Summary: Viserys has died and Alicent receives the news. The small council is immediately assembled and Otto and his allies start getting into their long-term preparations to crown Aegon, infuriating Alicent. Beesbury is also furious and starts ranting, but Criston sits him back down, killing him in the process. The small council proceeds and Otto makes plans to kill Rhaenyra and tries to send Harrold to do it. Harrold takes off his cloak and walks out. The Red Keep goes into lockdown to prevent news of Viserys' death escaping. Lords that do not bow to Aegon are imprisoned or executed Rhaenyra is trapped in her room. Alicent goes to her to attempt to win her over but it doesn't work. Alicent sends Aemond and Criston to find Aegon, while Otto sends Erryk and Arryk. Erryk and Arryk are seen by one of Mysaria's followers. Otto agrees to meet Mysaria who gives him Aegon's location. Erryk and Arryk find him but are tailed by Aemond and Criston. Erryk, disillusioned by Aegon, refuses to help and Aemond and Criston overpower Arryk to take Aegon to Alicent. Alicent crowns Aegon immediately, deciding to send terms to Rhaenyra rather than assassinating her. Erryk frees Rhaenys, who is present at Aegon's crowning at the Dragonpit. She sneaks off to Meleys and crashes the coronation with her dragon. Choosing not to murder the Greens, she flies off to Dragonstone.
The Good: The mood and atmosphere in this episode was exceptional. Viserys has died, and the show did a great job of making it feel like the world has lost something now that he's gone. The music was terrific throughout, and there were several great scenes of quiet that established the dark, melancholy feel that is encapsulating the Red Keep. This really felt like a somber community on the brink of a war that everyone knows is coming. It takes exceptional production work to capture this feeling effectively. I really liked the decision to focus this episode purely on fallout of the king's death. With this season's many timeskips, we haven't often had time to explore fallout of major events. Finally getting it here makes this episode feel more special, and I'm pleased to see that we're likely approaching the end of the timeskips with the main conflict officially getting underway. The titular green council was an excellent scene. With the Red Keep going on lockdown, it quickly becomes apparent that Otto, as scummy as ever, has been actively preparing to usurp Rhaenyra's crown, and that realization is brutal for us, and even more brutal for Alicent, whose own father had been acting behind her back. The tension upon Alicent's disgusted realization is terrific, and the scene is further elevated when Lord Beesbury steps up. Being just a bumbling old man before this, it is surprising and memorable to see Beesbury advocating for Viserys, having known him for longer than everyone and being one of the few to care for his wishes. Tragically, Beesbury has this great moment of loyalty and is promptly murdered by Criston, who somehow manages to become more and more despicable by the episode. I liked how this led into conflict between Criston and Harrold. Harrold still holds onto his honour and integrity, while Criston has given in to the political savagery within King's Landing, and that separates them in this scene. Harrold tries to confront Criston for killing Beesbury, but upon seeing the steely reception in the room, we see Harrold pacify his actions and ultimately decide that he can no longer be a part of this. He gives up his cloak, and Criston takes his place instead, a corrupt leader of the Kingsguard who is only still in his position because his lack of integrity benefits the powerful Hightowers. The internal conflict between Alicent and Otto is fascinating and it provides the main emotional core of the episode. They are both on the same side, hoping to crown Aegon instead of Rhaenyra. But their differing morals and sense of justice lead to them being at odds with Alicent wishing to crown Aegon immediately and offer terms, and Otto wishing to hide Viserys' death until he can assassinate Rhaenyra and her offspring to leave the realm with no choice but to accept Aegon as the heir. Otto is an extreme, showing a brutal, unflinching resolve to get what he wants (his blood on the throne), meanwhile Alicent shows a heart and tries to accomplish her goal without also sacrificing her childhood friend. The dynamic between the two is fascinating, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Alicent victorious in the end, thrashing her father for being so despicable. The hunt for Aegon was enjoyable to watch. it was gripping to see who would end up getting to him first, or if Aegon was even still around in King's Landing. We had a lot of great moments throughout. We get to see more from Aemond and Criston, which I enjoyed. We get to learn a bit about Erryk and Arryk who we briefly met previously. Erryk knows what kind of an animal Aegon is, while Arryk has been distanced enough from the prince that he still thinks that Aegon is the ideal king. The pay-off here was nice as Erryk abandons Arryk in battle to defect to Rhaenyra, freeing Rhaenys in the process. I was pleased that we got to spend some time with these characters, making Erryk's decision feel meaningful. Aegon himself is a surprisingly tragic figure. Despite being a drunkard, rapist, and overall disgusting human being, I can't help but feel bad for him. He was ignored by his father and constantly nagged by his mother to be the next king, when all he wanted was for either of them - or anyone really - to make him feel loved. It's a human feeling that is easy to understand, and I found myself wishing that Aegon could get away because he has no viable life in the Red Keep and him being a king would be a disaster. But the show surprised me with how Aegon accepted his crown. The coronation scene was a wonderful spectacle, and there was a fantastic visualization of how power feels good to everyone, even to those who don't care enough to use it. Aegon had to be literally dragged to his own coronation, but when he was up there in front of that crowd, he seems to have found a sense of belonging in being a beloved king. Finally Aegon has found that love that he has so desperately been seeking, and it was brilliant to see him come around to the idea of being the king. After all, who wouldn't love this amount of power on display? I enjoyed our brief scenes with Mysaria. She is building the iconic "little bird" spy network that Varys operates in "Game of Thrones" and it's fun to see her go from a common whore to a genuine power-player. It was great to