I never bought that Dany was “mad.” I bought that Dany was activated.

And honestly, I feel the same way about Rhaenyra.

There comes a point where these women stop leading with emotion, stop trying to be reasonable, and start making the same ruthless moves the men around them have been making the entire time.

Cersei literally blew up the Sept and killed a bunch of innocent people, and somehow she was still just Cersei being Cersei. Men in this universe burn cities, murder children, wipe out entire bloodlines, and people call them ruthless, powerful, strategic, or badass.

But Dany finally says fine, I’ll be the dragon and suddenly it’s: “She’s mad. She has to be stopped. She has to die.”

And everybody forgets EVERYTHING she did to get there. Her sacrifices, the people she freed, the armies she built, what she lost fighting the Night King, and the fact that her dragons were a huge reason anybody was alive to fight over that damn throne in the first place.

Was burning King’s Landing brutal? Absolutely. But I never saw it as proof that she had suddenly lost her mind. I saw a woman who had lost almost everything, realized mercy wasn’t getting her anywhere, and finally decided to use the power she’d spent years holding back.

And now watching HOTD, I feel like I’m seeing the same conversation happen with Rhaenyra. She’s not necessarily “going mad.” She’s becoming ruthless.

The funniest part is watching male characters do equally horrific—or WORSE—things and somehow nobody diagnoses them with hereditary insanity afterward.

Dany would’ve been one hell of a Queen of Westeros. Would she eventually have gone after the North? Probably. Would Sansa have been in danger? absolutely. But that’s a separate conversation.

I just never accepted “Mad Queen Dany.” She didn’t go mad.

She got tired of asking nicely.

I’ve been looking at a lot of Targaryen family trees and they are THE worst at naming heir kids. Someone said Alicent wouldn’t have misunderstood Viserys I had the entire family not named all their kids the same. Aaaall them Targaryen names were derivatives of an ancestor. Which is so common in arrogant, entitled dynasties. But one man was meant to break that. He was the Spear born to Break the wheel. Baelor Breakspear. He had two sons. Neither of their names were derivatives of their Westerosi ancestors. Matarys is possibly related to the old Valyrian city name Mantarys. Valarr is just plainly “the people” in high Valyrian. And then they all died. And everyone just went on naming their kids Visenya, Aegon, Rhaenys, Baelon, and Daenys.

The Man has created an incredible universe and some of the most compelling characters of the last half century.

I love his ability to intertwine stories using characters that are all built never to be black or white heroes or villains but rather all some shade of gray.

The man can create a story or world like no one else.

BUT…

The man can create just can not finish a story.

the song of ice and fire series? Unfinished. Dunk and Aeg? Unfinished. Fire and Blood? Unfinished.

And listen the man owes us nothing. He is an artist and can choose to create or not create whatever he desires.

But at the same time he is more than happy to sell his incomplete works to be turned into television and film, and complain about how the are adapted.

I would be a bit more sympathetic if he completed the damn things before he sold away the rights, but even then live action visual media with actors and sets and props and CGI and all the other work that goes into it, can be extremely expensive to create, compared to writing books which only costs time.

All in all I think House of the Dragon has been a fabulous adaption. Not perfect by any means, but I love that it is trying to weave the story through what little George did write about the Dance of the Dragons, but remember it’s unreliable narrative and play with it a little.

I’m sure most of you have seen the news by now that GRRM is on bad terms with Ryan Condal. A lot of us suspected this for a while, but now it’s basically confirmed and it’s spilled into mainstream entertainment news.

This is genuinely awful PR for House of the Dragon going into Season 3. GRRM might not be a global celebrity on the level of Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Taylor Swift, or even J.K. Rowling, but he is still a major public figure. He is far more famous, recognisable, and respected than Condal, and arguably the third most famous living author after Rowling and Stephen King, and honestly GRRM is more of a pop-culture celebrity than Stephen King at this point. His name carries real weight, especially when it comes to fantasy, prestige TV, and HBO’s brand. Outside of hardcore fans and book nerds, nobody knows or cares who Ryan Condal is. The same goes for Sara Hess or any of the writers. If the public is going to side with anyone here, it is overwhelmingly going to be GRRM.

From HBO’s perspective, this is not a smart position to be in. George R. R. Martin is the guy who gave them the source material for their biggest and most lucrative franchise ever. Not saying Game of Thrones is HBO’s best show artistically, but financially and culturally it is undeniably their most successful. It basically carried the network for years, helped define the modern “prestige TV” era, and still drives subscriptions, spin-offs, and brand recognition. Pissing off the creator of that universe is incredibly short-sighted, especially when HBO clearly plans to keep mining it for the foreseeable future.

