That ending.... WOW!!!! What was your reaction? Did the season opener meet your expectations? Badd Medicine Arcade (Gaming channel) ua-cam.com/channels/HIstVk00GtduPIXlJLdC3A.html Early Drops & Full Reactions on YT Memberships & Patreon: www.patreon.com/baddmedicine Backup channel Subscribe here ua-cam.com/channels/1CLUwA27dz-94o3FR0o3xg.html
The boy was not killed by mistake. He was killed because of convenience. The two assassins had been up there for long enough that they decided to just kill a "son" that was conveniently available. And despite no dialogue, the reason is pretty clear: Aemond is a deadly killer, a four year old boy isn't. EDIT: also, none of the two assassins ever said, "Who's Aemond." They knew who he was. So, this kill wasn't a matter of mistaken identity. It was just two extremely low character scumbags deciding to try to take an easier path because it was available to them. The real question is why they made the mother tell them which was the son, since they could have just dropped the pajamas and looked. Because even though she was telling the truth, there was a chance she wasn't, and that would have _definitely_ ended their chances of getting paid. That happened just because the writers wanted to have that scene from the source material in the show, when in the source material IIRC she has to pick between her two sons (one of which has not been born yet in the show). So in that sense it was less than stellar writing, but the real mistake was leaving off the other son. Although on the other hand, having her choose the daughter says something about the character, so maybe it's not necessarily a bad change.
Daemon out here being foolish, acting w/o thought of consequences again. “A son for a son.” It’s close enough. 😂 Oak’s reaction is probably why the show tempered how it was in the book. The audience just can’t handle the total brutality that is Westeros.
there is a reason why the scene cut when cheese asked damon "what if we don't find him"... in the books they were sent to kill the child from the start, and it was even more cruel
@tablesalt2628 Yes he said a son for a son talking about Aegon..I mean Daemon still f*d up .But again not sure why u keep debating with the creator of the show...But Daemon didn't order any alternate lives taken...
@@mekareactsandreviews3026 Did Daemon directly say "Kill the Prince Jaeherys"? Probably not. But if your response to a backup plan is "a son for a son" it gives tacit approval.
@@unc54 This is a direct quote from the creator of the show...That found through a simple google search. "In the book, Daemon orders Blood and Cheese to kill a son of King Aegon II Targaryen (played by Tom Glynn-Carney in the series). Aegon and his sister/wife Helaena (Phia Saban) have three children in the novel, twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaerya and son Maelor. House of the Dragon omitted Maelor entirely and had Matt Smith‘s Daemon order the men to kill Aemond. He didn’t give an alternative option in the event that the men didn’t find Aemond, so they improvised and found the first prince they could find."
I suspect it will be very important to recall that's NOT what rhaenyra demanded. That's what daemon said before she returned, and after her demand of aemon, he just went for what he already wanted
@@bryancomer1984 Just like with Aemond killing Luce Rhanyra did not know it was accident and blam Aemond anyway the same will be with Aegon he will not care who it was he will blame Rhaenyra.I'm pissed how this show whitewashed Rhaenyra she is literally the only person who cannot do wrong whole in books she already had Vaemond killed because he called her son bastard, because he said truth .
I read the book two years ago and forgot most of it. So any changes went unnoticed by me. And now that I know the changes, I'm cool with them. This show is so well acted, directed, and written that I can live with it. It's an amazing show.
That's it, and you saw the pause from Demond; that was on purpose. I believe he said if they didn't find him they had to come back with any son's head or die themselves. I also believe that it will be revealed what the conversation was after that pause.
And Deamon said the phrase “Son for a son” to Rhaenys at the very beginning of the episode. So it wasn’t like Cheese & Blood came up with that idea on their own. They were obviously told that by Daemon.
The writers wrote a misdirection on purpose for the ending of the episode. Daemon tells B&C to kill specifically Aemond but when Cheese hears this he responds with "What if we can't find him" The camera turns back to daemon who smirks a tad before it cuts away. We never hear anything about a son for a son but clearly their conversation was not finished before the cut away. We can assume that after Cheese asked Daemon what to do if they couldn't find Aemond that Daemon said "A Son for A Son" which to them means any Targ Son from the Green Side. Aegon was safe in the throne room with his friends/guards so he wasnt an option They couldn't find Aemond and had just missed him by probably a couple of minutes in the room they snuck into through Maegors tunnels. This leaves B&C to improvise and act on their own accord going solely off what Daemon said during the cutaway "A Son for a Son" This is why we see them go after Aegons Child instead of searching for Aemond. They know their on time constraint and need to get out of there fast if they want a chance to get paid by Daemon and escape with their Lives. And Killing Aegon's Son fufills the ask of Daemon securing their payment. just wanted to clarify for the boys and everyone who might be confused about the ending. The writing of HOT D has been pretty solid so far and I'm excited to see the guys react to the craziness that will be this season.
@@mekareactsandreviews3026 yea Daemon didn't say if you can't find Aemond, kill Jahaerys. But he definitely said "a son for a son" and left it to interpretation by B&C
@@PacificEgg No..In the article the creator of the show say Daemon Never gives an Alternative..That the decison was Entirely on blood and cheese...The son for a son daemon says Earlier in the show he says specifically Aemond..
@@mekareactsandreviews3026 except **in the show**, Blood says verbatim "'a son for a son,' he said", so Daemon definitely told them a son for a son. if Daemon only wanted Aemond, he shouldn't have told them "if not Aemond, kill any son and I'll still pay you." it's still very much on him.
The kid wasn't killed by mistake. He was killed because they didn't want to keep searching for Aemond, and they didn't want to risk being killed by him.
In a previous scene Cheese asks Daemon "..and what if we can't find him" and they cut away. Blood indicated "He said a son for a son".. so the instruction to go after the King's heir came directly from Daemon.
As many have pointed out, when cheese asks "what is we can't find him', we see Daemon smirk and then they cut away before we could hear Daemon's answer. The kid was plan b. if they couldn't find Daemon, they were to kill the heir, a son for a son. To be fair I also went back a second time to see the dialog between cheese and Daemon and then I noticed the smirk and then it made sense to me.
The kid was plan A with plausible deniability. These two shmucks could never get the drop on Aemond Targaryen, Daemon knew this and knew they'd look for an easier target.
In the book, they hide in Alicent room and take her hostage. They know the Queen will come before bedtime with her kids (2 boys and a girl). They made her CHOOSE which boy, or everyone die. She choose the youngest boy (after beggin in vain for her to die in his place). Instead, they kill the eldest and tell the other one "Did you hear boy, your mother wanted you to die". It's so much worse in the book.
In Helaena's first scene before Aegon enters the room looking for Jaehaerys, Helaena whispers "They only want the boy" and after saying that she is afraid of rats, she looks directly at Jaehaerys' crib, she did predict death of him in a prophetic dream.
Yeah, most people haven't really looked up the lineage of the dragons. They might find a very believable, almost confirmed theory based on Dreamfyre's lost eggs.
@@leonardoherrera9059 I swear there's always one guy saying this on every reaction video. Like where the fk do they get their infos from? Not even the very detailed wiki about the books has this information. The only kinda reliable info is the heritage of Rhaena's dragon Morning, which egg was given to her by Rhaenyra.
