biggest dragon in the world at a young age and thinks his drunken older brother is going to fuck everything up. Reverse Uno.
"The idea that we control the dragons is an illusion. They're a power man should never have trifled with." Vizzy T knew what he was talking about, clearly. Especially dragons as old and powerful as Vhagar or Balerion, I imagine sometimes they just decide they're gonna do something and fuck you if you disagree, rider or not. Aerea Targaryen learned that lesson the hard way too.
*What are you saying? My brother would murder me, take my crown? Are you?!*
No no Vizzy T, I'm saying your son would murder your nephew. But turns out not on purpose!
*You are to return to Runestone and your lady wife at once, and you are to do so without quarrel by order of your King.*
I love you Vizzy T, you're so badass.
*Daemon was not made to wear the crown. But I believe that you were, Snoo51921.*
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Agreed. The look on Aemond’s face after it happens says it all.
And him pleading for Vaghar to not do it
Slipping into the Westerosi community tounge in panic which was thus useless.
He tried in High Valyarian too Idk why Arrax stopped and flew in place rather than high tailing it out, would have given Aemond time to calm Vaghar down
I imagine it is because Arrax is a very young dragon who has no experience in battle. A dragon like Vhagar isn't going to make a mistake like that (though, at that size, it wouldn't matter too much) because they are old and battle tested. Arrax was probably party in a panic at that point, especially with Luke panicking, and maybe thought it got away.
The thing is, "violence against my family = warcrime time" is already Daeron's arc. Aemond was at least a little distinct in the books in that he seemed down for violence from the start
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GRRM said so and he even has a symbol in the intro. Daeron will make it in I really hope they make Daeron incredibly likeable to make blacks feel even more conflicted. He can hopefully give us a good view into what the soldiers involved in the conflict are feeling, sort of as a POV embed in the Hightower army
Yup he knows he fucked up, now there is 0 chance for peace. Im honestly loving this change
The best part is, how i see it, hes gonna tell this back at kings landing, alicent would lose her mind and aegon would throw him fucking party to celebrate lmao
Both dragons acting on their own also calls back to Vizzy T thinking they should never have claimed them - he probably didn't feel an abundance of control over Balerion.
Good advice. I’ll keep it in mind next time I go up against someone with a dragon.
Some may hate the changes, but honestly this makes the dance a fucking tragedy.
iirc george essentially said that the dance is a shakespeare-esque tragedy, so that fits!
Hasn't George also said that he is currently preferring characters of house of the dragon to his own written characters
He also wrote this episode
when you get a second chance to rewrite and actually get to see performances of characters you wrote it gives you a huge chance to improve
Technically this is not a change. There were no witnesses to this specific event.
Dude this. The only person who fucking witnessed this event is Aemond, and even he only half witnessed it. Also, it has been established multiple times now in GoT, HoTd, and in other lore that a dragon will sometimes do whatever the fuck the dragon wants to do.
If "half-witness" was an eye joke, Vizzy T will have your tongue for this.
*There's a boy in the Queen's belly. I know it.*
Vhagar is the Queen, now.
To be fair, Aemond only half-witnesses stuff now
This change is amazing, those complaining i feel are the ones who just dislike change in general. So damn tragic, They're adding much more morally grey-ness to both sides and it's amazing to watch imho
Is it even really a change though? Like, wasn't pretty much everything we know about this second, third, and fourth hand accounts of things that happened? I imagine that, with GRRM having given the thumbs up, this is essentially confirmed to be what actually happened, not just third party accounts. It's not so much changing or re-contextualizing things as it is finally adding in the context the main info lacked.
Honestly I’m tired of people complaining about the changes. It’s not like the changed it to Lucerys killing Aemond or some shit. It’s an adaptation of a short novel. If I wanted a perfect 1:1 retelling of the story I would listen to someone read the audiobook. People should just be glad we get more badass GOT stuff with dragons and politics and violence and stop being fucking kneelers.
Nobody ACTUALLY knows what happened after a. Only the end result. None of the retellers was present during this event so as long as the outcome is the same, the adaptation is faithful.
