THOUGHTS :
1. At the end of the last episode, I thought that it would be quite stupid if a misinterpreted mumbling becomes the reason of war between the greens and blacks; so when Alicent actually took the King's final words seriously, I was shaking my head in disbelief. The surprising development in the council meeting came as a relief because that made sense. Otto Hightower is much more believable as a vile man conspiring against Viserys, than someone who gets emotional at the death of his King and decides to fulfill his final wish.
2. This episode took a surprising turn, as Alicent finally took a stand against her father Otto Hightower, who has done nothing but make her dance like a puppet all her life. I really liked her standoff sequence with her father, where she called out his ulterior motives. Olivia Cooke was fantastic in that scene; she has truly been a wonderful casting choice.
3. I never expected that a situation would emerge that would pit Otto and Alicent against each other. Two search parties looking for Aegon and discovering some interesting secrets gave the episode a very suspense thriller kind of feel. This whole exercise further established what a terrible person this Aegon is, and yet so much effort is being put in by everyone to make him the King.
4. I don't quite understand Alicent's perspective. She has realized that her father has just used her like a pawn on a chess board; she knows how much Viserys loved Rhaenyra and stayed true to his word of making Rhaenyra the heir to the throne till the last day of his life; she is now on good terms with her thanks to the reconciliation at the dinner party; she has the power to act, she has taken control from Otto and yet she doesn't decide to make Rhaenyra the Queen. The show is trying to portray her as a grey character, someone who is not purely evil, but her decisions don't make much sense. I know she truly cared for her husband Viserys, she has spent a lifetime taking care of him, so her emotional state at his death was real, she truly felt the sadness that she was expressing; but she shouldn't have taken her husband's final words seriously because he wasn't clear and she did not grasp the context. I think the show is trying to convey that Alicent is only doing all this because she wants to fulfill her husband's dying wish, because that's what a devoted wife would do; but somehow I am not convinced because it defies all sorts of logic. Alicent is keeping Rhaenyra away from the throne and establishing Aegon instead, someone who is a rapist and has no interest in indulging in political affairs. Perhaps the show-runners are trying to tell us that this is how kingdoms were established, there wasn't a lot of reasoning behind the events that took place. The greatness of Kings and Queens that we keep reading about were just false stories written to make them look good; in reality they were as shallow as any random individual.
5. It's quite shocking to see the transformation of Criston Cole, played by Fabian Frankel. He used to be one of my favourites initially, and now I just hate him. The brutality with which he killed Lord Beesbury was just mind boggling; where have you reached Ser Criston; what happened to you?
6. What is this Lord Larys? He has a foot fetish now? This is what he takes in return for his services? Why is Alicent even tolerating him? It may not seem much to her, considering he's not even touching her, but it's still disgusting. With all the power at her disposal, she shouldn't be worried about him. It's still not quite clear as to what his end goal is. Matthew Needham is doing a fantastic job of portraying Lord Larys, his mere presence creeps you out.
7. I really liked the whole drama of usurping the throne, it felt way too real. Powerful people forcefully seizing power, putting people under house arrest, declaring those who oppose as traitors and giving them a death sentence; everything hit too close to home; it felt like watching an event unfolding in the real world, because this is exactly how it happens in the real world as well.
8. Once again, Helaena Targaryen's words came true; 'Beware of the beast beneath the boards'. How is she doing it? What happens to her when she says out these prophecies? I love it when something that is prophesized comes out to be true. Considering Helaena is not like this in the books, the showrunners deserve some appreciation for giving her character such an interesting touch. There could be an additional meaning of the prophecy though; the beast could also be what Aegon might become now after tasting power and all the adulation. He has always been a terrible person, but he was powerless till now, a completely lost cause; but now he has all the power that he wants, he could do whatever his reckless mind wants him to do. There is nothing more dangerous than power in the wrong hands.
9. The dragon bursting out of the floor was quite an unexpected surprise; I seriously thought that the episode would end with Aegon raising his sword and the crowd cheering for him. Although, that whole sequence of Rhaenys Targaryen emerging on her dragon made for quite a spectacle, it also raises some pertinent questions. Why didn't she kill the Greens and finish the battle even before it had begun? Didn't she know that they were wrong in usurping the power like that? Wasn't she aware of what they were doing to the people who were opposing this exercise? It's not her war, yes, but she could have brought an end to it, and saved a lot of lives. There was a dialogue in the episode, said by Alicent, "Reluctance to murder is not a weakness"; this statement fits very well on Rhaenys, perhaps she wanted to show how kind and forgiving she is, she is not someone who would go around killing people; except that she did end up killing hundreds of innocent people by storming through the floor. Was there no other way for her to go out of the Dragon Pit? She had a dragon at her disposal, she could have just burned down a few walls and escaped; why choose this method of taking so many innocent lives and leave alive the actual culprits? That scene was a spectacle, yes; it took me by surprise but it made no sense at all. Perhaps the lives of the common folk don't matter at all, it's only the royals who matter after all. The Kings and Queens were kind, generous and compassionate by standards set by themselves only.
10. The acting performances in this episode were excellent. Olivia Cooke as Alicent, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower and Eve Best as Rhaenys were outstanding. Ewan Mitchell as Aemond has an amazing screen presence; he may not be the conventional hero, but he is such a charismatic character. Once again, great job done by the casting team in finding this young actor.
11. The writing in this episode was once again very good, for the most part. The writers have been consistently good throughout this series. The dialogues are like music to one's ears, they are so well written. This is something that we missed so much in Game of Thrones. I really hope the same set of writers continue writing for the remainder of the series as well, and the show-runners ensure that the quality remains the same, because a well written story will always be more valuable than a hollow spectacle.
12. The special effects were not quite up to the mark in this episode. The crowning ceremony of Aegon felt a little off; it never seemed that he was actually facing a crowd.
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