did i or did i not just watch alicent hightower sit down in front of the lemon tree mural, as she told rhaenyra that she sent her last child to the house with the red door home she barely remembers so that he might grow up outside the suffocating walls of the red keep. so that he might live as a hightower instead of a targaryen. but in her attempt to keep him from becoming his father, she cursed him to become her instead. an outsider among the natives. who doesn’t know what he wants beyond his father figure’s desire to make him king of the seven kingdom’s. the blue queen in chains.

my favorite ongoing bit this season is the comedic timing every time rhaenyra is in the council room yelling mostly to herself and mysaria about all the things she's gonna get done that day and all the decisions she's gonna make by herself in her infinite wisdom as queen to DESTROY the HIGHTOWER TRAITORS and then it immediately cuts to her storming into alicent's chambers to get her piece of daily advice and a peck on the cheek

Alicent saying Ormund acts fatherly to Daeron and then we cut to Ormund in fact acting how Alicent perceives fathers to act towards Daeron was also so awesome

Sending your last son away to oldtown as a babe in a desperate hope that he will avoid the fate of his Targaryen siblings only to have him get groomed into a dynastic tool for seizing the throne by his nefarious father figure like a Hightower AND get groomed into a tool of (re)conquest carrying divine magical purpose by a nefarious ethnic supremacist uncle figure like a Targaryen.

realising daeron is a fawner just like his mother……..aemond is fight aegon is flight helaena is freeze but daeron is just trying to Be Good so he doesn’t get punished.

because Ormund Hightower getting in his teenage nephew’s face and coke ranting about the glory of the Hightower Reconquista that he has made up in his head that they are divinely ordained to accomplish to because of their special blood and no one understands but them IS exactly how Daemon was moving with fifteen year-old Rhaenyra in the first season of this show. kind of insane

“gwayne thought [ormund] cruel… but gwayne thought that of many” is Such a weirdly revealing line. the concept of gwayne having a sam tarly esque horrid abusive childhood and having to pick up a sword to escape it……. i cant believe freaking gwayne has a tortured inner life… fuck my swag. gwayneeeee :(((((((

rhaenyra’s harem being her literal uncle, her uncles ex lover, and her stepmother is INSANE. only in the targaryens truly

Trying to do a good job as status quo restabilizer monarch when your three advisors are your uncle who groomed you who is your husband saying “BURN EVERYONE WE WILL INVADE DORNE AND ESSOS AND YI TI AND CROWN A NEW EMPIRE OF THE DAWN WE SHALL RULE AS GODS anyways I’m leaving see you never, your girlfriend who is your uncle’s ex girlfriend whispering about how the most important factor in maintaining monarchical power is of course just consent of the peasantry you are governing you ought to alienate yourself from your minor nobility completely and permanently to appease the people, and your middle school girlfriend you are repulsed by the thought of displeasing going you have to do shit that makes me mad to rule effectively but I will be mad. and also you have no fuckingggg money

And all of them want you

I know everyone will be saying this but ormund did a really good job with this kid’s bleach and tone like his talents might be wasted commanding an army