see her throw her knowledge of the king's death in Otto's face, enriching the character by showing some of her spunk. I like to see that Mysaria advocates for the smallfolk, making her into a more sympathetic figure instead of as a mysterious villain. I liked seeing Lord Caswell's attempted escape to warn Rhaenyra. He had been a fun background character, and it's nice to see him maintain his loyalty to Rhaenyra. It's obvious that there would still be some Rhaenyra supporters within the walls of the Red Keep, and I appreciate that the show dedicated some time towards showing us what they did about the people that would inevitably try to join with Rhaenyra. The Bad: Rhaenys' actions at the end were the one thing really dragging this episode down. First of all, it is unbelievable that she is able to sneak into the cavern where the dragons are staying. Are there seriously no people guarding the Dragonpit? What happened to the Dragonkeepers? I'm sure that some curious smallfolk would absolutely be trying to sneak in to get a peek at the dragons. Even worse than that is her brazen entry into the main room, destroying the floor and annihilating dozens, if not hundreds, of innocents. This mass murder is absolutely shocking and should make Rhaenys immediately into a fugitive because she just committed completely unnecessary mass murder. And for what reason? So she can dramatically roar at the Greens before flying off. What the hell? If she's willing to kill the smallfolk, she absolutely should be going all the way by murdering the Greens for their treason. Instead she does nothing, making her dramatic entry into nothing more than meaningless spectacle, a flaw that has popped up every now and then throughout this first season. I'm disappointed to see such a crucial scene in the show be marred by the same problem. The foot scene with Larys is exceedingly weird and I'm not too happy with it. The dialogue in the scene is fine, but I was deeply uncomfortable watching Larys get off to Alicent's feet. Even though it is intentional, the episode would have been better off without making the viewer uncomfortable like it does. Larys is much less interesting as a character if his only motivation is to get a peek at Alicent's feet. When Larys said he wanted to be rewarded, this is the least interesting answer to the question of what he wants. The Unknown: Was there a conspiracy to kill Viserys, or were the Greens just waiting for him to die? I wouldn't be surprised if Otto and the Grand Maester found a way to accelerate his disease. Did Criston intentionally kill Beesbury, or was it an accident? He didn't seem bothered by his actions, and neither did anyone else barring Harrold. Will Harrold join up with Rhaenyra now? It's hard to imagine him backing Aegon after all that has happened. Will Rhaenys warn Rhaenyra? How will she react to the news of Aegon's crowning? What will she do next? Otto has had more time to get into action and contact everyone, putting Rhaenyra at an immediate disadvantage. Will Erryk make it to Dragonstone? How will King's Landing react to his defection? More specifically, how will his brother react? Will Aegon be a good king? He seemed to enjoy himself once in the position? Will this translate to him actually stepping up, or will he be a selfish king similar to Joffrey? Is Otto going to hold his word to Mysaria? I suspect that it will slip his mind since Otto doesn't seem like one to prioritize the smallfolk. Will this make Mysaria his enemy? That could be very dangerous for Otto. Also, did Otto not recognize her from being Daemon's paramour? A clever way to highlight Otto's vanity and privilege by having him not even remember who Mysaria is, and perhaps a fun set-up for later if Mysaria betrays him to ally with Daemon. Best Moment: Not much stood out, but I'll give it to the small council meeting, which went from big development to big development in a thoroughly entertaining way. Character of the Episode: Alicent. Conclusion: This was a very strong episode of fallout, hurt by a pretty stupid spectacle at the end of the episode. The ending was weak, but I still have to credit the rest of the episode for doing an excellent job of getting the main conflict of the series underway in an entertaining and suspenseful fashion. Overall, this was a good episode. Score: 65
4 Comments
Joe Y
10/25/2022 07:57:30 pm
It's the same flaw that popped up at the end of "We Light the Way"--Criston randomly bashing a man's skull in front of *everyone* should have had more consequences than that. Rhaenys somehow getting her dragon back recalls the sloppiness of Larys' men somehow sneaking into Harrenhall in "The Princess and the Queen". It's frustrating because these faults could have been eliminated completely with a few minor re-writes here and there. There have definitely been more than a few times where the show has brushed over logic for the sake of spectacle and shocking! moments. That and the jarring time jumps I'd say are the two notable flaws of this season.
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Aaronic
10/31/2022 07:24:53 pm
Nice to hear from you Joe.
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Joe Y
11/1/2022 06:42:57 am
Yeah, I'd say my complaints are minor but notable. The broader strokes of Criston's arc still make sense, it's just some of the connective tissue that we're missing, which could have been fixed with more time. I am surprised that there are so many naysayers of this show out there, though. Episodes 3 and 6 had some problems, definitely, but overall I think there's a lot to love about the show, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. The show's a lot more focused, so each episode feels like it has its own story to tell. One of the frustrating things about Game of Thrones was the sense that some episodes were composed of 5 minutes of each plot thread, which hardly leads to a satisfying place.
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Aaronic
11/1/2022 07:07:17 pm
I think you're spot on about how Game of Thrones episodes felt unsatisfying when there were so many plot threads in each episode receiving little time. This show has done much better at providing individual episodic experiences in my opinion. I'll save more of my thoughts for my review of the season finale, but I'm in agreement about the lack of connective tissue in several cases. If only we could have had a couple more episodes to help smooth out some story beats.
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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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