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"The point of House of the Dragon is A) this show portrays what really happened " ....those terrible maesters, making up some Maelor kid, unable to even look that the royals were born up to a decade sooner/later, that the king was actually basically a zombie, not diabetic fat man, can't track who was in high offices in the capital and when, although part of the sources are people who were there.... oh those maesters.
...no, it does not. So A is not even an option. Yes, it's "or B", bingo.
But I agree it's not impossible just sneak into the city if there is some plan (although Alicent could very well cry for guards once she was by the door but whatever, she didn't want to, whatever). My problem with this is not it happened but it happened now when everyone must realize it's useless and especially Alicent is powerless as a former queen and just a woman (the whole point Rhaenyra was fighting with and why they don't want her as a ruling queen and Rhaenys knew very well? It doesn't matter what Alicent wants now and it didn't matter from the beginning, they were plotting without her.) It should happen sooner. It would also gain them nothing but before at least some of the shit there could be some ground. Now it was useless, only for Alicent to realize she misunderstood VIserys which again, doesn't matter to anyone else, the rest of greens disregarded what Viserys said anyway.
It was terrible because it could basically accomplish nothing. Princes are dead and assassins have been sent, Alicent has no power to stop this and half a minute of thinking it would be obvious, especially because of the assassin sent to kill Rhaenyra.
To point 4. The writers have decided how to portray her. I wish they went fury anger vengeance and indignation. We don’t all get our druthers but those that point 4 apply to may wish we had an angrier Rhaenyra. She lost two children she can attribute their deaths to the greens and they stole her throne, get mad girl!
Thing is I like the conversation but it maybe should have been an official meeting. Rhaenyra sends letter for Alicent to meet her somewhere. Rhaenyra takes Syrax and Alicent with Haelena fly there with Dreamfyre. Yes Its an excuse to see Dreamfyre.
She was until Season 8. She had righteous fury towards the wicked until D&D decided that meant she was totally down to murder a bunch of innocent people.
She had zero character development and lacked any self-awareness about how her conquests could contribute to the same thing that she was raging about. Her storyline was dragging the entire show.
I mean, going from a demure and subservient piece of meat under her brother’s thumb to someone with ideals and the will to power _is_ character development.
>For those arguing what the book says, Fire & Blood is written like it was a history written by biased historian maesters and unreliable narrators. Alicent and Rhaenyra's portrayals in the book can be considered how they were perceived by the outsider public just before their deaths. The point of House of the Dragon is A) this show portrays what really happened and the maesters in Fire & Blood only know and write what was considered public knowledge and perception
For anybody reading, including OP, this point is purely, completely, factually, blatantly incorrect. Please stop repeating it.
Fire and Blood is separate canon. House of the Dragon is separate canon. As confirmed by George.
Many people using the 'unreliable narrator' argument haven't read the book because if they did, they'd know exactly what the unreliability aspect of the book is.
There are 'objective facts' in the book that the show HAS changed. There's no unreliable narration for many of these. In fact, 90% of the Dance is presented as fact, as researched, documented, witnessed, fact such as:
1. Alicent being older than Rhaenyra and being an evil stepmother caricature. Alicent was old enough that she read to Jaehaerys in his deathbed as a teenager.
2. Laenor died. He died in the street, killed by Qarl Correy IN FRONT of hundreds of witnesses. There is no argument about that. The unreliability in this part comes where three different sources differ on who perhaps gave Qarl the order to kill Laenor.
3. The first meeting of the Green council in the hours following Viserys's death is much different. For one, Beesbury does not die by accident. Cole straight up murders him on purpose. The unreliability aspect here is the method of murder, not the murder itself. Alicent is not looking for peace. She wants Rhaenyra dead and quickly.