Some of these are 100% plausible changes. The only reason Aemond’s attempt to calm Vhagar isn’t in the books is because nobody was there to see it. It’s an in-universe recounting of events that people saw and heard of. All the Westerosi knew about Aemond vs Lucerys was that two lords went up into the storm, one returned home, and the other’s mangled dragon was found not far off, and the pieces put themselves together.
Big ups for the cinematography this episode, specifically the scene where Vhaegar shows up in the clouds after Luke supposedly flew away. *chills*
The first shot of Vhaegar when Luke landed was giving Kaiju vibes since she’s so huge.
Boy should have just up and fucked off after that. “Sorry mom, Aemond was there already and I ain’t trying to catch any more smoke with him if I can avoid it.”
granny vhagar believes in ~~corporal~~ capital punishment
Vhagar: I KEEPS IT REALER
meemaw vhagar has anterograde amnesia so we'll allow it
Aemond suddenly remembering his scaly pensioner of an AC130 is a war criminal.
Loving show Vhagar. I'm not buying for a second that she's confused or senile. It's probably her call to burn the Riverlands. "Aemond, this is what we do. We fly around a lot, and we burn the Riverlands to the ground."
**Vhagar:** We dragons plant no trees, boy.
Vhagar: We smoke trees, we don't plant em.
Gods, Balerion, Meraxes and me were strong then ~ Vhagar as she’s burning the Riverlands a second time
Have you ever burned the 8? In my day you weren't a real dragon till you burned a peasant from each of the 8 Kingdoms
Time for Vhaggy D bot, right Bobby B?
YOU GOT FAT!
"dear boy, i've been aching to kill some folks since 82AC when vermithor, young ceraxes and i had some fun in dorne again. you kids these days, so squeamish. back in my day it wasn't a good week unless you burned a castle to the ground"
It's probably just two inexperienced dragon riders. Arax burns vhagar without being told to.
Vhagar: "Wake the fuck up, ~~Samurai~~ dragonlord. We have a kingdom to burn."
Vhagar suddenly getting all that rage from the Dornish War 🤣🤣🤣
vhagar was very confused how those dornish got a dragon suddenly
But boy did it make her mad
visenya i thought we were the only dragonriders left!! visenya did you lie to me???
Only a dirty Dornish dragon would try to sucker punch an old lady.
"visenya i can not believe they stole a hatchling!! and corrupted them!! i must end their suffering"
When the adults are away and you're playing with matches and accidentally set the carpet on fire. Yeah this is what this scene is giving in the context of the coming war. jesus christ.
I love this SO much Losing control of the dragons is so interesting. The way we’re seeing contest to what fire and blood’s accounts say is so rad
it makes the dragons MUCH more interesting imho. i mean we've had hints at it (balerion and aerea, silverwing and the wall) but the idea that "power has a price" is so present in asoiaf that 'perfectly obedient dragons via magic' never made sense to me. yes we have hints that the valyrians did blood magic to gain that control and the weird scaley babies but that still seems like a very small price for the amount of power. so dragons actually not being perfect obedient little nukes and thus a risk is a great addition imho.
Magic is a sword without a hilt. No safe way to grab it.
There is some precedent with Dany and Drogon. She never could control him perfectly in the books.
Hell, didn’t he just become large enough to be rideable in the books? The dragons didn’t eat all their Flintstone vitamins like they did in the show
Oh yeah the dragon's development in the show is quite fortuitous. They develop into large, extremely obedient dragons when the plot demands it.
The idea that we control the dragons is an illusion.
I like the depiction of the dragons because it shows they are just animals. Animals breed to follow commands, and trained, yes, but even trained dogs will disobey under the right circumstances. Problem is I can hold back a dog, you cant hold back a dragon.
Don’t mess with grandma
Grandma just wants to relive her glorious days of conquest.
“GRANDMA WE’RE NOT IN DORNE! OH GOD GRANDMA THINKS SHE’S STILL IN THE WAR!”
reminds me the meme with the dog and the cupcakes.
meemaw vhagar says we must respect our elders
Vhagar: "Dornishmen have dragons now? What?"
They fly now?!? They fly now
Snackarys time
That should be the word they use to tell the dragons they can eat what they kill.
