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Foreign.
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Oh, hello. It's Tuesday. It's House of the Dragon season. Just about. That means it's time for a deep dive from House of R. I'm Joanna Robinson joining me today. And if you're watching us on video flapping her arms like dragon wings, it's
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Mallory Rubin to the gullet on the morrow. Let's go.
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Let's go. It's the second. They're calling it a teaser trailer, but it's such a trailer.
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Yeah.
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I don't know what they're like saving the actual designation of trailer for. I know.
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Sheesh.
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We got a second look at the upcoming season of House of the Dragon. We have a release date.
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We do.
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We are going to go pretty much frame by frame through this puppy right after this.
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This episode of House of Ours presented to you by Target. Calling all trainers. Pokemon is celebrating 30 years and the party is at Target.
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We're talking over 100 exclusive pieces you won't find anywhere else. Shirts, water bottles and more.
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See terms@fanduel.com predict bonus offer herms. First things first, programming reminders. And here's my favorite thing when we can accurately tease something that's coming because we already did it in the can in the bank next week. Yes, it's the Mall Shadowlord finale.
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Yes.
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And we had the voice of Mal himself. Sam Witwer was sitting his butt right here, right there yesterday.
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Yes.
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And we had a great conversation, a really, really good conversation about a bang up finale of a season of television. So that will be going up on Monday night right after the finale airs. Yes, you will get us talking discussing the finale and the season as a whole. And then our lengthy conversation with Sam Winford.
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What a genuine treat.
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What a joy. What a delight. He was wonderful. Also, we're covering the last two, two episodes of Daredevil.
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That's right. I'll miss the penultimate.
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You won't be here this week. Rob Mahoney will be swapping in, doing his best, floundering around, trying to be Mallory Rubin.
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And I can't wait to hear Rob's takes on on Daredevil Born Again Season two.
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He's binged it all this last weekend. He's such a pro.
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I told him quite a move during the NBA playoffs to be like, I'm gonna catch up on Daredevil Born Again.
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You send something for me. I told him that he, you and he should go like head to head on a binge fest because, like, no one binges better than the two of you. But he said he's seen the numbers that you put up and he's too scared to compete. So Rob will be here later in the week for the penultimate episode, but then Mallory will be back for the finale.
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That's right.
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So next week, mall finale, Daredevil finale. Will there be a special guest on the Daredevil finale? I don't know. Tune in to find out.
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I hope so.
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Also, very importantly, it's 40 days until the vampire list at premieres later this summer. 40 days. I'm happy me. That thing I ordered came.
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It looks great.
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I'll send you a photo later.
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Please do. I can't believe you haven't already sent me a photo. You were too busy just randomly texting me pictures of Harrison Ford today.
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Which I really appreciated because I care about you.
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Thank you.
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Okay. Spoiler warning.
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Yes.
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If you've heard us break down a trailer before, it's the same format as usual. The bulk of this pod is spoiler safe. There will be like light to no book context throughout as we go. However, if we're watching this trailer and we're like, that looks like a location we've seen before. Yeah, we'll say what the location is.
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That's why we're breaking down the trailer, folks.
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I don't know how we would talk about it if we didn't do the stuff like that. So if we're like, that looks like Harrenhal. That looks like the red Keep.
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We're going to say that that's presumably why you're here listening to a trailer pod or what.
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I should hope so.
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I think. Which is exciting.
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Maybe they just want to hear your dragon screech, which you will hear. And then at the end we'll do a book spoiler section.
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That's right.
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There'll be a warning. It's not the scary heart attack inducing warning. We have a different warning sound now, but if you're watching us on video, there will be a graph. We will give you warnings with our mouths and our words and then there will be a low like horn sound that will not cause you to crash your car. If you're listening to this, some feedback
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on the freeway Terror heard it and he adjusted.
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So we love that. How can folks keep track? Sam Witwer, Daredevil, House of the Dragon. How can folks keep track? Not to mention vampire stat. 40 days.
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Should you commit right now to posting a daily countdown update every day from your Instagram stories?
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I don't think that's necessary, but I might top every single pod with a countdown. It's possible. You know I love a countdown.
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You do? Here's what I would recommend. Follow the pod, follow the pod, follow House of R on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. You can watch full video episodes of House of R. So if you're watching right now, you know that we have new pillows today. It was a surprise to us. It's a surprise to you. Excited.
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You can see the shirt that Mallory's wearing. She's come correct with her House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones apparel.
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You know, just love every opportunity to break out a throne shirt. Always fun, always a treat. You can also, of course, subscribe to the Ringiverse YouTube channel and you could follow House of R and the Ringiverse on the social media platform of your choosing. We've got new House of Our handles, House of our pod on Instagram and TikTok. A lot of goodies.
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Yeah, we got some great stuff coming up.
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Coming your way. So hit follow and then send us your emails. What did you think of this trailer? How many minutes do you think the official trailers will finally be when they drop? Are you excited about the mall finale? The Daredevil finale? Send us your Nolan thoughts as we continue our Nolan revisited project. Heading to the Odyssey. I mean, we have a date now for House of the Dragon. Like Joe said, we're not that far away. Send us your thoughts on season three. Send us your thoughts on anything and everything. We'd love to hear from you. Hobbitsanddragonsmail.com back to you in the studio. To war.
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Then our opening snapshot.
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Love the sound of the swords. Snict puts you in the mood.
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Very snicty. We get a new Valyrian steel sword in this trailer. Very exciting. Okay, this is a new quote unquote teaser two months out from the June 21st premiere, which was attached to a sort of CCXB Mexico panel with Fabian Frankel, Matt Smith and Olivia Cook, which I endeavored to watch via social media clips. There was. They were on two different stages. One of them named the Omelet stage. I don't know why. Oh, I was able to watch that video in full. And then the other I had to glean through clips. Here was the most important takeaway that I got from the panel is when Olivia Cook said when asked, all three actors were asked, hey, if you were to have your character do something differently, what would you have your character do? And Olivia Cook said, if I could change one thing, I wouldn't have gotten my feet out for Larys Strong. That's what she said.
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Here to disagree.
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Live and learn.
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Here to disagree. What a moment that was for the Internet.
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On a timing front.
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Yes.
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June 21st.
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Yeah.
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Opening night of the Mad King stage show in England, which we're definitely flying out to go see. No.
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Why not?
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Is mid season. We won't be busy at all. Okay, so mid season is exactly when the Mad King is sort of like opening and previews. And then it's official. Opening night is August 8, the day before the finale. So that weekend will be like a real Thronesy weekend. Mallory's like starting to cry. The suggestion that we're not here.
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Thinking back to last night when, you know, we got this date, we have both said many times in private into the microphones to the, to the public, wouldn't it just be great to get a date and then we could start planning And Arjuna, incredible colleague heard us every time we said that, got the date and then sent us a very long planning update and we both just panicked. We both just shut down. We were like, we set engaged.
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Boy, that looks like a really long
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note about all the things that are happening this summer. Our follow up next week.
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You're the best.
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He really is an angel.
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I just want to check in with your overall hype level for the season after these.
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Oh, thanks.
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You're welcome. After these, after these teasers that we've gotten. Where is your hype for season three?
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Incredibly high as. As it has been, you know, for for some time. I think we, like many people had some struggles at the ends of season two. But you know, we're enthusiasts of the text. We're consumers of the text and knowing what awaits, I think we've been in like bangers only for season three and four mode for a while here. Anticipating something. The first teaser that dropped, which we already potted about, really ratcheted up the hype. Right. That was an encouraging first glimpse of what awaits. And this trailer even more so, I think. And they're interesting companions. The first one was like, more action heavy, very gullet heavy. This one is like very theme forward. They've both been really good.
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I think they're both very action heavy.
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They are, they are, yes, but a little bit like different action. Barely any gullet in this. A glimpse or two. I didn't really need more than the. You know, you click the CC on YouTube, you get the closed captions activated, and this trailer begins with parentheses, wings flapping parentheses, dragon screeches. And I said, we're back. We're back, baby. I'd also like to just formally thank HBO for not doing the warring trailers thing again this season that they did last season that, you know, drove me crazy. Even though it was ample fodder for
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the pods, the quote unquote official trailers have yet to drop.
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That's true. God damn it.
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You may have cursed us.
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It's just really satisfying to intercut between the characters and see these through lines and these parallels that are so delicious to break down over the course of the season. Right here. Mash in 2ish minutes. So I thought the trailer was great. I'm excited to dive in and I'm really, really excited for the season. I feel like just like an uptick in my life of the volume of people who are like House of Dragons. Seems like it's going to be pretty good this season, huh? So that's.
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I've kind of given myself over to the hype. I was talking about this before we started recording, where I'm just sort of like, I understand that there's plenty of people who are like, kind of out on throw on. On Hot D. Who. I mean, I was telling Dummy before we started recording, I was re listening to this section of Fire and Blood today when I was driving around in LA traffic forever. And it's just sort of like, battle dragon. Another battle. Another dragon battle battle. 10 guys you've never heard of. Oops, they're dead. Like, that's what this section is. But it's very, like, even more so than other sections of Fireblood. It's very skeletal. And so what Ryan Condell and his team have had to do is put a lot of flesh on the bones of the story that. That George has drawn here. We know for a fact that George has some, like, issue with that, and that's fine. But like you, if Ryan Condell and his team of writers and his Wonderful directors adapted this section of Fire and Blood word for word. That would be a terrible season of television. And so I'm actually really excited for all.
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But then we would have Mushroom, which would be good.
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Perhaps.
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I'm.
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I don't know that Mushroom is good television. I have some questions about that, but I feel like they've established a lot of. A lot of the dynamics that are present here in the trailer have been long established, and I'm really excited to see all of that pay off. And so are people gonna be mad? Yeah. Am I gonna be mad? Maybe. But mostly I think I'm gonna be excited. And, like, these actors are just so wonderful. And to see, like, these characters who we love. I know it's been two years. It's been a minute. It's too long. But I'm excited to hang out with Daemon again. I'm excited to hang out with Rhaenyra again. I'm excited to hang out with even Chris Cole. Criston Cole again.
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Chris Cole. This is how you know cr. You know, CR is hyped to hang out with Chris Cole.
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I didn't put my watch in cinema mode. Like, I am. I've, like, not come around on the character of Kristen Cole, but also Criston Cole is on his, like, character. This whole redemption ish arc, we'll see. So I.
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You know, we've talked about this many times, and obviously we will again while actually covering the season and seeing. Because so much of this is a mystery to us, what the adaptive changes will be. You know, fire and Blood, these competing narratives, like multiple narrators who are saying this is what happened. The accounts differ, sometimes they don't. But we don't have the definitive text, right? And then it is presented to us as a history book. So all of those variables have always made this really rich and ripe for adaptive choices to give us something that is more rooted and, like, even though we've had various interpretations over the two seasons and four years, My God, four years of, like, what is this definitive canon, right? The. The combination of economy of character and story. Because there are plenty of things to your point a few minutes ago of, like, and then you meet 10 new guys, and then they're gone. Like, there's just gonna be less of that actually terrible television. And then there are other areas where you take something that is two paragraphs and turn it into an hour and ten minutes of television. So there are opportunities to flesh and expand and explore, opportunities to consolidate. If that all stems from an understanding of and appreciation of the characters and what is true to the character and their journeys. Great. So I have always had more room with Fire and Blood into House of the Dragon.
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We've always talked about this.
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I agree with you for adaptive, like, clarity.
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Right. But I also think.
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I agree with you.
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And also I think they decided from the beginning that some of the characterization that's there in Fire and Blood, the story told by several different men about these two warring women is they're like, I'm not sure that that's the story we want to tell here. Right.
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And history will paint you as a villain.
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Right. So their characterization of Rainier and their characterization of Allison is different than in many ways from the version that we get in the text. And it's fun to like reread or relisten and you hear something nasty said about either one of them and you're like, I wonder how Condell and company are going to say, like, okay, but here's what actually happened, you know? So we will talk about all of that. Let's get to the trailer. Breakdown this episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable Internet means everything for your business and even this podcast. That's why I trust Spectrum business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with Internet, advanced Wi Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24. 7 US based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum business. So visit spectrum.combusiness to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas.
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This episode is brought to you by sweetgreen. The day doesn't ask for permission. Lunch window gone before you saw it coming. You deserve a break that actually satisfies. Sweetgreen's new wraps have got you real ingredients, zero shortcuts, everything you love in one hand. Think green. Gotcha. Chicken, garlic aioli, crumbled bacon, corn salsa. 40 grams of protein made to keep up with whatever comes next. New Sweetgreen wraps hit different order now@order.sweetgreen.com this podcast is brought to you by Carvana. Selling your car should feel like one less thing on your list. Not one more. With Carvana, it is just go to Carvana.com Enter your license plate or VIN and get a real offer. Down to the penny. No back and forth, no surprises. Just an experience you can trust. Like your offer. Accept it, schedule a pickup and we'll come to you with a check in hand. Your car, your timeline, your terms. Visit Carvana.com to sell your car today. Carvana. Pick up. Fees may apply. It's back, Mallory.
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Dragon Screech is back. It's Dragon season As terrifying as ever. Sheesh. So here's what we're gonna do in this non spoiler section is we're gonna go sort of chunk by chunk of like line of dialogue. So when. If a character says something, we're gonna talk about all the things we see while that character is talking, essentially. And in terms of clips, we're bringing back by very, very popular demand. My demand. The bit we did last time, which is we're gonna show you footage of every dragon that we see. That's something we're doing.
