HOTD: The Westeros Kickback Season 3 Episode 5

[00:00:20] Hey, what's up fam and welcome back again to Recap Kickback presents HOTD, the Westeros Kickback here on RecapKickback.com. That's right, it's me, Chappelle, back again to talk to you about Season 3 Episode 5 of House of the Dragon on Max right now. And with me, the maester of this podcast, keeping us abreast of all the things in the Westeros kingdoms and in the world, and in the world of the book specifically, it's Maester Mari. Mari, welcome back.

[00:00:48] Yes, we're back. You can call me the people of King's Landing because I'm throwing tomatoes. Boo, boo, tomato, tomato. Mari, what has you so down? This episode was cheeks, man. I am tired of defending these filler episodes when we only have eight episodes a season and you make us wait two years. I'm done. I'm done.

[00:01:16] We will talk about all the things that are annoying Mari and more today as we get into the recap of HOTD Season 3 Episode 5. But first, of course, we have to thank all our listeners for joining us every week as we talk to you about this universe and all the other shows and programs we talk about here on RecapKickback.com.

[00:01:37] If you aren't keeping up, Mari and I, we have been dropping the Vampireless Stack episode recaps every week. The finale comes this week, and so tune into that. That podcast should be up tomorrow. And then, you know, we'll see what else is in store for me and Mari as we wind down this season. Chantel and I took a brief hiatus from talking about Rock of Love, but we will be back to talk about that this week live on Sunday.

[00:02:03] So make sure you tune in. And then we're working on some things in the background that we could possibly handle and have for you. And so please be sure to subscribe to the podcast. RecapKickback.com slash subscribe. YouTube.com slash at RecapKickback will allow you to watch our beautiful faces, talk about these shows. And then, of course, if you want to support the podcast, make sure you can tip. You can do all those good things.

[00:02:26] We've made it to where if you want to support us, you definitely can. And if you want to support Mari, you can buy a House of the Dragon cup. You've been working on cups, Mari? Of course. Of course. So the pity party, it worked. Shout out to one of our amazing listeners who said, here, damn. Team Green, baby.

[00:02:52] They said, I'll buy a Team Green cup just so it's not just a pal. So here it is. It will be coming in the mail for them. This is a magical mica cup. It's a 16 ounce, so it's smaller. It's a little bit cheaper than the regular 24 ounces. When you touch it, it changes colors. But look at these ragamuffins on here. Yes! I thought this was kind of the perfect cup, too, because this was like a touch base with Team Green episode.

[00:03:19] Literally, we just went to everybody in Team Green. They're like, well, let's show you what everybody's up to. So again, I do love this design. Hate these people. Love the design. I'm not going to lie. Look at me. I'm getting away with this. Just killing the game. But yeah. So shout out. If you want a cup like this, or like this, they talked about House Martell this episode. Unbound, unbent, unbroken. Not doing the bending.

[00:03:48] Yep, there you go. And so you can go to, this is the 24 ounce. So this is the bigger cup. 24 ounce, 16 ounce. All right? You can go to maricrafttomuch.bigcartell.com. So down here, right here. And get your cup. Like I said, I have House of the Dragon. You've seen our Team Green, Team Black cups. We're doing Vampire Lestat. Doing a lot of Vampire Lestat cups. But also, just any book-themed cups are up there. I have lots of book-themed designs.

[00:04:18] Heated Rivalry. Fourth Wing. But if you do not want any of that, I can do a custom cup for you. I can put anything on a cup. So I thank you guys for listening to our promos every week. And thank you for supporting. Like it's been so fun getting your orders in and getting them out. And just really being creative with it. It's been amazing. So get your cups before this season is over with. Yeah. Because the season is about to wind down.

[00:04:48] For the people who are new here. First of all, I don't know why you would jump in at episode five. But let's talk about it. If you're new here, we like to talk about the episode. But because Mari is the maester of this podcast, she will be giving us some background and maybe some other information about the books. At the end of the podcast, we will go to Maester Mari's Book Corner. So if you want to be spoiler free, that's a perfect time to tap out. But you're definitely welcome to talk to us. Well, join us for the recap as we talk through the episode.

[00:05:17] And then again, Mari is not going to spoil it for the books. But she likes to give me context as well. And so if you just want to avoid all of that to protect your ears, make sure you tap out at the time of Maester Mari's Book Corner. But let's get into this episode. Mari, you talked about it. And this was a very green, heavy episode. We touch base with each of them and find out, you know, the various states that they're in.

[00:05:47] We kind of end the episode with one of the greens that, you know, one of my favorite greens to talk about, Allison and her daughter Helena ending up in a wall. Right? Like, what are we doing here? So what it was is they're using one of the passages in King's Landing. Sorry, in the Red Keep. There's plenty of them. The Red Keep, also known as Maegers Holdfast.

[00:06:16] It was built to have a lot of these weird interconnecting tunnels. Some that go places, some that don't. I was actually kind of wondering if that kind of looked like the same place that Rhaenyra escaped from when she went to have that really freaky outing with her then just at the time. Yeah, the brothel. Yeah, I remember. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But apparently they had, like, closed. When they got to the end of the passage, it was closed up.

[00:06:45] I don't, man, I don't know. Maybe Myceria decided to do that. I don't know. I was just like, what? This is stupid. Like, again, just filler, filler, filler. Allison and Helena this whole episode. Shout out to Helena because I was like, yeah, girl. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Because what?

[00:07:09] Allison's asking her, let's get rid of this baby because she got the Plan B tea, which, side note, why put this moon tea, if y'all don't know, again, if you're a listener who's coming in here, this is at least the third time we've seen moon tea in this series alone, at the very least.

[00:07:33] And as soon as Master Orwell showed up at the door, I was like, oh, the moon tea. The moon tea. They put it. Why put it in such a very recognizable cup? That's the moon tea cup. It's the moon tea cup. It's supposed to be so discreet. And yet they put it in the same cup. It's the moon tea cup. That's what you got to make it in.

[00:08:00] Mysteria showed up and she was like, what's up with that? It's like, what? What? I heard you had the moon tea cup. Anything you want to tell me? No. What you mean? You know, she was sick. Oh, so she drank it because it's full. No. Okay. I confess. Me, Allison. I'm, it's me. I'm pregnant. You know what I'm saying? And I was going to, I wasn't going to tell nobody, but let me just take this moon tea. Allison had to chug that moon tea like, yum.

[00:08:30] I know she was pissed. Yum. I know she was pissed. She's like, now my uterus got to bleed and act the pool for the next three days because this hoe ain't want to take her. And I mean that lovingly. Like, didn't want to take her tea. I'd have been so pissed. Like, you, ugh. Now I gotta bleed. Now I gotta bleed. Because, ugh. But anyway. It's twofold. You know, she, she now, now she has to suffer the consequences of the moon tea, but also now she can't give the moon tea to Helena.

[00:08:58] Her whole goal here is Helena, we got to get out of here. You can't have this baby because if you do, they're going to kill it anyway or worse, you know, so let's go ahead and nip this in the bud. But Helena's like, no, I, this could be a boy. And I, you know, I already lost a kid. I'm not losing this baby. This is mine. It's mine. I ain't got a lot of stuff. That's it. That's all I got. Me, me and Jahira. That's it. And Allison's like, all right. I love that. I don't. Because I'm with Allison on this one. Girl, we got to go. We got to go.

[00:09:27] They ain't gonna hurt Jahira. Let's leave. Let's get out of here. I feel like for Helena, I understand why she wants to, you know, obviously I understand she's a mother. She doesn't want to give up her child. She already lost a child, blah, blah, blah. I get that. But Allison is going through the exact same thing. She's like, I am a mother. I have lost children. Exactly. I don't want to lose my child. Girl, come on. Let's go. And that's what I loved about it because that was my thought process.

[00:09:52] It's like Allison is trying to save her child and Helena is trying to do the same thing. And it's like, this is what you've raised, Allison, in a good way. You've raised Helena to be a good mother. You know what I'm saying? And one who has experienced untold tragedy. So it's like, but to ask Helena to give up her children when you know you wouldn't, even though.

[00:10:21] She did. I mean, she did. I mean, it's just like, it feels like an unfair ask. You know what I'm saying? Like, logically, yes, I know Jahara will, like, Rhaenyra would not hurt Jahara. She said it. There's no advancement in hurting Jahara. So she is safe here within the walls.