Seeing Rhaenyra, Syrax and Helena mourn over their babies is so gut wrenching also did you notice Helena walked the same path Rhaenyra walked up the stairs while leaving a trail of blood after giving birth. Loved seeing the Young Stark lord 😔
LMAO them being livid at blood &cheese for all the wrong reasons is hilarious to me. The crime was heinous both in the show and in the books and it warrants anger for sure but it wasn't poor writing, they asked daemon "what if we can't find him", daemon smirks and scene cut so it's fair to assume he told them "a son for a son" preferably Aemond but any son will do
@Fenix-lr6ez since he is the head of the kingsguard, it's his responsibility to have guards stationed to protect the queen and children. He failed in his duties, just like he failed at protecting aemond when he lost his eye. One of the worst kings guard in history, second to maryn trant
The thing about the royal rooms being empty and left unguarded, remember Larys the foot fetish guy, he said he got rid of the staff who were "traitors" or something like that. Plus the remaining guards were all with Aegon in the throne room and Criston Cole was the one supposed to be on guard duty in the royal rooms but he was busy with the queen. Remember this was not too long after Aegon took the throne so the greens were still sorting out who is loyal and who still supported Rhaenyra.
Exactly. That’s what I thought too. Also, Blood and Cheese wanted the money so badly that they rushed the mission as they didn’t want to get caught and killed the Kings son to finish the deed even though it wasn’t Aemond. It’s still a royal son.
What’s also wild is Alicent is in Rhaenyra’s old room. Where she is screwing Sir Cristen “so I’m just supposed to be your whore?” Cole. Helaena had Alicent’s old room. Which means Helaena made the same walk Rhaenyra did that after Alicent insisted she come after giving birth. Also Alicent is screwing Cole in the same room that Cole took Rhaenyra’s virginity. Also why was there no guard on the queen’s room? Was Cole shirking his duty to screw Alicent? So much wildness happening there. Re why they killed the king’s song instead of Aemond: they panicked. The servant had seen Blood (the bigger dude), and Cheese ran into the Queen. There was no way for them to keep looking for Aemond without getting caught. And since Daemond’s command was based on “a son for a son,” they figured they could still get paid with any son.
And they ruined all of that with having them have a previous sex scene. It was inferred that any son would do, that's what Daemon's smile conveyed. There was almost no way a gold cloak and rat catcher could kill a swordsman like Aemond in high alert. It's ridiculous. Daemon knew this and hoped for what would likely happen. It worked.
When Helaena is first shown this ep, she's knitting her son's funeral shroud without realising 😢 also when she says 'what if he does not want to be king?' does she say this cos she can't see a future with him being on the throne, so tries to rationalise it in her mind?
It's not the funetal shroud. People looked at the embroidery, it's Sunfyre. Aegon is seen wearing clothes with that embroidery later. She is working on Aegons clothes.
When they both asked Daemon "What if we cant find him," and Daemon just gave that look, later on they said "a son for a son he said" so we can assume that's what Daemon told them after it cuts away.
Not Oak going hard against the show for a misunderstanding on his part, again 😅 The dialogue between Daemon, Blood, and Cheese set up how commoners and even some knights apparently, don't have a good idea who the royalty are. They had to be told a description of Aemond, and Blood didn't recognize Heleana, the literal queen. This to me, proves they didn't really know what they were doing, and/or didn't really care. Spurred on by Daemon's suggestion after being asked "What if we can't find him", it's clear why they did what they did. Especially after following them for ten minutes and seeing the anxiety build in both them and ourselves over this
I think ya'll misunderstood what happened in the end. Daemon is no fool, he knew perfectly well they wouldn't be able to kill Aemond. Cheese also knew that, that's why he asks "What if we can't find him?". Daemon basically just did that to rattle them and make them attack, and also, of course, for revenge...
@@shakeimfraser6166 its a tv show for the masses. it is very well told and accesible. But when you dont pay attention, talking and reacting and taking notes...yeah you miss things. I find it funny how they mention not having read the book. You dont need to read the book to understand the tv show. There are literal subtitles.
When she said she was scared of the rats, she looked right at the bed that her son would later die in. Y’all better start listening to this lady, she knows what she’s talking about!
From the Green side, ep started with showing how wall guards are starting to relax too much, then B&C pass by Aegon drinking with his guards, and Criston - who Otto had ordered to return to his duties - was obviously not focusing on his job. The ep was done brilliantly to show how each domino lead to the next, and finally the heir was killed. The point of the convo with Erryk (or Arryk, one of the knight twins Daemon was talking to) was to tell the audience that if you're in the king's guard, your task is to protect all members of the royal family - so Criston and his men were supposed to guard Helaena and her kids as well, but they chose not to unfortunately (they even emphasized multiple times through the ep how Greens think Vhagar will keep them safe so they didn't even imagine an attack and prepare for it, which was... An error, to use Otto's words.).
i dont like it when people shout and get angry and blow hard over what they dont understand and they go on and on, confirming their own bias until they calm down. I like Oak but i am allergic to this behaviour. Reminds me of loud uncles you cant reason with when they get triggered.
"WHAT DO WE DO IF WE CAN"T FIND HIM"? -------(later, in the room looking at the children) "He said a son for a son", then Cheese says cut his head off so we can get paid". This was Daemon's plan. Daemon always strikes out in violence. His answer to pretty much everything is violence. "WHAT DO WE DO IF WE CAN'T FIND HIM"?..... Violence.
All of your complaints are completely based on misunderstanding the ending. They didn't think that was Aemond, they couldn't find Aemond and settled for hoping the young boy would be good enough
Sorry to break it to you guys but the kid died on purpose. They were going to give Daemon a son's head regardless. They knew who Aegon was they simply found an easier to kill target.
the Queen is not crazy at all.She's clairvoyant.She saw it happening,hence the "I'm afraid of the rats". But that goes for the rat snatchers and the spies. I noticed after my third watch,Helaena was knitting a veil. In the trailer they showed her wearing it to a funeral.
I missed that! on second watch, i noticed something right before she points her finger at jahearys. She stares off into the distance momentarily and you hear a faint 'rumble' the same sound Drogon would make right before he spits fire. She also says "no"....but not to Blood. and i think she silently communicated to Cheese. Telepathically. my head canon is that Heleana saw her vision come true and a voice told her to choose jahearys. That it was inevitable. And the way she gasped as she pointed. Almost as if it was involuntary....could a Three Eyed Raven be controlling her?
@@roddo1955 yep The same when she ran with the child and was lost. There was a moment she did the same thing and paused.Afterwards she suddenly got a sense of direction. Also I think its the same way Rhaenyra ran just in reverse.
It shook me for sure but one thing I didn’t understand was where was the guards for the queen and the children in the first place ? It’s like they didn’t think “hey maybe we should have more guards in the castle to make sure everyone is safe”
My mental health always tanks when watching reactions to an interesting show, because it demonstrates how a vast majority of people pay zero fucking attention.
I really appreciate how Helena reacted. Everyone will not have the same screaming, loud reactions, there’s a reason fawn and freeze are now considered in the fight or flight responses. Especially after she leaves the room and sees no one in the halls, I think the fear on her face skyrockets as she thinks she may be hunted down after. She becomes this determined robot with no emotions by the end, just trying to survive the awful moment she’s stuck in and protect her daughter.