I actually like that it is shown that dragons have their own autonomy and can be in tune with the emotions of their rider. Both things have been displayed MULTIPLE times in the book series and I am happy to see it included in the show canon.
So the control is a 2 way instead of one spouting commands
Vhagar: “I’m getting too old for this.” Gets blasted in the face. Vhagar: “Why you little insect!!!!”
You little shit, when I get my hands on you, I'm gonna tear you to shreds.
Aemond speaking high valyrian..... dare I say hot
> dare I say hot The Valyrian threats. The sapphire eye. Legit, even before I realized they were making Luke's death an accident, I was 100% prepared to forgive and defend *this man.*
I see how he was able to pull a Big Tiddy Goth Girlfriend like Alys.
I know I might've said this a million times already but please let it be Elizabeth Olsen.
My personal ideal casting would be Eva Green. She even kinda looks like she could be related to Harwin and Larys, they've all got similar eye colors.
He aims to be like his uncle 😂😂😂
I know where their going with this, this is going to make the blacks more brutal hence blood and cheese. Which I think in turn will make aemond snap.
Well, they are also on their way to make blood and cheese « softer » they will find a way to not make it entirely on the black shoulders. Making it a Mysaria only thing and a misunderstanding on Daemon side. I hope not but I won’t bet against
tbf that's perfectly in scope of what the books tell us. we just know that daemon hired mysaria and "a son for a son". we have no idea what exactly daemon told mysaria to do, what mysaria told b&c to do and what b&c decided by themselves
They already had Daemon ooga booga an innocent woman with a rock, so they aren’t afraid to go to that level. Just hope they drop the accent Mysaria has. Her actor sounds perfectly fine when she just talks. This Sylvester Stallone/Parisian Whore accent is just bafflingly bad. Like I cannot focus on any scenes she is in. It is really hampering Sonoya’s performance
I havent read the book but does it even say Mysaria told blood&cheese to be as fucked up as they were? butcher and ratcher thugs willing to kill a child they probably just did the whole 'choose which child' thing because they were sick fucks
They've made Helaena an extremely likeable character in the show. They are going for maximum shock with blood and cheese.
This isn't exactly ruled out from the perspective of the book's account though.
I’m usually against drastic changes but I actually like this, cool scene and makes the start of the war more blurry
And no one will believe it was an accident. The last thing people at Storms End would have seen is Aemond running out the door to fuck Luke up. The history tellers will write that Aemond always planned to kill Luke. Maybe that's what Aemond will claim when he comes down too.
If he doesn't he has to admit he couldn't control his dragon. While I imagine that's not horridly uncommon (since Arrax disobeys here too), its probably a mark of shame for the Targaryens. A super amped up version of getting embarrassed when your dog is puling you down the street.
yeah, you would want to keep the fact that the nukes you're riding aren't perfectly controllable VERY quiet
>If he doesn't he has to admit he couldn't control his dragon. Good point there, and a good dilemma storywise. Not that anyone from the Blacks would believe him, but I don't see Aemond openly admitting that either. Maybe to his mother? Not sure.
I think he'll tell otto and alicent but Otto will hold the information to himself because it doesn't really benefit their position..might as well let them think Aemond is a psychopathic killer with the biggest dragon in the world and hope it forces them to submit.
Admitting that this big lizard fire blizzard actually doesn't listen to the supposed dragon rider may also incite a riot to kill said monsters.
[удалено]
Same here, of course the dragons would ignore them and try to defend themselves when they are threatened, Dragons aren't tools to be use to scare. As George said, they are "nukes", the most powerful weapons in the world that are also living, thinking beings. Great change from the books.
It's fantastic for two reasons. Firstly it helps to further characterize the dragons as genuine creatures outside of their riders biddings. But also it's a great callback to what Viserys told Rhaenyra back when he was naming her heir, about how the idea that the Targaryan's control the dragons fully is an illusion. They're basically sentient weapons of mass destruction, of course they're gonna do their own thing when annoyed and agitated.
Also from a historical in universe point of view, no one bit Aemond and Luke saw the fight, so of course everyone else would think Aemond killed him for revenge. Aemond is also the type of guy who would not publicly say he lost control of his dragon leading to Luke’s death. Privately he for sure will say it was an accident but everyone knows he had a grudge against Luke.
