Chris, Jim, and Kent are back to break down this week’s episode, The Green Council, faster than Crispin can kill an old dissenting member of the small council. Okay, maybe not that fast. Faster than Larys can……nope, I can’t. We’re gonna do our best. Normally, I would do lots of comments to Chris and Jim’s responses but I am simply mentally and physically exhausted from my first week dealing with covid. I apologize if my editing is lackluster.
1. If you’re Alicent, do you make the decision to spare Rhaenyra and Rhaenyra’s family, knowing that if you spare them, you risk a war and many lives?
Chris: Considering I would have just been making friends with her again about 3 hours prior, probably yes. I am already sitting in a position of power, comparatively, being ensconced in King’s Landing already.
Jim: Knowing my personality, I would. I would rationalize that attempting the more diplomatic path would lessen the potential bloodshed, or minimally put me less in harm’s way. However, a rationally sound person would not, as it seems a pointless gesture, and the time is better spent bolstering defenses or going on the offensive. Knowing myself, those would be my thoughts after I sent the olive branch, getting ready for it to bite me on the ass.
Kent: If I am being honest, in my mind I would convince myself that I could repair the relationship and nobody would have to die. A week later, my head would be on a pike.
2. If you’re Rhaenys, do you say “Dracarys” and wipe out this piece of your family, or do you spare their lives and ride off to tell Rhaenyra?
Chris: Yes, but as Jim said, HBO would be passing up money and Emmy nominations if that happened, so Meta-Chris says no
Jim: Considering everything she has gone through, losing 2 kids, her husband, her family’s “stake” in the iron throne, her credibility knowing the grandsons were bastards, and the iron throne herself, it is a little surprising that she didn’t flame out the whole Targaryen east clan there, then torch the west side group after, and take the throne for herself. However, her saying dracarys would be followed by “fin” in black and white cursive, because that would be the end of the story.
Kent: In the immortal words of one, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ohhhhh Hell YEAH!! They locked her in a room. At the meeting for who would be the heir for Driftmark, it took the Cryptkeeper to come in and actually ask for her opinion. By doing this, she is assured of her family’s legacy being in relatively good hands and Driftmark can be from her bloodline. The best part is, she can just spend the rest of her days comfortably without dealing with all the politics. That’s a win!!
3. The Cargyll brothers, Erryck and Arryck no longer agree philosophically with what is happening. Do you think that this is going to be built into a rivalry akin to the Cleganes in Game of Thrones?
Chris: If only their last name was Blowers, we might have too much power in one place in the universe. I think it shows a little bit of balance in the story. Since we are basically only seeing one side of the conflict in this episode it might seem as if all of Westeros is uniting behind Aegon and the Hightowers, but this sibling rivalry shows us it’s not going to be as one-sided as it would appear to be.
Jim: Yes and no. Yes, it appears to be positioned as such, telling the tale of a house divided akin to the Civil War in the US. However, if they are twins and equals, they each were beatable by Ser Criston, and I would imagine Daemon, unlike the nearly unbeatable Hound and Mountain. So since they are not even revered as unbeatable, it pales in comparison. Also, one of them is dumb (see my Blackwood nomination runner-up comment).
Kent: These guys seem to lack much in regard to the personality, but that will change over time, presumably. Neither one seem like they will have a personality as big as the Hound’s. Aside from them being brothers, that is most likely where the parallels start and end. Will one inevitably kill the other? Probably. I think this is one of the things that I am excited to see develop next season. These guys have the potential to carve their own fun rivalry.
4. Is Helaena a clairvoyant or does just know certain things?
Chris: I think she is just perceptive, having been ignored by her family, comparatively, to her two brothers.
Jim: First off, the question should have been “Is she clairvoyant or is she Miss Cleo? I say this because it’s a choice between knowing and inferring/wildly guessing. I would say it seems at this moment to be wildly guessing/inferring/mentally Ill rambling, but I do reserve judgment for if everything pans out. All clairvoyants seem like schizophrenics until they are right. (Kent: Okay, I have to give props for the Miss Cleo line above and beyond all else. I applaud you.)
Kent: Sometimes, you gotta just make the leap. In his situation, I am all in on her being clairvoyant. I have read theories that they may also be implying that she is on the spectrum. I think that could be interesting if that is the route that they go. Here’s the thing, we need something magical happening. This would give Helaena a much bigger purpose moving forward. Even if it is subtle things that predict or foreshadow upcoming events. Let’s face it, her Brother/Husband is just gonna ignore her anyway. This has a chance to be really fun if they want to go for it.
We discussed this a bit on the newest episode of Kenter At Your Own Risk.
5. Did Mysaria reveal too much of her power and reach to Otto, or was it the right power move for her?
Chris: Well, since she appears to be burning to death, too much revealed. Not to Otto, because I believe he would have worked with her, but to Littlefoot
Jim: Well, if she didn’t actually burn alive (which I don’t believe she did) then no, it was a healthy flex, letting the power players know what’s up. And I think that if (when) she survives, she will seem that much more powerful. I can’t honestly say if Larys kept her alive to keep the network as his, and burned the building to stage its demise to Otto, or if he really tried (and undoubtedly failed) to kill her. She seems too important to have been killed so easily, without fleshing out her character. Humble brag to me saying she had a motive like the High Sparrow trying to raise up the poor. Those kid pits were tough to watch.
Kent: First of all, Mysaria ain’t dead. Under no circumstances did they just kill her like that. I think the question that we have to ask ourselves is who will Mysaria think did this? Unless Larys’ goon left some type of calling card, I think that Mysaria will speculate that it is Otto who did this. That creates even more chaos.
The “Willem Blackwood Award for Momentary Brilliance” – Better known as what our favorite moment or most absurd or unexpected moment of the show was for the week.
Chris: Yes, Jim, Yes. I looked at my wife when we were watching this, and said, “Well, this is going to be fun to talk about with Kent this week…” Her being unable to watch made it even more uncomfortable to me. Also revealed a lot about Alicent’s character.
Jim: Two Words.. Foot Porn. Of all things for the club-foot, sneaking Larys to lust for, it’s Alicents feet.. bravo for finally diving deep enough on a non-Hightower/Targaryen character, but is that the route we needed? Does he want to be powerful enough to lead foot soldiers? Is he traumatized by childhood songs, and just wants to own all the little piggies (even the one that eats roast beef)? Is he just written to be a heel? I could go for days with all these jokes afoot. Runner-up is the two soldiers guarding Aegon over the years, with one of them only now realizing what a shitbird he is. Troops talk.. he would have already known how awful he was and that he was not fit to rule. It didn’t require a “Dude where’s my car” style morning for him to realize. I don’t buy it. The distant third, was me wondering how Rhaenys 1-found her dragon riding armor and 2- put it on, in the 2 minutes she was off-screen. Just felt silly to see her in full garb teaching the masses the laws of gravity via dragon tail.
Kent: This week is a fine reason to have this award. What question could I have really asked about the Larys scene? I’m not sure, but obviously, the scene needed to be made fun of. For those who don’t know me too well, you may not know how much I dislike feet. I am the anti-Larys in this regard. I cringe at the sight of feet. I absolutely laughed when Aemond said, “To get it wet”. I laughed when Alicent said “You imbecile!”. There is one scene in particular that stood out to me. When Otto and Al are talking at the end, Otto decides to tell her how much she looks like her mom in certain light. On the surface, not too bad, but the way he said it was straight-up creepy.