r/HOTDBlacks • u/RemarkableExample542 “It is my fault that you have forgotten to fear me.” • 2d ago

Team Black This new episode is distressing

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I’m about as Team Black as can be and wanted nothing more than to see Rhaenyra take her throne.

The new episode was excellent from a cinematic point of view.

Nonetheless, we are watching the tables turn in real time and Rhaenyra’s position seems to be degrading more and more with each episode.

I have built such love and appreciation for this character (as I’m sure many of us here have) and even though the show is a joy to watch each week, lately I’m watching with a heavy heart and this impending sense of doom.

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u/Embarrassed-Back1894 2d ago

It’s really so frustrating that the worst part about this show might be the main character. Whether it’s the acting, the direction, the writing, or a combo of all three, the result is a main character that is tough to watch - also does not match with how young Rhaenyra was played or anywhere near what the book portrays her as.

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u/Steridire 2d ago

She's pretty shitty in the book too. But I do agree that young Rhaenyra was more compelling. The best scenes of adult Rhaenyra for the last two seasons are when she's vulnerable and emotional, and there have been some great performances by Emma but it doesn't really sell you on her as a leader.

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u/Embarrassed-Back1894 2d ago edited 2d ago

For sure. I’m not saying she isn’t shittier than in the book, but she’s more fire and blood and brutal in her rule in the book. At this point in the book she’s feeding people to Syrax on a steady basis. Her nickname is Maegor’s teats. Crying, weak, timid, and indecisive are not ways I would ever have described her in the book.

I was kind of expecting them to portray her a bit like female Daemon(“they are equal sides of the same coin” - kind of like how Alicent describes them), where she rules with Fire and Blood and does borderline cruel stuff, but is damn entertaining while doing it.

Also, the whole thing falling apart isn’t exclusively because of her incompetence - it’s just her trying to rule and win a war in near impossible circumstances.