Guys, you're wrong. They did leave it ambiguous when they asked "What if we can't find him?" and later they confirmed Daemon told them "A son for a son." So, that's what they did. They couldn't find Aemond, so they went for the closest son. One of the important things there, is that Ser Criston Cole is in deep shit. He's supposed to be captain of the kingsguard, and he's supposed to take care of the King and Queen... he wasn't taking care of the Queen, because he was "taking care" of the Queen Mother.
I think the reason there were no guards with Heleana in the hallways is because some of them are with Aegon while he's drunk in the throne room, protecting him. (I dont know if Blood being a Gold Cloak if he can command those who are standing guard in the castle away). And Ser Criston is once again NOT ON DUTY (he wasnt on duty when Aemond lost his eye in S1) so his post was abandoned. And Heleana being Heleana, im assuing she was in shock. she couldnt find anyone in the hallway and too scared to scream, so she ran to her mom for help. :( Heleana and Jaehaerys are the only Greens I feel sorry for. Go Team Black lol.
a gold cloak is like a cop. They dont command Kings Guard. They are city watch. Not supposed to be in the palace. See how the maid notices the chainmail on Blood. She was like..'what is this ratcatcher doing with citywatch chainmail under his rags....im outta here"
Daemon is not scheming. He's pragmatic and he knows about war tactics, same as Aemond. The blacks had everything ready to move on with the war, but Rhaenyra wants Aemond, that's not a good plan. She should focused on getting the throne. Second, the fact that the new Kings Landing staff was chosen by Larys, means he knows everything happening in the castle with the greens. That's why Alicent wanted to bathe herself, she felt uncomfortable with the new staff. The scene of Daemon saying "a son for a son" is cut out so we don't know what's coming, basic suspense storytelling. Blood and Cheese did what Daemon told them to do in case they didn't find Aemond. And Blood says also on screen that the order was "a son for a son". Aemond will never admit he lost control of Vhagar when Lucerys died because that would look bad, so he probably told Alicent and Otto that he killed him on purpose. Helena is autistic and a dreamer (meaning she has visions), so her reaction where she is found by Blood and Cheese is tied to that. King Aegon, for now at least, will treat the "small folk" good because so far he's only getting recognition from them, he was always ignored and mistreated by Viserys (by ignoring him as heir) and Alicent. That's why he, first as soon as he became king named his son as heir (giving him the recognition he never got from his father) and treating the people generously whilst being intolerant with his counsil.
That's because book readers aren't looking at the biased unreliable NARRATOR who wasn't even there. History = his story, they're never going to be 100%, they can tell the main events, there was a blood and cheese that killed the son and they made Heleana choose. They hyped themselves up too much with it. Think it's a great lesson for book readers AND historians, pay attention to who is telling the story of events.
38:33 That cut from Oak going on a rant about the killing to him appreciating the work of the cast and crew while still in a ranting mood gave me whiplash lol.
Fun fact ig: The scene were rhaneyra cries for her som, her dragon Syrax in the back is also grieving as the arrax (lucerys’ dragon) was her son. Both mother r grieving
Daemon told them to look for Aemond. They also asked him what to do if they couldn’t find him. We never saw him say anything, but I think it was Blood that said that Daemon said “A son for a son”. We never saw Daemon actually say that to them so that’s what he said off screen.
I believe it’s implied that when asked “What if we can’t find Aemond”, Daemon looks up and it cuts to black to symbolize that they’re to get “a son for a son” if they can’t find him. Which is why the one guard said, “He said a son for a son.” meaning that the priority there was to get some sort of revenge. Which is probably not what Rhaenyra wanted, but as we all know, Daemon works on his own accord
The assassins were instructed, however... they did ask, " What if we can't find him?" The look in Daemons eyes tells us that his answer is nothing good 😮
"an ally would not repeatedly cut my legs from beneath me at that table of men!" Thats awfully funny Alicent because i remember you doing that to Rhaenrya when she was on the council.
Every person that watched this show had a bigger problem with the dog getting booted over the child beheading.... All the awards for the good doggo wagging his tale as he runs away!
At a certain point, they couldn't find Aemond so a "son for a son" became "a son is a son". Daemon definitely gave them the directive after they asked "what if we don't find him".
It’s presumed that the castle halls are empty and without guards because A. Larys (foot guy) told alicent he recently ridded the castle of “betrayers”- insinuating maybe they were temporarily short staffed and B. Criston was supposed to be on guard and possibly cleared the halls to avoid getting caught with Alicent (btw they were getting it on in Rhanaeyra’s old bedroom which Helaena assumed would be empty) really makes you wonder what Criston was doing when Aemond eye was cut in season 1…
35:00 It was between Daemon and Blood 😂 It was after Blood asks “what if we can’t find him?” The scene was * Cut * early and “abruptly ending” when we pan back to Daemon who has a change of face. His answer was “A son for a son”. You guys missed it because it was an implication of more chaos ordered by Daemon off screen. In terms of their work and seeing the royal family, Blood stayed in the lower rat tunnels & Cheese stayed in the lower streets patrolling neither never seeing the family up close but understood they were killing a child 💯 instead.
The Rat catcher clearly said "What do we do if we can't find him" and yall laughed at what Daemon might have told him when the did a screen cut (A Son For A Son) then yall forgot..🤷♂️😅
You're making an ASSUMPTION that they didn't know, i think it's implied that they were to get a son for a son when they asked Daemon "what if we don’t find him?" and it changes scene before he responds.
Blood is a brutal member of the city watch (does not work in the castle) and Cheese (a downstairs rat catcher that knows the secret tunnels to avoid the royals) : These are two really gross dumb bad dudes. Daemon made the mistake of hiring these two to do this job. Cheese was clearly aware of what could happen if they got caught so they wanted to get in and out and they did that with the path of least resistance. Also watch Matt Smith’s face acting after they ask ‘what if we can’t find him?’ ….i took that to mean ‘improvise’ and bad dudes did really bad stuff.
The child's death is from the book. The author wrote that. I also think that they killed the child on purpose. I don't think they mistook the child for Aemond by any sense. I think they wanted to get out of there as quick as possible they knew they were taking too much time and they knew that those were the children of the king so it was a son for a son to them. I think it's probably based in historical context. The author as everyone knows tends to draw a lot of his stuff from history and there have been plenty of children who are heirs for the throne who have been murdered by the other side. The two that most come to mind are the famous princes in the tower.
29:47 It was implied that Daemon wanted them to go after Aegon's heir. There's a reason he said that "Aegon's entire line would be dead if Rhaenys had attacked." It was never really about Aemond for Daemon, he knows he needs/wants to kill everyone so he doesn't have a living claimant.
The book was different as others have commented - however George R. R. Martin said that the show is the true accounting of what actually happened, as the book was told from the perspective of others. But there was a line "what if we can't find him" and a smirk kind of from Daemon so I don't know what that meant, we don't know what was said/what the answer was if any but I think that Cheese (the rat catcher) got scared, he was anxious, he was where he wasn't meant to be, and technically I don't think he was the one meant to do any killing it was Blood, and well it was quite unfortunate. Great reaction!
In the book Aegon’s children were always the target. A son for a son. Not a brother. The assassins were not able to get to the inner sanctum of the castle but knew Helaena and her children always visited Alicent to say good night, and she lived in a more accessible area. They got in the room through a tunnel and killed a guard and a maid. A lot of people are critisising Oak for going overboard but unless you know what to look for, there are a lot of holes in the show plot. If Daemon had access to the royal apartments he would not throw away his chance to kill Aegon.