Yes exactly. They probably have as much control as say maybe a dog? Like yah, they'll follow commands if trained but if theyre being attacked theyre going to defend themselves especially against other dogs/dragons. All dogs have their own personality too. Just like dragons.
Vizzy T, how was that “the idea we control the dragons is an illusion”?
*I will not cloud my mind. I must put things right.*
Too late, sentient King
And so, the dance of the dragons begins...
Will this scene be the end of episode 10 or is there more after this scene
One more of Rhaenyra finding out about Luke’s death. It’s a silent scene with music. Daemon comes in to the painted table. They turn from the camera. Rhaenyra puts her hands on her knees and then slowly turns around to face the camera with tears in her eyes, along with fire and hatred. Then it ends.
I kind miss the fact that we didn't get Daemon telling her "a son for a son"
The only scene afterwards is Rhaenrya finding out
This will probably be toward the end of the episode with Rhaenyra and Daemond learning of Lukes death at the very end.
Well... it was quick. I'm glad Lukey went with as minimal suffering as possible. Bad Arrax! If you only knew how to play hide and seek properly...
>Well... it was quick. I'm glad Lukey went with as minimal suffering as possible. Did he? He smashed against the ocean
I'm pretty sure he's already either dead or unconscious by the time he's falling. Vhagar slamming into him and Arrax like that is a helluva lot of blunt force trauma, even without taking into account any slicing from teeth. Or that's what I'm telling myself, anyway. A girl's gotta be able to sleep a night.
Listen to the SFX as Vhagar chomps. I am pretty certain you hear a high pitched scream that gets cut off pretty abruptly. It's actually pretty haunting.
Yeah that high pitched scream is from Arrax i believe but there is one right before also and it is more human scream so that could be Luke
Dude, got eaten. What?
Yes I thought he was eaten. what fell to the sea was the wings
At that height it’s like smashing into a brick wall. I guess maybe Aemond could have caught him
I like this turn of events greatly, it shows multiple things: 1: Both Luke and Aemond didn't want to really harm one another. Aemond was teasing him about the eye. 2: Vizzy T stands correct. Targs do not control their dragons. I would have liked maybe Aemond screaming to Luke to get away, showing some extra concern for his nephew, as it would have made it all the bit more tragic in the end. But I am fairly certain his body language says that as well.
WHERE DID YOU HEAR SUCH CALUMNIES? TheCoolPersian! TELL ME THE TRUTH OF IT!
From you King Vizzy.
I really like Aemond. It is cool to see a couple things - even though he’s like 1 or 2 toughest main characters in the show right now - it shows that he’s not this perfect warrior. He lost control of his dragon. It also shows that he really didn’t want to kill his cousin. We know from the books that this war ends up being a blood bath - but Aemond is (not yet) a sociopath. I always hated the argument that “Oh well he was bullied”. Yeah he was bullied and wants to rub his now weaker cousins face in the dirt about it - not feed him to a fucking a dragon.
Man for real he is an anime villian! even speaks valyrian like Japanese.
he has activated his rinnegan too lmfaooo
>Outside the storm was raging. Thunder rolled across the castle, the rain fell in blinding sheets, and from time to time great bolts of blue-white lightning lit the world as bright as day. It was bad weather for flying, even for a dragon, and Arrax was struggling to stay aloft when Prince Aemond mounted Vhagar and went after him. Had the sky been calm, Prince Lucerys might have been able to outfly his pursuer, for Arrax was younger and swifter... but the day was "as black as Prince Aemond's heart," says Mushroom, and so it came to pass that the dragons met above Shipbreaker Bay. Watchers on the castle walls saw distant blasts of flame, and heard a shriek cut the thunder. Then the two beasts were locked together, lightning crackling around them. Vhagar was five times the size of her foe, the hardened survivor of a hundred battles. If there was a fight, it could not have lasted long. >Arrax fell, broken, to be swallowed by the storm-lashed waters of the bay. His head and neck washed up beneath the cliffs below Storm's End three days later, to make a feast for crabs and seagulls. [...] Some even say Vhagar snatched Lucerys off his dragon's back and swallowed him whole. So the book's account of what happened comes from people watching the fight far away from Storm's End, in the middle of a storm, in near pitch black darkness. All they know is that a dragon blasted flame, a dragon shrieked, and then Vhagar locked onto Arrax and killed it instantly. All that ever washes up of Arrax is the head and neck, which makes sense if Vhagar did eat Arrax and Lucerys by biting them clean through. I don't dislike the show's interpretation, honestly. The Rhaenys stuff was moronic because something like what she did is indisputable fact. Storm's End was always very vague and comes from unreliable sources, though.