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It's really just a way to have Chris with us even when he's not with us.
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You know, thinking of him always. All right, so this first section is 19 seconds. We hear Daemon say, you now have power no man has ever wielded. You will have an empire. Unassailable.
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Incredible turn of phrase, Rhaenyra.
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And our children will rule it forever and a day. Let's right off the bat, show me that dragon. Do you know how to power no
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man has ever wielded.
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That's Syrax.
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Beautiful. Sure is.
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Rhaenyra on Syrax. And here's my analysis of this opening shot of this trailer.
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Yes.
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They're like, we heard you. You're tired of Rhaenyra just sort of banging around Dragonstone, just like kicking around these halls of power. This season, Rhaenyra's on the move.
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Yes. The season two through line of Rhaenyra's consternation and frustration with her counselors, the men assembled around her at Dragonstone. Slapping that fucker in the hallway felt good. It felt good, I'm sure, for Rhaenyra to do it. It felt good for us to watch it. All of the advisors, even Jace. The constant refrain of, you have to stay put. You can't put yourself in harm's way. And Rhaenyra breaking through that in the end of the season, the final chunk of the season, you know, in the face of something like the response to her having snuck out to see Alicent. Right. This really like bold and shocking thing. And to come back and just lectured. Right. How galling. Even if it comes from a place, certainly for Jace, of like wanting to protect her and not wanting to see harm befall her.
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The decision.
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The decision to fly herself on the Tyrax to go when they someone claims seasmoke. She was like, I'm done with this shit. I'm not sitting here any longer. I'm going. Of course, at the beginning of the season, she had gone to try to Find Luke. But then it was a minute between that. So to go and have that great stare down with Seasmoke and then bring Adam into the fold. And then of course, to fly to Harrenhal to call out Daemon and then realize that that army was in fact hers, that he was in fact hers. We ended the season after all of that biting time with action. A note of action and a note of active pursuit for Rhaenyra. And so this felt like such a perfect opening note for this trailer. Like, that's not going to stop now, right?
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It is interesting though, because the final shots of the trailer for Rhaenyra and Alicent was like Alicent feeling free with this open Horiz in front of her and Rhaenyra looking.
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Wearing a cloak.
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Wearing a cloak. And Rhaenyra looking like hemmed in by this, by the burden of the circumstances around her. So to see her on dragon back, as you point out, she took a couple like ort bows last season, but for the most part, she's been chained to Dragonstone while action's raging around her. So it's fun to see her elsewhere. Speaking of elsewhere, we see Rhaenyra walking down a pillared hallway with a. I would say determined is the word I put down here look on her face. Yeah, that looks like a familiar hallway to me. That looks like the red Keep. Rhaenyra in the red keep. Second shot of the trailer.
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Certainly not Dragonstone stone.
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Not Dragonstone stone.
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We'll see some very clear Herrington.
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We've seen those pillars so many times. Like I. That's. That's a red keep. Always what I would say.
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There's a hue, there's a shape.
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Yeah. Next.
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Yes.
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Show me that dragon.
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You will have an empire. Unassailable Rhaenyra.
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So that we believe is Sheepstealer. And the context clues we have, I mean, it's fairly in the distance. We met Sheepstealer very briefly at the end of last season.
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Very, very briefly. After intercutting 7,000 times in the finale to Reina's pursuit of.
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She's having a wander.
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Burned charm. Bones walkabout.
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Sure. In the veil. The biggest clue we have here is that that looks like the veil.
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Yes.
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And the dragon that we have seen in the veil is Sheep Stealer. So even though that is like we cannot zoom in on Talon and wing in order to like, really clearly identify. Yeah, that is probably Sheep Sealer winging around the veil doesn't look like Sheep Sealer has a rider on. On. On the Back there. So, you know, just questions. We have questions. The show has answers.
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I think that the, you know, even though the kind of moment at the end of season two where Reina finally found Sheepstealer and approached and looked down and Sheepy let out this really like ferocious screech and was kind of like,
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you wanna do an impression of it?
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Sort of like that. I think this is pretty good. Also.
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You really captured the like bony ness.
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That's what I mean. Exactly. Like the kind of like spindly thin quality, you know. Sheep Stealer, one of the wild dragons from Dragonstone, who now made the journey, the trek up for fresh hunting up in the Vale. So that dragon that we glimpse there, I think you're right. The geography certainly just pings veil, like foggy, misty mountains. Craggy for sure. The shape of this dragon, the kind of brown, thin, spindly body. Feels like sheepy. Okay, great stuff. I'm excited.
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And then, as you know, we've been hearing Daemon Empire unassailable, et cetera, et cetera.
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Yes.
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So the significance of Daemon, of all people, booing up Rhaenyra, as you mentioned, this is how season two ends with him being like, hey, I'm at Harrenhal. I got all these river bros here with me. And we're for you, Rhaenyra. I've been taking an LSD all season, but we are here for you, Rhaenyra. I'm on your team. After a lot of undercutting, it should be me, all this other bullshit. Damon is now a loyal companion to Rhaenyra and he says this thing to her power no man has ever wielded. And that is like a very interesting phrase because, like, does he mean no man has ever wielded? Is he talking in a gendered way? Right, like, no man, you know, no male has ever wielded versus you a woman? I don't know. Is he saying, like, no Targaryen is ever wielded? I don't know. Aegon the Conqueror had a lot of power. That's a weird thing to say. Or is he talking about Rhaenyra as something above human? Something like divine? There's a lot of talk about holy purpose and who the gods have chosen inside of this trailer. It's very prophecy focused. Rhaenyra buying into her own hype about the prophecy is something we've been really watching. This is a show sort of invention as part of this story. But it seems to me like Daemon is gassing her up to be like, you are the Prince that was promised. You are above mere mortals, as the Targaryens like to believe themselves anyway. And you're above even any other Targaryen. You are Targaryen supreme.
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Yeah. And for the guy who finally brought himself to say, I am meant to serve you at the end, big moment for our beloved Daemon. It all kind of fits together and makes sense. Well, if she is even above the rest, then, like, it justifies saying that out loud. Right? So there's that, which I like with this character. I think I agree with you. I think it's kind of like little column A, little column B, a little commc. It's kind of all of that in the brew in the first trailer, the one that dropped a couple. When was that? Was that like two months ago already? I honestly can't remember. Scary. He said, you are the queen of dragons. You have an absolute power within your grasp. So we get a couple of those elements right there. Just like queen. Right? That. That gender element for sure. But like the idea that he's doing the dragon math all the time, which we know, I mean, he was making the dragon math pitch back in season one. He's always thinking about that. So, like, while other. While the Greens have dragons and while other Targaryens over the course of history have had dragons, I think that Daemon is a character who would say, let's run through the tally. Wow. And like really tout that volume and
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that scale, the sewing, the red sewing and especially.
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Cause he's like kind of coming back into the fold. Right. And even just we don't know exactly what's going to happen with Reina and Sheepstealer. Like we said when we covered last season, like, that would be a change. That's a change from the text if it goes that way. But it's interesting that we cut from what we think is a glimpse of sheep stealer into Daemon saying these things. Have they learned something there? Daemon's all up to date on the sewing in general and the. The swelling of the dragon bath in that respect, I think also just like Daemon, fueled by those LSD trips that you mentioned, the Weirwood visions at Harrenhal. Like my dreams, Mr. Season 1 dreams didn't make us kings. Dragons did. Is now.
B
And then Alison's like, hold my weird bowl of red goo.
A
Exactly.
B
Yeah.
A
Now he's like, dreams and dragons made us kings and we deserve to be kings and queens. And I saw it. Would you like some Weirwood piece? Like, he had this vision, this transformative vision in season two and he's like,
B
do some ayahuasca with me. Rhaenyra.
A
Exactly like putting his hand on that werewood and seeing into the future. Seeing the White Walkers and seeing Brendan Rivers and seeing Dany. All of it.
B
Yeah, like all of it into the future.
A
You know, the world is not what we thought it was. The war is just beginning. Winter is coming with darkness and doom. You sound like my father. I saw it. I saw that we cannot withstand it and yet somehow we must. So Damon is just in this different place and I think like all of that tracks in that respect. The divine element that you noted, like we, I mean we were both. So I think a lot of people watching the show who are invested in Rhaenyra, which we are really were concerned when that started ratcheting up in season two.
B
Still am.
A
Still am. Then you have Daemon also coming in with that energy after having seen this prophecy of the future and their role in this. You also, as we'll talk about as we go have the other side Ormund talking this way. Alicent and Criston always been just very worrying when every single person in a dragon war thinks that it's divine.
B
Well, it's God versus Gods. Right. We have God on our side. We have Gods on our side. Like what is happening here? It's very, very interesting to me.
A
Yes. And Aemond on the green side is like the dragon gods and then Alicent and Criston are like the light of the seven. Right. So it's all. You know, when Rhaenyra was saying to Mysaria in the penult of episode of season two and episode seven, you know, lucky or somehow ordained, we were like oh boy, oh brother. And even just the kind of calmer way that Rhaenyra midway through season two had shared the prophecy with Jace at last before we built toward what happened with the Sowing and the sanctioning of this godly interpretation via the outcome of actually being able to do this thing that no one had done to find these riders for the dragons. Even before that when Rhaenyra was recounting the Aegon song of Ice and Fire to Jace, it was like meant to be, right? Like that language ordained to be the
B
Seven Kingdoms is really interesting about that is like if you think about Rhaenyra who has, you know, all of these characters have gone through a fuckload. But like when you think about what Rhaenyra has lost and the grief that she has come through the other side of loss of children, et cetera, et cetera, that is a time when so many people turn to their faith for comfort, for guidance, and for explanation of how did all of these horrible things happen to me? How can I justify? How can I believe in a just world? And if it's like, hey, this is. Yes, this is ordained. This is what has to be. And all of this sacrifice and all of this loss and all of this personal loss is because it is the will of the dragon gods. The, you know, whatever the case may be, to fulfill this prophecy. You have a great and terrible purpose that you need to fulfill. And it will be worth the sacrifice at the end of the day because you will be the savior of the realm or whatever the case may be.
A
And then what won't you justify to yourself if that's how you're seeing the world? And I love that. I love what you're identifying about, how that can be a way to cope and understand and process what has already happened to her in era. And then what does it spin into? Well, what can I do in the future? Anything I want.
B
So, like, when anything your heart might recoil from.
A
Yeah, indeed. Choice language there. Coming up soon. But the conversation with Jace was so striking in season two, episode seven, when he was begging his mother, begging her not to do this thing with the bastards, not to take away from him the one thing that he has been able to latch onto and say.
B
He's like, I have my hair.
A
You can't talk your shit. Look what I have.
B
I have my brown hair, but the curls are popping.
A
This hair looks beautiful.
B
My curl routine. I have my curl routine. And my dragon dude.
A
Jace would do phenomenally well in the Instagram reels TikTok era of like, here's my hair care and skincare routine. Jace would thrive. Thrive.
B
I said I wasn't going to use this word. I said this on TikTok. But he's constantly mogging. That's all he does.
A
He's a mogger.
B
He's 24 7.
A
He's a mogger.
B
But I'm not using that word. I said I wouldn't.
A
Okay, so then take all of this and don't pursue it. But I cannot gain, say that which the gods have laid before me. It's like saying, I don't want to do it. It's going to be terrible. But the gods said we have to.
B
Daemon then tells Rhaenyra that their children will rule forever in a day as they, you know, they're sitting somewhere outside at night.
A
Yes.
B
So listen, couple things going on here. First of all, as you identified, he Believes he has seen the future, though visions of the future are always just like really dangerous to consider. And he sees Daenerys, but he doesn't see Robert Baratheon. You know, he doesn't see the things that get in the way of the Targaryen dynasty. He doesn't see Daenerys his end. He just sees the birth of the dragons. And he just sees like way into the future there's still targs and they're still dragons. And that's still something that's happening. Right?
A
Right.
B
He says that their our children, Rhaenyra. Let's remember that Damon and Rhaenyra have a couple kids still living that pre exist their marriage. Right. Bael and Reina exist. Yep. Jace exists. Joffrey exists. You forgot about Joff. I didn't forget about Joff. Joffrey exists, right? Never. And then there's like the couple pure Aryan bor on babies that they made together. Right.
A
So another Aegon and Viserys. Oh, Viserys. Viserys. Oh, that is a name for
B
that scene. That was incredible.
A
You barely had a face at that point. It was amazing.
B
I could like hear flesh dropping off of you as he said it. Oh, my tea, My tea.
A
So like, miss him.
B
Who is he talking about when he says our children? I don't know. When he says forever in a day, that's more superhuman language. That's more just sort of like that's an impossible amount of time again. He's not considering that. Himbo and his hammer, Robert Baratheon.
A
Right.
B
And then we get a shot of Rhaenyra in the map from Dragonstone, looking very like sharply at Jace. Yeah, Jace is only thrilled in the trailer here.
A
Jace looks thrilled as usual. The sulky faces on Rhaenyra and Jace feel like it feels like it's possible. This could be the same sequence that we saw in the first trailer where Rhaenyra has.
B
He's like, Messaria? The fuck? Kind of.
A
Yeah. Is he gonna say something about Messaria or say something about Allison? Probably one of those two. I love Jace. The like moment where in the first trailer Re tells her counselors about this pact with Allison. And Jace is just like, you don't trust her. You can't trust her. Feels like this could be that same sequence or exchange based on just the looks on their faces.