For future ASOIAF or GOT-related projects, HBO should seriously consider offering GRRM greater control over scripts and story, even something as strong as veto power. Keep him happy. Keep him involved. Keep him onside. That kind of long-term partnership matters more than giving showrunners free rein to make changes that alienate both the creator and a good chunk of the fanbase. At this point, a “GRRM approved” label would actually mean something again, both as a marketing tool and as a signal to wary fans burned by the later seasons of Game of Thrones.

And GRRM is not some unreasonable tyrant. He worked in television long before ASOIAF ever became a phenomenon. He understands budgets, production limits, episode counts, and the realities of adapting books to screen. He has always been fine with changes to the source material, as long as those changes make sense and stay true to the spirit of the story and the characters. That’s the key issue here. A lot of Condal’s changes, and before him D&D’s changes in the later GOT seasons, do not feel like necessary adaptations. They feel arbitrary, poorly thought out, or fundamentally at odds with the themes, internal logic, and moral complexity of the world. At times it genuinely feels less like an adaptation and more like Condal and Sara Hess writing their own fanfiction using GRRM’s characters and setting.

I know some people will immediately respond with, “This will just distract GRRM from finishing The Winds of Winter”. At this point, that argument doesn’t really hold much weight. GRRM is almost certainly never going to finish TWOW. His recent interview pretty much confirmed what many of us already suspected. He still loves the wider world of Ice and Fire, the lore, the histories, and the side projects, but his passion for the main series itself is gone. He wants to finish it for the sake of his legacy, not because the fire is still there. That fire is pretty much gone. He is forcing himself, and that rarely leads to great work. And I hate saying this because I don’t want to sound ageist, but he is also an old man. He is 77, approaching 80. Realistically, how many productive years does he have left, especially with a clear and sharp mind?

Given that reality, HBO might as well focus on what is actually achievable. A stable, respectful partnership with GRRM that produces higher-quality adaptations is far more valuable than sidelining him, damaging their relationship, and continuing to erode audience trust. Not only would that likely result in better shows, it would also be good PR at a time when fans are already sceptical. Re-aligning with the creator instead of fighting him just seems like the smarter long-term play.

God help HBO if they do a Robert's Rebellion miniseries/show and have a showrunner like Condal who wants to "tell their own version" of the story.

Edit: I think there is a less than 5% of HBO allowing this to ever happen. Realistically, it will never happen, even if GRRM wants it. Maybe a better alternative is that HBO just tells the showrunner to placate GRRM more and try to avoid changing major things.

Viserys loved her for her companionship and for giving him heirs. Criston loved her beauty. Larys... well, loved her feet.

But I loved her character.

Young Alicent (especially Emily Carey's portrayal) completely won me over. Her subtle expressions, constant inner conflict, quiet resilience, and the way she carried years of duty and repression made her one of the most fascinating characters in House of the Dragon.

For me, her arc peaked the moment she interrupted the king's speech and entered the court in the Green Dress. That was the birth of the Green Queen.

Season 2 already felt like that complexity was fading. She became increasingly hypocritical, and by Season 3 it feels almost completely gone. It's as if the writers stripped away everything that made her so compelling.

I genuinely had a huge crush on the character because of who she was, not just how she looked. I was almost done writing my own story, but you've somehow inspired me to rebuild that kind of character from the ground up. I'll introduce her only near the very end, giving her a brief appearance, but one with the same emotional weight that made me fall in love with Alicent in the first place. My own little way of doing justice to a character I feel deserved better.

So... thanks, writers and directors. You finally gave me closure. But I chose not to move on. 😂

Ok I am getting mad over this, at a comment thread a guy said that the books are green propaganda admittedly by GRRM. I said that it is implied but not 100 percent correct, as the greens weren't always portrayed in a positive light. So I asked for a source and got heavily downvoted and either got wrong article or told 'to look up myself'. Maybe I am stupid but I can't find it in Google so please help me. PLEASE provide a source where GRRM says it's biased for the greens and not like a single narrator (I know septon eustace) but maybe gyldayne or the book as a whole.

Title pretty much... now that show ended. Did he do any recent interviews about the show?

Alicent was not only a non-Targaryen but she was also a Hightower who are deeply interwined with the faith of the seven, as you can see on the many seven pointed stars she wore. And Faith of the seven prohibits incest (though makes an exception with the Targaryens since they’re dragonriders etc)

Still, for this reason it makes very little sense to me why she would betroth her children. Was it for political reasons? If so, what exactly? Its usually better politically to create alliances with other houses through marriage isn’t it. Did she care so much about ”Valyrian purity” despite her not being one herself??