[00:10:49] But it's still kind of just like, it's like Helena is choosing between her unborn baby or her daughter that's already here. And it's a sucky situation to be in. I am glad that they did confirm it was Aegon's, which I thought it would be. You know what I'm saying? And I think we had, I think we had a question. I saw somebody talking about like the possibility of it being amen.

[00:11:17] If you were here for the book corner, I talked about that. But yeah, it so confirmed that it's Aegon's, which makes sense because not too much time has passed within the course of the beginning, the end of last season and this season. So that makes perfect sense. But, you know, their whole storyline, it was compelling, you know, because Alicent's interactions with Myceria were kind of like, well, what's Myceria going to do?

[00:11:47] Does she gain favor with Rhaenyra by telling? Or Alicent is like, but girl, you have all the information. Maybe you might want to keep it to yourself a little bit. You know what I'm saying? Very shades of Big Brother, right? Like we're just starting Big Brother season. So that's top of mind right now. So it, you know, it is a fun, it was a very compelling storyline to watch, but I was just like, come on. Yeah.

[00:12:14] We finally saw Myceria's influence as far as being the mistress of whispers, you know, because she's been like almost like the, almost like the, the hand of the, the queen in a weird way. She's kind of battling for, you know, for Rhaenyra's ear against Daemon. And so now we're going to see what, why she's in this role. You know, what is she, what is she really good at? It is keeping her ear to the street. We've seen it before in past seasons, and this is no different. Alicent makes this move. She talks, she calls Orwell.

[00:12:43] Orwell is like, you know, super pro-choice. And so he's like, all right, let me go handle that. She catches on, you know, the whispers are going. And so she confronts Alicent. Alicent does drink the moon tea and she kind of just staves off Myceria for a while until Myceria catches them trying to sneak out in the middle of the night. Now, when she does that, Alicent has to come clean. She's like, look, Helena's pregnant. They're going to kill the baby. It's going to be a problem. If it's a boy, it's direct air.

[00:13:13] We can't let this happen. She basically, what I got to do to make you chill? What, how can I get you to shut up? And Myceria's kind of just very smugly having that energy over Alicent. And I, and I love that for her because she's been a small folk, you know, she's been oppressed by the Hightower, by the Targaryens. You know, Rhaenyra basically had her as a captive at one point. She's been in those situations. So it's nice for her to finally be in a position of power.

[00:13:42] But like you said, Alicent is pointing out, you're in a position of power, kind of. But if Rhaenyra has to choose between you and Damon, she ain't picking you. Get over it. Maybe, just maybe, you could keep this information to yourself. Use it for your benefits because you might need a Hightower in the future. And I thought that watching Alicent kind of use that, that, that skill that she's developed, right? The politicking. That's what she's good at.

[00:14:10] That's what the Hightowers were good at, you know, that we've seen. That's what Otto is good at. So we got to see her at work and it did look like it was starting to seep in for Myceria. Now, I don't know if Myceria is going to say anything, Mari, and I don't know if it's spoiled in the books. But they do end up locked in a wall. And I have to wonder if that was her doing. Yeah, I mean, like I said, this is all made up at this point, as far as I understand.

[00:14:39] But, yeah, I don't know if it's Myceria's doing. And I feel like they have to be able to go back to the, like, the opening of the passage. I don't know. She said we can't go back because the door is closed. Yeah, that's what she said. But I'm like, like, I could have sworn they'd use that door to sneak in and out. Like, you know, it's not a one-way door. That seems kind of. Right. It don't have a handle on that side or something. You know what I'm saying? Right. Yeah. Like, knock, knock. Like, I don't know. Like, what are we?

[00:15:09] Yeah. So we'll see. We'll see. I mean, I just think it was just another just see they're really prisoners here. They can't get out. That's what I felt. That's why I felt this whole storyline was really just leading to. It's just, like, confirmation that, unfortunately, Allison and Helena are stuck. Is Helena supposed to be a comedic character? Because I laugh at damn near everything she says. When she said, I want to go outside. Allison said, no.

[00:15:39] She said, I need to see the moon. Girl, you're going to have to look out the window. And I screamed. Because that is so real. You don't see me fighting for your child's life, our lives. I'm trying to get us out of here. You talk about going to see the moon. Drink the moon tea. Yeah. That's the moon that you need. You need to see this moon tea. That's what a black mama would have said. No, you need to moon that tea while you're talking about the moon. Right. I mean, Helena is supposed to be a very tragic figure, you know?

[00:16:11] So, hmm. But I do like that. It's like she's the comic relief slash the grounding element. We even got a little bit of a hint of her dreams here again, too. She's like, Eamon isn't dead. He's just burning without fire. Which just makes sense because he's recovering from a wound that's like, you know, your temperature, your fever going up and stuff like that. So, yeah. Helena is going through it.

[00:16:38] I'm just glad that we got to see, like, more of her personality, you know, in this episode. Yeah. I'm very much enjoying her. She's becoming one of my favorite characters to just watch because she going to say something out of control. And I'm just like, all right. All right, Helena. Go on. Go on, girls. So. Yeah. So I don't want to get too far away from Maseria because her big conflict in this episode, aside from the Allison thing, is Damon. Per usual, right? We do this every episode. Rhaenyra says something.

[00:17:08] Maseria says one thing. Damon says one thing. They kind of do like a tug of war for who she's going to listen to, who she's not going to listen to. But, you know, the common denominator in all of House of the Dragon and some of Game of Thrones is the patriarchy. Maseria, you are going to be questioned by Damon. And you know what? Rhaenyra, you are going to be questioned by him, too. He says everybody's going to question you because you're a woman. And quite frankly, we talked about this. We talked about it. We talked about it till our faces turn blue.

[00:17:37] That is constantly a thing that they have to battle with. And so although Maseria is trying to use her influence, Damon is just like, I don't have to listen to you. I can just do what I want. You know, there's a moment where Rhaenyra is telling him what to do. And he says, I will do it when I feel like it. And to me, it's like, once again, the queen is being undermined, even by her husband, uncle. Her king. Prince? King, consort. Yeah.

[00:18:11] It's just, I hate it here because I'm forced to agree with the man. Like, why am I agreeing with Damon? Damon, I'm sorry. Like, I get it. You're like, oh, we need to find Vhagar. Da-da-da-da-da. But the people, like, it makes no sense. How did they switch roles? Because that's what Rhaenyra said, like, four episodes.

[00:18:38] Like, I need to, how am I supposed to govern seven kingdoms if I can't govern my city? And Damon's saying the exact same thing. And she's like, but there's treachery. I think they use this as a good way to highlight her paranoia about things that are happening around her. Which, again, she might be in the right too. But it's like, they're very much pressing matters.

[00:19:05] And to me, when I think of your ruling kingdoms and stuff like that, you got to get your own house in order before you can get the rest of it. Right? That's like, that's another black people thing. Like, if your own house is disorganized, nobody's going to trust you to rule the rest of the country. And plus, those people are closer to you. Those are the people who can do you more damage because they're actually here and can get to you.

[00:19:34] So, Damon being like, the Night's Watch. The City Watch has not been paid. They're grumpy and angry. They're being a little too brutality-y. They're getting their police brutality on. And then on top of it, there's like a serial killer. There's like a police serial killer that is going around killing the City Watch. Like, you know, gunning them and slitting their throats.

[00:20:01] And it's like, Damon's like, I don't have gold for them. So, I got to go put in this FaceTime, basically. He's like, I got to make sure they stay on our side. And I'm sorry, he's right. And this episode, again, just I do love seeing them interact. Damon and Rhaenyra interacting is just so amazing.

[00:20:25] Matt Smith is like, he is one of the best actors ever. Like, this role is generational for him. Like, I mean, and that's coming from that, but he's had plenty of generational roles, you know? And it's just, he's a generational actor. Like, at this point, I cannot see, I could never imagine anybody else in this role. Because he just plays it all so well.

[00:20:54] And Rhaenyra as well. It's just, it talks to the source of chemistry between the two of them. That, you know, when they're on screen, you're not immediately disgusted that they're uncle, niece, wife. Husband, uncle, yeah. That's just that fledgling lover. Yeah. Right, exactly. So it's just, it's just so good. And I like him trying to steer Rhaenyra.