B
Nobody smiles in this trailer until Damon smiles covered in blood. And Damon's like, I just gotta kill a bunch of people. It was great. That's it.
A
Damon does look super happy in that moment.
B
And then later, some Hightowers are like, yes, that's right.
A
They are cheering. They are excited to be at war.
B
Seem pretty excited to be there. They love the battle. It's just everyone excited about war. Till war, then. For everyone.
A
Yeah. And it worked out fine for the person who said that.
B
It's gonna be fine for everyone here. Yeah.
A
The Forever in a day. I mean, you are definitely right. That is like, boy, forever in a day is not allowing for the possibility of defeat. And that is just a dangerous way to go about your life and make decisions. I think that again, on the dragon math front, when Daemon is thinking about their kids and all of their family members and the ranks that have swollen, he's like, all right, Rhaenyra, you've got Syrax. I have Caraxes. Wonderful. Jace has Vermax. Great. Baela has Moon Dancer. We're going to talk about Moondancer shortly. Are Raina and Sheepstealer a pair at this point? Do they know about it? We genuinely, truly do not know. Probably we don't know. Hugh has Vermithor. Ulf has Silverwing. Adam has Seasmoke, Joff has Tyraxes.
B
Mallory's like, I'm not gonna let Damon be the only one doing dragon math.
A
I got his tiny little storm cloud, who was like this big when we saw him. And he's like, the Greens. That Veigar. Sure. Aemond is happy to boast about Veigar all the time. Helaena, we watched at the end of season two, Aemond go to Helena and say, can you get on Dreamfire? She's like, nope, I have bugs to count. Absolutely. This one stopped singing.
B
I have weird. I have weird, dreamy prophecies to tell man.
A
The. The. The Team Black has way more dragons right now. And Damon is probably very emboldened.
B
What's going on?
A
Sunset Long and the Dying. So they said in season two, Tessarion in the first trailer.
B
The Blue Dragon. Not in this trailer, but Tessarion is on tv.
A
We'll be talking about that more soon. Team Green, that's a big one in the mix,
B
you know. I know. Sad, sad.
A
Jeez.
B
But Veigar is worth, like, four dragons, no question. Okay, we'll get to Lauderdale.
A
Or a thousand times the price he paid. As Otto would say, a lot of
B
Veigar in this trailer.
A
There is a ton of Veigar in this trailer.
B
The HBO original series returns.
A
Himbo and his hammer is iconic, by the way. Great work. Thank you.
B
Just incredible stuff this summer. Winter is coming. The HBO original series Returns this spring.
A
Winter is coming. Winter is coming this spring. Remember that? That's what I was referring. This is a wild thing they did. It's crazy.
B
Our next section we hear from Corlys. Hand to the Queen who says all that remains is for you to decide what you want from this war. Show me that those dragons.
A
Yes. Hold up your manes.
B
Are we pausing here for a second? That's Vermax for sure.
A
Yeah.
B
Jace on Vermax and that per things we saw in the previous trailer. We're pretty sure that is also Baela on Moondancer.
A
Yes. I think the combination of Moondancer clearly at Gullett in the stretch of Gullett
B
Battle of Gullet Sea Fairy.
A
And also that look definitely looks like Moondancer's. I mean, it's smoky, so it's a little harder to make out the markings. That looks like Moondancer's tail for sure. And like the kind of spiky head pattern. So, yes, I think that's Jace and Baela. Vermax and Moondancer together so far.
B
Cyrax we are.
A
And Baela and mere seconds into the trailers. Gullet is a change. Yes. Yes. So this is exciting.
B
That's why we're asking a question. Vermax we know is there. Moon Dancer is like, oh, interesting. So mere seconds in we have Cyrax, Sheep stealer, Moondancer, Vermax.
A
Yes.
B
Don't break.
A
And then pretty soon Veigar is going to be like, eat every other dragon.
B
Get the fuck out of the way.
A
It's my time to shine.
B
All right. The sea snakes. Rhaenyra's navy looks on as Jason. We believe Baela wing their way through the fog on the water. Corliss is saying this to Damon. I thought it was Rhaenyra at first because Damon's hair is amazing.
A
Beautiful.
B
He's discovered like the topsy tail or something like that. I don't know. There's just this like resplendent spiral of blonde. It's not even a braid. It's just like a swirl. It's like a frosty essentially like on the back of his head.
A
And then he has like this action on the side too, which is very nice. Yeah. Will you rock that haircut during season three? You could pull that off for sure. No question.
B
We'll see. I'll watch some tutorials. All right. These are the Second Sons reunited. Not like they've never talked before, but we made a lot about this in the first season. The Second Sons, Corlys and Daemon, this is something that they said in season one, episode two. Corlys to Daemon, waiting. The Stepstones is a chance for you to prove your worth to any who might yet doubt it. We are the realm's second sons, Daemon. Our worth is not given, it must be made so. Corlys, in this sequence when he's talking to Daemon and saying, all that remains is for you to decide what you want from this war. There's a couple options of what's going on here. Corlys, we know, has already suffered great loss. Rhaenys, we miss you. Laenor, also a bummer. Seemingly not alive anymore. Laena, you know, a woman's. The Childbirthbed is their battlefield. As we will be reminded of again in this trailer.
A
We got some weird Harrenhal Weirwood Laena glimpses last season. That was fun.
B
So Corlys has lost a lot, obviously.
A
Yep. Luke, don't forget Luke, briefly his heir
B
more of the time.
A
I don't want it.
B
So is he saying, hey man, when is enough enough? Or is this more that second son? Sort of like in that exchange in season one, Episode two, when they're talking about this, when Coros is like, let's call the Stepstones, man. He's talking about how they can make a name for themselves. He's talked about how he built his riches himself. They didn't have to. He didn't inherit his fortune. He made his fortune. The Second Sons have to make their name, make their reputation. So is that what this war is doing for Daemon? Is it about Daemon making his reputation? Making as not the king. Rhaenyra is the queen. Right? King consort or whatever. Not his brother's chosen heir. All this other stuff. Or you know, or is it a question they constantly ask themselves since this war began, which is like, where does it stop? Yeah, when do we call. When do we call it a day? What do you think? What do you think about this?
A
So, you know, it was interesting. I. I think we both loved that, that exchange that you pulled out. In part because Corliss is not literally a second son like Damon is. And he was leaning into what it means to be a self made man and find that common cause with him. And they were united at the time by so many shared resentments. Right? Like, you know, despising. Yeah, despising Otto. Both of them feeling very angry with Viserys for. In different ways and different reasons. Not choosing them for the thing that they wanted to be chosen for. They wanted their families to be chosen for. They have a common Foe again now to kind of unite them in that way. The Greens. I think that Corlys's journey on the like. Well, history doesn't, you know, remember blood. It remembers names. And that, that, that ceaseless pursuit of legacy and all of the conversations that he and Rhaenys had about that over the course of those losses that you, that you, that you outlined the moment when he presented the new ship to Rhaenyra at the end of season two and like, you know, told us that it was renamed, it was. The sea stake had been a testament to a monument to his achievement and really to his ambition and that this was a way to say not only to everyone else but to himself, like I need to think about things a little bit differently. Well, you know, Gullett, I think part of the reason. There are plenty of other battles and key set pieces that we're glimpsing in this trailer that we're not talking about quite as freely. I think in part because the showrunners and the people involved in making this show have just said in part due to the like lament around how season two ended. Don't worry about it.
B
We're starting with the gullet.
A
They're just like putting it out.
B
The battle of the Gullet, which is the seafaring battle is. Is going to open this season.
A
Exactly right. So we can speak about that very freely. It's been heavily featured.
B
Fairly freely.
A
Freely. When four scenes of the season two finale were devoted to Thailand going to recruit the Triarchy. Still crazy that that happened. Genuinely nuts. You know, we were reminded of certain key things. There was an alliance that had to be forged in an agreement that had to be made. But part of it wasn't just the mud wrestling. Right. And I want you to fucking impregnate my wives. It was like Corlys Velaryon. Yeah, we'd love to go fuck that guy up. The history at the Stepstones. Also we should remember like the Triarchy has agreed to go sail to the Gullet where that blockade has been. We have. We have Corlys.
B
We have Alan.
A
Yes, exactly. We have Corlys and Alan getting back on the ship like we from the end of season two. The forces that are about to converge here and they have a history with each other. And so the fact that Corlys will be facing an enemy who recalls for him very naturally those prior impulses and tendencies is such an interesting place to start. What else can we say here outside of spoiler section? I'd say probably nothing.
B
Daemon Rhaenyra walking down some steps at Dragonstone. Rhaenyra has a sword on her belt. We'll talk about that a little bit more in the spoiler section. But I think it's worth noting that like Rhaenyra with a. You know, this has been an ongoing thing of, like, Rhaenyra practicing with a sword again, it feeds back into this sort of like, you can't go fight the battles. You are the queen who needs to be here and to strategize and to be protected. So seeing her on Syrax, seeing her walking with purpose with a sword on her hip. Yes. Is a different mode of Rhaenyra.
A
No question that exchange with Mysaria in season two, episode five war has ever been for men to make. You are your father's chosen successor. He did not prepare me to fight. And we can think back. It's like, yeah. Rhaenyra was like, let me fly to Dragonstone. And Viserys said, no. And then she fucking did it anyway. Because she's awesome, right? But that wasn't what he wanted. If I had been a son, a sword thrust into my hand the moment I could walk. Instead, I was given my father's cup. Taught the name of every lord and castle between Storm's End and the Twins. Very valuable, by the way, as we have noted repeatedly to be a cup bearer, but not the difference between hilt and foible.
B
She didn't really learn that lesson very well.
A
And she wasn't really. It was not. Not super focused.
B
No. Remember when she went on her, like, betrothal tour and she's just sort of like making enemies around the seven games? That was wild.
A
And then like when, you know, she said to Jace in the. In the following episode, episode six, they must see in me a ruler. And the symbols of authority are not jewels and gowns, but the shield and the sword. We've talked a lot and we will again today about how the other side is coded, drenched in the symbols of authority.
B
We're about to see blackfyre, the sword. We've got the throne. You know, all of that. She has her father's crown, which she is holding at the very end of this trailer. And that is important.
A
Yeah, absolutely.
B
But the conqueror's crown. The conqueror's sword. Throne, Conqueror's sword, blah, blah. Okay, then we pivot away from Team Black to Arbabe Alicent who says you will do things that your heart would have recoiled from before you came to the throne. We'll talk about who we think she's talking to in a bit. First we see shrouded hooded figures traveling in the mist and the dark. I think it's probably Alicent and Elena. That would be my guess. Maybe it's deceptive editing because we then cut to Alicent in a sort of fur lined hood. And so the implication of the editing is like she's one of those shrouded figures.
A
Right.
B
That feels like a bit of editing misdirect but I do think it's Alicent and Helena and we talked about this in the last trailer so it's just worth reminding that season two ends with Alice and Rhaenyra coming making this bargain. Right?
A
Yes.
B
Alicent's like Rhaenyra, you can kill Aegon. His dick doesn't even work anymore. I don't need him. You can kill him. Right? She's like tough. But here's what I want. My daughter and her safety. Right?
A
Yeah.
B
No. I do not wish to rule. I wish to live to be free of all this endless plotting and striving. The crown will pursue war and victory at any cost. Aye. But as for me, I would take my daughter and her child and leave it it all behind. Right. So is this Alicent and Rhaenyra Alicent and Helena trying to get out of the city because as we discussed in the last trailer breakdown she cannot uphold this bargain to Rhaenyra because Aegon get the fuck out of dodge. So she can't even like give her first born son pretty rough hail hail Aegon the Conqueror babe cannot second of his name give him to Rhaenyra because he ain't there.
A
So brutal to do the little like you know, half head not concession like okay, I'll let you kill my son and then not actually be able to follow through but have to know for the rest of your life that you agreed to that. Like that's a wild place to find this character.
B
That's like the whole. That's like the book Helena Blood and Cheese.
A
I mean yeah, it's. This is a through line for these figures. I think that the fur lining around the hood because we have another Alicent outfit that we'll get to shortly. That is much. It is different from the season two finale cloak but like was so similar that I was zooming in to look at like the pattern of the embroidery. This is very clearly in a way I appreciated different moment in time. We're dressed for what might be cold weather. We're wobbling on a horse. We're on the.
B
We're. We're on the move.
A
We're on the move. So I think that your interpretation is a reasonable one.
B
Certainly
A
the question.
B
Do you agree with my assessment that the fur line cloak is the cottagecore version of a murder cloak?
A
Yeah. Should we add it to our studio? Cottagecore murder cloak is like kind of our vibe. Yeah.
B
Don't you think I love that for us.
A
Me too. Kind of our vibe.
B
Put it on the merge. Cottagecore merch. I saw so many memes of this shot of Allison and the furlong cloak that were all like yellow jackets themed. People were like, it's Lottie Matthews. And then someone's like, the. The wilderness made her gay. And someone was like, that happened to my friend Jackie Taylor was so funny. It's really funny.
A
Oh, man, that's a great. Jeez. Yellow jackets. Sheesh. Wow. When's that coming back?
B
Good.
A
Good question. When is that coming back? Is that this year? I don't know, boy.
B
I don't want to think about it. That's like the version of the block of text we got from Arduno. I don't want to think about it.
A
Okay. The.
B
The.
A
The pact that Alicent and Rhaenyra made a sequence that we love. That's like a 10 minute conversation. We were both like moved to tears on the podcast talking about it.