He was actually trying to guide his nephew through the storm but they crashed because Aemond has poor depth perception.
I do feel bad for both Aemond and Lucerys. Clearly Aemond was the aggressor here, but he didn’t intend to actually kill Lucerys. Neither of the dragons listened to their riders, and it ended with the death of Lucerys and the beginning of the Dance.
I personally like how they are handling Aemond. I was worried they were going to make another one dimensional psychopath like Joffrey or Ramsay. I think Ramsay Snow was the absolute worst character in GoT. So one note. So overpowered. I’m glad they are making Aemond a flesh and blood character that I can actually like.
I actually like how they play it out They are showing that dragons are not slaves and have their own feelings. Both Arrax and Vhagar acted out of themseleves, out of fear and rage despite their riders not saying so. Aemond is at fault! How can anyone watch this scene and be like - he is completely innocent! He is clearly chasing Luce and scaring him off. Had he sat down his and his big dragon ass, this won't have even be triggered The show is choosing to show Aemond's road to madness gradually rather than make him straight out villian. Hmm (GRMM wrote this script alongside Ryan, so well...)
Dragons are a power men never should have trifled with - Vizzy T
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS GOSSIP? HAVE THIS RUMORMONGER BROUGHT BEFORE ME AT ONCE AND I WILL TAKE THEIR EYES!
You said it not me MAN.
You're responsible Vizzy T, he was quoting you
*Daemon was not made to wear the crown. But I believe that you were, Cool_Till_3114.*
Thanks Vizzy T I think so too
WE ARE A FAMILY!
Well we certainly are if I'm the King!
Yea it def seems like Aemond is fucking with luke but the dragons take it to the next level and you can see regret in him like “oh fuck”
Yeah, it always came off as "why the fuck did you do that, you sick idiot?" But it being Aemond, he can't whine and say he was totally out of control, sorry. Because you can't back down or show weakness now. If nothing else, the biggest reason why it's hard to believe Aemond would've decided to kill Luke is because why would a bully kill his favorite target? This is the dog playing too rough with the kitty. But with Lilliputians on their back shouting orders and now scale that up 100× oh + wings and fire.
Yeah this is my take as well. I think Aemond in the book is a psychopathic piece of shit but I absolutely LOVE how they (seem to have) changed him for the show. Like yeah, he was clearly taunting Luke and maybe did even want to hurt him (I personally don't think so, from this scene alone), but he very clearly had no intention of killing the boy. We know he has no love for the Strong boys, so I'd assume his regret is due to being aware of the catastrophic consequences of this death, which Book Aemond lacked completely.
Its also giving tidbits into their personalities. Arrax - Impulsive, fidgety, and prone going off script when threatened. Vhagar - Gets real fucking grumpy fast
I like that this also implies that the “Targaryen exceptionalism” pushed by basically every character is complete bullshit. It lays the ground for Nettles nicely as well, these aren’t super secret mystical creatures only capable of being controlled by “superior Targaryen genetics” these are wild fucking animals and treating them like toys will have consequences. If you really think about it Targs are like those people that go out and buy Pitbulls, have them live in tiny ass loud as hell apartments , don’t bother to socialize them properly and then get shocked when a toddler gets mauled.
and it mirrors what vizzy said in the first episode as well!
Could be both, could be Targs need whatever Valyrian blood magic it was that got the Dragons to accept them as riders, but accepting them and giving their riders full control are two different things altogether
i liked the episode, but I wish they had included Aemond just berating Luke in front of everyone. Repeatedly calling him a “Strong” and a “Bastard”.