[00:21:24] Because at this moment, it's not to her detriment. You know what I'm saying? But then again, it's kind of like, Rhaenyra has so many fires going. You know what I'm saying? Like, she has so many fires she needs to put out. So it's not kind of surprising that, you know, nobody is kind of, nobody's wrong in this situation. It's just, I think Damon is right as in this is probably the more pressing matter. Yeah, I think strategically he is on point. But he's still wrong as hell.

[00:21:54] That's your queen. She said, jump, you jump. You say, yes, my queen. You know, you undermining her in front of some of these bums. I mean, her small council is just people who don't respect her. You know, the master of coin, his name is? Taurin Manderly. Taurin Manderly. Hilarious. And who is this new lady? That's Lady Frey. That's Lady Frey. So she let the river men, her army cross the twins.

[00:22:23] We know the phrase, hold the twins. It's a very strategic stronghold in the Riverlands. And she let them pass. And she's like, you promised me Harrenhal. Why do anybody want that motherfucking ruin? Why does anybody want Harrenhal? She's like, I want Harrenhal. Now, Rhaenyra's like, girl, we got, you get a place on my small council. We'll get Harrenhal when we get it.

[00:22:49] Because as of right now, last thing we heard, Aegon got Harrenhal, which means Vhagar's there. Do you want me to send somebody to go get Vhagar, like, up out of there for you to get them ruined? It's like, girl, calm down. Be calm. Be calm. Miss Frey is saying, I look up and I see posters on the wall. What do you mean? If you catch Eamon, if you catch Eamon, you can have Harrenhal. How you gonna put my stuff up? What were you? Auction off one of your things. You talk about it. You can have something that you don't, that don't even belong to you no more.

[00:23:18] You gave it to me. So she said, so I'll accept the space on the small council. But I do think that Damon undermining her in front of Manderly and this lady Frey. It's bad. It's, again, the bad PR. Because look at how they talk at the small council. He's lacing her up on everything that's going on. He's like, the black one, those are the bastards. That's a bastard right there. And that's a whore.

[00:23:45] And I said, look at her ragtag group of misfits. She got bastards on the, she got bastards on dragons. She got a former whore, lovingly whore, as the mistress of whispers. And her right-hand woman, you know, her uncle is her husband. This is a circus. And right there, she's like, yeah, I want to get the people out of Tumbleton, but I can't burn it down. So now I got to go hunt down a dragon.

[00:24:16] And Damon's like, yeah, but I'll do whatever I want whenever I feel like it. And show you some respect whenever I care. To do that, because I got to go save the Gold Coast. It's just not a good look, Mari. I know. And yeah, it's not a good look. It's not a good look. And she's like, I literally dumped all those people and left all those people in Dragonstone. Because I didn't want people not listening to me again. And here you go.

[00:24:44] So it's just a lot of turmoil, you know. It's just, again, like Big Brother, there's no steamrolls here. Because there are turmoil within the alliances. And if anybody is just wondering, like, what's the holdup with Tumbleton? Which, me, hi, I'm people. Because why the fuck have we not gotten to that yet?

[00:25:12] But so because Rhaenyra is refusing to basically go burn it down, we know that she sent Ulf and Hugh to just kind of, like, scout. It's like, just scout. Make sure the Hightower people, like, just see, report their movements. And we know later, Ormond is, you know, putting the battlements together.

[00:25:37] Because as we knew two episodes ago, Tumbleton is not a fortress or a stronghold. It is a market town. So it basically has no strong defenses. So Ormond's putting up strong defenses. That's why Daemon is like, why are we letting them prepare for us? Let's just go smoke them out. But Rhaenyra is like, I don't want to smoke them out because those were my allies. So what she's doing is she's waiting for the Rivermen to march to Tumbleton.

[00:26:04] But, of course, it's taking the Rivermen longer because they have to deal with Cole and his people. So that's what's happening. If you're kind of confused as to why they're fighting about how to handle Tumbleton. And basically, it feels like nothing's being done. It's because nothing is being done. They are waiting for their, they want their regular army, the host of their army to fight. They want hand-to-hand combat in Tumbleton.

[00:26:31] Because they do not want to have to just go in there and burn everybody, burn everybody up. Yeah. And Daemon feels very strongly about getting to the bottom of this. Because the Gold Cloaks are dying. Yes, they are. And you have to say it. But from Rhaenyra's point of view, she's like, okay, so we lost a cop. We lost, okay, we lost two. That's not that big of a deal. We got dragons on loose.

[00:27:02] Bro, just let me do this. You worry about these one, two cops or whatever. This ain't a big deal. But to Daemon, he can tell that it is a very big deal. And so, as you said, he goes out and he's talking to Sir Luther, I believe. And he's just like, hey, I need to give these people a pep talk. You know, it's time for me to hype them up because they're not getting paid. You know, we've seen government shutdowns happen in our world. And we expect the federal employees to keep going to work.

[00:27:31] You know, somebody got to work these TSA lines. And so, he said, well, maybe if I just help raise morale. But Mario, it's very hard to raise morale when your gold coats are not only being killed. Their throats are being slit and their bowels are being cut out so that you can, like, so they can die in their own feces. Yeah, yeah. And like I said, that's some Jack the Ripper type stuff. Like, it really is. So, and so, what it's doing is it's making it a big show, a big display.

[00:27:59] So, it's a big show and a big display of weakness. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. This is happening within your city. That means people aren't safe. If the people who are supposed to keep people safe aren't safe, then we aren't safe. You know what I'm saying? So, it's, the perpetrators behind this are very smart in how they're undermining Rainier's rule. Right.

[00:28:24] Because who would want to be a gold cloak if you knew you could just be murdered and basically the queen don't really care. You know, she's too preoccupied to deal with it. So, not only are you working for free, but also your allies, your friends, you know, people that work alongside you are dropping like flies. And so, Daemon does go and, you know, promise them the world. Oh, yeah. Once this is all over, we'll pay you twice as much. You know, all that good stuff.

[00:28:53] Uh, Rainier is going to run the whole seven kingdoms. Hell, it might be 12 kingdoms by the time she's done. You know, come on. Who's with me? And it works. But not for long. You know, again, we look up and more of them are falling. Eventually, they find somebody who, uh, one of the culprits. And they, of course, they torture him. And they are about to kill him. And he finally says, who sent him? He says, the king sent me. They're like, Aegon? Nope, not that king.

[00:29:23] There's a new king in town. And he has these little gold coins. This man is already on the coins. Yeah. So, uh, Ormond commissions coins from old, old town to be minted, minted in Darren's name. And I'm sitting here, me being ridiculous. I'm like, currency law. I'm like, so they're doing this for technically fake money because this money wouldn't be recognized for use anywhere.

[00:29:52] But then I'm also like, well, duh. But then I'm thinking, duh, this, that money I'm assuming is real gold. So no matter what, the value of the gold is the value of the gold. It's not like paper money with Darren's face on it. You know what I'm saying? It ain't worth nothing. Yeah. Yeah. Where it ain't worth nothing. So that's what I was thinking. I was like, is this money even worth anything? But I guess it is worth the, the gold it's printed on, you know? Mm-hmm.

[00:30:21] And even then, I think this, this guy has the gold in his boot. He has the coin in his boot. I think that's part of the message, right? If you get caught, you are supposed to show people, the people are supposed to see that there's a new king in town. I don't think that this is supposed to remain secret because why are you walking around with this coin anyway? You know, when you leave it at home or something like that, but you have one gold coin. You have one gold coin in your boot. One? Keep it on your boot. You keep it on your person. I guess you keep it. Yeah, I guess so. But yeah, he turns it in.

[00:30:50] I'm assuming the one gold coin is the equivalent of one gold dragon, which is like, it is a lot, especially when it comes to Flea Bottom. Like that, that's a lot for a poor folk. Yeah. Yeah. Well, this man gets charged up. He definitely, you know, is dead now. Poor one out. But he did give the information that there's a new king in town. Dayron is coming. But by way of Ormond, Ormond is kind of making this happen.

[00:31:18] And now, you know, by the end of the episode, Damon realizes how big of a threat this is. Because again, it starts off just as, oh, gold cloak here, gold cloak there. Then it becomes kind of just like they're dropping here and there. It can't get to the bottom of it. But I think in the after show, they say he's like playing whack-a-mole. You know, one pops up, he chases after the people. Another one pops up, he chases after the people. He finds himself looking for a certain Luther.

