Mat Lanticus said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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I'm really hoping you didn't just spoil the ending of the show with your last sentence there?

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Not at all, the monarch I mentioned -- Aegon IV -- is downstream in the Targaryen family tree from all of the characters in House of the Dragon by a good 40 years. The name by itself is not a spoiler, even less of a spoiler than if someone would have posted Egg from AKOTSK is actually Prince Aegon Targaryen.

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Well, hell with numerous Aegon's down the line and Joeffry's and everyone else, you have to pay attention to which one it is. when egg first revealed who he was, I had to kind of look in the lineage to make sure who he was and wasn't. I have never read any of the books, but I do intend to at some point.

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Tommy Flanagan as Lord Dustin seems wasted but that's a minor gripe.

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It's a shame he had to die, even though I saw it coming, I have not read the books, but I think he still kicked ass in his role. And what a death. He is always phenomenal. You should watch the making of show behind this. He's funny on that too.

He'll always be the servant in gladiator to me first though.

Lots of likable characters in GoT. I'm watching it with my daughter this summer.

Sam & Gilly
Sansa
Arya
Davos Seaworth
Tormund
Most of the guys in the night's watch who don't stab Jon
Brienne
Podrick

etc.

AKOTSK really hits a chord though because Dunk is just a common guy; exceedingly tall and strong yes, but also committed to doing the right thing every time. Outside of Sam Tarly and Davos Seaworth, I don't think anyone else in GOT does that; and seemingly nobody in HOD

I caught that as well.

Also, did it look for a split second like Rhaenyra was about to jump as well?

I knew based on Joffrey's spoilers in GoT that it wasn't gonna happen, but that was definitely purposeful.

I said, when Haelena looked at it, "come on, don't pull a Tommen."

zap said:

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Same window for Tommen and Haleana?

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At least the same side of the castle. But Tommen was king. It seems unlikely they'd keep Halaena in the same suite that the king uses.

redline248 said:

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I said, when Haelena looked at it, "come on, don't pull a Tommen."

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I did too. Said, "uh oh Haelena gonna Tommen herself."

it would be a slight leap of ret-conning, but you could tie Rhaenyra's speech about the "unspeakable evil in the far north" to the mockery that people like Cersei and Tyrion grow up saying that "grumpkins and snarks" live beyond the wall.

Rhaenyra is so desperate to be hailed as queen that she gives a crazy speech one day in front of the holy sept about some BS race of monsters who never actually show up.

rhaenyra talking absolute nonsense gif #HOTD pic.twitter.com/mXHXc0CzSj

— Neb | 🏳️‍🌈 (@NebsGoodTakes) August 10, 2026

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Martin is a dark soul but he wrote compelling characters WITH levity for both GOT and AKOTSK but since HOTD was more of a historical summary it fell onto the showrunner and writing room to work some magic...which they've failed at so far.

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I think you're confusing a hero character you can root for, with well-written character. Two very different things, and I would argue Rhaenyra, Daemon, and Alicent are all excellent characters.

Now could the show use more comic relief? Absolutely.

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The actor playing Aegon is the only one who gets that concept I think. Apparently none of his scenes this season were in the book, he was just not mentioned so credit the writers for that.

deer corn said:

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This list not having Tyrion as #1, cannot be taken seriously.

He is THE MOST likeable character of the series.

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My kid doesn't like drinking and whoring as much as the rest of us.

Does she really like Sansa, though?

CharleyKerfeld said:

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deer corn said:

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This list not having Tyrion as #1, cannot be taken seriously.

He is THE MOST likeable character of the series.

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My kid doesn't like drinking and whoring as much as the rest of us.

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Give her time

A "continuity" error????

Recall Danny on her dragon blasting Kings Landing and the Red Keep. One blast and stone exploded, towers fell, buildings collapsed.

Now look at Daemon at Oldtown gate. A blast and the gate still stands. On fire but still standing.

Same command to the two dragons. Two different results.

Drogon was bigger? We also had dragon fire vaporizing people at times, other times only burning them very badly

Daemon was definitely holding back even though he toasted two straggling kids.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Isn't your daughter like 13?

No judgment, but that is gonna get hella awkward at times.

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I go through every episode beforehand using the episode guide and common sense media and she has to close her eyes while I mute and fast-forward through anything inappropriate. I'm not an idiot.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Ok, but we clearly see Haelena on Dreamfyre in that dream. So yes, she was seeing herself.

None of what you said could have been inferred from what they showed us on screen.

We get it, you read the book.

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I'm just trying to explain what the writers might have been going for. The book isn't very good. I just looked up this info on WIkipedia to try to solve the answer.

I just assumed she was never going to ride Dreamfyre. It was not in her nature. She was too passive and gentle.

Plus, she spent a good amount of time on the run or in captivity.

Honestly I think the writers were very intentionally trying to fake viewers out with that dream sequence, making us think she had an important role to play, so the suicide would hit harder.

In that respect, a job well done.

But it's still annoying dangling that in front of us and now knowing we'll never get it.

And of course in retrospect, one could start to theorize what the dream actually means. And will likely become even clearer in S4.

And just a personal stance here, but I don't like hearing seemingly mundane details that either a) take some of the mystery out of theorizing, or b) lead us down paths that we wouldn't otherwise have gone without the book details.

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Honestly I think the writers were very intentionally trying to fake viewers out with that dream sequence, making us think she had an important role to play, so the suicide would hit harder.

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I see what you did there

In seriousness, though, you're probably right about why they did it. In terms of her character, it is likely a possible future she is seeing if she only chooses to take that path. She, obviously, chose differently. What I'm not sure about, is whether or not she's aware of what she has been cross stitching. Cuz that stuff is, in fact, coming true.

I thought in the moment that was a vision of what she could become, and she took it as a very negative thing.
Who knows though