Summary: Daemon returns to the Vale and kills Rhea, framing it as an accident. Otto leaves King's Landing and tells Alicent that she has to stop Rhaenyra from going on the throne to protect her children. Viserys goes to High Tide where he proposes a wedding between Rhaenyra and Laenor to Corlys and Rhaenys, who accept. Rhaenyra meets with Laenor and they agree to do their duty but continue their own side relationships. Laenor is gay and involved with Joffrey, a knight. Criston proposes that Rhaenyra run away with him but she refuses, wanting things to continue as normal. Alicent learns from Larys that Rhaenyra had moon tea and she asks a conflicted Criston about it. Criston admits to having sex with Rhaenyra, surprising Alicent. The Velaryons arrive in King's Landing for the seven day wedding. Daemon is there too. Alicent arrives late dressed in green. Joffrey uncovers that Criston is Rhaenyra's lover and tries to make a peaceful arrangement with him. Criston snaps and murders Joffrey, causing chaos. The wedding is done on the spot that day. Viserys collapses afterwards.
The Good: This was a thoroughly entertaining hour of television with a focused narrative. This entire episode centered around the marriage between Rhaenyra and Laenor, and the episode's story hinged around this development. The first half featured a lot of fun politicking as Viserys goes to visit Corlys to propose this marriage, and the episode heavily teases that Corlys might refuse. Corlys is really great in this section of the episode, as he plays up his wounded pride, taking pleasure in the fact that Viserys has no choice but to all-but beg Corlys to accept this proposal. Viserys is understanding of the games he has to play, and it's fun to see how he handles the prideful Corlys, who falls just barely short of arrogance in his interactions. On the other hand, we have Rhaenyra and Laenor who are amicable in their interactions, and surprisingly they understand each other really well. Both are already engaged in other romances, and so they make a sensible agreement to wed each other and paint an image for the world, but continue their romance on the side. I like seeing these detail-oriented conversations in this show, as they enrich character dynamics and make the story feel more realistic. All of these negotiations culminate in the episode's climax as the realm comes together to celebrate a seven day long royal wedding. Now seeing that this is a "Game of Thrones" TV show, a wedding is not nearly as fun and exciting as one might expect. Instead, the climax of this episode is packed with dread and suspense. We know that weddings can be the kiss of death in this show, and the stakes have been raised because every character is present at this wedding. All of the major players have gathered to celebrate this union, and you get the sense that something is going to go wrong. The scenes are dripping with tension, with every conversation capturing your imagination, making you wonder what is going to go wrong. Will Daemon do something reckless? Will he hook up with Rhaenyra in the middle of this wedding? Will Joffrey's conversation with Criston go wrong? Will Alicent make a unexpected, bold move? This sequence captures our imagination through these possibilities, and the direction brilliantly escalates the tension with how the episode is shot, with the relentless background noise only adding to the anxiety. Then, when all hell finally breaks loose, it is earned and it is terrifying as we try to figure out what has caused the panic, culminating in a horrific scene as Criston bludgeons Laenor's lover to death at his own wedding. Criston is a key character in this episode, and thankfully he is written quite well. He is the perfect definition of a gray character. Here is someone who you can easily sympathize with, and yet also condemn for the awful things that he has done. It's easy to relate with this poor guy as he gives in to temptation to have sex with Rhaenyra, and he is guilt-ridden as a response, having stained the honour of his white cloak, the one thing that he has accomplished in his life. His guilt and pain is understandable, and it's quite sad to see him so willingly accept death as a consequence for what he has done. I feel sad for him that his attempt to find success in King's Landing has gone so badly. And yet, I also despise Criston for the things he has done. He gave into temptation with Rhaenyra, but he could always have said no to her, avoiding this problem entirely. I sympathize with him, but his problem is one of his own making. And there is no excusing the fact that he murdered poor Joffrey for absolutely no reason, just to let out some emotion. That was an awful thing to do, and no amount of heartbreak that he may have experienced makes it acceptable. Alicent is another key character, and she is given some fantastic stuff in this episode. Her conversation with Otto was a tremendous way to start the episode. I've been hard on Otto as I've found him to be an insufferable manipulator who is working solely for his own gain. And yet I totally understood where he was coming from when he tried to make it clear to Alicent why he was so persistent about Rhaenyra not being the heir. He genuinely believes that he is doing it for the good of the realm, and has to give Alicent a reality check, letting her know that if she doesn't move against Rhaenyra, it will mean the death of her children. The acting from both Rhys Ifans and Emily Carey in this scene is terrific, and elevates it to the next level. Alicent takes this revelation deeply and we see how it affects her in the rest of the episode. Following the realization from Larys that Rhaenyra had lied to her and betrayed her trust, Alicen takes matters into her own hands. She gets the unexpected truth out of Criston in another excellent scene, and when she reappears after that, she is dressed in green for the first time in the series, declaring that the character has transformed and is no out for self-preservation. Now that she's all alone in King's Landing, it's time that Alicent starts looking out for herself. This character transformation was beautifully realized, and the full emotional impact of Alicent's choices landed. The other characters all remain interesting in this episode. Before arriving at the wedding, Daemon has