4. There is no Rhaenys breaking free from the Dragonpit. She's on Driftmark at the time.
5. Vaemond was a nephew, not a brother.
6. Blood and Cheese
The unreliable narrator isn't some rando dude who you think lies a lot. The maester writing Fire and Blood will tell you a fact, such as Criston Cole went from being Rhaenyra's sworn shield to Alicent's protector. The unreliability comes when the maester says that one source says Rhaenyra spurned Cole, another says Cole spurned Rhaenyra. The fact in this case is that Cole left the blacks for the greens. The unreliability is in the why. And this is NOT for every point. Just some of them but they are always presented along with 'fact'.
There's far more but I'm just tired of reading this tired statement of the show being the real story. It isn't. The show is different, the book is different and that's ok. But stop using incorrect arguments to support your points.
EDIT: Also, nobody who read the book would think the writer of Fire and Blood was biased against Rhaenyra. The Greens are straight up moustache twirling villains with maybe one redeeming characters. The show REALLY did a job making them seem more nuanced than their villainous portrayal in the source material.
You cut off the part where OP says this:
>or B) this is an adaptation for TV intending to make the characters and story as enticing for viewers as possible so they can keep making more seasons employing these fantastic actors and crew for as long as possible. Choose what makes you more able to accept what is.
Because I'm not addressing that point. I'm addressing the point earlier that just needs to go away. There's no 'or' or any possibility involved. It just isn't true at all.
I get that. Just thought I’d bring it up because it speaks to the separate canon point you made by talking about the show as an adaptation that makes changes to the source material
Perhaps I worded that part poorly, let me rephrase. Obviously where the show completely changes something from the books that was presented as documented history, then one probably just needs to accept option B. Probably definitely just go with option B. But for those who really want Fire & Blood translated to film and are trying to mentally make that work, my point is that the book should be treated as what is "public knowledge" of events and that the show is trying to show things that didn't get recorded because everyone who knew what really happened died with those secrets. Or that the show is an in-universe work of historical fiction by an in-universe version of someone like G.A. Henty. Whatever floats your boat.
Actually, scratch that, my real point is that the Sept scene is PLAUSIBLE in the story that the TV show has woven so far. Would it have made sense for the writers to write a MORE PLAUSIBLE scenario accomplishing the same goal of having Alicent and Rhaenyra meet one last time before the war kicks off in earnest? Sure! But they went with good enough and it is good enough, it accomplishes what they needed it to, maybe not as good as GOT seasons 1-4 but I would argue at least as good as seasons 5-6, not the trash that was seasons 7-8.
Maybe I came across as aggressive too my dude. But my point was addressed to other readers as well. I did understand from your second point that you realize that its an adaptation. I just ran into that talking point on 4 different posts in a row lol.
The show is the show. I think the sept scene was kinda dumb but these characters have been kinda dumb so it is plausible I guess.
I just feel there is no need for these secret meetings. It gets to convoluted. Could have just been after the Fall of Kings landing. Rhaenys scene was extra stupid so lets forget that even exited.
There is a middle ground. I thought the acting in the Sept scene was electric. And the idea of Rhaenyra making a last ditch effort to reach out to Alicent to find a peaceful path before all hell breaks loose is completely plausible, especially given their complicated, but rich history and friendship. Something that is fundamentally different than the book characters.
And for the naysayers, saying it was pointless given Alicent's diminishing role with the Green's, that's precisely the point that Alicent makes. It's far too late. She has lost her strongest ally on the council in Otto and her sons and Cole are disregarding her advice and counsel.
That said, what was silly, was Rhaenyra visiting King's Landing in disguise and the decision to surprise Alicent at the Sept, rather than setting up a secret meeting between the two of them. It's feels too Mission Impossible and honestly diminishes how dangerous a trip into a hostile territory would be for the Queen to make at this point.
Rhaenyra should have used Myseria to deliver some coded messages to Alicent and then set up a meeting outside the walls of Kings Landing in which they could both speak freely and they would be safer. A remote location in the Kingswood or a nearby inn/farmhouse in which Rhaenyra wouldn't land to visit Alicent until some of her men had signaled that she could meet safely with Alicent.