The scene where blood and cheese ask daemon “what if we can’t find aemond” and then the scene shows daemon about to smile and cuts. and then later in the scene in haelena’s room. “a son for a son”, he said so daemon asks for a son regardless.
The instruction was for "Aemond", but when Cheese and Blood asks "what if we dont find him?", we don't hear what Daemon answers... then the chapter is named "A son for a son"
The guard is a gold cloak (he’s like the police and doesn’t work in the castle, that’s the white cloaks) and the rat catcher is lowly (he only catches rats in the common area). Aemond isn’t the type to be hanging out where they are in Flea Bottom. Aemond spent most of his time studying and training. He’s not associating with lowly mortals in the common part of the castle.
heartbreaking info I just found out about the scene when Rhaenyra founds Luce's remains... Luce's dragon Arrax, was also a son of Rhaenyra's dragon Syrax. So in these scene 10:50 it's both mothers mourning over their children's remains...😭
The way heleana was looking for people all the way to her mothers room, and there was no one. We then see criston (the commander of the kings guard) and alicent tgt, so im guessing that they purposefully cleared the floor out to not get caught. So this was able to happen because of them.
This came straight from the book. There is a longer conversation about what happens if they can’t get to Aemond. They do ask the question in the episode, but the cut the rest of the conversation. Should come out in the next episode that daemon ordered the hit. There names are Blood and Cheese.
I really like Aegon's character (and actor). The scene where he's taking petitions is fantastic. It's clear he just really wants to be liked, and even has * some * goodness/empathy in him. Compared to Joffrey he's an absolute angel. Disclaimer: I haven't read the books so I'm only speaking of him in the present, I'm sure he'll be performing more sufficiently repulsive acts in the future, like he did last season
If you were listening. Blood and Cheese asked “what if we can’t find him” so maybe Damon told them to take the head of a royal prince and they found Halaina and her royal prince son.
There are seven Kingsguard. Three are with Rhaenyra on Dragonstone. The old Lord Commander left last season when they told him to kill Rhaenyra. Two were in the throne room with Aegon. Sir Criston should have been guarding the new Queen but he was too busy with Alicent. The guy did ask Daemon what they should do if they can't find Aemond and the scene cuts away so we don't know what Daemon told them to do if they couldn't find him.
I understand why the ending would make you upset. If you rewatch the scene when Daemon was hiring them though, they did ask Daemon what they should do if they could not find Aemon. The scene ended abruptly before we heard Daemon's response, so who knows if what they did was actually an alternative order from Daemon in case Aemon could not be found.
I love how in season one the Queen keeps mentioning the beast below the boards, and that’s exactly where Rhaenys bursts through the floor with her dragon. Now in season two she tells Aegon that she’s afraid of the rats, and it’s the rat catcher that comes to kill her son. She talks in very cryptic ways, but she’s not stupid.
Oh man, I had been hearing the term "Blood and Cheese" and had no idea what it referred to. And it was sufficiently more horrifying than I had imagined. Lol. I hope Oak can recover! I was not prepared either. 😮
When they asked Damon if they couldn't find Aemon what they should do Damon looked at them and then the scene was cut. They did that with Damon's orders.
In the books Blood and Cheese have to climb outside the Hand's Tower to get in, Maegor's holdfast where the royal family lives is impenetrable. They go to Alicent's room where the queen visits, with guards. They kill the guards and then make her choose between her two sons (she has three kids in the book). She chooses the younger and they kill the eldest after telling him she wants him dead. I'm assuming they cut the kids for logistical reasons, and I don't think you can show that type of violence against children on screen. I think that they just decided to kill the heir to get paid since they couldn't find the actual person.
![Rats! | HOUSE OF THE DRAGON [2x1] (REACTION)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Yq7u5BXpLnE/mqdefault.jpg)
That ending.... WOW!!!! What was your reaction? Did the season opener meet your expectations?
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1st episode exceeded my expectations!
tbf the ratcatcher did ask daemon what if they cannot find aemond & the scene just cut off after daemon’s smirk
Yes it did so excited
The boy was not killed by mistake. He was killed because of convenience. The two assassins had been up there for long enough that they decided to just kill a "son" that was conveniently available. And despite no dialogue, the reason is pretty clear: Aemond is a deadly killer, a four year old boy isn't.
EDIT: also, none of the two assassins ever said, "Who's Aemond." They knew who he was. So, this kill wasn't a matter of mistaken identity. It was just two extremely low character scumbags deciding to try to take an easier path because it was available to them.
The real question is why they made the mother tell them which was the son, since they could have just dropped the pajamas and looked. Because even though she was telling the truth, there was a chance she wasn't, and that would have _definitely_ ended their chances of getting paid. That happened just because the writers wanted to have that scene from the source material in the show, when in the source material IIRC she has to pick between her two sons (one of which has not been born yet in the show). So in that sense it was less than stellar writing, but the real mistake was leaving off the other son. Although on the other hand, having her choose the daughter says something about the character, so maybe it's not necessarily a bad change.
Happy Father's Day! :D
The kid's death is from the book. Sorry Oak, the writers are innocents 😁😂 And it's way WORSE in the book.
So much worse in the book. Its been a few years but I believe in the book, Blood and Cheese went there specifically to kill the child heir not Amond.
Appleton Oak's reaction is hilarious! 😂
Daemon out here being foolish, acting w/o thought of consequences again. “A son for a son.” It’s close enough. 😂 Oak’s reaction is probably why the show tempered how it was in the book. The audience just can’t handle the total brutality that is Westeros.
Yeah it's not the TV series writers' fault, it's George R.R. Martin's😄 In the book its way way worse. It is a bit much but that's what he wrote.
The viewers are not ready to see what really happened in the book... They'd be shocked for life.
there is a reason why the scene cut when cheese asked damon "what if we don't find him"...
in the books they were sent to kill the child from the start, and it was even more cruel
The director of the show actually said Daemon didnt direct the k*lling of the lit boy..That decison was All on Blood and Cheese.
@tablesalt2628 Yes he said a son for a son talking about Aegon..I mean Daemon still f*d up .But again not sure why u keep debating with the creator of the show...But Daemon didn't order any alternate lives taken...
@@mekareactsandreviews3026 Yup these showrunners keep minimizing Blacks crimes and then ask you 'what team are you on?'
@@mekareactsandreviews3026 Did Daemon directly say "Kill the Prince Jaeherys"? Probably not. But if your response to a backup plan is "a son for a son" it gives tacit approval.
@@unc54 This is a direct quote from the creator of the show...That found through a simple google search.
"In the book, Daemon orders Blood and Cheese to kill a son of King Aegon II Targaryen (played by Tom Glynn-Carney in the series). Aegon and his sister/wife Helaena (Phia Saban) have three children in the novel, twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaerya and son Maelor. House of the Dragon omitted Maelor entirely and had Matt Smith‘s Daemon order the men to kill Aemond. He didn’t give an alternative option in the event that the men didn’t find Aemond, so they improvised and found the first prince they could find."
