I used to go to a bar in NYC for GoT seasons 4-6 that apparently GRRM used to frequent pretty regularly in the first season. Would've been super cool to meet him in person, but never saw him there. I'm sure it had gotten way too big by then for him to want to do that in a packed bar with hundreds of people.

Ol Jock 99 said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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One thing in the episode I call shenanigans on...these two idiots wasted at least a minute trying to get Haelena to say who the boy is, when they could've figured it out in about five seconds. That felt kinda dumb.

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Yeah, and in the book, it was forcing her to choose which kid dies. Sticking with the original would have been far better all around.

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I think it's harder without Maelor, who doesn't exist in the show. Helaena is also not autistic/on the spectrum in the books IIRC?

What I don't get is why they won't mention Daeron despite Daeron supposedly existing (as per supporting/supplemental material).

Then again I remember during GOT they had Victarion Greyjoy on supplemental material but never introduced him and totally cut that arc.

canadiaggie said:

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Ol Jock 99 said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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One thing in the episode I call shenanigans on...these two idiots wasted at least a minute trying to get Haelena to say who the boy is, when they could've figured it out in about five seconds. That felt kinda dumb.

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Yeah, and in the book, it was forcing her to choose which kid dies. Sticking with the original would have been far better all around.

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I think it's harder without Maelor, who doesn't exist in the show. Helaena is also not autistic/on the spectrum in the books IIRC?

What I don't get is why they won't mention Daeron despite Daeron supposedly existing (as per supporting/supplemental material).

Then again I remember during GOT they had Victarion Greyjoy on supplemental material but never introduced him and totally cut that arc.

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The spectrum part is not explicitly called out, but when I was reading, I definitely got the sense that she was kind of just along for the ride for the whole thing. It could have been PTSD from all the terrible things or it could have been that she got the short straw, so to speak, of the whole Targaryen incest thing but them taking the path of her being on the spectrum definitely fits with how she is in the book, I feel like.

Ol Jock 99 said:

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So, talking to the wife (who isn't squeamish) about Blood & Cheese and she liked the change. Felt the original was "too much" and it would have been a major "audience losing" move (like Negan and Glenn on WD).

I thought that was interesting.

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How did the book do it differently?

LB12Diamond said:

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Ol Jock 99 said:

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So, talking to the wife (who isn't squeamish) about Blood & Cheese and she liked the change. Felt the original was "too much" and it would have been a major "audience losing" move (like Negan and Glenn on WD).

I thought that was interesting.

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How did the book do it differently?

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Oh boy, if you can find an excerpt, I'd recommend reading it yourself. It's one of those book moments you'll want to experience yourself.

ETA: I can spoiler tag a good explanation if not.

Just wondering bc the video above just said they killed the kid pretty much the exact same way.

A couple of things to add to what's been said.

First is that Blood and Cheese are the worst kind of sadistic killers originally. Killing a royal toddler to them is as pleasurable as we assume the act of murdering the later Targ family was to Gregor Clegane. They'd probably do it for free, they've got the psycho gene like Ramsey Bolton. The episode turned them into the Abbot and Costello of regicide where it seems equally likely they would have stabbed each other in the face as actually killed someone.

That, and the baloney that they were actually going in there to kill One-Eye, really cheapens the entire fact that Daemon is escalating the war well beyond the point of no return with the ultimate unforgivable act - killing a young child . He wouldn't have 2 assassins go in there to kill that guy, he'd challenge him to single combat.

The rest of the episode just fell too much like every character saying, "Hey remember this scene from last season? You did this in that scene." If the timeline is that this episode is taking place days after the dragon duel at the end of last season, it would be like Daemon asking Rhaenys, "Hey remember that time two weeks ago when you and your dragon exploded out of the Great Sept and interrupted Aegon's coronation and everyone pissed themselves?" That was awesome!"

I understand you need to reestablish relationships and geography and such, but that was largely done in the recap.

speaking of the recap, I watched on my PC with my good headphones, and it didn't give me the recap. Although, the "skip recap" button did pop up. It was weird

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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You can at least admit that every aspect of the show's production value blows The Acolyte out of the water, and it's shameful that Disney+ can't get shows to look this good even with bigger budgets than Max, right?

This is what prestige tv should look and feel like.

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Kinda early in the morning to be going full Kid Omega.

+1. And the music ramping up the tension was a huge part of it.

I definitely got a huge sense of dread, and did not enjoy hearing that kid's head get cut off.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Set a century before #GameOfThrones, the new @HBO Original drama series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is now in production. Coming soon to @StreamOnMax. pic.twitter.com/CS7tX7iND2

— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) June 18, 2024

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The first box is checked, Ser Duncan the Tall looks like a classic Westeros Power Forward

I was expecting the child death scene to be more graphic. Prince Lucerys was innocent too. I think the Jaehaerys Targaryen death is equitable. This is WAR.