[00:31:45] And we find Sir Luther at a table full of traitors. And he is dead. And so are they. Guts out on the plates. A feast for traitors, Mari. I don't think Damon was prepared for this. I don't think anybody was. Yeah, I wasn't either. It just goes to show you how deeply embedded that Ormond's men are.

[00:32:09] And how well they were able to mesh themselves in the city and get, like, this had to be, like, maybe the other ones are maybe one to two people, right? Conspirating, getting, jumping two at a time or whatever. But to kill that, that looked like, what was that, at least like 10 people? Probably about 10, yeah. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. That, to me, that suggests that you got a group of people in there.

[00:32:38] But, yeah. Yeah, that are feeling this way. And that is the message. So, it's quite a lot. I would be alarmed for, like, if I was Damon, you know? And within it, I guess that was their headquarters, too. Like. Yeah. Just, this is tough because Damon feels a personal connection to the gold cloaks. Them, his people. And Sir Luther, it's his right. That's, that's the main go-to guy. And so if he's dead, yeah.

[00:33:05] If I'm a gold cloak, I am tendering my resignation as of today. Are you crazy? As of today, like, yeah. Peace. I'm not going to be here. I don't know who's going to be there, but it won't be me. So, yeah. Yeah. So, Rhaenyra and Damon have a lot on their hands. They try to get some help. You know, there are people who were saying, no, no, send me into battle. Including Bela, who, this poor baby.

[00:33:32] She then found herself an accomplice, you know, in the death of Jace. Jace had a dumb idea and she hopped on the dragon right behind him like a dummy. And now the queen won't even look at her. And her closest friend is the bastard of the sea snake who's telling her, hey, I know you want to prove yourself right now. You really want to get back in the queen's good graces. But you haven't slept.

[00:33:58] And last time on full sleep and in your right mind, you and Jace did something really stupid. So, why don't we take a beat? And then maybe, you know, maybe we can figure this out later on once you've slept. Bela is down bad. Yeah, poor Bela. You can tell she's still carrying that guilt of what happened to Jace. On top of mourning the loss of her positioning, right? Like, until this point, Bela is the older twin.

[00:34:27] She basically has had her life set out for her. She says it here. She is supposed to basically follow in Rhaenyra's footsteps and being the queen a la next to Jace. And all of that's gone. So, now she has to figure out her place in the world. And she's trying to do that also by also overcompensating and trying to prove to the queen that she can be useful to her. So, that's why she's not eating. She's going on these scout missions. She's trying to find Thagar. And she's just running herself ragged.

[00:34:57] And here comes her uncle to be like, girl, sit down and eat something. And I love Alan in these moments where he's kind of like, you got to take care of yourself. You got to. You got to. He says, you know, worst case scenario, I'll come save you from exile. We could just go, you know, live happily ever after away from all this stuff because she's concerned.

[00:35:22] She's like, you know, if I'm not going to be royalty, someone's going to marry me off to combine somebody's house with me and I'm going to end up at Pike or whatever. And so, I don't like that. And the best he could do is be like, just, you know, get it together. It's not as bad as it sounds. It'll be okay. You know, he's just kind of giving her those platitudes. And by the way, I thought this was Adam. What did I say? I said, Alan, this is Adam. Yeah, but you know, the only reason I bring that up is because, you know, I'm bad with names.

[00:35:49] And this gold-haired Targaryen showed up and I said, Ty, Jason, Lannister. Tyland. That's Tyland. Tyland Lannister. Tyland Lannister is back, baby. I think we thought he was dead. You thought he was dead, but yes. Yeah. I think the royal we. I know the book readers are like, he ain't dead. But didn't one of the Lannisters die though, right? I think I saw one of them. Jason is dead. Jason.

[00:36:18] Jason died in the first episode when we came back because the old wolves, they threw his head at the young Tully. Tyland fell off a boat. I remember he was knocked out. Swam up. Yeah. He was pushed off the boat. Tyland was pushed. Hashtag Tyland was pushed. Hashtag Tyland was pushed. But Tyland's back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. And he's back to assist, I guess, the power couple of this show. At least it has been, they spent so much time together.

[00:36:48] Larys and Aegon, we get so much more of them. I really enjoyed this because Larys finally told Aegon how he really felt. Aegon is sitting here blaming the world for his problems. Specifically, his brother Aemon. Don't get me wrong. Aemon has wronged him. Look at his face. He's taking some L's. But he's saying, Aemon is the whole reason I'm in this. He's the reason I have all these problems in the first place.

[00:37:17] And I will pledge my life to making sure that I killed that man because he probably thinks I'm not a good king. And mom always liked him better than me. He always had all the good stuff. And if I had all the stuff that he had, I would have been great too. But y'all was too busy up his ass. And y'all wouldn't pay no attention to me. And I was supposed to be the king and all this other stuff. And Larys finally says, Sir, you suck. You're bad at everything. You had all the resources in the world. You're nobility. You could have been good with a sword.

[00:37:46] You could have been well-read. You could have been well-spoken. You could have known Valyrian or whatever. But you was too busy out here getting drunk and having sex with people who did not want to have sex with you, sir. You were too busy out here doing things that you had no business doing. And that's why you suck as a king and also as a human. Drops the mic. Yeah. Yeah. That was funny. A terrible king and a terrible man. Yeah. Because, dear listener, remember,

[00:38:15] Aegon, again, grew up accepting that his sister was going to rule. Remember, this was never Aegon's idea to be the king. He was more than fine with just being a noble prince, drinking his life away, whoring, just living the life of luxury and leisure.

[00:38:41] So, like, he didn't originally want this. Once he gets it, and now he's, like, he's grossly unprepared for it, he wants to blame everybody but himself. And complaining to somebody who was even lower born than you that, oh, my God, these things didn't go for me the way I wanted it to. It's so tone deaf. Yeah. It's so tone deaf. Yeah. It's stupid.

[00:39:11] It's dumb. But I did like that somewhere over in Harrenhal, Eamon is having a parallel struggle. So, he's in Harrenhal, and everybody's looking for Eamon, but, you know, Alice Rivers is taking care of him. And I don't know how I feel about their relationship yet, but we can talk it through.

[00:39:31] But he's going through a very similar situation as Aegon, but on the back of a very similar situation that happened to Daemon. Daemon was at Harrenhal, and he was out there dreaming about having sex with his mama and really reconciling with his feelings and his past and his feelings about his brother, Viserys, and all that. And now we have Eamon. They're doing the same thing. He's waking up in a cold sweat, you know. Oh, my God.

[00:40:00] Aegon was trying to kill me. He's trying to take me down. He's feeling the guilt of, yeah, I did try to usurp my brother. I did try to kill him, you know, but he's saying, no, but it's not my fault. He always picked on me. I worshiped him. He treated me bad. And so he made me this way. And I'm just like, both of y'all blaming each other for y'all problems, and y'all both are shitty humans. And they both think their mama liked the other one better, which is very, very funny. And she didn't like neither one of them. She only likes Helena.

[00:40:32] Very true. Yeah. And that's the crazy thing, right? Because Eamon is like, oh, Eamon was perfect. He was just born second, right? And Aegon was born first, but with none of the qualities that Eamon had that makes a better king. So they're both mad about something that they can't change.

[00:40:55] And they both think the other one, no, the other one, they both know that the other one has what they lack or they need, you know? So it is a parallel. And whatever you think is going on between him and Alex Rivers, you're right. They did that shit. I said, I don't like this. I don't like this at all. But to me, I thought it was going to get romantic. I thought they might kiss. But I think at one point he said, mother.

[00:41:25] And I couldn't tell if he was talking about his mama or if he was like, you my new mama. She's very protective of him. And what he wanted to do with his last mama. Right. And he did kiss his last mama. So I'm like, what are you doing? But, you know, there's that moment where he's talking about how much the world was against him and how he couldn't live in his truth and be who he was supposed to be, the king and all this other stuff. And she's kind of like, join the club, you know, whatever. And I think they have some kinship between the two of them, which is going to make them a good team.

[00:41:55] Because when the people pull up to get him, she's using the bat witchcraft, you know, TM, you know, to keep them away. And then eventually he musters up the strength to pop out. People were looking for Eamon and they found him. And to their own detriment, he murdered those people. And so now I think this is another duo that we might have to deal with moving forward. Yeah.