The assassins were told “A son for a son” and they couldn’t find Aemond so I mean they got the job done🤷♂️
like Denzel said in that meme im leaving here with something lol
@@ramoncarter3121Yes 😂😂
Close enough 😅 Can’t wait to see what Rhaenyra thinks of this
I suspect it will be very important to recall that's NOT what rhaenyra demanded. That's what daemon said before she returned, and after her demand of aemon, he just went for what he already wanted
@@bryancomer1984 Just like with Aemond killing Luce Rhanyra did not know it was accident and blam Aemond anyway the same will be with Aegon he will not care who it was he will blame Rhaenyra.I'm pissed how this show whitewashed Rhaenyra she is literally the only person who cannot do wrong whole in books she already had Vaemond killed because he called her son bastard, because he said truth .
As a book reader myself, the complaints about the end of the episode are way overblown. The scene is plenty horrifying on its own.
100%
Honestly the sound of the knife going through the flesh and bone made my skin crawl which was good enough
I read the book two years ago and forgot most of it. So any changes went unnoticed by me.
And now that I know the changes, I'm cool with them. This show is so well acted, directed, and written that I can live with it. It's an amazing show.
It’s horrifying. But it was worse in the books.
Agreed. It was still extremely effective and well done.
You guys missed the most important line - " what if we can't find him?"
That's it, and you saw the pause from Demond; that was on purpose. I believe he said if they didn't find him they had to come back with any son's head or die themselves. I also believe that it will be revealed what the conversation was after that pause.
Exactly! That strategic cut after they posed that question is key.
And Deamon said the phrase “Son for a son” to Rhaenys at the very beginning of the episode. So it wasn’t like Cheese & Blood came up with that idea on their own. They were obviously told that by Daemon.
@@matttyler8331Exactly!
@@matttyler8331 Blood even says, "A son for a son, he said". It's heavily implied that's what Daemon said when Cheese asked about the alternative.
The writers wrote a misdirection on purpose for the ending of the episode. Daemon tells B&C to kill specifically Aemond but when Cheese hears this he responds with "What if we can't find him" The camera turns back to daemon who smirks a tad before it cuts away. We never hear anything about a son for a son but clearly their conversation was not finished before the cut away. We can assume that after Cheese asked Daemon what to do if they couldn't find Aemond that Daemon said "A Son for A Son" which to them means any Targ Son from the Green Side.
Aegon was safe in the throne room with his friends/guards so he wasnt an option
They couldn't find Aemond and had just missed him by probably a couple of minutes in the room they snuck into through Maegors tunnels.
This leaves B&C to improvise and act on their own accord going solely off what Daemon said during the cutaway "A Son for a Son" This is why we see them go after Aegons Child instead of searching for Aemond. They know their on time constraint and need to get out of there fast if they want a chance to get paid by Daemon and escape with their Lives.
And Killing Aegon's Son fufills the ask of Daemon securing their payment.
just wanted to clarify for the boys and everyone who might be confused about the ending. The writing of HOT D has been pretty solid so far and I'm excited to see the guys react to the craziness that will be this season.
Pin this comment please. I see a lot of misunderstanding from people
The director of the show actually said Daemon didnt direct the k*lling of the lit boy..That decison was All on Blood and Cheese.
@@mekareactsandreviews3026 yea Daemon didn't say if you can't find Aemond, kill Jahaerys. But he definitely said "a son for a son" and left it to interpretation by B&C
@@PacificEgg No..In the article the creator of the show say Daemon Never gives an Alternative..That the decison was Entirely on blood and cheese...The son for a son daemon says Earlier in the show he says specifically Aemond..
@@mekareactsandreviews3026 except **in the show**, Blood says verbatim "'a son for a son,' he said", so Daemon definitely told them a son for a son. if Daemon only wanted Aemond, he shouldn't have told them "if not Aemond, kill any son and I'll still pay you." it's still very much on him.
The kid wasn't killed by mistake. He was killed because they didn't want to keep searching for Aemond, and they didn't want to risk being killed by him.
They want easy job with same pay. Typical mercenaries
In a previous scene Cheese asks Daemon "..and what if we can't find him" and they cut away. Blood indicated "He said a son for a son".. so the instruction to go after the King's heir came directly from Daemon.
Exactly. Don’t really get how anyone would think it wasn’t intentional.
The man asked what if they don't find Aemond, then the camera cut away after showing Daemon's face. He could have told them ' a son for a son".
@@kimj5801 EXACTLY! I'm constantly reminded that people don't actually pay attention to what they're watching.
As many have pointed out, when cheese asks "what is we can't find him', we see Daemon smirk and then they cut away before we could hear Daemon's answer. The kid was plan b. if they couldn't find Daemon, they were to kill the heir, a son for a son. To be fair I also went back a second time to see the dialog between cheese and Daemon and then I noticed the smirk and then it made sense to me.
The smirk is very, very subtle.😂🤙
The kid was plan A with plausible deniability. These two shmucks could never get the drop on Aemond Targaryen, Daemon knew this and knew they'd look for an easier target.
In the book, they hide in Alicent room and take her hostage. They know the Queen will come before bedtime with her kids (2 boys and a girl). They made her CHOOSE which boy, or everyone die. She choose the youngest boy (after beggin in vain for her to die in his place). Instead, they kill the eldest and tell the other one "Did you hear boy, your mother wanted you to die". It's so much worse in the book.
And sad part is, the son that survived, still dies one year after.
And then she can't look at her younger son (maelor) anymore and goes insane.
@@janezkette3901spoilers!!!!!!!!
They couldn't go that route because Alicent and Cole were not coupling in the books.
@@Catherine______ It' can't be spoiler, Maelor (youngest son who was spared) is not in show at all (same as Daeron).
In Helaena's first scene before Aegon enters the room looking for Jaehaerys, Helaena whispers "They only want the boy" and after saying that she is afraid of rats, she looks directly at Jaehaerys' crib, she did predict death of him in a prophetic dream.
The fact that Nyra's dragon was also mourning the death of her dragon baby too :/
Yeah, most people haven't really looked up the lineage of the dragons. They might find a very believable, almost confirmed theory based on Dreamfyre's lost eggs.
Wow. I didn't even think of it that way. I thought her dragon was just feeling her pain, too, since the riders are so connected with their dragons.
@@marcusmcgill4423i think you’ve got the right idea. especially because the dragon only roars when she starts crying
We don't even know if that was her dragon baby. Don't mix headcanon and reality up.
@@leonardoherrera9059 I swear there's always one guy saying this on every reaction video. Like where the fk do they get their infos from? Not even the very detailed wiki about the books has this information. The only kinda reliable info is the heritage of Rhaena's dragon Morning, which egg was given to her by Rhaenyra.
Seeing Rhaenyra, Syrax and Helena mourn over their babies is so gut wrenching also did you notice Helena walked the same path Rhaenyra walked up the stairs while leaving a trail of blood after giving birth. Loved seeing the Young Stark lord 😔
They asked Daemon “What if we can’t find him (Aemond)?” And Daemon gave them a look.
They did ask, what if they can't find him, and it cut away before Daemon answered.
LMAO them being livid at blood &cheese for all the wrong reasons is hilarious to me. The crime was heinous both in the show and in the books and it warrants anger for sure but it wasn't poor writing, they asked daemon "what if we can't find him", daemon smirks and scene cut so it's fair to assume he told them "a son for a son" preferably Aemond but any son will do
The keep was abandoned because crispy Cole was busy not guarding the Queen 😅
That's because he's guarding the other Queen xD
to be fair, there should've been more guards than Criston, he can't guard the Red Keep by himself
@Fenix-lr6ez since he is the head of the kingsguard, it's his responsibility to have guards stationed to protect the queen and children. He failed in his duties, just like he failed at protecting aemond when he lost his eye. One of the worst kings guard in history, second to maryn trant
@@Fenix-lr6ez the other guards were with King
@@marcuswilliams7888 exactly….