B
Was it worth all the triarchy stuff we got in the finale for that sequence?
A
It's a bold declaration to make it. You know, we're doing dragon math, so why not triarchy math? You know, the. It's. It's too late. Alicent, you said it yourself. Blood has been shed, cities burned, armies marched, and you wish to wash your hands of what you yourself set in motion. Then they argue a little bit about, like, oh, the goal, the balls to say I said it in motion, what about you, et cetera. You know, sin begets sin, right? Yeah. This great theme across the real girlhood stuff.
B
Real yellow jacket shit.
A
Honestly, truly is. So they made this deal. They shared this moment. But the question of, like, we were both so moved by even for a second rekindling that the fact that that affection for each other allowed them to rekindle, like a shared pursuit. But I think we have to carry with that, like, the question of how sturdy that foundation is. Right?
B
And
A
Alicent saying, you let me go to do what I promised you fly to the Red Keep in three days time, two years and you take your throne or you take me for a liar. I have neither weapon nor armor. My life itself is forfeit. I cast Myself on the mercy of a friend who once loved me. And then that's when Rhaenyra replies with the history will paint you a villain. A cold queen grasping for power and then defeat. And Alicent says, let them think what they must. I am at last myself, with no ambition greater than to walk where I please and to breathe the open air. To die unremarked upon and unnoticed and be free. But what does she care about Big bathtub, Big ba. Big bathtub. Bigger bathtub. Went out to a fucking lake.
B
That's what I'm talking about. That's a big bathtub.
A
The casting out of the handmaidens. Like I'm just gonna scrub myself in the bathtub and then like, fuck it, scrubboard the lake. Let's into the open water and like look up at a hawk. Wonderful stuff. But the ability to keep Elena safe is a primary objective. And Jaehaera.
B
And baths. And baths. Yeah.
A
And honestly, who among us do you think Alice listens to the watch in the bath like I do?
B
Oh, I don't know. Good question. All right, next is one of the coolest shots of the trailer. Really cool shot of someone in like a cloak or a coat or whatever trailing bloody footprints on a stone floor. We'll talk about that more in the spoiler section.
A
I do think we can just say here, this person seems to be wearing team Black colors.
B
Eamon wears black. I don't. I don't think black is not a cloak though.
A
I don't think the black.
B
Sure. I don't think the black is exclusive to team black. I don't think you can say that.
A
I feel like this is a team black outfit.
B
I. I disagree. Only because at first I thought it was a. And now I'm not so sure. But at first I did and I went and I looked at his boots.
A
Yeah, the boots for sure are black. Black. But the cloak. Black cloak.
B
Coat. I.
A
Anyway, okay, we'll talk about that. And I would say this does not seem to me to be a masculine gate.
B
We know who we think it is. Our guesses are informed by that. All right. Alicent is talking to someone as we. As we discussed.
A
Yes.
B
She could be talking to Aemond. Right? Who we've seen on the throne in multiple trailers. You will do do things that your heart would have recoiled from before you came to the throne. We have seen Aemond literally on the throne. Yes, but I'm not sure I can imagine Aemond's heart recoiling from anything pre. Thrown or put like post Veigar when He sort of like.
A
Yeah.
B
Walled up his heart to the world. I don't know that his heart recoils from much. This is also a different dress than the velvet one she had on while she was talking to him in the last trailer. Much bluer. Like her cloak, she's trending blue, which we talked about at the end of last season. Less team green, more back to the blues that she favored when she was not groomed by her father to seduce the king. Okay. And where her dead mother's clothing.
A
Cool.
B
All right.
A
Super chill, normal thing.
B
She's got her version of a crucifix knife necklace back on. Right. The. The seven pointed stars back on.
A
Yeah.
B
I think she's talking to Rhaenyra. I think this is a Rhaenyra conversation.
A
It's interesting because she's like just in a room having a conversation. Like, she doesn't seem to be.
B
She's not in a cell.
A
She's not. Doesn't seem to be like, in kind of like the perilous circumstance. We'll see her in. In another shot that we'll talk. I think that the, The. The aim and possibility. I think. I agree. The aim and possibility, you know, the emotion that kind of was starting to breach the dam a little bit in the conversation that Alice and Talena and Aemond had. And then Aemond and Helena, their follow up conversation, you know, it is no longer our rule that is threatened, Aemond said, but our very lives. Would you not have us prevail? And she said, not like this. So could it possibly be a continuation of that? You know, the way that she has challenged him over the course of the series? Like, you know, have you not fully avenged the indignities of your childhood? Like it could perhaps be born out of that same through line, you know, the challenge that she issued to him about his pursuit of Helaena, you know, now you seek to corrupt your sister. Of all our line, the gentlest and most deserving. Maybe it's a continuation of that. Or maybe it's not aimed and it's the other candidate.
B
This quote from Allison ends over Rhaenyra's trouble face, looking at the camera and then at a fire where a skull is burning. Real normal stuff. Not the last skull shot in this trailer. No, it's not. We can talk about that in the spoiler section who we think that might be, but that's. That's just a weird thing to see on a Tuesday. All right, next.
A
Yeah.
B
Ormond Hightower says in two clips that have been edited together The Targaryens are a savage race. And then elsewhere we act with holy purpose to restore a rightful king. This is James Norton, AKA the hot vicar who solves crimes. Grantchester fans, you know you who you are. Ormond Hightower himself. Surrounded by team Green troops, he moses his way towards the camera on horseback. This is Alicent's cousin and second cousin. Right. That's how that works. To Aegon.
A
I've never known the second cousin or cousin once remembered.
B
Alicent's cousin.
A
He's Otto's nephew. That's what I'm going with.
B
So he like the king is also his cousin? Yes, and he's also head of House Hightower.
A
Let me tell you something. It's working for me.
B
Oh he look. Oh, he's so your type.
A
It is working for me folks. Books.
B
So the first we're hearing from him because we saw him in a previous trailer, but the first we're hearing from him, the first we're hearing from him, he's slandering the Targaryen quote unquote race while also talking about putting a Targaryen back on the throne. Interesting. And I thought it was interesting to hear the Targaryens are a savage race. Did it make you think of Raymond Fossil?
A
Of course.
B
They're incestuous aliens, Duncan. Of course. Blood magic and tyrants burned our lands, enslaved our people, dragged us into their wars without a motive, respect for our history or our customs. Every pale haired brat they saddled on us has been madder than the last God knows how the only honorable thing a Targaryen can do for this realm is finish on his wife tits. So I, I think he meant to kill the horse Targaryen. Racism back in season, baby. Did it ever go out of style? I don't know.
A
Not on thrones. I, I'm, I, I've. We chronicled at length how astonishing it was for Raymond to say those things.
B
It's even wilder for or. This is bonkers the way these things gobsmack the way these things are edited together. And I saw this observation I think on Twitter or something like that. I think if you, because if you listen to the line it's like definitely him talking in two different places. We see the second part, the holy purpose is him speechifying in front of the troops. Yes. The other one sounds like it might have been in like, like closer quarters or something.
A
Which makes sense because you, you would not say a thing like this in front of many. Right.
B
So he's like Targaryens are a savage race. You Know, I'm tell. I'm telling you.
A
Yeah.
B
But also we want.
A
We.
B
We look to put a targ back on the throne because it's good for House Hightower.
A
Yeah. And so, like, I think that the idea that a Hightower, that the Hightowers are seeking a level of power and control and authority and might is nothing new. Right. That's where we've been since day one. Yeah. Hobert, certainly. Otto obviously kind of incepting and manipulating Alicent into that. Darren Targaryen is Ormond Hightower's ward.
B
Do you want to remind people who.
A
Who he's the missing. They're hiding a child.
B
They're hiding a child. Allison has another child, Darren.
A
Yeah.
B
And he's been the ward of or House Hightower. He's back in Oldtown. Right.
A
We got. You may recall that every time there was even a kernel about Darren in season two, we both lost our shit. And Chris was like, who the fuck
B
are you talking about?
A
Literally, what is wrong with you guys? And who are you talking about? We saw Tessarion, the Blue Queen, Darren's dragon finally, like, flying at the end of the season. Tessarion was mentioned earlier like, oh, Prince Daeron's dragon has taken flight. It's like Darren is Jace's milk brother. Cesarian has taken flight. Come on. But this was the choice the show made. And so they had to kind of like drop these. These nuggets, these breadcrumbs that Darren was coming. Most notably, though, we had this really lovely conversation between Alicent and Gawain where Alicent who is just despondent to find her other sons, Aegon and Eamon, in these places doing these things, was like.
B
She's like, they suck. Huh?
A
And he's like, is my other kid okay?
B
And he's like, yeah, the one you didn't raise. The one you didn't raise. That was.
A
That was tough.
B
The one. One of the questions they asked at the Mexican Comic Con of Matt Smith, Fabian Frankel and Olivia Cooke was like, which one of you would make the best parent? And Olivia's like, not Alison, I'll tell you that. Like, they all picked Damon, actually, because they're just like, it's not Kristen and it's not. Well, of the three of them, they could only pick themselves.
A
Okay, well, slim pickings then for sure. Yeah. I mean, I think Reina might chime in and be like, dad still hasn't talked to me.
B
It's tough.
A
He's spending all his time with Baela.
B
It's very tough. But I think Olivia Cook was very insistent. Keep Alicent away from your children. Yeah.
A
And a decent read, I think.
B
Darren Hightower, Targaryen Targ Tower, who was. Who was raised elsewhere.
A
Thriving.
B
Doing fine.
A
Thriving. So it's just the fact that Darren is his ward and is a key part of the stretch of the story, despite not yet having been featured in the trailer.
B
Well, it's not just that. Like, it's not just Darren. It's like he's like our holy purpose. Yeah.
A
Is to get this guy back on the.
B
To restore rightful king. The rightful king he's talking about is Aegon.
A
Yes.
B
One of the aforementioned savage rays.
A
Yeah.
B
So hypocrisy abounds. Green velvet resplendent.
A
Looks great.
B
Hypocrisy abounds from Ormond Hightower. Right off the bat, the.
A
I wonder if we'll learn how much of this is how Ormund has always felt about the Tarks and the fact that these alliances were necessary ways to get even closer to the throne that they seek. How much of it is like, you know, Aegon gave Otto the boot and made Criston fucking coal his hand. Which is nuts and not a thing that we should forget happened. We got to see Gawain show up and be like. Like, was like on the road for a long time and I'm finally here and my dad is gone and you're the hand. What happened? I have to imagine that Ormond has his version of that. I also just want to know.
B
I would love to read those like, you know, Ken Burns Civil War documentary letters from Gwain back to Ormond where he's like my dearest Almond.
A
Well, we always.
B
The battle rages on. All of my green suede boots are caked in mud. The blood, the guts.
A
What's.
B
I mean, he's not having a good time. Gawain in this trailer.
A
Gawain is really going through it. Really going through it. I miss seeing Otto. Always writing, always stealing a letter. Where is Otto Hightower? We genuinely have no fucking idea.
B
Don't know.
A
Still don't know. The other person, though, who used to talk this way about the Targaryens, which was on my mind hearing this was alicent. Like the. You Targaryens and your queer customs and
B
your dragon orgy murals.
A
Ribbing of Rhaenyra. Yeah. Stripping all of the Targaryen heraldry from
B
the red keeps out of.
A
We stan for the dragon or gene murals. We always have. And we also.
B
It's anti the arts is what it seems like.
A
Anti a good time and anti the arts and, you know, the things that she used to say to Aemond, like, your obsession with those beasts goes beyond understanding. And it's part of why Aemond. We've got a lot of notes, but it's part of why, like when he goes to Helaena at the end and makes his pitch, it's like mom doesn't get it. So this is a Hightowers. They all kind of go about it in different ways, but it is the great through line. Also, just want to say it's obvious if you've watched the trailer, but we should note the Hightower army is fucking huge. And that's important. We heard throughout season two, they're on the march.
B
They're on the march.
A
Oh, they're making their way from the old town. They're on the march. Took forever. Oh, they're just like marching. Well, they've got a lot of people.
B
Here's what I wouldn't do, though. I would not reread the book and then try to compare the numbers that are on the page to the numbers we see on the screen. Because I was like revisiting how many Winter Wolves there are about to be and I was like, that's not what we're seeing. Okay, but next, I think what we're seeing, we see some slightly scraggly looking people, I would say, come out of the treeline into. To treat with Daemon.
A
Yes.
B
So I believe this is the Winter Wolves, the Stark forces showing up, rolling up on Team Black. We see Tully troops, Tully shields all around. Daemon. This is like the Riverland army that he has amassed. We see Daemon at the front of this group facing the people who are coming out of the treeline. There's like a tiny little daemon there and in the background, caraxes. Right, so show me that dragon.
A
Savage race.
B
We act. He looks so happy. And I choose to believe that the reason Damon looks so happy is he's like, the Starks are here.
A
I mean, who wouldn't be thrilled to see the Winter Wolves arrive? You definitely can see because we're kind of looking at the back of their heads there so much. Like, if you look at the back of my head, you're like, it's a lot of gray hair. A lot of gray hair. Or if you look at the side of my head or the top of my head, a lot of gray hair. You can see, you know, the graybeards here, they are.
B
I'm thrilled. The Winter Wolves. All right, right on the word savage. We get that shot of a blood spattered Damon finally A smile. He loves to kill. Yeah. And also the winter wolves might be here.
A
I can't wait. I cannot wait for Roddy the Ruin. I cannot wait for Roddy the Ruin.