[00:42:19] I mean, he seems more willing to give more to Alice Rivers than Damon did. So. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And to think, all these people pulling up at Heron Hall looking for this dude. It's so ghetto. Just let this lady have Heron Hall and leave. This ruin. Like, there's more. It's haunted. It's haunted. And there's more holes in the sky than anything. It's always raining in that hole. You know what I'm saying? It's always raining in that hole. Like, what was the point?

[00:42:49] Yeah. You got no roofs. There's no roofs. They want it. This is the spot to be in. It's like, it's janky, but it's kind of like, okay, it's got personality, but it's haunted. And for that, I can't go in there. You know, every time somebody come in there, they leave out trying to sleep with their mama. Make it make sense. So, we did touch on Aegon and Larys a little bit. But they do find themselves back at Rook's Rest. And that's when Tylan pulls up.

[00:43:18] And Tylan is like, okay, let's devise a plan. We can go to Lannisport. We can get back with our people. We can regroup. Aegon's alive. This is great. Aegon was just about to give up. He was just telling Larys, yeah, book the ship. It's time to go. We leaving. I'm over this. I've come to terms with, I'm not a good king and I'm not a good person. Let me stop fighting for this. But once Tylan shows up, he's got plans. He's like, we can go do this. We can go do that.

[00:43:47] And everything seems like we might be moving to, you know, maybe like a little bit of a debate between the two of them. But it's interrupted because the man who told Aegon to kiss his shitty boot finds the crown and realizes what is going on, that this is Aegon Targaryen in disguise. And so Aegon does, the one thing that Aegon does, you really know how to do well, just poke somebody up. He just starts stabbing them.

[00:44:14] But you do see a glimpse in Aegon's eyes, you know, a little bit of a smirk where he said, you know, yeah, where you can tell. He kind of got his groove back a little bit in that moment. Yeah. He's like, call me your grace. Dead. Sir dead. Sir dead. Yeah. Yeah. He's back. More hope there for Aegon that he will regain the throne. I know Larys is like.

[00:44:44] I was so close. So close. Yeah. So, yeah. Again, all of this is conjecture and made up. So. Yeah. It's fine. I think it's funny because I do like the, the kind of the other parallel here where you have Larys being like, let's go, let's give up. Let's just get out of here. Let's book a ship and go. Meanwhile, cut to G-Wave being like, Krista Cole, we lost. Let's go home.

[00:45:14] They already got us. We could, we could leave. But Kristen Cole ain't having it. He said, I have been used and abused by the royalty people so many times. I'm tired of being a pawn. I'm tired of trying to give myself to these people. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to die a servant. You can, you can offer me a spot in your house all you want. That's fine. But what I really am is a warrior. I'm a fighter and I want to die a fighter.

[00:45:40] And so no matter what is going on, no matter how many times they run into different roadblocks, the bridge might be burnt down. Their, their horses are walking on big ass spikes and all kinds of stuff. They're trudging across the land and through the tallest grass and getting leeches and all kinds of stuff on themselves. And that man said, we still going to fight. They have nothing. They have no horses. They can't get across the water.

[00:46:08] He said, if we got to swim, we going to fight. And G Wayne, you just know he wants to go home. He's like, please, for the love of God, just let's just give up. Let's go home. Chris Cole don't have a home to go to. He said, I'm not going, where am I? Where are we going to go? Where I can live my life. You want to give me a servitude at your home. I don't want to be your servant either. I just want to fight or die a warrior. I know the people hate Crispy, but I don't know.

[00:46:37] I enjoy this character arc from him because he's over it. He's done. He's tired of being everybody's play thing. Yeah, they definitely are giving him like a semi like, like heroic character arc here. He's the last words we hear the episode saying your prayer to like the mother, the father, the crone, like going through it.

[00:47:01] It's his heroic monologue about how they're going to die as warriors, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's playing over the thing. I'm over here. Boo, this guy stinks. But he's tired. Basically, he's tired. He's tired. He doesn't want to participate anymore, which is crazy because like in the book, he's called the kingmaker.

[00:47:27] He's the guy who in the small folks, he's the guy who empowered the usurper of Aegon and helped him, you know, turn the tide and all of that. And he's like ruthless and cunning. And we see in the opening, we have Lord Tully, Lord Piper, and then like the gray wolves talking about how Sir Christian Cole is using.

[00:47:57] He's basically using Dornish tactics by. And then we see it. I thought this was great how they set this up. We see him attacking them at night. They're burning their tents down. This is ungentlemanly warfare that they're doing. And they're doing all this to slow the march of Rhaenyra's army. And I love that the gray wolves is like, let us, you know, let us handle it.

[00:48:27] Lord Tully is like, no, we go. We go outsmart them. And we start seeing, we start seeing Sir Christian not having the upper hand. When they were riding and their horses just started like falling. I was like, oh, I was like, what are they doing to the horses? You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah. Yeah. I think they called them crow's feet. That's what they called it. Yeah.

[00:48:54] But it was basically like big spiky balls. I'm assuming it was some sort of like plant or something. Cause it didn't look like literal crow's feet to me. Yeah. No, I don't think. I don't. I think it's just, they called it that. Cause it like resembled a little black, you know, pointy things. But yeah, I don't know what they make it out of, but a horse's hoof has to be really hard to penetrate.

[00:49:18] And so for it to just step on it and basically just like collapse, whatever they made it out of, gotta be some tough material. You know, it's like, I don't know if something like that would grow in the wild. I mean, just the, I mean, they were stepping on them and just falling out. Exactly. Yeah. Maybe it was man-made, hand-crafted or whatever. But yeah, you gotta think it's getting like, like right in between the horses hooves and stuff like that.

[00:49:44] And those horses, those poor horses were just, Kristen, Sir Kristen cuts his horse up and lets, we don't start, we don't continue on foot. On foot. Then they're kind of like forced into the brambles with the thorns and stuff. Then, like you said, they're in the marshes. It was just so interesting. And then when they get to the bridge, they realize, they always thought they had the upper hand, but they were like, oh no, we don't. Like, it was such a good, I love this because this is in the book.

[00:50:14] This is in the book. And this was, this was great how they, they showed it. They did leave out some stuff that I really wanted to see. And they put it other places, which is fine. And we'll put it in the book corner. Boop, boop, boop, boop. Yeah. Stick around. Exactly. So, so it, it, it, this was a great, this was great. I really liked Sir Kristen's storyline.

[00:50:43] However, I was like, they're dragging it. Hmm. I liked it mostly because of the acting. I think his name is Fabian Franco, uh, Frankel. Um, incredible. I thought this was so well done, uh, because you could see when G Wayne gets there, I'm sorry. Uh, yeah, when G Wayne gets there, he looks like devastated. Oh my God. We did all of that for nothing. I've been doing all this stuff. It's time to go.

[00:51:08] But you can see the realization on Kristen Cole's face where he's looking and he's sad. You can kind of see it. And then it shifts to like, well, we're about to go on and keep going. You know, it was like, I hope you don't think this is the end of the road. Cause it's not. And, you know, even the speech about, you know, why he refuses to stop, how he's willing to go up against the, I think he said it's 200 to one. The, the, the, the, the military count here. He's like, okay, fine. Then that's, yeah, that's just what it is.

[00:51:38] And we saw, um, Damon give his big speech with the goal close, but Kristen Cole does a similar thing. He goes and tells these people you will die. And that's okay. Cause that's what we signed up for. Uh, you know, G Wayne is the only one who realized, who thought we did not sign up for that. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, he thought he said that. I mean, I think he, he, I think he stuck with them for a little bit. I don't know where he going to go.

[00:52:05] Uh, but yeah, he told them, look, this is what we got to do. We're going to put all our faith in all of these gods. And if we end up dead, we're going to end up dead, but we're not going, we're not turning, you know, away. We're not going to run away, try to rebuild. This is it. And so, uh, these people are on, they have a death wish for sure. But. But, you know, the religious aspect came up a couple of times in this episode where we saw him, we, we saw, uh, Alison toying with her little, uh, her star.

[00:52:33] Um, but we, we even saw Ray Nira go to church. That was my favorite thing that happened. You know, when life started beating your ass, it don't matter what you believe in. You're like, I'll try something. I'll try anything. She said, get down. Neil, we got to pray. You know, um, so yeah, I just thought his speech was kind of cool because again, these people are more, if they don't die crossing the river, they probably going to die.