a fantastic opening scene when he murders his wife. Daemon is so fascinating to watch because of his unpredictability. We don't know if this murder was pre-planned or if it was opportunistic, so it is engaging to see what Daemon does to poor Rhea when they finally meet again. Rhea's role in the show was brief, but meeting her does give us more depth on her relationship with Daemon. She's actually quite good looking, suggesting to us that the only issue Daemon had with her as his wife may have just been because she was not powerful enough to satiate Daemon's ambition. Rhea did not seem like such a bad person, and it looks like it was Daemon who was the problem in this relationship. Joffrey's stay in the show was also short-lived, but he was given a decent amount of character and personality. His attempted deal with Criston is a reasonable move, and he would have had no way of knowing that Criston would have snapped because of this. Larys is an intriguing character. His motives remain mysterious (see: The Unknown), but I enjoyed his monologue to Alicent. The character is the closest this show has to the manipulations of Varys and Littlefinger, and I'm excited to see more of him. Lyonel continues to be great as he offers Viserys an unbiased opinion. I wonder if Lyonel's loyalty will last, or if the power will inevitably corrupt him as well. The Bad: Criston's arc is very well written and well acted, but it feels rushed. There is so much to what this character goes through, but it is lacking in emotional significance because it all happens so quickly. We hardly get to know who Criston is in previous episodes, so we don't fully understand how traumatized he will be about the stain on his honour until his outburst in this episode. If we had a better understanding of who Criston was going into this episode, then this would not be an issue. The show needed to spend more time building up this character before having his entire world fall apart in the way that it did so that it would have an emotional impact. A result of the show skipping over introducing us to Criston is that this entire arc feels rushed. It is still well-written, but it is done too quickly, and that has sapped away the emotional impact of his despair. Criston murdering Joffrey openly in the middle of a wedding is very problematic. I'm not saying that Criston can't get away with this; he definitely can. He is a Kingsguard, which gives him a lot of authority, and I'm certain that if Alicent chooses to help him, she can use her power to come up with a reasonable excuse (Joffrey attacked him maybe) to protect Criston. This is not the issue I have with this scene. The issue is that this moment feels frustrating because it is the third scene in this show in just five episodes where we have seen murder occur in a public location with seemingly no consequences. If this was one incident in isolation, that's forgivable, but with this being the third incident, it continues to make Westeros feel like a place where murder has no consequences, which is completely untrue. This world has a legal system, so murders can't just happen in public locations without consequence to the murderers! The Blackwood boy in the previous episode should have faced major consequences, and Criston should in this episode as well. Furthermore, I suspect that we will not get to see or hear about how Criston gets out of being responsible for this death. Considering that next episode has an enormous time-skip, it looks like we are glossing over this detail. So nothing can be done to prevent this incident from continuing to make it seem like murder has no consequence in this world. The exchange between Harwin and Larys about Alicent wearing green is the one example of bad dialogue in this episode. I see why it was done, but I don't think that it was necessary to explain the significance of the colour. Astute viewers and book-readers will figure it out, and those who don't will understand from the tone of the scene. The Unknown: Did Daemon return to The Vale with the intent to murder Rhea? Or did he just cash in on a golden opportunity? Is he actually going to inherit Runestone? What's his next move? Pursue Rhaenyra further? Or will his flirtation with Laena become something more? What's in Rhaenyra and Criston's future? Will they continue to see each other or has that bridge been burned? What is Alicent going to say to Criston? I don't imagine that she is going to let him die. Will she use her power as Queen to absolve Criston of the crime he committed at the wedding? Will she try to turn him against Rhaenyra? Larys is a curious character. He seemingly intentionally drove a wedge between Rhaenyra and Alicent. Why? Who is he working for? Or did he do this off of his own volition? Does he have a plan for the future? What is his end goal? Is he working for his father Lyonel? Lyonel seemed honest and reasonable, but perhaps he has machinations in play now. What will Rhaenyra and Laenor's relationship be like? Will Laenor hold a grudge against her because of Joffrey's death? Did Viserys die at the end of the episode? I don't think he did, but it's possible. He has become badly sick. Does he have an illness? Or is somebody at court worsening his condition to get him to die soon? Perhaps Mellos? Best Moment: As tense as the wedding was, my favourite scene had to be Viserys reflecting on if he has been a good king. It's so sad to see the man agonizing on how his mettle was never tested in the same way it was for his predecessors; completely oblivious to the fact that he is being tested, just in a different way. It's so easy to feel bad for Viserys, who fails to understand that he is letting his legacy slip through his failure at handling the political aspect of the realm. Character of the Episode: Alicent. Conclusion: Another very good episode that continues to explore the deeply layered characters and their relationships with one another, with a tense wedding climax elevating this further. There are some problems, particularly surrounding Criston, which prevent this from being the next-level experience that it could have been. But overall, I enjoyed this a lot and this was the most memorable hour of the show so far. Score: 69
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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