B
Not in this trailer for some reason, but Tommy Flan again, we await your arrival. I have a note on that in the spoiler section. All right, we go back to Ormond. This time he's actually speechifying. Looking resplendent, I might add, in the green velvet Valyrian steel sword dick. A swinging Vigilance is a great name
A
for a Valyrian steel sword.
B
Vigilance is the name of the. Of the high tower, Valy and Ste. And he says this holy purpose very Allison coded language. Also, we're about to see an image. Let's just go ahead and. And look at this image for a second. Holy purpose to the left of.
A
You've updated this from the screenshot you put in the doc where instead of
B
it said lol, Carlos decided to editorialize the lol. Okay, so if you're watching this podcast, we see James Norton again, resplendent in green velvet. The Hightower drip.
A
Always fantastic. It looks great.
B
Giant Valyrian steel sword dick in front
A
of your point from earlier. He's got some black on, you know. Yeah, there you go.
B
To the left of him. Yes, that is our guy Brasso from Andor.
A
Let's go back to Ferrix right now.
B
Joplin Titane. I'm not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. He's playing a character called Bold John Rocks. And we can talk about that in the spoiler section a little bit. He's got some fun stuff to do. And then to the right of Ormond Hightower is someone in a sort of green livery. And we think this is probably the long lost child, Daeron Targaryen, but they have hilariously hidden him in this trailer behind a lady. So if you're watching this on YouTube or Spotify or wherever, this is the visual we believe that is Darren here in the trailer.
A
You can see it has to be
B
a little bit of nose and mouth and forehead if you. If you squish. So, yeah.
A
Oh, yeah, you can. Yeah, yeah. That's gotta be Darren. It has to be. This is just wild. We're like, is that Darren's elbow and shoulder? At this point, I have to assume it is. I can't wait for Darren to be a full character in the story because we've been waiting. We've been waiting a minute also, just to note because Bold Jon Roxton is here. And Ormund is here. We have two Valyrian steel swords in this photo. We also have Orphan Maker. Also a sick fucking name for Valerian.
B
One of the sickest names for Valyrian steel sword.
A
It's so good.
B
It's a tall boy, too, slung over his shoulder like a backpack. All right, on the word restore, from Ormond, we go to King Aegon, Boy in all his melted face glory, looking rough. But on the word rightful king, we cut to Aond on the throne. Yes, he's got the Conqueror Sword, his father's sword, his brother's sword. Blackfyre, very prominent here. Very similar to Viserys in season one, but always like. Like whole black fire, just sort of like front and center. When he would sit on the throne, he didn't have a dragon anymore, but he had that ancestral sword. And he would just sort of, like, wield it. Especially when he was, like, arguing with Daemon, he would just be like, have you seen my sword? Yeah, you got Dark sister, but I got blackfyre, so what the fuck, right?
A
Then he would cut his finger and then he would use Blackfyre as a walking stick. Tough.
B
So we see Blackfyre put to different use later in this trailer, but here Aemond is sitting just the way his father used to on the throne with Blackfyre front and center. And here's that quote we were paraphrasing earlier about Aegon. Right?
A
Yes.
B
Aegon in. In season one, Aegon Targaryen sits the Iron Throne. He wears the Conqueror's crown, Wheels the Conqueror's sword, has the Conqueror's name. He was anointed by a septon of the Faith before the eyes of thousands. Every symbol of legitimacy belongs to him. So Aegon, as we just see in this trailer. And we'll see him talking to Larys. Dragonless, crownless, swordless, throneless. Yep. Dickless sausage on a spit wandering the countryside. Okay. Yeah, Aemond, Location, location, location. He's got the throne, he's got the sword. Just saying, who's king? Who's the real king? Let me.
A
Let me make a counter observation.
B
I mean, neither of them are the king is what I think. I'm team Rhaenyra, but, you know, I'm just.
A
You are? Yes. Shut up. The Larys pitch. And like you said, we'll see Larys in a minute. We don't see him in this first shot of melty flesh Aegon, but we see other people around Aegon. And we had seen in the first trailer Aegon in, like, a little skirmish where he was Stabbing somebody. So it seems like shit's gonna go awry for them. But the pitch from Larys was, let's bide our time. It was very much the like. Cersei. And let them all fight each other. And then I'll be here at the end. Right. Let your brother and the pretender destroy themselves in blood and bitterness. When they are spent and their armies are in tatters, we will return and the people will rise up to meet us. So he's got nothing. He had to run in the, like, night in a little like, that wagon was full of like. Like chickens or something. Like, it's not.
B
It wasn't Aegon's sheep wagon from Night of the Seven Kingdoms, but it was a chicken wagon.
A
It's not where you want to be if you're Aegon's.
B
I'd rather a chicken wagon than a sheep wagon. I mean, the sheep are just milling about in the sheep wagon. Their shit is all over the floor. The chickens were at least like in little cages.
A
Give me Roz's turn up card any day.
B
I didn't say you could pick turnips. I said chicken or sheep, God damn it. I had to try.
A
Aemond has all those things and yet he is completely alone. He begged Helena to go with him. She said off. She dunked on him with her vision. He can't actually find. He can't actually find anybody who is willing to stand by his side. And he has already sent Kristen Cole on the march. So, yeah, he's like, I get to sit in the aisles.
B
Things are going great for Ayn.
A
Of course not. But like, he's in a. He is. Boy, he is in a tough, tough, tough spot.
B
Listen, Mallory, I don't know that I can agree with you, because there's one person who's always standing by Aemond's side and it's vegar.
A
It's Vegar, old bitch.
B
And she is quite prominent in this trailer doing a lot of things. So I don't think. I think, oh, to be a Targaryen alone in the world. He's not one because he's got the biggest dragon.
A
Well, but the question of what does that mean to have the actual. And you know, Eamon is a character who's always like to boast about that stuff, right? Like in the infamous season one, episode nine, when he and Kristen were wearing their little disguises and Kristen had his dumb little hat on and he's like, you know, I desire. You should be king. Right? He's like, I have the dragon. I study the histories. And like this fucker, he doesn't take any of it seriously. He's always kind of like boasted about that part of it. Then of course he's like, they made fun of me.
B
They were mean to me.
A
Then in a tender, vulnerable moment, he'll throw back some mother's milk and then see like, I do regret that business about Luke, but he always has to like Peacock. He does have all of the actual strength and the position.
B
He doesn't have Damon's look.
A
He sure does have Damon's look. If he doesn't. I mean even like you've pointed out before when the very deliberate framing. Like, you know, our earliest impressions of Damon sitting alone in that chair and like the gods be good, you know, glimpse of him if you don't have anybody actually to stand by your side. What does that mean? Is certainly an interesting thing for the story to explore. Not that Aegon is in a great spot either. Either. Like you said, everybody. The only person we see smile is Damon and the cheering soldiers. Everyone's in.
B
Everyone's in a bad mood this season. Everyone's in the Aegon says I'm going to kill my brother or die in the attempt. He's talking real close to my best friend Larry Strong in the middle of a forest somewhere. He's got a little grudge against Aon for you melting his face, bursting his And Laris did kill his brother.
A
That's right.
B
They have so much to talk about
A
and freely admitted it to Alicent.
B
Laris is like, guess what? I know how to kill your brother. Fire is a good way.
A
And then he made this. That whole speech, right? About like. Like love is. Is the downfall. He's. He's really ready to continue to be a competent and capable advisor here. I agree. I really love this relationship.
B
Me too. I'm a big fan. I know. Back with them. I'm genuinely pro Larystrong. Okay.
A
Oh man.
B
Ormond Hightower. We get a shot of like just the torso but his very fancy armor is easy to see. And plus the Valyrian steel sword Vigilance is here so he draws his. His family's lyrian seal sore. Vigilance, the group of the team Green the high tower men throw their hands up together and what looks like victory or. Or since they're quite clean, maybe pre battle jollity While battle boyfriends T.M. gwain and Kristen look on. Yeah, there's a.
A
There's a red cheering.
B
What?
A
They're not.
B
No, they don't look. They're like we've been to war. It Sucks, you dummies.
A
Mr. Worse, I'm rational and Mr. To die would be like. Like kind of a relief, wouldn't it? Oh, yeah.
B
Kristen Cole's. Don't you think doom and gloom in this trailer is pretty great stuff? Okay. You did some sigil spotting for me because there's a red and white chevron breastplate here among the high tower sigils.
A
House ball.
B
You think it's house ball. They're from the Reach.
A
The best I could do.
B
It made sense.
A
The best I can do a Reach house with a red and white chevron sigil.
B
A closeup of an axe being sharpened. I think this is probably winter wolves. But it could be anyone with an axe. Who knows. This is what Matt Smith said. Axe@ccxb. Quote. We're gonna take some green heads, man. We're gonna cut them off and put them on spikes to cheers.
A
Incredible.
B
I think he said it at both panels so he understands the assignment.
A
He gets it.
B
In this next section we hear a say, draw your sword.
A
Yeah.
B
It's aim in one eye. The eye patch is off.
A
Yeah.
B
The sapphire is glinting in his eye. He's in armor. And this is new.
A
Yeah. Yeah.
B
He. We have one thing that Aemond has done to like, sort of stunt on the world is he like doesn't wear armor. He goes on Veigar's back and does not wear armor and goes into battle
A
and just sexy leather.
B
His leathers. Yeah. But now he's got some armor. Right. Because he's like my daemon look is not complete. Still doesn't have the helm but things to aspire to. I think he's at Harrenhal later. It's clear that he's at Harrenhal. We'll see Vhagar land right next to Harrenhal and stuff like that. But.
A
And he declared at the end of the season that's where he was heading.
B
But there's all this like vegetation vegetal growth on the sort of walls. Very like haunted fungus in the wall. You know, Harrenhal shit. And we get a better shot of that later. That makes it clear. It's Harrenhal. We'll talk about this more in the spoiler section.
A
The kind of sooty charcoal stone. Yeah. The fact that he has that uncharacteristic armor on certainly indicates like he has flown into a location where he would.
B
Yeah.
A
Anticipate a fight.
B
Kristen Cole. Bloody or soot face. Stabbing something. Very decisively loves a stab.
A
And he is in armor here. Which I note only because. Cause it of course makes sense that he would be an armor here.
B
He's very notably not in armor anywhere else.
A
Later elsewhere in the trailer, including later when he is in a combat sequence. So, yeah.
B
Renaer Raniero looking bitterly upset in front of a roaring pyre. I believe the second shot is the same fire. Not a fake editing job, but it might be a fake editing job. But it's definitely a bed burning. But I couldn't tell which bed. It doesn't match her mom's bed, which Allison later slept in. Creepy. Or Viserys's bed, which is then became Aegon's bed. I was looking at the little, like, spindles or like, whatever at the end. Like, I was trying to match them. I couldn't figure out, like, whose bed this was. Was. And then there's a banner. Yeah. And like, you can blame the color balance on my. On my monitor or whatever, but I was having like. It looked blue and white to me. Obviously it's a green. Gold. Gold dragon on a green background. Banner burning. But for some reason, the color balance on my thing, I was like, is this a blue and white? I don't think it is. I think I was having a real, like, gold dress.
A
Yeah.
B
Dress moment. Interesting. But it's a green banner with a gold dragon.
A
Dragon's banner. Yeah.
B
Okay. So to me, it looks like Rhaenyra is like, I've come to the red.
A
Keep gonna burn a bunch of furniture.
B
I've burned a bunch of shit.
A
Very chill.
B
But it feels like it should be someone's specific bed. But I don't know whose bed it would be. Kristen Cole's bed. I don't know. It's not the bed she fucked Kristen Cole in. I checked. I checked all the beds that I could think of and I couldn't find it.
A
So.
B
Speaking of the guy who fucked both queens is Kristen Cole. He says, look at the sky. Doom and ruin surround us. We will all become beasts before. And he's so depressed. And I love it. I'm really into it.
A
Same Kristen. Just completely broken by his experiences, what he has witnessed, but also his choices and what they have brought in the world.
B
He and Alicent both are like mistakes were made. Yeah.
A
What Aemond has done, who was his, like, you know, ally and friend. By what the dragons have done and will do. I mean, the way that he talked about them.
B
Post Rook's Rest the PTSD storyline of Criston Cole. Post Rook's Rest it's really good.
A
We have Given the war to the dragons. The way he said that to Alicent, like what we must do now is terrible. Like the way that his voice was cracking when he said that. And then of course what he said to Gwain, you know, like, oh, man, it's. He's in a dark place and I
B
am here for it.
A
I'm really, I am really excited for the time we're going to spend with him this season. I, I have missed Criston Cole in a way that I, I frankly never expected. It's really to the show's credit.
B
I agree. And it's also like task was like a good time to spend with Fabian Frankel, et cetera. Okay, so Kristen Cole caked in mud.
A
Yes.
B
With his men in the river in the Riverlands. They're sort of milling about with longbows. We see a lot of longbows bows in this trailer for good reason. Sigil spotted House Stokeworth. The white lamb on the green light.
A
We're just like, we can't get away from House Stokeworth.
B
What is one sigil? It's a good sigil.
A
I think it must just. Yeah, it's a fun sigil. It is wonderful. The terror of being in the open field, you know, after what happened in season two with Baela and Moondancer and then the real commitment to staying undercover from there in the forest. Sort of like right here to see this shot where the trees are behind them but they have emerged into the open and to know that they know what peril that brings. It's a very effective little shot there.