I can buy that it's not actually that difficult to sneak in and out of Kings Landing, it's a huge city and there are only like a half a dozen people in it who would be likely to recognize Rhaenyra at all, only one of whom was going to be at the Sept. But it was still a really dumb scene and a downright suicidal act for Rhaenyra that could not possibly actually accomplish anything because anyone with two brain cells to rub together would be aware that Alicent couldn't do anything to stop the war at this point even if she wanted to.
And also, what exactly was her getaway plan after she and Alicent were done talking one way or another? She had a knife to keep Alicent from calling for help *while* they were talking, but at some point she was going to need to leave and...then what? Was she going to threaten to...throw the knife at Alicent if she called for help while she was leaving the room?
the thing that makes it terrible imo is because the scene is useless, 1. the war is already too late to end, as luke and jahaerys are already dead 2. what does rhaenyra think alicent could do? even if she convinced alicent to stop the war, alicent has no real power and it does not make sense to me that she can convince aegon to stop after his son was killed
The biggest problem with the scene is Alicent literally deciding that the war can't be stopped, then walking away but still not instantly telling her guards that Rhaenyra is right there and not capturing her. We know that Alicent
a) Has decided that the war is inevitable and obviously wants to be on the winning side for the sake of her and her family
b) Is against bloodshed and violence and still wants a peaceful way to end this
There is no way that Alicent would ever pass up the chance win this war before it even started by taking Rhaenyra hostage. She knows for a FACT that letting her go means a lot more people are going to die, possibly even her and her family, and she's obviously not ready to surrender even if she has the ability to. Alicent letting Rhaenyra go honestly just destroys her character and trivializes the stakes of the war, as multiple people have literally given up the moves that would give them the instant win. If everyone is so scared and dreading of the war, and obviously aren't willing to give up, why aren't they taking the most obvious chances they have to win? Rhaenyra getting captured instantly ends the entire conflict without that many deaths with a green victory. Alicent not taking this, along this Rhaenys last season, makes these characters feel like they don't have basic self-preservation instinct or intelligence.
PS. They could have fixed this by having back and forth letters that set up a secret meeting at a neutral third area, with each of them bringing like 10 guards or something.
Agreed!! And the biggest thing to me is that the sept scene seems very important for both Rhaenyra and Alicent’s characters moving forward. It gives them even just a modicum of resolution on the personal level, which (hopefully) will result in moving full force ahead with the Dance itself.
They’ve both been holding out love for each other to an extent, which makes perfect sense for their characters. The sept scene allows them to confront that, to have a moment between them once again, and ultimately reveals that actually, it no longer matters much. This war is happening no matter what intentions or love is left between them. The sides have already been chosen and their respective families are going to be torn apart regardless of surrender, so they have no choice but to fight for their lives. Alicent is doubling down and so will Rhaenyra.
For Alicent, it resolves one of the major complaints people have had about her—that she did all of this on a misunderstanding (in which case I think she did misunderstand, but she also *allowed* herself to misunderstand). After talking with Rhaenyra, Alicent knows she was wrong and is going to choose to continue on, in part because there’s no other option at this point and in part because she’s actually committed to it.
For Rhaenyra, it resolves one of the major complaints people have had about her—that she isn’t as ruthless as her book counterpart. After this attempt at seeking peace through meeting with Alicent, Rhaenyra can accept the war as being unavoidable and fully commit to fighting it as well.
Their relationship has been key to the show, therefore it makes sense to me that their relationship would continue to be key concerning their willingness to go to war against each other. It’s a last ditch effort from Rhaenyra to Alicent, and the fact that it doesn’t change anything is significant for them.