[00:52:59] If they don't die on foot on the way there, they're going to lose people as they go. You know, it's like the Oregon trail. The more, the longer you walk, the more chances you get for somebody from dying from dysentery. And so, uh, so that by the time they get there, there's not going to be much of an army left and they still going to fight. Uh, and so I think we got to get, uh, being Camilla AF on the phone because I think she want to be there for whenever that happens. Um, it did feel like we were saying goodbye to Kristen Cole.

[00:53:27] As quiet as it kept, as kept, she should be on tonight. And I'm just talking about it. Well, uh, we'll get to that in a moment. Um, we have not, uh, talked about the, the new face of the greens, uh, Ormond Hightower. Um, this man is playing chess and losing to Dayron in a weird way.

[00:53:55] I assume it's just, it's not chess, but what did, what did Tyrion used to, no, Tyrion used to play something. I forget what it was called. Oh, that's going to get on my nerves. Um, it's, it's a certain game in Restorosa. It's akin to chess, but I can't, I can't think of it right now. Savas? Savasie? Savas. Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yes. That sounds familiar. Yeah. Something like that. Savas. Yeah. Yeah. They're playing the game.

[00:54:26] And, uh, I mean, I think it's probably symbolic, right? Of Ormond. That's really what Ormond is doing, right? He's a strategic guy. And so he's playing, uh, this game as well, you know, maneuvering his pieces around whenever he finds out what the opposition is. He always has a plan, you know, something happens. Okay. Well, we'll do this. Okay. Well, that's happening. Well, we'll do this. And he's doing this while all still trying to kind of rear, uh, De'Ron into the next king. But, you know, De'Ron is a king, going to be the king in name only, right?

[00:54:55] Like he going to be the, like the name, uh, cause he is the heir, but it looks like Ormond is very ready to take over the reins here and really just kind of run from the sidelines. Yeah. And he, um, like he's trying to, in his mind, he's trying to deprogram De'Ron from his Targaryen blood. But to me, it's like, he's trying to brainwash him with this high tower stuff.

[00:55:23] Like I really want them to reveal that like he, De'Ron really does have like the, um, the hair of the Targaryens. And like, he's like just making him diet. So he, like, that's what I, the more he talks about, uh, De'Ron and him molding him to be a high tower, the more I want that, that fan fiction. But like, De'Ron is scared of this man.

[00:55:52] And I hate, I hate that so much. You know what I'm saying? Like it's, uh, I, I hate it. Ormond, we get confirmation that he's the one who's behind the, the gold cloaks dying. Um, De'Ron is like talking about like, oh, in my studies to try and be a better high tower. I'm, I'm reading tactics and stuff.

[00:56:15] They, they do talk about Mary of Martell here, the yellow toad of, uh, Dorn, which is a great story, um, about basically how Dorn was never conquered. Um, and it again sheds light on, it talks about Dornish tactics and how the Dornish men were killing at night, undercover at night. And I love the, um, the parallels between that story and what Kristen Cole doing, because remember, Kristen Cole was raised in the mountains of Dorn.

[00:56:45] He, he is considered, uh, of Dornish blood. Cause he was, he was, he was actually raised in that area between Dorn and the seventh kingdoms where it's like always the skirmishes. He is like, yeah, but, but people, I think he does have some Dornish blood in him. Um, so it's, it's a really, I, I, it's just history and lore that you love to hear. And, and Game of Thrones has been doing this for years.

[00:57:14] It's the reason why we kind of know if you, if you listen to Game of Thrones, you know how this ends and how they seeded the whole series with history of Westeros. It's just like that. It's just, and if, if it's to be believed, we might get an Aegon the Conqueror show. So maybe we will see Mary. Yeah. They're there. I think they're still trying to figure out if we're going to get it or not.

[00:57:38] Um, so it's just cool to get some history here, but as they're doing that, Dorn wins in the Savas or chess or whatever. And Dorn immediately starts apologizing and Ormond is don't apologize for victory, but clearly pissed that he lost because he knocks the chess pieces over. I'm just like, this man is a monster. Like the simple fact that Marjorie Marjorie. Oh my God.

[00:58:08] Alison thought that letting Dorn go to old town to be raised thinking she'd giving her child a better life. And it's not that not at all. Yeah. And it's hard to say, you know, that it's better because look at how he's look at how fearful he is of Ormond. Like he's, he's terrified. You know, that's why he apologized for winning. He's like, wait, hold on. You know, my bad.

[00:58:33] Um, you know, uh, but look at the kids that stayed with Alison, you know, they not great. Not great. So, you know, um, Dorn is, uh, still coming up. He's learning the tactics. He's learning the history, but he's, he's, he's also messing up. You know, Ormond is like, I'm going to have to check your tutor or something like that. Cause you not picking up everything. So there's another thing that he's stressed out about. Right. So he's stressed and it's making him nervous.

[00:59:01] And so, you know, at some point, Dorn is probably going to have to come to face with all these people, his opposition. Um, but Ormond is going to make sure that, um, by the time that happens, they have taken a big old chunk out of the Targaryens in the name of the, the, you know, all these gods that they worship. But, um, trying to think if we've missed anything else in the episode. Uh, Prince Joffrey's back. Yeah. He's back from the veil. Um, because remember Rainier said, bring him. He needs to be instilled as the Prince of Dragonstone.

[00:59:28] But it also felt like she was kind of avoiding him. You know, this is her last son with Laenor. Um, you know, she, she's been carrying the weight and the guilt and the grief of her two boys throughout all of this. Damon even suggests that it is that grief and that guilt that makes her make, uh, not too good decisions.

[00:59:51] You know, um, so it's interesting seeing Prince, Prince Joffrey here, who at this point, I think is 10-ish, something like that. Something, he's, he's pretty young. Mm. So we will have to see what happens when she finally speaks to him. Because by the time she got to him, he was asleep. And, uh, you know, like you said, maybe she didn't quite want to see him, you know, just yet. Um, but it's going to happen eventually.

[01:00:19] Because, um, like you said, he needs to be installed as, uh, the Prince. Like, it's, it's almost like the moment she talks to him, his childhood ends at that point. You know, like, uh, she's about to make him a part of this Game of Thrones. Everybody else gets, like, like Jaheira, she's just chilling. She has no responsibility. Nobody is making her do anything. She's fine. Even Helena. She's chilling right now. She's fine. But, but the moment your child is the heir to something, the Lord of something like that,

[01:00:49] just because of when they were born or who died before them, that immediately moves them up the ranks to somebody who is more important and who is in danger. You know, look at her kids. Luke's gone. Jace is gone. And they could have just been normal kids. But because of the bloodline they were born into, the, the moment that their names come up in the order, in the pecking order, it's time for you to go be in charge of something. It's time for you to hop on your dragon. It's time for you to run something. It's time for you to make decisions. Uh, and so I'm sure she doesn't want that for Prince Joffrey. She wants to keep him a kid as long as she can. Yeah.

[01:01:19] And, uh, he's, he's 13 at this time. So excuse me. Um, and it's just sucks. Right. It just sucks. We're just cycling through the kids. You know what I'm saying? And, and, and Alison is going through that as well. She does not know that both Aegon and Aemon are still alive. It's, it's like, thank God, I guess that you guys had all these kids because you got plenty of spares

[01:01:45] because your heirs are falling and, and it, and it sucks that it's going to land on that 13 year old's shoulders. You know? Yeah. It looks like, like no matter what's going on, all the flaws of Viserys, all the flaws of Otto, uh, you know, the flaws of Daemon, whatever the case may be. It's like these women are carrying all the burden of this, you know, um, where it's Alison and Rhaenyra. Like we're the ones losing all our people. You know, I, I'll give Corliss some credit too.

[01:02:11] He definitely lost a lot of people, but you know, these, these mothers are just birthing crash test dummies. You know, they're one after another, throw them into the war. They die. Okay. Next up, you know? And so it's tough to watch, but as you said, it's kind of a filler episode, Mari. We were moving some pieces around, setting the scene a little bit. Um, and so maybe next episode we get a little bit more action, um, because this was season three, episode five. I believe this is an eight episode season.

[01:02:39] If I'm not, if I'm not mistaken. And so, uh, yeah, we got six, seven, and eight, three episodes left before, uh, we are now waiting probably another two years, um, to get back to this show. And so Mari, you have anything else from the episode before we jump into the book corner? No, let me just make sure. Yeah. No.