B
The quote itself comes not from the mud caked moment, but Chris in his tent looking much more pristine. Who is he talking to? I would say probably his main man, Gwaine Hightower. I hope so. I think he's mostly talking to Gwayne Hightower this season would be my guess. Which is why Great News for us changed Gwain's storyline. He should be back at King's Landing, but they sent him on the road with Kristen so Kristen would have someone to talk to. And I appreciate that. That's better television. I quite agree. Here's a quote from Fire and Blood. Just about Criston and his men in the Riverlands, Right?
A
Yeah.
B
Without larger context. As he drove his men south through the Riverlands, smoke rose up before him and behind him. Every village that he came to, he found burned and abandoned. His column moved through forests of dead trees where living woods had been just days before as the River Lord lords set blazes all along his line. Of March in every brook and pool and village. Well, he found death. Dead horses, dead cows, dead men swollen and stinking, befouling the water. So, Kristen Cole, my number one enemies, having a bad time. And I love it when people I hate have a bad time. And I'm rooting for the enrichment of his soul and his remorse, you know, Same character on an arc. Love it.
A
Damn.
B
Doom. And a really interesting word from Holy Criston Cole here.
A
I have no philosophy. This is what he said to Gawain in the finale last season. Or rather, my philosophy was this. And he lifts up his sword to protect the righteous and dispense justice on the rest. But you saw what I saw. The dragons dance and men are like dust under their feet. And all our fine thoughts, all our endeavors, are as nothing. We march toward our annihilation.
B
Doom and annihilation.
A
This is the guy who, at Rook's Rest, got the troops to emerge and go enter the fight by appealing to their divine purpose. And now when he calls upon that righteousness, you know, we think of how he's talked about his cloak over the years. The only thing I had is my bloody name.
B
Yeah, that's all. It's all muddy now.
A
Dust. Dust under their feet.
B
He says we will all become beasts. Echoing Allison's earlier warning of, you will do things that your heart would have recoiled from before you came to the throne. Show me that dragon.
A
We all become beast before our end. Man, it's incredible.
B
Vegar, then it's just Vegar's trailer for the rest. Pretty much. Honestly. Vegar and her all with an Aon. With Aon on her back. A massive chunk of the crumbling castle falls down as Veigar comes in for a landing. A reminder that Vhagar was alive when Harrenhal was melted the first time.
A
That's right. But she didn't get to old dragon. She didn't get to do it. Balerion got to have all the fun.
B
Balerion got to do the whole thing.
A
Patriarchy is real.
B
And she's like, guess what? I'm gonna break the glass ceiling. Women get to burn castles too. Here I am.
A
Women get to burn crumbling rubble ruins too. The so we've seen, you know, Rhaenyra arrive on Syrax on dragon back to Harrenhal and kind of like freak people out. And then Adam and Seasmoke were up above but like land and then walk up Daemon and Caraxes. And then Cyrax went up and like perched and loot Daemon and Caraxes had their, you know, nighttime sneaky rainy entrance which like as you, as you'll, you'll outline there's some mirroring of here too. But this, it's so proximate to people. Like there's just. Say again. And Aemond, like I'm not gonna let you for a second forget how big and bad and strong I am aspect to this. Like there's a dude two feet in front of him and. And Aemond has like never. I mean they've always done a great job of giving us like a sense of Vhagar's scale. That little glimpse of Aemond on the back. He has never looked like more of a speck against Vhagar's half. This is just. It's a great, great, great shot.
B
Then we get the Winter Wolves. My guys giving out a rousing war cry, banging drums. The north fucking remembers. I'll tell you what. That right now reminder that they are Team Black.
A
Yes.
B
Thanks to Jason.
A
That's right.
B
Jace did some diplomacy last season.
A
Remember the Craig and Stark bonding sequence? That was so fun.
B
That was fun. That was two years ago.
A
Do you think my ancestors built a 700 foot wall of ice to keep out snow and savages? It's not how the accent goes at
B
all, but I liked.
A
I liked your did my best.
B
I wouldn't put you in accent corner. I liked it. Okay. Gwain Hightower looking rough in the middle of a muddy, rainy battle.
A
This is. Every now and then we like to take people behind the scenes. So you texted me a shot of Gawain looking beautiful and pampered and just in the bloom of his vitality. And you were like, you know, like us right now basically. And then this. Us this summer when we will be covering 900 things at once. And I think that that was right.
B
Thank you.
A
Yeah. Yeah. You know, this guy could be back in Old Town listening to the loot, but he's not playing the loot. Yeah, he could be playing the loot. He and Darren could both be playing the loot.
B
His beautiful like strawberry red waves are just like. Like caked in mud. He's just having a bad time. We see spears clattering on a Stark shield. Why do you think they added green to the Stark Sigil?
A
So that there. There's been green in the Stark Sigil on the show before.
B
Like I think Thrones before or on Hot D before Thrones.
A
I think like a good. A good. A place that you can definitely see it is when the banners unfurl at Battle of the Bastards. Really I think, like, it's always been at the bottom. It's definitely not as visible as, like, on the shield here. I think the.
B
It's so funny. The vision I had in my mind was the banners unfurling a battle of bastards, but I didn't Google to make sure that they were.
A
I've always liked to think of it as, like a little bit of a dream of spring.
B
Okay.
A
You know, amid the winter is coming. Proclamation.
B
Oh. House dark before 303.House dark after 303. Interesting. Okay, interesting. Somebody think about hobbitsanddragonsmail.com Rhaenyra looking relatively composed and clean, striding with purpose towards the camera. Yeah, interesting that in this section which focuses on dragons and the winter wolves beating the drums and the mud and the rain and the grime and the muck and the bud and I mentioned blood, but let's mention it again back by that we will all become beasts before our end line. Rhaenyra looks so clean.
A
Yeah.
B
Perhaps her beastly transformation will be more internal.
A
I mean, I love this, to quote our guy Larys, granted, he was just talking about why it might be, you know, something to think about. Like, maybe we shouldn't starve the small folk, but you could apply it to the state of the soul as well. The enemy without may be fought with swords. The enemy within is more insidious. Something that every character in the show should be thinking of. Rhaenyra looks so assured, like the strength of her conviction as she is. Yeah, is striding. Yes, she is striding.
B
She's walking down a tunnel that fine folks on Twitter let me know is the same tunnel that in season one, episode one, like, right at the beginning, right after Rhaenyra gets off the dragon, when she and Alicent come into the castle, it's like the same hallway of baby Alicent and baby Rhaenyra sort of like skipping girlishly down the hall. And then here's Queen Rhaenyra striding down the same sort of tunnel.
A
Damn. Love it.
B
All right, speaking of Alicent, Yes. She says it is no longer safe here. Ominous shot of the empty throw. Still team Green banners behind it.
A
Yes.
B
And then we have Allison and poor Helena, who to my eyes look captured and desperate, looking up at the throne. Who could be sitting there? I don't know.
A
This was the cloak I was referencing earlier when I was like, is that the finale cloak? Like, is there a chance that she has just kind of snuck back in? But it's. It's not. It's different. That had, like, much more kind of
B
Fleur de Lis sort of thing on it.
A
Yes, exactly. So this is definitely different fit. You know, obviously Helena's there. As you noted, it's also a gold cloak right there. So the City Watch is in the mix here.
B
More in this other section. Aemond walking into Harrenhal with a bloodied black fire. The sword is no longer a walking stick. It is a weapon now. Cautious and slow. Very similar, though less rainy and less helmed to Daemon's entrance into Harrenhal last season. He's got the sword drawn. It's bloodied.
A
Yeah.
B
And then the other hand drawn and readied is the Cat's Paw dagger. We saw him pick up the Catspaw dagger at Rook's Rest, so we know. We knew he had it.
A
Yep.
B
But it looks like he's about to, like, use it. Use it and, like.
A
Yep.
B
Have we seen anyone. I mean, Aria, honestly, but have we seen anyone, among other people in House of the Dragon use the dagger for anything other than shoving in a brazier and being like, look, words. Right.
A
So it cuts. It cuts Rhaenyra, I guess, on the arm. Right. So.
B
And.
A
And I guess this gives us similar in a very different way, but kind of like that similar element that we talked about at the time in that scene, the eye for an eye scene with, like, man, you've got this Dagger of prophecy, and who knows who carries that with them and who doesn't. And what does that mean? And the fact that, like, you know, part of the thing that finally softened Aegon and of course Otto then got to just, like, mercilessly, like, roast him. Like, you think he changed his mind, you dipshit. He never did in season two. But at the end of season one, it was like, presenting that dagger that finally, like, Aegon, who was like, he hated me. Wait, maybe this is real. But never. Never knew the truth behind it. The way that Rhaenyra does. The way that, you know, Rhaenyra had tried to tell Daemon in a very upsetting and harrowing scene. Now Daemon's had his visions and has come into this clarity. Aemond picked that up after roasting his brother and his dragon in the air. He has no idea the meaning and significance. He's like, what? It carries. He's just, like, strange.
B
He's like, well, it looks sick. And it was my dad's.
A
It does look sick. And I should have it, honestly. It does look sick. The blood on the sword, it's upsetting.
B
More in the spoiler section. All Right. Hightower men draw their longbows aiming up.
A
Yeah.
B
But they're always aiming up with the long bows. Right. Because they always go like.
A
That's right.
B
You shoot arrows.
A
Let's get that again.
B
From like, a rampart. You want to go Do. You're not going.
A
Do you think you'd be good with a bow and arrow?
B
No. I've tried.
A
Really? It requires just an incredible amount of strength.
B
A lot of strength. Yeah. Maybe if I keep, like, lifting, I will get to. But I've always kind of wanted to take up archery.
A
Is it time I'm knowing this about you? It might be. Well, crossbow.
B
No.
A
Takes too long to load.
B
Stupid. Stupid weapon. Tough one. Veigar having her fiery way with Harrenhal. Show me that dragon. There she is. Klaus is like, are you sure you want that clip? It's so short. Actually, I think it's the last one that's so short. I'm like, yeah, I do. I want all the clips of Vhagar. Thank you so much.
A
Much.
B
The next section is just shrill ringing.
A
I mean, from the Cackling witches podcast.
B
Shrill ringing.
A
Great news. Shrill ringing.
B
Cottage core murder cloaks and shill ringing. Gmail.com. we're living. We're close up on Damon. Looking battle bloody. Same blood pattern look as before. But instead of smiling. He looks very concerned to me. Right.
A
He definitely looks concerned here. I feel like the blood is more like lines here. And it was like a V before. Maybe he's just different blood in a different way.
B
Different blood. Different.
A
There's going to be a lot of blood and a lot of blood.
B
Another day, another blood spatter for Damon Targaryen. All right, Someone, maybe Damon picks up his sword from the dirt.
A
Okay. I. Let's see.
B
You don't think that's.
A
I don't. That's not. I don't think that's someone who's not
B
Damon picks up a sword that is
A
not Dark Sister from, like, hilt has the egg, which you couldn't see the pommel, but then the, like, dragon wing.
B
The wings.
A
And I thought, yeah. So this is.
B
This is someone who's not Damon picks up or Damon picks up, picks up a sword that is not Dark Sister.
A
That could definitely. Okay, yeah.
B
Damon, helmet on.
A
Yeah.
B
In the red. Keep fighting a bunch of Hightower men.
A
What. What do the kids say? I'm seated. I'm sad.
B
Do.
A
Do a.
B
Do a Riza. I'm sat a Riz. God.
A
Cinema.
B
That's exactly what I wanted you to do.
A
Cinema. I'm like, let's go.
B
It looks so good. Two on one. It looks amazing, dude. And just like.
A
Like a dead guy in the corner of the shot.
B
Well, that's a dead guy. Rhaenyra crying her heart out in front of what looks to me like a rotted skull.
A
Yeah, there's still some flesh on it. Someone called Dr. Ian Kelson. Let's get the 28 years later bone temple hive in here. You gotta get the flesh off the skull.
B
Well, she doesn't need his. Like his whole process. She just tosses in the fireplace. Allegedly. All right, we see Alan flashing and fighting. Looks like triarchy folks to me. Yeah, some fancy hat hats, some fur trims.
A
Sharknado high rise.
B
Must be the tracky Shirako Lohar.
A
Shirako Lohar. It's not actually a sharknado. Okay, got it.
B
Crushed it.
A
Got it.
B
Cut to a mud cake. Kristen also fighting. This is the screaming section.
A
Everyone's screaming. Yeah, boy.
B
Cut to Helena screaming.
A
This is where Kristen. That was. That's that shot of Kristen fighting like he is in battle. No armor on.
B
So a lot of mud.
A
Yeah, yeah.
B
Helena screaming in what appears to be childbirth. And as I mentioned before, the Queen Emma line from season one, episode one, the childbed is our battlefield. It would not be a season of House of the Dragon if a woman doesn't have a traumatic childbirth. We have some questions about this, which we will discuss more in the spoiler section. But while we're here. Yeah, I mean, that's definitely Helena, the actress posted to her Instagram. That's definitely Helena.
A
Definitely.
B
That definitely looks like childbirth to me. But that someone on Twitter was like, they got the old childbirth wig out and they slapped it on Helena, the sweat soaked blonde wig. Right. Should we speculate?
A
Sure.
B
Needlessly, Jerry Springer style.
A
Yeah, I think.
B
Who's the father?
A
Yeah. Because I think. I think there's stuff we can definitely say here. I think the spoiler section stuff is like George, the. The thread that he plays out of. Why like a certain choice do not give. We talked about last season that Aegon and Helaena had another kid in the book who has not been in the show. I think that's okay to say Condal
B
decided to cut it. Cut that kid from the blood and cheese sequence.