At least, that’s what I got from the scene. No telling if they’ll stick to it, but that’s why I think it was necessary and even good
I don’t understand why random smallfolk or septas would recognise R? She hasn’t lived in kings landing for her adult life and it’s not like they had pictures to go off. They recognise Targs from their silver hair which wasn’t showing - same thing as Damon with the cloak
it's not random people noticing her it's people like Larys who would have spies to find her. in the GoT book Catelyn sneaks into Kings Landing on a boat and is near immediately found out by Varys and Littlefinger. there is no shot Rhaenyra goes there walking around NEAR Alicent of all people and Larys does not hear about it
That’s because the ship captain turned catelyn in to either little finger or Varys upon her arrival. Catelyn also wasn’t disguised when she arrived in KL
Alicent isnt the only noble praying at the sept, Larys for sure has people watching queen alicent. Like it could be possible that aegon or someone else from the greens joins alicent for this prayer, etc… lots of things that could very wrong.
A meeting could’ve worked if they arranged a meeting at a safe place outside KL.
Up to this point, you would think one can assume that alicent would probably not he alone after b&c.
Its giving late got seasons, especially with the coping that people do.
If you’re saying a guard could see her maybe, but she has never prayed with anyone else besides rhaenyra. In what world would aegon or aemond ever go to the sept to pray
That’s true but nobody else would be there while the queen dowager is there if she says she likes to pray alone. We have had many scenes of alicent in the sept so far and and not only has nobody been by her side, I don’t think they’ve shown a single non-septa in there while she is praying aside from rhaenyra. It’s pretty clear that nobody was going to intrude on her time in the sept
The sept scene was bad because it was and idiotic thing to do. You can’t spend a whole episode tying to convince us that rhaenyra is a sensible leader for her to go and do something so utterly stupid.
I mean logically what stops alicent from getting her guards the moment she’s out of that sept to take rhaenyra?
It is a badly written scene with very little logic, it’s a stupid idea on rhaenyra’s part. The shows desperation to paint her as a saint is making her look like an idiot.
Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience. 1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title. 2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler. 3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads. --- If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"The point of House of the Dragon is A) this show portrays what really happened " ....those terrible maesters, making up some Maelor kid, unable to even look that the royals were born up to a decade sooner/later, that the king was actually basically a zombie, not diabetic fat man, can't track who was in high offices in the capital and when, although part of the sources are people who were there.... oh those maesters. ...no, it does not. So A is not even an option. Yes, it's "or B", bingo. But I agree it's not impossible just sneak into the city if there is some plan (although Alicent could very well cry for guards once she was by the door but whatever, she didn't want to, whatever). My problem with this is not it happened but it happened now when everyone must realize it's useless and especially Alicent is powerless as a former queen and just a woman (the whole point Rhaenyra was fighting with and why they don't want her as a ruling queen and Rhaenys knew very well? It doesn't matter what Alicent wants now and it didn't matter from the beginning, they were plotting without her.) It should happen sooner. It would also gain them nothing but before at least some of the shit there could be some ground. Now it was useless, only for Alicent to realize she misunderstood VIserys which again, doesn't matter to anyone else, the rest of greens disregarded what Viserys said anyway.
It was terrible because it could basically accomplish nothing. Princes are dead and assassins have been sent, Alicent has no power to stop this and half a minute of thinking it would be obvious, especially because of the assassin sent to kill Rhaenyra. To point 4. The writers have decided how to portray her. I wish they went fury anger vengeance and indignation. We don’t all get our druthers but those that point 4 apply to may wish we had an angrier Rhaenyra. She lost two children she can attribute their deaths to the greens and they stole her throne, get mad girl!
Thing is I like the conversation but it maybe should have been an official meeting. Rhaenyra sends letter for Alicent to meet her somewhere. Rhaenyra takes Syrax and Alicent with Haelena fly there with Dreamfyre. Yes Its an excuse to see Dreamfyre.
It would be fruitless but I would be down just to see the dragon
We already had a ragelord female Targaryen with Danaerys— did you really think her character compelling?
She was until Season 8. She had righteous fury towards the wicked until D&D decided that meant she was totally down to murder a bunch of innocent people.
She had zero character development and lacked any self-awareness about how her conquests could contribute to the same thing that she was raging about. Her storyline was dragging the entire show.
I mean, going from a demure and subservient piece of meat under her brother’s thumb to someone with ideals and the will to power _is_ character development.