[01:03:09] All right. Well, if you are listening to this and you are completely averse to like, I don't want to know the books. I don't want to know what's going on. I don't want any spoilers. If you think this is too much for you, now is the time to tap out. We'd be happy to, you know, hear, uh, your comments in a YouTube page or, you know, on our, on Spotify, Apple music, whatever the Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcast, leave us a comment, five-star view, all that good stuff. Um, but you're welcome to tap out and we will see you next week, uh, for season three, episode six.

[01:03:38] If you are sticking around from the book corner, like me, uh, now is the time to tune in to Maester Mari's book corner. Mari, the library is open. Um, not too much. Cause again, if I, if I go into too much of it, it would just be complaining about, um, the differences in the book.

[01:03:59] Like the reason why I'm kind of really upset about this episode is because, um, we all know the battle of Tumbleton is coming, right? It's, it's for since episode three. That's where we're all heading. That's all where we're all headed. Like, and to me, it's just stupid that there we're, we're going to be on episode six.

[01:04:24] This battle needs to happen in episode six because it is just a, like a major event that like, if we need, if we getting pat to get past, like to get more into the dance, we got to get past it type thing. So, um, it's just, it's just annoying me because I, I truly, it's making me think, I don't know where this season is going to end.

[01:04:53] I, I don't. And, um, which also makes me scared of next season, which is our final season and how they're going to land this puppy. Because again, war is messy. Civil wars are messier. Uh, the, how they portray a lot of stuff that's about to happen. It's either going to be really good or really bad.

[01:05:23] You know what I'm saying? Because what I can say is that again, technically this war is over a two year period. It's like from one 29 AC to one 31 AC. We're about at one 30 AC and between one 30 AC and one 31 AC, like all hell just kind of breaks loose and it gets like all real messy.

[01:05:49] So I kind of want to see, I want to just get to the point where we're like, well, how are they going to portray all of this? Cause it's, it's a lot to wrap up and, and then like reconstruction. Like I, I'm, I've been saying since this series started, I'm, I don't know where they're going to end this.

[01:06:10] And as we're getting more and more episodes that aren't moving the timeline and aren't moving the needle, it's making me even more nervous about what the ending is going to be like. Um, it's any questions. Yeah. Tumbleton finale. Like they absolutely can't do that. They absolutely. And that's what, that's what I was afraid of too.

[01:06:37] Uh, I was like, they absolutely cannot do Tumbleton finale and they better not do Tumbleton. Uh, uh, pre, what was it? Penultimate. Penultimate. They have to do it next episode or, or we are just, time is wasted and we are done. Like truly, truly, truly like they have to get past it. They have to.

[01:07:03] I was thinking, okay, well maybe they'll say, you know, cause I like to save the big moments for the penultimate episode. But then I remember the first two episodes were really the last two episodes. And now this is the first two episodes. I felt like they're going to bump that up. And so now it, to me, it does feel like, you know, we're, we're getting there, but if you want to take a big piece off the board, why would they do it? Episode six when they, you know, when they still got seven and eight, you know, unless they're going to do something like Tumbleton and then boom, boom, boom. There's like something that immediately happens after that.

[01:07:32] They have to address again. You are more familiar with that obviously than I am, but with the amount of time we have left. And this was my experience watching the first game of Thrones is that I was talking to so many people who had read the books and they were telling me all of these theories. And I had not read the books and I was like, damn, they don't do all of that. And last season, you know, it's like seven, six episodes. Yeah. Y'all think that y'all really think that. And the fandom was in denial. I heard something about Nisa Nisa coming back and there's all this other stuff.

[01:08:02] And I was like, y'all it's seven episodes left. What are you talking about? And when we didn't address it, people were up in arms, but like, like you said, you could kind of look around and see the writing on the wall that only have so much time. And so I agree with you that if we're not going to move the needle, I don't really know how they're going to get through. Because it seems like to me, from what you're saying, it sounds like there's so much more that we got to cover in so little time. There really is.

[01:08:30] And that's why I hate that they're a slave to like, oh, we need big moments for the penultimate. We need big episodes for the finale. We need, it feels like they're trying to get from major event to major event. But the nature of this whole long battle is like, I said it, I think in our first episode, it's mini skirmishes. It's like mini skirmishes. It's just messy war.

[01:08:59] It's stuff happening. Like, even if they did stuff off screen, I would be, I feel like it would be better served than omitting whole things, you know? So it's kind of weird. Like, it was weird to me because in the first, it first felt in the first few episodes that they, like I said, some storylines were progressing to this point, past here. And then some were still back here. And they were all supposed to converge.

[01:09:28] And the convergence is taking too long. I will say one of the things with G-Wayne, G-Wayne is playing with house money here because he's not, he was supposed to die when King's Landing fell.

[01:09:46] He, yeah, he was originally made like the second in command for the gold cloaks when they thought that they had gathered all the people who were, who were loyal to Rhaenyra and the gold cloaks and got them out. Um, Sir Luthor, like, kills him during the fall of King's Landing. So G-Wayne is, he's just, he's just here. Um, and I like that he's here because he's, he's basically our avatar, right? He's the audience's avatar, you know?

[01:10:16] He's talking to Sir Kristen, like, let's go home. Like, why are we even doing any of this, you know? Type thing. There's nothing we can really, really do. We can't win, so let's leave. Um, and. And as Sir Kristen is, they're doing all of these things, what is happening, um, and because of what I saw in this episode, I don't think it's, I'm pretty sure it's not gonna happen, like, at all anymore.

[01:10:43] So what would happen is, once Sir Kristen and them are going down the road and they're trudging through the stuff and all that, they see, like, dead people. Like, that, that tableau that we saw of the gold cloaks, that's what, what Sir Kristen and them were seeing on the road. So they, they didn't have that portion with Sir Kristen.

[01:11:09] And that is one of the, the cooler portions of, like, Sir Kristen's march. Um, but they intentionally moved it to Damon's storyline for, I felt like, for them to be like, wink, wink, nudge, nudge to the book people. Like, I know, we know you were probably looking for the Feast of the Dead. It's over here. It's not here. Um, and it's not that big of a, it's not really that big of a deal that they move it because, you know, what's gonna happen is gonna happen.

[01:11:39] Um, but I just, I, I'm, they're, they're dragging it. They're dragging it. All of it. They're dragging it. And I, I need, I need, I need the Battle of Tumbleton to be next week. We need it. And looking, judging from the, the, the next on, I'm like, I don't know, man. It didn't look like it. It did not look like a fight. It didn't. Sorry. Yeah.

[01:12:07] So I don't know. It's just, I want to know who's making these decisions to be quite honest. Um, yeah, it, it, unless it's going to be, unless like the last season is going to be kind of like how the Game of Thrones last season was where it's just like, get it, get it. Another one, another one. Jump, jump, jump, jump. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like I, I just don't know how we're, we're going to fit all this stuff into it.

[01:12:36] You said you had questions. I mean, I was able to ask most of them during the, in the conversation, but you know, but like Alice Rivers and, uh, Aemond. Like it's just, yeah. Like, is that, is that a thing that's in the book as well? Does she, she's, oh, like their, their kind of allyship is a, is a big plot point. Like, it is. Yeah. Their, their allied ship, uh, it, it, in the book, it is like, they're like, uh, they might be sleeping together.

[01:13:04] Like, like even in the book, they're like, yeah, we, we think they were sleeping together, you know? So all of that is, is, uh, in the book. Great, great plot point. I love that it's, it's here. Um, Alice Rivers is, it's been very fun, um, character and all of that. So yeah, that was, that is, that is a plot point here in the book.

[01:13:28] The, everything with Aegon is again, made up because at this point in the book, we don't know where Aegon is like, you know, like how in the book we kind of have the, um, from the perspective of Rhaenyra and them, it's like, we don't know where Aegon is. We don't know what Aemond is doing. I kind of liked that in the book, it's Aemond like terrorizing the riverlands, like coming

[01:13:57] down with Vhagar, swooping in, burning stuff, swooping back up. But here it's kind of like Vhagar is just doing her own thing because she's a messy bitch who loves drama. Uh, and so that's kind of, that's kind of funny and kind of cool. And again, it's another nod to like the dragons have their own agendas, you know, and who's really controlling who type thing. Um, so I, I, I, I like what they're presenting on screen.

[01:14:27] I do. I do. And as, and I, maybe I should be asking you as somebody who doesn't know what's coming up and what's reading the book, are you having fun? Are you enjoying this? Yeah, I'm enjoying it. Um, so I, I got on Facebook just kind of like randomly and I saw, I'm getting rather frustrated. This has turned into a dragonless soap opera. Dracarus to the producers, Dracarus to the writers makes me want to rewatch Sons of Anarchy and hopes Jax lives. Um, spoiler alert for a Sons of Anarchy. Yeah.