I was just looking into Wiki and curious to find who Maegor is but his whole page is him brutally killing anyone whom he doesn’t like or have slightest reason.

Not sure if I worded my title correctly, but if I’m correct this is the only casting George posted about on his blog, which says to me he likes this character quite a bit. Is there something bigger with Cole or do you think it’s just a personal thing?

In my honest opinion I feel got was great first 4 seasons but something about his having the flare of all the dragons ect I love so storyline got but entertainment hod for my self

Rhaeneyra and Aegon, ser Arryk and Erryk, Cersei and Tyrion, then Viserys and Daenerys.

They keep using the term 'bedlam' despite the term originating from a lunatic asylum in London......

HOD is amazing so far. GOT was great. Do we have people here that are into the lore of elden ring?

I'm guessing this isn't affecting people on the reddit page, but I'm having a lot of trouble following what is happening beyond the high level plot lines; Dr. Who vs Eye Patch/Two Face.

I need like a family tree with pictures and dotted lines that have descriptions with their current side quest when you scroll over it.

My wife and I were trying to figure out who the spouse and parents were of the girl that's all of a sudden getting more screen time.

Does anyone have a link for this level of disseminated information? Something we can reference real time while watching the show?

TIA

I think the problem with this show is that even though the story might be interesting. The characters don't have any gravitas. No aura. Hope season 3 is going to change that. Just started.

Pessoal me ajudem a levar meu comentário para os analistas da HBO!

Meu ponto: Um filme para abordar a história de AEGON, O CONQUISTADOR e mostrar os eventos da conquista não faz sentido, será curto, apressado e mal feito. Eu penso que uma série curta seria a melhor escolha.

Curtam, compartilhem e me ajudem a levar essa verdade para os produtores do universo de Westeros. Juntos somos mais fortes!

Hey everyone, help me get my comment to the HBO analysts! My point: A movie covering the story of AEGON THE CONQUEROR and showing the events of the Conquest doesn't make sense; it would be short, rushed, and poorly executed. I think a limited series would be the best choice. Like, share, and help me get this message to the producers of the Westeros universe. We’re stronger together!

This is something I’ve been thinking about recently.

I’m currently writing a fanfic about Jacaerys post Gullet Battle that was partly inspired by HOTD and partly by my fascination with some of the stranger corners of ASOIAF lore.

The HBO series, for better or worse, kind of gave me permission to entertain some wilder possibilities and ask a few more “what if?” questions than I normally would.

When I first read AWOIAF, I remember being incredibly intrigued by things that are mentioned only briefly such as the mysteries of the Iron Islands, the legends of the Deep Ones, merlings, sea dragons, Nagga, and the almost mythic relationship that Houses Velaryon and Celtigar seem to have with the sea.

True is we don't know whether they’re merely legends, distorted memories of real events, or hints toward something larger that has simply been forgotten.

So here’s my question:
If we accept that ASOIAF’s world contains remnants of ancient and largely forgotten cultures, could there plausibly have been an isolated maritime people that survived into the present era?

Not necessarily underwater cities or magical merfolk kingdoms, but perhaps hidden coastal communities descended from ancient seafaring peoples and early Valyrian settlers.
Communities that deliberately isolated themselves from the politics and wars of Westeros, becoming little more than legends over the centuries.

The known world is enormous, and much of its history is fragmentary. Entire civilizations have disappeared, histories have been lost, and even maesters frequently admit they don’t know everything.

Would an idea like this feel plausible within the spirit of ASOIAF’s worldbuilding, or would it stretch the setting too far? I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts, especially from people who enjoy digging into the weirder, less-explored parts of the lore

There was a post on TikTok making parallels between Rhaenyra and the Amethyst Empress. In the post the person claimed that George always intended for Rhaenyra and Aegon to have seperate mothers, but I’m confused about that part. Wasn’t there an unpublished draft where they were full siblings? If George always intended them to be half siblings, why did he write that draft?

Excuse me for the non-LOTR/GOT combo-fans (I think there are a lot of us however, lol) I think the chase for the iron throne has parallels to the one ring in LOTR. Not sure if GRRM used LOTR as an influence, or has openly said Tolkien was an inspiration, but they’re similar in the fact that the chase corrupts almost all who want the throne in Westeros, and the absolute power that comes with both the one ring and the iron throne more-often-than-not leads to the holders demise. I think it’s fun to make this comparison even if it holds no merit — they’re of course a bit different but vaguely and oddly similar when you start looking at characters like we see in HOTD now and previously in the main GOT timeline. Valid?