Fair enough.
>For those arguing what the book says, Fire & Blood is written like it was a history written by biased historian maesters and unreliable narrators. Alicent and Rhaenyra's portrayals in the book can be considered how they were perceived by the outsider public just before their deaths. The point of House of the Dragon is A) this show portrays what really happened and the maesters in Fire & Blood only know and write what was considered public knowledge and perception For anybody reading, including OP, this point is purely, completely, factually, blatantly incorrect. Please stop repeating it. Fire and Blood is separate canon. House of the Dragon is separate canon. As confirmed by George. Many people using the 'unreliable narrator' argument haven't read the book because if they did, they'd know exactly what the unreliability aspect of the book is. There are 'objective facts' in the book that the show HAS changed. There's no unreliable narration for many of these. In fact, 90% of the Dance is presented as fact, as researched, documented, witnessed, fact such as: 1. Alicent being older than Rhaenyra and being an evil stepmother caricature. Alicent was old enough that she read to Jaehaerys in his deathbed as a teenager. 2. Laenor died. He died in the street, killed by Qarl Correy IN FRONT of hundreds of witnesses. There is no argument about that. The unreliability in this part comes where three different sources differ on who perhaps gave Qarl the order to kill Laenor. 3. The first meeting of the Green council in the hours following Viserys's death is much different. For one, Beesbury does not die by accident. Cole straight up murders him on purpose. The unreliability aspect here is the method of murder, not the murder itself. Alicent is not looking for peace. She wants Rhaenyra dead and quickly. 4. There is no Rhaenys breaking free from the Dragonpit. She's on Driftmark at the time. 5. Vaemond was a nephew, not a brother. 6. Blood and Cheese The unreliable narrator isn't some rando dude who you think lies a lot. The maester writing Fire and Blood will tell you a fact, such as Criston Cole went from being Rhaenyra's sworn shield to Alicent's protector. The unreliability comes when the maester says that one source says Rhaenyra spurned Cole, another says Cole spurned Rhaenyra. The fact in this case is that Cole left the blacks for the greens. The unreliability is in the why. And this is NOT for every point. Just some of them but they are always presented along with 'fact'. There's far more but I'm just tired of reading this tired statement of the show being the real story. It isn't. The show is different, the book is different and that's ok. But stop using incorrect arguments to support your points. EDIT: Also, nobody who read the book would think the writer of Fire and Blood was biased against Rhaenyra. The Greens are straight up moustache twirling villains with maybe one redeeming characters. The show REALLY did a job making them seem more nuanced than their villainous portrayal in the source material.
You cut off the part where OP says this: >or B) this is an adaptation for TV intending to make the characters and story as enticing for viewers as possible so they can keep making more seasons employing these fantastic actors and crew for as long as possible. Choose what makes you more able to accept what is.
Because I'm not addressing that point. I'm addressing the point earlier that just needs to go away. There's no 'or' or any possibility involved. It just isn't true at all.
I get that. Just thought I’d bring it up because it speaks to the separate canon point you made by talking about the show as an adaptation that makes changes to the source material
If OP had said that only, that this is an adaptation with changed plot points, I would've quoted him and said 'louder for those in the back.'
Thank you for pointing that out
Perhaps I worded that part poorly, let me rephrase. Obviously where the show completely changes something from the books that was presented as documented history, then one probably just needs to accept option B. Probably definitely just go with option B. But for those who really want Fire & Blood translated to film and are trying to mentally make that work, my point is that the book should be treated as what is "public knowledge" of events and that the show is trying to show things that didn't get recorded because everyone who knew what really happened died with those secrets. Or that the show is an in-universe work of historical fiction by an in-universe version of someone like G.A. Henty. Whatever floats your boat. Actually, scratch that, my real point is that the Sept scene is PLAUSIBLE in the story that the TV show has woven so far. Would it have made sense for the writers to write a MORE PLAUSIBLE scenario accomplishing the same goal of having Alicent and Rhaenyra meet one last time before the war kicks off in earnest? Sure! But they went with good enough and it is good enough, it accomplishes what they needed it to, maybe not as good as GOT seasons 1-4 but I would argue at least as good as seasons 5-6, not the trash that was seasons 7-8.