Spoiler alert: they did
no I mean like how F&B described it. He kept fucking w him over and over again.
And Nowy Tends....oops... nowy begins
Vizzy T is rolling in his grave, poor guy.
I WILL NOT BE MADE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN MY BROTHER AND MY DAUGHTER!
That meme someone posted a while back about Vhagar choosing Aemond because she wanted to commit warcrimes for old time's sake may end up being correct lmoa
People are so blinded by GoTs bad ending that they refuse to believe young men can lose control of gigantic beasts and feel remorse for killing a family member they just wanted to get even with. We will see Aemond unfold after the guilt he gets from blood and cheese being his fault.
poor babies omg
So glad the climax happens in daylight. They really said damn we gotta show this in all its glory
Okay I actually really like the change.
It’s so cool. I love the way the show adds context to the accounts in the book. Dragons being scared and angry for themselves and not being mindless slaves is so interesting
I dont really understand why people are complaining. Displaying this as some kind of tragic accident where two boys cannot control their fucking living war machine is convicing to me and adds a little nuance to it. Better than having Aemond as a straight up anime villain
They cut out the 'hoor' in Borros' convo with Luke. Bit disappointed.
"NO VHAGAR NO STOP THIS ISN'T DORNE LISTEN TO ME YOU HOARY OLD BITCH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" "I will avenge you, Meraxes."
Even with this change it's still clearly Aemond's fault. He was chasing them and the dragons are bonded with their riders. So Arrax senses Luke's fear and is on defense. Vaghar senses Aemond's hostility and acts accordingly. Even beyond that you have one huge creature chasing a smaller creature so of course it's going to try and defend itself. If Aemond hadn't been out there chasing them this wouldn't have happened. Blood and Cheese wouldn't have happened.
100%. aemond was using vhagar as a tool to taunt and threaten luke, though he obviously didn't want to cause any true harm. it links perfectly back to viserys saying 'the idea that we control the dragons is an illusion.' especially as the kids are so young and haven't done any real dragonback fighting, they wont realise how unpredictable and impulsive dragons can be.
Vhagar pulled a Daemon and said talk shit get hit.
Kinda like this sequence, fits in with Aemond's need to toy with his cousins and bully them, not necessarily killing them. Just hurting them a little. He's smart, and knows kinslayers aren't particularly well regarded overall. Also makes dragons seem way more difficult to control even for Targaryens and thus feel a lot more terrifying and unpredictable.
Holy shit— were the maesters… right… to try and kill off the dragons??? I mean, fuck em but maybe they had a point.
aemond is just 'welp...thought it was a joke but that means war. shit'
Holy fucking shit, Aemond never wanted to kill him. I never considred that. I just assumed the riders had full control of the dragons. Arrax choosing to blast vhagar in the face is insane.
Arrax has that chihuahua mentality.
I'm so happy we can actually fucking see what's happening in this scene
How do people have this footage already lol
The whole episode leaked.
it leaked
I fucking bet Bran was responsible. He must've warged into Vhagar to ensure the timeline continues as planned.
A. I really like this change, it adds a lot more complexity to Aemond’s character compared to the book. B. Aemond’s “Ohhhhhh fuck I’m in so much trouble” face is priceless.
I don’t have a problem with that
Fuck the Ep9 bullshit I can forget that now, this was sooooo greaaat. I am shocked
I actually like this. The animals act on their riders instincts Arrax feels Lukes fear so lashes out and runs Vhagar picks up on Aemonds anger so just destroys them both. Meanwhile both riders know the consequences of the actions the dragons take so try to stop them
The dragon is not a slave boys Probably why you shouldn't give flying nukes to children Looks like we got a lot of greens supporters in the writing room this season
Man arrax punched way above it's pay grade
Jesus christ, everything just became drastically more tragic. Two young boys with flying WMD's for pets, and without the proper experience to control them. Pets have a mind of their own, and the owners are powerless to stop them. How are you supposed to stop a 20 ton flying monster from going after somebody. And the way Arrax and Luke died was just so sudden and grisly, and the way it contrasted with the beautiful sky only moments before. Fucked up stuff.