A
Right. Which ticked off.
B
Which ticked George off.
A
Yes. Well, we'll talk in the spoiler section because George plays out the butterfly effect of that. All of which we will save for the spoiler section. I think it's okay to say here though that like, okay, two things One, I was thinking of you because I watched this and I was like, is this real? And if so, who's the father? We'll talk about that in a second. But I was like, is this a dream or a vision? Because it's Helena. There's a spoiler thing that we could talk about that I. But with a throne show, we always want to ask, is it a dream? Is it a puppet?
B
What if it's a puppet? Whatever. It's a Helena puppet.
A
You never know.
B
Given Helena birth.
A
That's a Night of the Seven Kingdoms joke, folks.
B
Okay, I. I mean, I understand where you're going with your. What else it could be in terms of vision wise and we can talk about that when we get there.
A
If Helena. It's like, if this is Aegon's kid, you never know.
B
Let's just make it clear.
A
Yeah.
B
Helaena was not really showing at the end of last season and we don't imagine that that much time has passed.
A
Right.
B
So. But if this is Aegon's kiddo, it would have had to have happened before Brook's Rest, where his copy quote burst in the flames like a sausages on a spit exploded.
A
Yeah.
B
So was she pregnant before works Rest? Was she even pregnant during Blood and Cheese? Possibly. Right. Or is this Eamon's kid? Again, the timing doesn't really. Yeah, I have a lot of questions about it. We don't see her from, like, really the sort of torch, like, chest down in the other shots of her in this trailer. It could be a vision. I just, like, don't want to fall into a trap of like, that's a vision. That's a vision. But also don't want to fall in a trap of. Of analyzing something that winds up just being a vision at the end of the day with.
A
With. I think because House of the Dragon trailers have often featured these kind of like hallucinatory or vision sequences. But mostly honestly, just because it's Helena. A character we know sees things, but
B
we've not seen her visions.
A
We've not. We've seen her enter somebody else's vision. That was weird. Remember that when she was just like standing there and that was wild. So, yes, this would be different for sure. I. If George got pissed and then they were like, all right, we'll give Helena a kid.
B
No, I think they. They would have already had decided to do it and we'll talk about what
A
George said, but, like, have like known that and not written that post.
B
He's so strange said that. That's what they said. They were.
A
That's true. He did. He mentioned that possibility. He did, yeah.
B
Okay.
A
He did. I think on the. Is it Eamon's kid front. So like we talked a lot in season one about how, you know, when Aegon was being a dick, Eamon was like, she's your future queen. And he was always the one who was like, he's hot for Helena. Has always.
B
Yes.
A
And like there are a lot of shippers out there for me that ended with the way that their scenes went in the season two finale. Like, I mean, I would have said
B
as much, but like Targaryens are a savage race and they do all kinds of things. I don't know.
A
It's true.
B
But I. I'm here with you. Yeah. We get Ormond screaming while fighting. Fighting indoors. Talk about savage.
A
And he's not.
B
He's not again, like not the fancy armor there.
A
So.
B
And then we get Veigar screaming, spewing fire for the last time in this podcast. Show me that dragon. Great. Incredible. At long last. A lot of people have talked to her and kind of about her, but this is the first we hear from her. Rhaenyra finally in this trailer says there will be no doubt who the gods have chosen to rule.
A
Yes.
B
A bookend to Ormond's assertion we act with a holy purpose to restore a rightful king. So as you mentioned earlier. Yeah. Everyone thinks they have the gods on their side. Dangerous Rhaenyra holding her father's crown with remorse. Hesitancy. Something like that.
A
The window behind her, we can place exactly the room that she is in.
B
You want to say it into the
A
microphone if you don't want to hear it though. I think we've placed people in many locations throughout the trailer podcast at this point, but could fast forward once that. I think this is Viserys room.
B
I agree.
A
Because that's the window behind his LEGO set. That's the window you always saw in the LEGO set.
B
You're wearing a model set. You can never fool me about.
A
I always remembered the Lego. So. And then I was thinking back to the furniture burning. Like, yeah, if she's kind of moving in, but it's not the.
B
His bed. Yeah.
A
I guess they had to like move stuff out too. Cuz Aegon was convalescing.
B
But he was convalescing in the same bed. I looked at it.
A
Yeah. Cuz he had gotten rid of like the books and stuff.
B
It was the same headboard. Yeah. On both of those. You. And it's kind of fun. I don't think we noted it at the time, but I was looking at them, I was like, oh, they matched the shot of like Viserys. Yeah. Moldering flesh. An egg on all melty. Post work stress in the same bed.
A
My rum.
B
All right. Then the sigil dissolves into smoke. House of the Dragon, June 21st. Here we go, baby. Anything else you want to say before we go into spoiler section?
A
I don't think so.
B
Great time with you. If you were only here for the spoiler free section. Let's go now to book spoiler.
A
Very menacing.
B
It's very like Gimli Brewing. Blowing the horn.
A
It is. It really is. I like it.
B
And then there's like that warning siren. Anyway, if you didn't hear it, if you didn't watch and see like this beautiful graphic that Carl's put together. Go. Get out of here. Be gone.
A
Be gone. Which.
B
All right, I'm starting with this. We're mostly gonna go in order, but I'm starting out of order to say still no Darren, no hotter Hightower, no Roddy the Ruin, no Alice Rivers, no sea smoke, no dragon seeds whatsoever. Except possibly teeny tiny Rayna and Sheep Steer. But I don't think she was on there. So just sort of like Sheep stealer. Does the absence of the dragon seeds,
A
Hugh and Ulf, change anything about how. Not that we were like 100% locked in on this is going to be the flow of events in the season, but I think we talked a lot. Last trailer. Like, will the finale be first Templeton?
B
I think so.
A
I still think so too. This was like two trailers in. They're not here. Well, maybe they're finishing the effects. That's what I'm saying is like.
B
Well, to. To your earlier point, last trailer, you're like, I think the taking of King's Landing happens pretty early. And I was like, what if it's later? That theory is out the window, given how much taking of King's Landing is in. Rhaenyra takes King's Landing with Daemon's help. We see him fighting the High Towers. We see her in the Red Keep. A bunch of. That's gotta happen early. I say a lot of this footage is probably from early in the season. And so I think you're absolutely right that Kingsland taking a King's Landing, you know we're gonna get gullet. Yeah. Fish feed.
A
And then Daemon's gotta get back from fish feed, which it seems like he'll be a part of. So I think King's Landing's episode maybe
B
three, four at the latest three or four sounds, right? Yeah. He comes back. Not only does he go. Go to King's Landing, he's at Dragonstone.
A
Right.
B
Because we see them walking out of Dragonstone with purpose. So he comes back to Dragonstone, they go to King's Landing, and I guess he goes back, you know, to. Or like, he's part of Tumbleton. I don't. I don't know. But, like, the Butcher's. I'm. I'm like, team Butcher's Ball is happening.
A
I think so.
B
Because I think we want Kristen around for as much as the season as possible. So, like, Butcher's Ball. And I think first Tumbleton is the end of the season.
A
Yeah. I really like gullet. One, fish feed two, regroup, get head out for King's Landing. Taking of King's Landing, episode four. Obviously, Aemond is then at Harrenhal. So he's like, boy, I fucked up. Damon's not here.
B
He took this hot witch.
A
Look at this hot witch. Let me go burn a bunch of things because I'm angry and don't know how to channel that. Fish feed has happened. So we get our, like, bloated corpse, like, tableau stretch. Kristen taken unawares. Not in armor. Butcher's Ball, penultimate episode. Kristen. Kristen, Butcher's Ball. Death in the penultimate episode, I think would be like. Like, fantastic. And then Tumbleton as the finale.
B
Right. And team Block is like Renera, you know, Ascendant Renera. Ascendant Rera ascended. And then the first Tumbleton happens.
A
Exactly. What a great note, because we get
B
this, like, oh, Honeywine. Honeywine has to be at the beginning.
A
So do you think we're gonna get Honeywine, or are they just gonna be like, honeywine happens?
B
Maybe.
A
And like, Darren, I'm gonna knight you.
B
And now you're Darren might be more like burning. Yeah. Burning mill, sort of. Yeah.
A
Kind of alluded to. And get, like, the carnage. Will be great to see Honeywell. That would be really fun. And then, like, that's so much. But it still leaves God's Eye, Helaena the Shepherd, the storming of the pits. Second Tumbleton, Aegon versus Rhaenyra. All that for season four. They almost have to get to first Tumbleton this season.
B
I agree. And I think season four ends with Rhaenyra's death, and that's where we end the show. I don't think we're going beyond Rhaenyra. I think once Rhaenyra's dead, this story's over.
A
Yeah.
B
Yeah.
A
At most they can do One episode at most. All right.
B
As we mentioned, at the 45, 46 second mark, we think it's a possibly hilarious hidden shot of Darren.
A
So amazing.
B
Just really great. Brasso is bold. John Roxton, a real season four player. So, like, he's gonna be here in season three, but he's really gonna be here in season four.
A
My condolences. For what? You died in battle. Iconic. I can't wait.
B
Gail Rankin. Alice Rivers herself is not in this trailer, but she posted a shot from this trailer of a in Harrenhal and she posted the sort of lip biting emoji on her Instagram.
A
Incredible.
B
Iconic. Shit. Gail. Great.
A
Really good. All right.
B
At the 17 second mark.
A
Yes.
B
Our children will rule forever in a day that we get that shot of Jace.
A
Very tough.
B
Tough. Jace is dying. Episode one.
A
I'm really happy that Gullet is the premiere. I think it's important. You got to bring people back right away. I'm, I'm. I wish we got two episodes of Jace instead of one.
B
He'll have a lot to do. He'll just be like really, really fighting with his mom for most of that episode. And, you know, it's possible that Gullet begins at the end of episode one and then turns into two, concludes at the beginning of episode two.
A
That would be great.
B
But probably not. Probably. It's all on episode one. Okay. 28 second mark. Rhaenyra walking out of Dragonstone with Daemon behind her. She's wearing a sword. She's wearing Jace's sword.
A
Brutal.
B
She is. You know, and there's this whole passage in the book where it's like that, like Luke's death like.
A
Yes.
B
Destroyed her, but Jace's death hardened her.
A
Yes.
B
And that she puts on her armor and she goes and she takes King's Landing. So strapping on his sword. Her dead son's sword. Yeah.
A
Hot.
B
Okay.
A
Do you think? Because we did have the sad and
B
hot House of the Dragon.
A
Put it on the posters. We had the Lady Jane Reina Vale stretch like gay abandon. I'll send six of my best men. It's like. Well, that doesn't really seem like enough. And guess what? It's not gonna be. Are we gonna do. I mean, Stormcloud. Those boys are like, we've sent witness
B
protection with you in Daredevil.
A
While. It's exactly like that. We talked a lot already across the two seasons of coverage about, like the way that they've aged down Aegon and Viserys. So like, some like, Aegon can't fly. Stormcloud like that can't happen. But is Viserys still gonna be taken captive? Stormcloud killed. Aegon makes his way back broken. Or does all of the Dragonbane stuff just come from him witnessing?
B
But does the Dragonbane stuff like really even happen?
A
I mean he's. I guess it's enough to see what he sees with Aegon and Rhaenyra, I guess. But sweet little Stormcloud, I don't know. Those boys are just so small. Like none of those things can happen.
B
I agree.
A
I don't totally know why they did that. Gotta say.
B
33 second mark, Rhaenyra trailing bloody footprints from the throne or to the throne. So the flagstones look a little wet to me to read. I mean it's definitely Rhaenyra. That's definitely who it is. No question. I was trying to be coy earlier when Malar's like, that's Team Black in a ladies gate. But I was just sort of like, whatever, it's okay. It is fine. No, you didn't do anything wrong. I was just sort of like, like. Anyway, flagstones look a little wet to read throne room to me.
A
But yeah.
B
And the way the blood is tracking it really looks more like someone who has walked through blood rather than someone who's like dripping blood down their arms and legs and it's like manifesting that way as footprints. But either way, Rhaenyra leaving a bloody trail through King's Landing is a tradition for her.
A
I like the idea that like you know, the cuts on her hands, on her arms, on her legs, that she's sitting there on the throne finally at last. And the blood is like some holing by her feet.
B
I kind of like it, but.
A
Oh.
B
And then she walks. That's a lot of fucking blood. The some eagle eyed folks on the Internet have like sort of freeze framed that moment and it looks like in the upper right. So the direction she's walking towards it looks like there's some melty sword stuff. So it really looks like she's walking towards through the battle, the throne. So like through whatever. Through the people that. That Damon has killed. Yeah, you know her. Her dainty little foot trod in some blood.
A
Bloody foot. Bloody path to the throne would be very apt and fitting. However, I do actually worry that it would slightly mute the effect of like she stands up.
B
So here's a quote from Fire and Blood. Right? Yeah. Septon Musis tells us that the ceremony went on. This is her coronation went on all through that night. It was well passed on when Rhaenyra Targaryen rose and made her descent. Quote. And as her lord husband, Prince Daemon, escorted her from the hall, cuts were seen upon Her Grace's legs in the palm of her left hand, end quote, wrote Eustace. Quote. Drops of blood fell to the floor as she went past. And wise men looked at one another, although none dared speak the truth aloud. The Iron Throne had spurned her and her days upon it would be few. End quote. So, like, I think there's a way in which you see her actively get cut. Like Viserys.
