Can't believe I almost got to episode 5 without realizing that Red Dragon and the Gold is also representing the black faction vs green faction. After the episode name released I just assumed it just "what we saw above Rook's Rest"
7:35 On Alys and the Strongs - in F&B, Munken and Eustace say she's an illegitimate daughter of Lyonel, Mushroom says she's a generation or two older... I think you can easily read this as Mushroom bein' crazy Mushroom, or that he's legit on to something... in the inside the episode, Condal says Alys has "possibly been there for hundred of years", which has _wild_ implications - if that's true, then she's older than Harrenhal itself, and probably not a Strong bastard (though that doesn't stop her from being connected to Larys - quite the reverse). She's starting to put to mind less Bloodraven, and more Quaithe, considering she's not a corpse in a tree, and like many of Quaithe's appearances, not sure if she's really there. With the Strongs... they're an old First Man House, but do we know what they were up to before Jaehaerys gave them Harrenhal? The Strongs are listed among the greatest Houses in the Riverlands who rebel against Harren when Aegon lands, but were they really an important House? I thought maybe they did have vast tracts of land (maybe the region where Harrenhal was built?) but Harren confiscated those lands... but if that's the case, why didn't Aegon give them back some or all of their former land? (Maybe he did? Maybe Harrenhal's lands are so vast because originally Aegon chopped them in two, gave the castle and a bunch of land to House Qoherys, and a chunk of land back to the Strongs, then when the Strongs got Harrenhal, the lands were combined, and remain bundled ever since?)
This episode was pretty good! A lot of great cinematography bits - scene transitions at Harrenhal, the 'dust man' armor Criston knocks over, the beautiful and tragic state of Sunfyre in the burning woods at the end - striking and haunting and perfect. I liked the Pyrrhic victory vibe of Rook's Rest: sure, Rhaenys successfully killed a bunch of the dudes besieging the castle, but most of those were originally Rhaenyra-supporters who got strong-armed into fighting for Aegon. Any small triumph there is bitter and rotten. Between the horrors of war BBQing the army, the capture of Rook's Rest, the loss of Rhaenys and Meleys, and the near-loss of Aegon and Sunfyre (I know what they said in the episode and inside the episode, but no way they're actually killing Sunfyre off here, right?), you get the feeling that both sides 100% feel they lost (except for Aemond). I liked Criston's speech; it gave off strong Lord of the Rings vibes, which fit really great to deconstruct LotR's noble, honorable battles led by noble, honorable warriors (not to trash LotR, but I'm just more in line with the worldview of GRRM than Tolkien). Didn't really like Vhagar sneak-attacking from behind the tiny castle; I can buy cloud-sneak-attack and forest-camouflage for Vhagar, but castle-sneak-attack was a bit much, and felt repetitive of Luke's death. I think they wanted the emotion of that moment; the "ok you're in the clear for now - oh no Vhagar jump-scare noooooooooo!!!" just wish they thought of a slightly different way to do it. And off course, the interactions between Meleys and Rhaenys, and the shot of Rhaenys falling were so tragic, so hard to watch, so haunting. 😭😭😭
Can't believe I almost got to episode 5 without realizing that Red Dragon and the Gold is also representing the black faction vs green faction. After the episode name released I just assumed it just "what we saw above Rook's Rest"
Poor Sunfyre
He didn’t deserve that
I just realized i am not going to be okay when Tumbleton rolls around
SAME
Wooooooo
Im loving all the weirwood weirdness. Including what really looked like weirwood paste
If she really was Larys' wetnurse, then she *infused* him with weirwood juice, and he is probably kind of her golem to bring chaos to the realm.
GRRM: "Hm, what do I name this character who has a black goat as a symbol? Darko Goat? ....wait...."
I’m really curious about the dragons mindsets and feelings on all of this
7:35 On Alys and the Strongs - in F&B, Munken and Eustace say she's an illegitimate daughter of Lyonel, Mushroom says she's a generation or two older... I think you can easily read this as Mushroom bein' crazy Mushroom, or that he's legit on to something... in the inside the episode, Condal says Alys has "possibly been there for hundred of years", which has _wild_ implications - if that's true, then she's older than Harrenhal itself, and probably not a Strong bastard (though that doesn't stop her from being connected to Larys - quite the reverse). She's starting to put to mind less Bloodraven, and more Quaithe, considering she's not a corpse in a tree, and like many of Quaithe's appearances, not sure if she's really there.
With the Strongs... they're an old First Man House, but do we know what they were up to before Jaehaerys gave them Harrenhal? The Strongs are listed among the greatest Houses in the Riverlands who rebel against Harren when Aegon lands, but were they really an important House? I thought maybe they did have vast tracts of land (maybe the region where Harrenhal was built?) but Harren confiscated those lands... but if that's the case, why didn't Aegon give them back some or all of their former land? (Maybe he did? Maybe Harrenhal's lands are so vast because originally Aegon chopped them in two, gave the castle and a bunch of land to House Qoherys, and a chunk of land back to the Strongs, then when the Strongs got Harrenhal, the lands were combined, and remain bundled ever since?)
This episode was pretty good! A lot of great cinematography bits - scene transitions at Harrenhal, the 'dust man' armor Criston knocks over, the beautiful and tragic state of Sunfyre in the burning woods at the end - striking and haunting and perfect. I liked the Pyrrhic victory vibe of Rook's Rest: sure, Rhaenys successfully killed a bunch of the dudes besieging the castle, but most of those were originally Rhaenyra-supporters who got strong-armed into fighting for Aegon. Any small triumph there is bitter and rotten. Between the horrors of war BBQing the army, the capture of Rook's Rest, the loss of Rhaenys and Meleys, and the near-loss of Aegon and Sunfyre (I know what they said in the episode and inside the episode, but no way they're actually killing Sunfyre off here, right?), you get the feeling that both sides 100% feel they lost (except for Aemond). I liked Criston's speech; it gave off strong Lord of the Rings vibes, which fit really great to deconstruct LotR's noble, honorable battles led by noble, honorable warriors (not to trash LotR, but I'm just more in line with the worldview of GRRM than Tolkien). Didn't really like Vhagar sneak-attacking from behind the tiny castle; I can buy cloud-sneak-attack and forest-camouflage for Vhagar, but castle-sneak-attack was a bit much, and felt repetitive of Luke's death. I think they wanted the emotion of that moment; the "ok you're in the clear for now - oh no Vhagar jump-scare noooooooooo!!!" just wish they thought of a slightly different way to do it. And off course, the interactions between Meleys and Rhaenys, and the shot of Rhaenys falling were so tragic, so hard to watch, so haunting. 😭😭😭