The thing about the royal rooms being empty and left unguarded, remember Larys the foot fetish guy, he said he got rid of the staff who were "traitors" or something like that. Plus the remaining guards were all with Aegon in the throne room and Criston Cole was the one supposed to be on guard duty in the royal rooms but he was busy with the queen.
Remember this was not too long after Aegon took the throne so the greens were still sorting out who is loyal and who still supported Rhaenyra.
Exactly. That’s what I thought too. Also, Blood and Cheese wanted the money so badly that they rushed the mission as they didn’t want to get caught and killed the Kings son to finish the deed even though it wasn’t Aemond. It’s still a royal son.
What’s also wild is Alicent is in Rhaenyra’s old room. Where she is screwing Sir Cristen “so I’m just supposed to be your whore?” Cole. Helaena had Alicent’s old room. Which means Helaena made the same walk Rhaenyra did that after Alicent insisted she come after giving birth. Also Alicent is screwing Cole in the same room that Cole took Rhaenyra’s virginity. Also why was there no guard on the queen’s room? Was Cole shirking his duty to screw Alicent? So much wildness happening there.
Re why they killed the king’s song instead of Aemond: they panicked. The servant had seen Blood (the bigger dude), and Cheese ran into the Queen. There was no way for them to keep looking for Aemond without getting caught. And since Daemond’s command was based on “a son for a son,” they figured they could still get paid with any son.
wild
I mean he obviously asked Daemon "what if we can't find him". Daemon's face says it all about who else they can pick.
Well, Heleana is now the queen. So, she will have Alicent room now. That require Alicent to move to a different room.
No guards means nobody hears them esp as they were being noisy lol
And they ruined all of that with having them have a previous sex scene. It was inferred that any son would do, that's what Daemon's smile conveyed. There was almost no way a gold cloak and rat catcher could kill a swordsman like Aemond in high alert. It's ridiculous. Daemon knew this and hoped for what would likely happen. It worked.
The sound of blood and cheese sawing off the prince's head rivals the sound of Tony Collette sawing off her own head in Hereditary.
Hotd 🤝 hereditary
Decapitated children
When Helaena is first shown this ep, she's knitting her son's funeral shroud without realising 😢 also when she says 'what if he does not want to be king?' does she say this cos she can't see a future with him being on the throne, so tries to rationalise it in her mind?
It's not the funetal shroud. People looked at the embroidery, it's Sunfyre. Aegon is seen wearing clothes with that embroidery later. She is working on Aegons clothes.
When they both asked Daemon "What if we cant find him," and Daemon just gave that look, later on they said "a son for a son he said" so we can assume that's what Daemon told them after it cuts away.
The director of the show actually said Daemon didnt direct the k*lling of the lit boy..That decison was All on Blood and Cheese.
@@mekareactsandreviews3026 I just assumed they picked the first son they came across
@@roronoa747 yeah they did..But that wasnt supposed to be the plan.
Not Oak going hard against the show for a misunderstanding on his part, again 😅
The dialogue between Daemon, Blood, and Cheese set up how commoners and even some knights apparently, don't have a good idea who the royalty are. They had to be told a description of Aemond, and Blood didn't recognize Heleana, the literal queen.
This to me, proves they didn't really know what they were doing, and/or didn't really care. Spurred on by Daemon's suggestion after being asked "What if we can't find him", it's clear why they did what they did. Especially after following them for ten minutes and seeing the anxiety build in both them and ourselves over this
I think ya'll misunderstood what happened in the end. Daemon is no fool, he knew perfectly well they wouldn't be able to kill Aemond. Cheese also knew that, that's why he asks "What if we can't find him?". Daemon basically just did that to rattle them and make them attack, and also, of course, for revenge...
Not poor writing at all…. Remember what Heleana said about being afraid of the “RATS”
Best advice I can give is this…. With this game of thrones universe. There’s no such thing as a throw away line…. Every word said is significant.
@@shakeimfraser6166 its a tv show for the masses. it is very well told and accesible. But when you dont pay attention, talking and reacting and taking notes...yeah you miss things. I find it funny how they mention not having read the book. You dont need to read the book to understand the tv show. There are literal subtitles.
Rhaneyras dragon was mother to lukes dragon so hence why she wailed with rhaneyra
When she said she was scared of the rats, she looked right at the bed that her son would later die in. Y’all better start listening to this lady, she knows what she’s talking about!
Its so funny that most of the people are more angry at the dog kicking than killing the child 😂
Honestly like a child got beheaded 🫣
It’s almost as if y’all didn’t pay attention to the conversation when they ask what if they can’t find Aemond …. And just cuts from Daemons face
From the Green side, ep started with showing how wall guards are starting to relax too much, then B&C pass by Aegon drinking with his guards, and Criston - who Otto had ordered to return to his duties - was obviously not focusing on his job. The ep was done brilliantly to show how each domino lead to the next, and finally the heir was killed. The point of the convo with Erryk (or Arryk, one of the knight twins Daemon was talking to) was to tell the audience that if you're in the king's guard, your task is to protect all members of the royal family - so Criston and his men were supposed to guard Helaena and her kids as well, but they chose not to unfortunately (they even emphasized multiple times through the ep how Greens think Vhagar will keep them safe so they didn't even imagine an attack and prepare for it, which was... An error, to use Otto's words.).
Wow, Oak! Talk about an overblown, incorrect reaction. I love watching you guys, but that was beyond painful to watch someone be so wrong.
I believe he has a young son so I think his feelings got the best of him
i dont like it when people shout and get angry and blow hard over what they dont understand and they go on and on, confirming their own bias until they calm down. I like Oak but i am allergic to this behaviour. Reminds me of loud uncles you cant reason with when they get triggered.
"WHAT DO WE DO IF WE CAN"T FIND HIM"? -------(later, in the room looking at the children) "He said a son for a son", then Cheese says cut his head off so we can get paid". This was Daemon's plan. Daemon always strikes out in violence. His answer to pretty much everything is violence. "WHAT DO WE DO IF WE CAN'T FIND HIM"?..... Violence.
All of your complaints are completely based on misunderstanding the ending. They didn't think that was Aemond, they couldn't find Aemond and settled for hoping the young boy would be good enough
You over thinking it fellas they couldn’t find him and were there too long “A son for a son”
Sorry to break it to you guys but the kid died on purpose. They were going to give Daemon a son's head regardless. They knew who Aegon was they simply found an easier to kill target.
Team Black 100%. Its war man....ANYBODY CAN GET IT.
Aegon is hilarious. Is he not?😂😂😂
the Queen is not crazy at all.She's clairvoyant.She saw it happening,hence the "I'm afraid of the rats".
But that goes for the rat snatchers and the spies.
I noticed after my third watch,Helaena was knitting a veil.
In the trailer they showed her wearing it to a funeral.