[01:14:55] So I saw that on Facebook and I don't know, you know, I know, uh, I do get accused of being a contrarian sometimes, but I think that, you know, not to go against the grain too much. I like the political intrigue of Game of Thrones. I liked the piece moving and the puzzle movement, you know, that the dragons aren't really why I'm here. And so I know it's house of the dragon. Don't get me wrong, but I, I like to hear, that's why I like the book corner.

[01:15:20] Cause then you can tell me, you know, about the people and the things surrounding them kind of build the world out for me and the book that I'm not, I'm just quite frankly, not going to read. And so, um, yeah, I think that some people are looking for more action. Uh, I'm looking for great acting and I think, and a solid story. And I think that I've been very critical of Game of Thrones in the past. I did not like the last two seasons of Game of Thrones. I was like, Hey, I think everybody's wearing rose colored goggles.

[01:15:49] These glasses y'all are looking at this show as if it's the show that you used to love and you can see it. You could see it starting to like the little tread is starting to pull at the game of Thrones the last two seasons to the point where there's like start like Starbucks cups and stuff like that left on set. You know, like the product was bad. The, the show was so dark. You couldn't see it. You know, those were the things that bothered me about Game of Thrones. I don't see any of that here. You know what I'm saying? I think all the people are putting up there, putting their best foot forward.

[01:16:19] It doesn't look like a bad show. Um, the plot makes sense for, you know, for what I know as a show watcher. And so, um, yeah, as somebody who's not, you know, a familiar with the books, doesn't know where it's going and you know, doesn't have any other context. I think it's a pretty decent show. Uh, I would definitely recommend it over Game of Thrones because I feel like for Game of Thrones, when I tell people to go watch it, I say, and then the last two seasons, you might be disappointed, but it's okay. That's a part of the, it's a part of the program, you know?

[01:16:46] And, um, I feel like I have to give that disclaimer because you put so much effort into watching those seasons. You go on such a journey just for them to kind of drop the ball. And so this, I feel like is a stronger product overall. It's more consistent, you know? Um, it doesn't have the high highs that Game of Thrones has by any means, but I'm not worried that this is going to end. I'm going to be like, now what the fuck was that? And maybe the book readers are. I don't think so.

[01:17:15] I mean, I mean, they would have to omit some like really big things for me to be like, do what? Because again, unlike George R.R. Martin's like the original Song of Ice and Fire, this stuff, this is complete. This is a complete history. So the only thing that they would, uh, be kind of deciding is the stopping point.

[01:17:42] And there's, there's at least there's, there's a big event and a half, like a huge event and the shadow of that, that is like, should be the natural stopping point to me. Mm-hmm. If you give me the big event, which there's no way they're not going to, even though like I'm scared because I'm like, we're, they've done something in these, these episodes that I was like, dog, that we need this.

[01:18:13] What? But I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm giving them the benefit of a doubt that they are going to save this, but there's this big major event. And then like a mini major event that I think would be the perfect stopping point. If they do the, if they omit the mini major event, sure, whatever. Um, and, and that should be the stopping point.

[01:18:38] If they stop it before that, then I'd be like, well, then what the fuck was all that, that, that, that would be the biggest thing, but I truly don't see that happening. Um, so it's just kind of like picking and choosing before that event, what else we're going to get. And there's so many, there's so many characters. That's the biggest thing. Cause let's be real y'all. We talked about this since from the beginning, there are a lot of characters that need to die.

[01:19:07] I, I'm sorry. Like this is civil war. They, they've kept some of these characters alive longer than they, they should. And that is kind of my biggest worry. It's like, because some, some major characters technically die a whole year before the, the war ends. So are they going to try and drag their deaths out like longer?

[01:19:33] So that, that, that most of the series isn't, you know, like they don't lose people because these people die. They die. And then everybody's like, well, who, who, who, who we were for now? Like people's, people's gots to die. So that, that'll be the biggest thing. It's how do they do this? And it feels like they're, it just feels like they're trying to, some characters that don't need to be so big. I'm sorry. It don't need to be.

[01:20:03] We're at war. Just kill these motherfuckers and be like, damn, that was crazy. You know what I'm saying? Like you don't need, you don't need to make a big thing. Every time I was chuckling at our YouTube comments because somebody said, if people are so hungry at a rook's rest, why aren't they eating some fat for Sunfire steaks? Right. They said it probably tastes like alligator. Ah, I look, let me, I'm from the deep South.

[01:20:33] Yeah, we do, we eat that. We eat that. I mean, they're closer. She, she, she did that. But I don't know. Let's do it. I don't know. It might, it might not be kosher. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. But I, I, I, yeah, I, I am expressing some frustrations here. I think that's the best thing I can do for the book corner here today because they're not getting to it. They dragging it and I'm annoyed.

[01:21:01] Uh, they, we are getting some really, really, really good character studies, like you said, um, and the politics. So that's, yeah, I think, I think there's going to be one of those things where once the season is fully over, I'll go back and I'll be able to appreciate it more. Okay. Well, we shall see. Uh, remember we will be back this time next week on YouTube. And of course, in your podcast feed talking about season three, episode six.

[01:21:30] Uh, but until then make sure you check out all our other recap, kickback content interview with the vampire slash the vampire list. That is ending this week. And so, uh, make sure you check that out and join Mario and I for the coverage. If you have not watched that, go watch it, go watch it. It's so much fun. Uh, and the finale is a doozy. And so, uh, go check that out. Uh, and then, uh, keep up with the rest of our content. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast recap, kickback.com slash subscribe youtube.com slash at recap, kickback.

[01:21:59] Mario, what's going on in your neck of the woods? So, of course, um, around crime scene, me and Sarah Carradine are doing true crime, a docu-series recaps. Uh, we just did, uh, we just had Jason, Jason on for a worst neighbor ever. Uh, that should be in your feeds now. Uh, we had some issues that episode was delayed, but it's in your feeds now.

[01:22:23] We have, uh, shipwrecked the, uh, documentary, um, from Netflix about the Casa Concordia half sinking, uh, that is coming up, uh, later this week. Uh, we also have, we have a lot going on murder one-on-one we're talking about. So make sure that you are a, uh, subscriber to crime scene. You can go to crime scene pod.com in order to subscribe wherever you get your podcast.

[01:22:51] You can become a member or just a supporter. Sling us a couple bucks over on buymeacoffee.com slash crime scene pod. If you're a member, you get exclusive access to, uh, episodes early and ad free, um, uh, member only episodes, access to our monthly live recordings. It's such a blast over there. Make sure you're typing in crime, S-E-E-N, crime scene pod, S-E-E-N. Cause there's another crime scene and it's a whole thing.

[01:23:21] So just make sure you're supporting us there. You can also find me over on blue sky at Mari talks too much, uh, to like the number two talk currently talking a lot of big brother over there, but please come through, say hi. Let us know, um, if you like house of the dragons. Of course, like I said, uh, please go get a cup. Thank you. I may, I do custom cups. Custom cups are on the site too. You can get you a little door or other house cup here and get your team green cup. I get 24 ounce, 16 ounce.

[01:23:50] Um, and if you've listened this far to the show, if you put in the, uh, if you use code recap, you can get 10% off your custom cup, including a free gift as well. So recap, you had to listen all the way here. We don't figure out who the real listeners are. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Uh, okay. We're ordered today. All right. And, um, that's about it for us. As Mari said, uh, we're both talking about big brother a lot.

[01:24:19] So if you follow us on social media and you don't watch big brother, uh, you might as well start watching it. Cause you're going to learn a lot about the show in a very short amount of time. Um, also we are both recapping episodes over on, uh, we know reality tv.com also known as Rob has a podcast also known as RHAP. Um, so you might catch us over there talking about the live feeds or the episode recaps. I am covering, uh, big brother on behind the paywall over on RHAP. So you have to go be a patron of that, or you can catch me, uh, every other week talking

[01:24:46] about big brother unlocked or every week talking with David Bloomberg, uh, about why each player and big brother lost, but that's it for Mari and for myself. You may got to go home, but you got to get the hell up out of here. We'll talk to y'all next time. Peace. I've been trapped behind Juan Maria.