more dicey than spicy

Reading the immediate reactions, commentary, and Discourse after 3x07….. Has everyone lost their goddamn minds???? Are we watching the same show???????? YouTube comment sections are foul and rotted more often than not but holy HELL it’s a fetid wasteland when it comes to this episode.

Apparently Aegon is the one true king now!!! He and Sunfyre are destined to save the realm from horror and ruin!!!! Color me enlightened !!!

Let’s set aside the fact that he’s a drunk and a r*pist — he was a fucking terrible king!!! In every way that mattered, in all manner of things. As Larys said, he was not only a terrible king, but a terrible man — but apparently, since he had a couple episodes’ worth of introspection and a moment or two of clarity, he’s now the One. Audience loooooove when shitty man give Big Speech and make dragon breathe fire !!!! 🤪 I guess that’s really all it takes with most folks these days. The men in the comment sections flooding everything with “Aegon’s carrying this show” “Aegon’s the rightful king” “Aegon would fix all this” can kick so many sharp rocks.

And if you’re a book reader who’s still enraged that the show doesn’t precisely mimic the short, biased account of history that GRRM clearly wrote to be a particular iteration of narrative propaganda….. bless your little heart.

I have So Many Goddamn Thoughts so here’s a bulleted list:

The writers are sick fucks for making Olivia act all these inc*st fantasy scenes out with Ewan. Pls for the love of god find ways to allude to things as opposed to just…laying it all out there. It’s the same goddamn thing as the over-handed usage of r*pe as a threat against women in moments of strife or chaos; less is more, and we really and truly don’t need to see that shit.

Y’all will usually NEVER catch me speaking kindly about Daemon 99.9% of the time (although he’s obviously very fun to watch), and that’s not likely to change any time soon. That said, this was legitimately the first time in all of HotD that I’ve felt he actually stepped up as a father, even as little and as late as it was. As Rhaenyra pointed out, he really was just trying to protect Rhaena, and for that… he gets a very slight nod of the head from me.

Daeron Targaryen I adore you and will protect you with my life!!!! Take your guncle and your beautiful blue girlypop dragon and get the hell out of dodge!!!!! Stay as far away as humanly possible from that godforsaken throne of “a hundred little iron cocks”; just go live a quiet life bb.

Alicent… my problematic fave. My bad time gal. My favorite deeply repressed homosexual. Love that you got some Outside Time but at what cost 😭 hope you kept that dagger, queen.

I’d rather build a life-sized Red Keep out of Legos by my goddamn self than watch the dragons fight like that literally ever again. It was also basically dragon class warfare???? “high borns” vs. a wildling???? Gorgeous and shiny vs. underbite and scrungly??????? I just… need Sheepstealer to be okay y’all

Helaena riding Dreamfyre for the first time in her dream!!!! Becoming a dragon rider who’s clearly succumbed to the violence demanded of one who wields such a power !!!!! SO GOOD

Addam and Baela are forever my MVPs!!! My fave dragon riders!!! My sweet summer loves!!!! Both of them are so genuinely well-meaning and kind-hearted, it just breaks my heart that they’re caught up in all this bullshit. The two of them need to get Rhaena, Alyn, Daeron, and Helaena and fly off into the sunset together pls 🥺 start a Targaryen-Velaryon commune where they take care of chickens, tend to their dragons, and live out the rest of their lives in peace!!!

RHAENYRA IS STRUGGLING IMMENSELY BUT SHE’S STILL TRYING TO DO GOOD, GODDAMNIT!!!!! Sure, she’s been weird and unhelpful with petitioners, but look at what she inherited!!!! She’s being undermined and questioned at every step of the way, and her son’s body is barely cold. Still, in moments of peak strain and chaos, she defaults to mercy and takes a step back. I’m not saying that she’s doing a good job or anything lol, but she’s clearly giving it the ole college try. I’m not actually sure the seat of power CAN be wielded to do the most good for all in the time period in which she’s ruling tbh (and I’d say the same for any other monarch, save for Aegon who was and is a fucking idiot on and off the throne). Doesn’t help that she has angels and devils weighing her shoulders down constantly either.

Ulf, you ungrateful ugly drunk stank fake stupid useless bastard — when I catch you!!!!! When I fucking catch you 😤

I really enjoyed the scene between Mysaria and Sophie. Really interesting exchange that puts into perspective just how difficult it is to maintain one’s sense of self and morality when in close proximity to the throne, especially for those who exist outside of the hegemonic “high-born” class. Goooooood shit.

I just….wish the Rhaesaria scene at the end wasn’t so manipulative from Mysaria’s side 🥲 I know that’s what the writers intended, and sure, both women have been tossed into a maelstrom without tethers to themselves since arriving in King’s Landing, but like. Their relationship has worked for me in the past because it came from honest, uninhibited desire, not because one was trying to get something from the other. I don’t doubt that Mysaria’s feelings for Nyra are still true — and her intentions are certainly fair when it comes to steering Nyra away from Daemon — but things are just. Really fucking complicated now. That stupid throne of iron c*cks ruins everything.

Never has it been more clear that the iron throne is neither a prize nor something to be coveted. The closer you are to its jagged seat, the more poison darkens your blood. The greatest threat to the House of the Dragon was and is itself, etc. etc. etc.