I missed that! on second watch, i noticed something right before she points her finger at jahearys. She stares off into the distance momentarily and you hear a faint 'rumble' the same sound Drogon would make right before he spits fire. She also says "no"....but not to Blood. and i think she silently communicated to Cheese. Telepathically. my head canon is that Heleana saw her vision come true and a voice told her to choose jahearys. That it was inevitable. And the way she gasped as she pointed. Almost as if it was involuntary....could a Three Eyed Raven be controlling her?
@@roddo1955 yep
The same when she ran with the child and was lost.
There was a moment she did the same thing and paused.Afterwards she suddenly got a sense of direction.
Also I think its the same way Rhaenyra ran just in reverse.
It shook me for sure but one thing I didn’t understand was where was the guards for the queen and the children in the first place ? It’s like they didn’t think “hey maybe we should have more guards in the castle to make sure everyone is safe”
My mental health always tanks when watching reactions to an interesting show, because it demonstrates how a vast majority of people pay zero fucking attention.
Agreed.
Oh my goodness! CHill out! Let them tell the story. We're on episode 2. We obviously don't have the whole story yet.
I really appreciate how Helena reacted. Everyone will not have the same screaming, loud reactions, there’s a reason fawn and freeze are now considered in the fight or flight responses. Especially after she leaves the room and sees no one in the halls, I think the fear on her face skyrockets as she thinks she may be hunted down after. She becomes this determined robot with no emotions by the end, just trying to survive the awful moment she’s stuck in and protect her daughter.
Guys, you're wrong. They did leave it ambiguous when they asked "What if we can't find him?" and later they confirmed Daemon told them "A son for a son." So, that's what they did. They couldn't find Aemond, so they went for the closest son.
One of the important things there, is that Ser Criston Cole is in deep shit. He's supposed to be captain of the kingsguard, and he's supposed to take care of the King and Queen... he wasn't taking care of the Queen, because he was "taking care" of the Queen Mother.
I think the reason there were no guards with Heleana in the hallways is because
some of them are with Aegon while he's drunk in the throne room, protecting him.
(I dont know if Blood being a Gold Cloak if he can command those who are standing guard in the castle away).
And Ser Criston is once again NOT ON DUTY (he wasnt on duty when Aemond lost his eye in S1) so his post was abandoned.
And Heleana being Heleana, im assuing she was in shock. she couldnt find anyone in the hallway and too scared to scream, so she ran to her mom for help. :( Heleana and Jaehaerys are the only Greens I feel sorry for. Go Team Black lol.
I think the same
a gold cloak is like a cop. They dont command Kings Guard. They are city watch. Not supposed to be in the palace. See how the maid notices the chainmail on Blood. She was like..'what is this ratcatcher doing with citywatch chainmail under his rags....im outta here"
It doesn't matter, there should still be household guards in the hallways. It made no sense, it was a poorly written scene.
Daemon is not scheming. He's pragmatic and he knows about war tactics, same as Aemond.
The blacks had everything ready to move on with the war, but Rhaenyra wants Aemond, that's not a good plan. She should focused on getting the throne.
Second, the fact that the new Kings Landing staff was chosen by Larys, means he knows everything happening in the castle with the greens. That's why Alicent wanted to bathe herself, she felt uncomfortable with the new staff.
The scene of Daemon saying "a son for a son" is cut out so we don't know what's coming, basic suspense storytelling. Blood and Cheese did what Daemon told them to do in case they didn't find Aemond. And Blood says also on screen that the order was "a son for a son".
Aemond will never admit he lost control of Vhagar when Lucerys died because that would look bad, so he probably told Alicent and Otto that he killed him on purpose.
Helena is autistic and a dreamer (meaning she has visions), so her reaction where she is found by Blood and Cheese is tied to that.
King Aegon, for now at least, will treat the "small folk" good because so far he's only getting recognition from them, he was always ignored and mistreated by Viserys (by ignoring him as heir) and Alicent. That's why he, first as soon as he became king named his son as heir (giving him the recognition he never got from his father) and treating the people generously whilst being intolerant with his counsil.
Such a good episode even though there are complaints from book readers I still loved this.
As a book reader, I would rather take this than half the other unnecessary changes from GoT.
That's because book readers aren't looking at the biased unreliable NARRATOR who wasn't even there. History = his story, they're never going to be 100%, they can tell the main events, there was a blood and cheese that killed the son and they made Heleana choose. They hyped themselves up too much with it. Think it's a great lesson for book readers AND historians, pay attention to who is telling the story of events.
You're confused, they knew what they were doing. A son for a son.
38:33 That cut from Oak going on a rant about the killing to him appreciating the work of the cast and crew while still in a ranting mood gave me whiplash lol.
Did Y'all forget last season when Helena said there is a beast under the boards? She is a dragon dreamer.
Heleana nailed it again! ✌
Fun fact ig: The scene were rhaneyra cries for her som, her dragon Syrax in the back is also grieving as the arrax (lucerys’ dragon) was her son. Both mother r grieving
YOU REWATCHED THE SCENE AND THEN PAUSED RIGHT BEFORE THE PART THAT ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION FFS
Yes!
Daemon told them to look for Aemond. They also asked him what to do if they couldn’t find him. We never saw him say anything, but I think it was Blood that said that Daemon said “A son for a son”. We never saw Daemon actually say that to them so that’s what he said off screen.
I believe it’s implied that when asked “What if we can’t find Aemond”, Daemon looks up and it cuts to black to symbolize that they’re to get “a son for a son” if they can’t find him. Which is why the one guard said, “He said a son for a son.” meaning that the priority there was to get some sort of revenge. Which is probably not what Rhaenyra wanted, but as we all know, Daemon works on his own accord
The director of the show actually said Daemon didnt direct the k*lling of the lit boy..That decison was All on Blood and Cheese.
I think that look Daemon gave them when they asked "What if we don't find Aemond?" meant "Then kill a son for me".
She's afraid of the rats because she can feel them. Remember that some people are Wargs and can enter the bodies of animals.
Cole should have been GUARDING not messing about! I hope that gets more attention. He is the kings guard, and was busy with his own mess.
The assassins were instructed, however... they did ask, " What if we can't find him?" The look in Daemons eyes tells us that his answer is nothing good 😮
"an ally would not repeatedly cut my legs from beneath me at that table of men!" Thats awfully funny Alicent because i remember you doing that to Rhaenrya when she was on the council.
the floor was probably empty of guards because Alicent and Cole were going at it, they didn't want any servents or kingsguard to know
yall werent watching lmao. "what if we can't find him?"
Every person that watched this show had a bigger problem with the dog getting booted over the child beheading.... All the awards for the good doggo wagging his tale as he runs away!
At a certain point, they couldn't find Aemond so a "son for a son" became "a son is a son". Daemon definitely gave them the directive after they asked "what if we don't find him".
OAK went full Promo mode 😂
It’s presumed that the castle halls are empty and without guards because A. Larys (foot guy) told alicent he recently ridded the castle of “betrayers”- insinuating maybe they were temporarily short staffed and B. Criston was supposed to be on guard and possibly cleared the halls to avoid getting caught with Alicent (btw they were getting it on in Rhanaeyra’s old bedroom which Helaena assumed would be empty) really makes you wonder what Criston was doing when Aemond eye was cut in season 1…
it was done due to Daemons orders: jahaerys was option B. this was in the books as well
“Cheese” asked D what if we can’t find him, and they cut away. I mean D probably just said kill someone .. “a son for a son”
It was great seeing Ice again. That sword is MASSIVE!