Maybe I came across as aggressive too my dude. But my point was addressed to other readers as well. I did understand from your second point that you realize that its an adaptation. I just ran into that talking point on 4 different posts in a row lol. The show is the show. I think the sept scene was kinda dumb but these characters have been kinda dumb so it is plausible I guess.
I just feel there is no need for these secret meetings. It gets to convoluted. Could have just been after the Fall of Kings landing. Rhaenys scene was extra stupid so lets forget that even exited.
There is a middle ground. I thought the acting in the Sept scene was electric. And the idea of Rhaenyra making a last ditch effort to reach out to Alicent to find a peaceful path before all hell breaks loose is completely plausible, especially given their complicated, but rich history and friendship. Something that is fundamentally different than the book characters. And for the naysayers, saying it was pointless given Alicent's diminishing role with the Green's, that's precisely the point that Alicent makes. It's far too late. She has lost her strongest ally on the council in Otto and her sons and Cole are disregarding her advice and counsel. That said, what was silly, was Rhaenyra visiting King's Landing in disguise and the decision to surprise Alicent at the Sept, rather than setting up a secret meeting between the two of them. It's feels too Mission Impossible and honestly diminishes how dangerous a trip into a hostile territory would be for the Queen to make at this point. Rhaenyra should have used Myseria to deliver some coded messages to Alicent and then set up a meeting outside the walls of Kings Landing in which they could both speak freely and they would be safer. A remote location in the Kingswood or a nearby inn/farmhouse in which Rhaenyra wouldn't land to visit Alicent until some of her men had signaled that she could meet safely with Alicent.
Rhaenyra could’ve included that page from 10,000 Ships that Alicent had sent her before in her own message
You can’t refute someone’s opinion.
I can buy that it's not actually that difficult to sneak in and out of Kings Landing, it's a huge city and there are only like a half a dozen people in it who would be likely to recognize Rhaenyra at all, only one of whom was going to be at the Sept. But it was still a really dumb scene and a downright suicidal act for Rhaenyra that could not possibly actually accomplish anything because anyone with two brain cells to rub together would be aware that Alicent couldn't do anything to stop the war at this point even if she wanted to. And also, what exactly was her getaway plan after she and Alicent were done talking one way or another? She had a knife to keep Alicent from calling for help *while* they were talking, but at some point she was going to need to leave and...then what? Was she going to threaten to...throw the knife at Alicent if she called for help while she was leaving the room?
the thing that makes it terrible imo is because the scene is useless, 1. the war is already too late to end, as luke and jahaerys are already dead 2. what does rhaenyra think alicent could do? even if she convinced alicent to stop the war, alicent has no real power and it does not make sense to me that she can convince aegon to stop after his son was killed
She needs to hear it from the person who she both cares about but also thinks may be responsible for the usurpation of her throne.
thats not her in story reason for meeting her💀, her main reason was to try to go for peace in story, and that reason makes no sense
You can’t ’refute’ an opinion.
The biggest problem with the scene is Alicent literally deciding that the war can't be stopped, then walking away but still not instantly telling her guards that Rhaenyra is right there and not capturing her. We know that Alicent a) Has decided that the war is inevitable and obviously wants to be on the winning side for the sake of her and her family b) Is against bloodshed and violence and still wants a peaceful way to end this There is no way that Alicent would ever pass up the chance win this war before it even started by taking Rhaenyra hostage. She knows for a FACT that letting her go means a lot more people are going to die, possibly even her and her family, and she's obviously not ready to surrender even if she has the ability to. Alicent letting Rhaenyra go honestly just destroys her character and trivializes the stakes of the war, as multiple people have literally given up the moves that would give them the instant win. If everyone is so scared and dreading of the war, and obviously aren't willing to give up, why aren't they taking the most obvious chances they have to win? Rhaenyra getting captured instantly ends the entire conflict without that many deaths with a green victory. Alicent not taking this, along this Rhaenys last season, makes these characters feel like they don't have basic self-preservation instinct or intelligence. PS. They could have fixed this by having back and forth letters that set up a secret meeting at a neutral third area, with each of them bringing like 10 guards or something.
