an episode full of rhaenyra and politics to make up for the first two being all about men swinging their swords around i know ryan personally did this for me
“your husband? or you his daughter’s childhood companion?”
“long ago, she drew alicent into her web. intoxicated her.”
“she holds love for our enemy, that makes her a fool.”
@Macavit25431185@madeleinewintr it also means that daemon and rhaenyra consider this a conflict with alicent (the “son” for a son was supposed to be alicent’s in B&C) even if the continent at large thinks it’s between aegon and rhaenyra. it’s more personal for them than coldly political
i think you guys should maybe consider that that line is being said by the character rhaenyra targaryen and not some kind of narrator didactically telling you what's going on
@belladonnafeli My ideal situation is him taking a fatal wound in the battle of fire but lingering long enough to have significant conversations with Tyrion and later Dany before he goes
the concept of the men around alicent doing morally depraved things on behalf of "her" faction that she is absolutely disgusted by, making her reconsider the morality of her own actions, has literally been present in her arc since s1e6 and is a fundamental part of her character
the version of his mother he saw in that moment, one driven by anger and vengeance, is who she really is but cannot be so he becomes that person for her. now that he has a dragon (aka power—and powerlessness and their outsider status was what once bonded them) he cannot see /1
It's gonna be so peak when it's near the end of the episode, Rhaenyra's absolutely exhausted, we're exhausted with her, and then Ulf rocks up acting like he's known her his whole life