35:00 It was between Daemon and Blood 😂 It was after Blood asks “what if we can’t find him?” The scene was * Cut * early and “abruptly ending” when we pan back to Daemon who has a change of face. His answer was “A son for a son”. You guys missed it because it was an implication of more chaos ordered by Daemon off screen. In terms of their work and seeing the royal family, Blood stayed in the lower rat tunnels & Cheese stayed in the lower streets patrolling neither never seeing the family up close but understood they were killing a child 💯 instead.
The Rat catcher clearly said "What do we do if we can't find him" and yall laughed at what Daemon might have told him when the did a screen cut (A Son For A Son) then yall forgot..🤷♂️😅
You're making an ASSUMPTION that they didn't know, i think it's implied that they were to get a son for a son when they asked Daemon "what if we don’t find him?" and it changes scene before he responds.
Blood is a brutal member of the city watch (does not work in the castle) and Cheese (a downstairs rat catcher that knows the secret tunnels to avoid the royals) : These are two really gross dumb bad dudes. Daemon made the mistake of hiring these two to do this job. Cheese was clearly aware of what could happen if they got caught so they wanted to get in and out and they did that with the path of least resistance. Also watch Matt Smith’s face acting after they ask ‘what if we can’t find him?’ ….i took that to mean ‘improvise’ and bad dudes did really bad stuff.
The child's death is from the book. The author wrote that. I also think that they killed the child on purpose. I don't think they mistook the child for Aemond by any sense. I think they wanted to get out of there as quick as possible they knew they were taking too much time and they knew that those were the children of the king so it was a son for a son to them.
I think it's probably based in historical context. The author as everyone knows tends to draw a lot of his stuff from history and there have been plenty of children who are heirs for the throne who have been murdered by the other side. The two that most come to mind are the famous princes in the tower.
29:47 It was implied that Daemon wanted them to go after Aegon's heir. There's a reason he said that "Aegon's entire line would be dead if Rhaenys had attacked." It was never really about Aemond for Daemon, he knows he needs/wants to kill everyone so he doesn't have a living claimant.
The book was different as others have commented - however George R. R. Martin said that the show is the true accounting of what actually happened, as the book was told from the perspective of others. But there was a line "what if we can't find him" and a smirk kind of from Daemon so I don't know what that meant, we don't know what was said/what the answer was if any but I think that Cheese (the rat catcher) got scared, he was anxious, he was where he wasn't meant to be, and technically I don't think he was the one meant to do any killing it was Blood, and well it was quite unfortunate. Great reaction!
Criston should've been on guard but he has his priorities. 🙄
I can't believe the afterwatch discussion 😂 you thought they thought that little kid was Aemond? That's so funny 😂😂😂
They work AT THE CASTLE 😂😂😂
In the book Aegon’s children were always the target. A son for a son. Not a brother. The assassins were not able to get to the inner sanctum of the castle but knew Helaena and her children always visited Alicent to say good night, and she lived in a more accessible area. They got in the room through a tunnel and killed a guard and a maid. A lot of people are critisising Oak for going overboard but unless you know what to look for, there are a lot of holes in the show plot. If Daemon had access to the royal apartments he would not throw away his chance to kill Aegon.
The scene where blood and cheese ask daemon “what if we can’t find aemond” and then the scene shows daemon about to smile and cuts. and then later in the scene in haelena’s room. “a son for a son”, he said so daemon asks for a son regardless.
The instruction was for "Aemond", but when Cheese and Blood asks "what if we dont find him?", we don't hear what Daemon answers... then the chapter is named "A son for a son"
The guard is a gold cloak (he’s like the police and doesn’t work in the castle, that’s the white cloaks) and the rat catcher is lowly (he only catches rats in the common area). Aemond isn’t the type to be hanging out where they are in Flea Bottom. Aemond spent most of his time studying and training. He’s not associating with lowly mortals in the common part of the castle.
heartbreaking info I just found out about the scene when Rhaenyra founds Luce's remains... Luce's dragon Arrax, was also a son of Rhaenyra's dragon Syrax.
So in these scene 10:50 it's both mothers mourning over their children's remains...😭
IDK why but being back in Winterfel made me soo bloody emotional
WILD start to the season, I was shook when filming the end of this ep & SAME feeling when those d bags kicked the dog!!!
There was a pause when the two asked what they should do if Aemond wasn’t found. The mystery is, was the answer just to kill any son?
Jesus Christ guys, they knew that wasn't Aemond lol
Man The Answer literally butchering all them names 😂 love it!
The way heleana was looking for people all the way to her mothers room, and there was no one. We then see criston (the commander of the kings guard) and alicent tgt, so im guessing that they purposefully cleared the floor out to not get caught. So this was able to happen because of them.
This came straight from the book. There is a longer conversation about what happens if they can’t get to Aemond. They do ask the question in the episode, but the cut the rest of the conversation. Should come out in the next episode that daemon ordered the hit. There names are Blood and Cheese.
I really like Aegon's character (and actor). The scene where he's taking petitions is fantastic. It's clear he just really wants to be liked, and even has * some * goodness/empathy in him. Compared to Joffrey he's an absolute angel.
Disclaimer: I haven't read the books so I'm only speaking of him in the present, I'm sure he'll be performing more sufficiently repulsive acts in the future, like he did last season
If you were listening. Blood and Cheese asked “what if we can’t find him” so maybe Damon told them to take the head of a royal prince and they found Halaina and her royal prince son.
There are seven Kingsguard. Three are with Rhaenyra on Dragonstone. The old Lord Commander left last season when they told him to kill Rhaenyra. Two were in the throne room with Aegon. Sir Criston should have been guarding the new Queen but he was too busy with Alicent. The guy did ask Daemon what they should do if they can't find Aemond and the scene cuts away so we don't know what Daemon told them to do if they couldn't find him.
WILD start to the season, I was shook when filming the end of this ep
Man, since Hereditary, that noise just creeps me out. SO MUCH
I understand why the ending would make you upset. If you rewatch the scene when Daemon was hiring them though, they did ask Daemon what they should do if they could not find Aemon. The scene ended abruptly before we heard Daemon's response, so who knows if what they did was actually an alternative order from Daemon in case Aemon could not be found.
I love how in season one the Queen keeps mentioning the beast below the boards, and that’s exactly where Rhaenys bursts through the floor with her dragon. Now in season two she tells Aegon that she’s afraid of the rats, and it’s the rat catcher that comes to kill her son. She talks in very cryptic ways, but she’s not stupid.
Oh man, I had been hearing the term "Blood and Cheese" and had no idea what it referred to. And it was sufficiently more horrifying than I had imagined. Lol. I hope Oak can recover! I was not prepared either. 😮
great reaction. some of these name pronunciations are killing me though
When they asked Damon if they couldn't find Aemon what they should do Damon looked at them and then the scene was cut. They did that with Damon's orders.
In the books Blood and Cheese have to climb outside the Hand's Tower to get in, Maegor's holdfast where the royal family lives is impenetrable. They go to Alicent's room where the queen visits, with guards. They kill the guards and then make her choose between her two sons (she has three kids in the book). She chooses the younger and they kill the eldest after telling him she wants him dead.
I'm assuming they cut the kids for logistical reasons, and I don't think you can show that type of violence against children on screen. I think that they just decided to kill the heir to get paid since they couldn't find the actual person.