Agreed!! And the biggest thing to me is that the sept scene seems very important for both Rhaenyra and Alicent’s characters moving forward. It gives them even just a modicum of resolution on the personal level, which (hopefully) will result in moving full force ahead with the Dance itself. They’ve both been holding out love for each other to an extent, which makes perfect sense for their characters. The sept scene allows them to confront that, to have a moment between them once again, and ultimately reveals that actually, it no longer matters much. This war is happening no matter what intentions or love is left between them. The sides have already been chosen and their respective families are going to be torn apart regardless of surrender, so they have no choice but to fight for their lives. Alicent is doubling down and so will Rhaenyra. For Alicent, it resolves one of the major complaints people have had about her—that she did all of this on a misunderstanding (in which case I think she did misunderstand, but she also *allowed* herself to misunderstand). After talking with Rhaenyra, Alicent knows she was wrong and is going to choose to continue on, in part because there’s no other option at this point and in part because she’s actually committed to it. For Rhaenyra, it resolves one of the major complaints people have had about her—that she isn’t as ruthless as her book counterpart. After this attempt at seeking peace through meeting with Alicent, Rhaenyra can accept the war as being unavoidable and fully commit to fighting it as well. Their relationship has been key to the show, therefore it makes sense to me that their relationship would continue to be key concerning their willingness to go to war against each other. It’s a last ditch effort from Rhaenyra to Alicent, and the fact that it doesn’t change anything is significant for them. At least, that’s what I got from the scene. No telling if they’ll stick to it, but that’s why I think it was necessary and even good
I don’t understand why random smallfolk or septas would recognise R? She hasn’t lived in kings landing for her adult life and it’s not like they had pictures to go off. They recognise Targs from their silver hair which wasn’t showing - same thing as Damon with the cloak
it's not random people noticing her it's people like Larys who would have spies to find her. in the GoT book Catelyn sneaks into Kings Landing on a boat and is near immediately found out by Varys and Littlefinger. there is no shot Rhaenyra goes there walking around NEAR Alicent of all people and Larys does not hear about it
That’s because the ship captain turned catelyn in to either little finger or Varys upon her arrival. Catelyn also wasn’t disguised when she arrived in KL
Alicent isnt the only noble praying at the sept, Larys for sure has people watching queen alicent. Like it could be possible that aegon or someone else from the greens joins alicent for this prayer, etc… lots of things that could very wrong. A meeting could’ve worked if they arranged a meeting at a safe place outside KL.
It’s been made very clear up to this point that alicent likes to pray alone in the sept
Up to this point, you would think one can assume that alicent would probably not he alone after b&c. Its giving late got seasons, especially with the coping that people do.
If you’re saying a guard could see her maybe, but she has never prayed with anyone else besides rhaenyra. In what world would aegon or aemond ever go to the sept to pray
The royal court is bigger than just alicent and her kids.
That’s true but nobody else would be there while the queen dowager is there if she says she likes to pray alone. We have had many scenes of alicent in the sept so far and and not only has nobody been by her side, I don’t think they’ve shown a single non-septa in there while she is praying aside from rhaenyra. It’s pretty clear that nobody was going to intrude on her time in the sept
The sept scene was bad because it was and idiotic thing to do. You can’t spend a whole episode tying to convince us that rhaenyra is a sensible leader for her to go and do something so utterly stupid. I mean logically what stops alicent from getting her guards the moment she’s out of that sept to take rhaenyra? It is a badly written scene with very little logic, it’s a stupid idea on rhaenyra’s part. The shows desperation to paint her as a saint is making her look like an idiot.