No argument regarding Otto and Larys, however I think they’ve built up Alicent quite well. She was pushed into her position and subsequently Rhaenyra (not unreasonably) let their friendship sour. She has Otto and Cristan turn her against the princess, but Rhaenyra also gives her enough justification by lying to her face and blatantly producing bastards. She’s terrified her family will be killed in a succession dispute and then one of those bastards takes her true born sons eye out. And then the misunderstanding of Viserys’ last words. I appreciated how after all that she showed compassion for Rhaenyra at the Green Council and was actively pushing for no bloodshed, and that rather than a coup she was following her late husbands wishes.
Hard disagree on Alicent. I really like Olivia Cooke's performance, but I think her character is far from fully realized. The time jumps probably didn't help, but the turn on Rhaenyra had no emotional resonance and served for plot advancement more than anything else. She basically hooked up with her best friend's father and yet is mad at her friend for sleeping around?
It feels as though the writers are torn between trying to make the greens the Lannisters of HotD, while trying to make us empathize with Alicent. But the attempts at the latter came too late due to lack of character development early on. The reconciliation with Rhaenyra in episode 8, followed by Alicent misunderstanding Viserys' last wish, and then her conflicted approach in ep 9 screamed "LOOK AT ME, I'M SUCH A COMPLEX AND NUANCED CHARACTER". But that was never believable as she has systematically sought to assert her power pretty bluntly every step of the way until that point. Even her fear of losing her children doesn't come across very well - especially when she basically disowns Aegon. And for a character that is portrayed as cunning and smart, are we to believe that she just didn't notice her father's manipulation or that the behind the stages maneuvering to crown Aegon took place without her knowledge?
Rhaenys was waiting to take her brother in laws body back home after he was killed yesterday. Despite the forced spectacle of her exit, which I took as her saying “fuck you I won’t do what you tell me”, she was hardly going to kinslay AND kingslay an entire branch of her family.
But her dying husband is supposedly on the way home or home already (did they ever confirm his death?), and she's waiting for the body of the guy who tried to take power away from her grandchildren in Driftmark (which she presumably wouldn't even be able to carry on her dragon?). It doesn't make sense to me!
Also, are we to believe that Alicent is afraid that Rhaenyra will kill her daughters and yet Rhaenys is not afraid of what the greens will do to her granddaughters now? For someone who has been portrayed as the person who should have been ruler, she basically put a target on her family and allowed the civil war to start.
It’s very convenient that Rhaenyra and Daemon left in the night after a punch up at a wedding family reunion rather than staying with her obviously dying father. But her being away is the only way this story works.
The last sentence is my problem with the writing. A lot of stuff happens because it serves the plot, not because it is earned in the story. Random characters appear because they are needed. Characters make strange decisions because it advances the plot. But there is no build up, emotional stakes, or earned moments, by and large.
Anyone checking out The Rings of Power? Sorry to say I dropped it after being beyond bored for the first three episodes. Similar to Westworld’s Man in Black I see the internet deduced who Sauron was a month before the finale.
I watched the whole season, and while there were good moments, I wasn't overly impressed.
Andor, on the other hand, is FANTASTIC.