A
Like Viserys, yeah.
B
Like, make it much more like Viserys, so it's less like she's dripping blood walking away from the throne and more just sort of like. Yeah, the self. Same kind of thing.
A
Yeah. I mean, it's. It's kind of like a tomb. She. Rhaenyra's always like cloaked in clothing, you know, so. And she wears black. So, like, they're not gonna show the blood unless it's on her hands or like. Like pulling or other than she's trying to.
B
She's like. If she cuts her hand, she's like, fuck. You know. Yeah.
A
Break the maggots back out.
B
This is a quote from A Song of Ice and Fire. That himbo with a hammer himself, Robert Baratheon said some say the Iron Throne had spurned her. Nonsense. Nonsense. It's a chair made of steel blades. Rhaenyra had wanted it all her life and sacrificed two.
A
Let's update that math Bobby sons for it.
B
She likely gripped the damn thing too hard.
A
Tell that to Maegor the Cruel.
B
You know Maegor with teats. All right. 55 second mark with that draw your sword. Aemon murders my beloved Simon Strong at Harrenhal. Is that Simon Strong's blood all over Blackfyre later?
A
Definitely.
B
Here's the passage. Quote. Daemon and his quote. River scum had fled rather than face his wrath. His being Aemond Aemond proclaimed. Small wonder than that when word of the fall of King's Landing reached him, the prince felt thrice the fool. His fury was fearsome to behold. First to suffer for it was Serg. Prince Aemond had no love for any of that ilk. And the haste with which the Castellan had yielded Harrenhal to Daemon Targaryen convince him the old man was a trailer Ellipses. Aemond commanded that Ser Simon be given a sword. Quote, let the gods decide if you speak truly, he said. If you are innocent, the warrior will give you the strength to defeat me. The duel that Followed was utterly one sided. All the accounts agree. The prince cut the old man to pieces, then fed his corpse to Veigar brutal. Nor did Sir Simon's grandsons long outlive him. One by one, every man and boy with strong blood in his veins was dragged forth and put to death until the the heap made of their heads stood three feet tall. So we're gonna watch him. So it's not just that he kills her Simon. He makes her Simon. So that draw your sword makes her Simon. Take out what is a ceremonial sword.
A
Pathetic. Yeah.
B
And fight. What a terrible tiny dick. A.
A
Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. We're gonna mourn Simon. We're gonna mourn him.
B
I'm gonna have to change my slack profile photo.
A
Or should you keep it forever?
B
No. Because it was Lyman Beesbury and then it was Sir Simon Strong. And I think once they fall, I need to find a new old man to put from House of the Dragon to put in there.
A
Roddy the ruin.
B
Roddy the ruin might be it.
A
I think so.
B
I'd love that for me. Okay, at the minute and two second mark. Criston and his men looking a little lost and ragged. I'm calling this butcher's ball. Here's the quote from Fire and Blood. When Ser Criston left the lake behind, striking out overland for the Blackwater, he found them waiting atop a Stony Ridge. 300 probably not that many. Mounted knights in armor, as many longbowmen, 3,000 archers, 3,000 ragged rivermen with spears, hundreds of northmen brandishing axes, mauls, spiked maces and ancient iron swords. Above their heads flew, oh, Queen Rhaenyra's banners. Who are they? Esquire, I hope. Gwain, who are they? A squire asked when the foe appeared, for they showed no arms but the queen's audacity. Death answered to Criston Cole. For those foes were fresh, better fed, better horsed, better armed. And they held the high ground. It's over, Anakin. I have the high ground. Whilst his own men were stumbling, sick and dispirited.
A
So I can't wait for this Crispy Cole.
B
Unarmored, muddy or not, looking like shit. Everyone looks tired, footsore. And then here comes some fresh troops with the.
A
The.
B
The black and the red banner in the running.
A
We've quoted it before. We'll quote it again for best Sickest lines. Sickest lines in fire and blood. I'll have no songs about how brave you died, Kingmaker, declared Longleaf. There's tens of thousands dead on your account. He was speaking to A corpse.
B
It's really good. Unbelievable. Do you think all the. All the shots of Bowman in this trailer are to like prepare us for the taking down of the Ravens? Do you think that's gonna happen? It's a really cool moment.
A
Yeah. That would be great. I hope so. Yeah. A little for throwback to early thrones. You know. Too.
B
Yeah.
A
That would be fun.
B
All right. Minute 10. Second. The Winter Wolves. Here's something I really need in a trailer before the season starts. I agree. This better be when we see Tommy Flanagan in a trailer. When the Winter Wolves show up. Right. They call themselves the Winter Wolves. Wolves. We've combed to die for the Dragon Queen. Lord Roderick announced this is a line like concocted in a lab to be in a trailer. We've combed to die for the Dragon Queen. Put it in a trailer. You cowards. With the Stark banners flying behind them. Come the fuck on.
A
Quite agree. I quite agree. This next stretch. 115. So this was just the shot with the gold cloak behind Allison. Is this Luther Largent? Do we think this is that stretch of just the. You know.
B
Yeah. They've been captured. They've been caught trying to escape. Damon loyalists have come in. And yes. 100% honeybee.
A
They're gold any way. You turn them. And Damon gave them to us. And they're gold anyway. You turn them.
B
It's a sick line.
A
It really is.
B
On this rotted skull. So a minute 23 we get the. The skull in the fireplace as you mentioned. And then a rotted skull. I went through a whole journey about this. And I'm glad that you didn't see me writing these notes because. Because I had an insane theory that I finally talked myself out of.
A
Wait. Now I want to know what it is.
B
I was like, did they never get rid of Viserys body? And that's just his rotten.
A
They never burned him. Wow.
B
And she like burns him sad. She's like they didn't give. But I was like. Why would they let a rotting corpse just hang out in the red keep somewhere? That doesn't make. I mean they did. I mean for a couple days.
A
For a while. Yeah. He stunk.
B
Anyway. I got over that. That.
A
I love it.
B
Here are some options. Yeah. Jace's head fished out of the gullet in the book. His body is never found and he's lost at sea. Hashtag Jace lives.
A
Luke lives.
B
Kristen Cole. If he dies in the fish feed rather than the butcher's ball. Or if they combine the two. Because there's just a lot of mud on Kristen and G. And here's a quote from Fire and Blood. The feasters were men who had fallen in the fish feed skulls grinning under rusted helms as their green and rotted flesh sloughed off bare bones. Tough. Yeah.
A
Hot.
B
O Hightower. That's my third option.
A
I just feel. I feel like this has to be Jace, because Rodeira looks so distraught, I
B
think has to be Jace.
A
You know, she's just so overcome here. If this were Otto, she'd be like, fucking pissing off, like, great Kristen.
B
She's like, fuck you. Yeah, no, I mean, I think it has to be Jace. It's just. I don't know. It's an adoptive choice to be like, we found his head. Like, his head only. Is his head delivered back to her by the, like, the Triarchy by Jason Lannister. By, like, you know, like. Or, sorry, the other Lannister. Yeah. You know, in Thailand, I like to
A
see Jason Lannister die. That'll be fun. All his lions and his, like, oh, well, we're just gonna hang out at the Golden Tooth and wait, and then he's just gonna fucking get got right away. It's gonna be great.
B
Away.
A
I. Yeah, I think that the. There are like, some characters where they've said, you thought this person was dead. We're actually gonna open that up.
B
Laenor, for example, but then close it back up.
A
I still have questions about all of it. With Seasmug, you know, we didn't get, like, Luke's body, but just like giving us, like, a piece of Arrax's wing and, like, Luke's cloak and stuff like this. Like, I think they seem to want to close some of those doors.
B
So they're like, jace lives truthers.
A
Yeah. But I kind of feel like they're doing that in certain cases so that when we get to do that with Daemon, we really get to do that with Daemon.
B
Oh, they never find his rotted head.
A
If you've done that with everyone else, it's not as interesting.
B
Hashtag Damon lives. And he gets to be a good dad to Reina, who is now Nettles, I guess. Okay, Jacoby, that one's for you. All right. Minute 26. Oh, man. Helena giving birth. Okay. Is this Maelor?
A
Yeah.
B
Is this a vision that Alice sends to Aemond at Harrenhal? Is this one of his dreams at Harrenhal? His weirward pastry. Ooh, my hot sister who I'd like to fuck. What if she had my baby and that baby were on the throne.
A
I like that.
B
I don't, you know, like I don't dislike it. Here's the quote from George R.R. martin, since deleted. Ill advised, I guess. Blog about the butterfly effect. Right. When he was venting his spleen about many things, including Mailer being written out of the show thus far he said quote moreover. God, I really wish I used words like moreover in blog posts.
A
Moreover.
B
And then wrote about like football teams moreover. Ryan assured me that we were not losing Prince Maelor, simply postponing him. Queen Helaena could still give birth to him in season three, presumably after getting with childe late in season two. Maelor by himself means little. He's a small child, does not have a line of dialogue, does nothing of consequence but die brutal. But where and when and how that does matter. Losing Maelor weakened the end of the blood and cheese sequence. I agree, definitely. But it also cost us the bitter bridge scene with all its horror and heroism. Yeah, it undercut the motivation for Helena's suicide and that in turn sent thousands into the streets and ally screaming for justice. Justice for their murdered queen. None of that is essential, I suppose. But all of it does seem to serve. All of it does serve a purpose. It all helps to tie the storylines together. So one thing follows another in a logical and convincing manner. Yeah, I think Helena has plenty of things to feel to fling herself out of a window for. Not the least of which is being burdened by these terrible visions and all these other things. So I actually don't think you need Maelor for that.
A
Yeah, well, especially because like part of it was the, the choice in blood and cheese. Like that's different now even if Maelor comes into the picture, so.
B
So is Alicent trying to get Helena out of the castle more urgently because Helaena is pregnant and then you know, Rhaenyra takes the castle and Alicent and Helena under in that captivity, which is very like much more golden handcuffs than even it says in the books. If Alicent is just led to roam free around the castle and Rhaenyra.
A
Yeah, that's why I'm like. I feel like can they do that? Don't they even have like a fiction to maintain? I don't know. I guess she did just. Rhaenyra did tell all of her advisors like we saw in the first trailer, like Alicent and I made this.
B
But yeah, my only like vision thing that I am willing to sort of like lean towards with Helaena is that this is an Aemond vision been sent to him by I like that.
A
That's an interesting idea. Because the thing I was wondering about on the vision front was like. Because there's that stuff and it's. It is one of the things in Fire Blood where it's like, presented and immediately kind of discounted. But the, like, well, they want to tear down the bastards. Like, let's put bastards in their bellies. Kind of horrible stretch of plotting and scheming about how they're. How Allison and Helena are both going to be like, tormented.
B
Showing Helena showing aim and Helena dying in childbirth. Yeah. It wouldn't be a season of hot tea without a woman dying in childbirth for sure. Or like, having a horrible time in childbirth.
A
Yeah, I guess. Like, I don't know.
B
I.
A
Introducing. I thought it was really weird to not put Mailer in the show.
B
Doing it now feels even weird.
A
Feels weirder to me in a way.
B
And like, timing is tough.
A
The timing is tough. And also it's like part of. Part of what? I mean, there's the horror of what happens at Bitterbridge. Like this tiny kid being killed. His egg, all of it.
B
Rickard.
A
Sir Rickard. It's also just like. It is actually different that Aegon has a male heir still in the book. You know, until he doesn't. It really changes things in terms of how Aemond is confidently positioning himself. Like, he kind of can't do that. He could still be like, I'm regent. That's a baby or protector.
B
Yeah. But it's just.
A
It would all be different. So. So to kind of do that now after these events have been set this deep into motion, really is, I don't know, strange. Also, like, with. With Helena's suicide. We don't know. I get. Frankly, George putting it this way is the closest thing to confirmation because it's like, was she killed? Was it suicide? Like, it's one of the things that's
B
like, open for debate that she was pushed theory. Yeah.
A
So then George saying this is like, oh, well, but that doesn't mean the show is gonna do that, honestly. And then like. Like when Aemond was trying to compel Helaena to fly with him to get on Dreamfire, she's like, I don't want to do this. One of the things that Allison said was like, you know, you're going to put. Until her mind is broken. Like, it's sort of been interesting for me to consider what if, like, the push toward a violent pursuit that she has no interest in is part of what makes her crack. So I don't know.
B
They've.
A
They've decided not to put Maelor and I don't know that we need it now. So I really like that idea that you're presenting that that could be an aim in division. That's really interesting. What do you. Let me ask you this. Though not even specific to that possibility in general. We were really here for the Damon Harrenhal stuff. We loved it. We love Alice. That was not the mass response. Now Amit has a lot of other stuff to do. He's going to go, like, burn a bunch of Riverland constantly.
B
I feel like if they do it but do less, people will have less of an issue because do you think
A
they're going to feel like they have
B
to be like, fucking.
A
They will. Yeah. Got to get that baby in the belly.
B
So there's that on top of it,
A
which is not nice. Literally on top of it. Right.
B
Which Aon. Which Damon just like his mom and is in a dream. So maybe they can just. With some sexual content and then everyone will be thrilled rather than like her being like, I'm an owl, you know, whatever.
A
I loved that was great about Arnold. That was great. Will Sir Simon offer Aemond some venison and red car? You know, the red currant update on what the. What's in the stores before he's killed or. No, like, will he try to woo him?
B
There's no time.
A
It's going to be cut down right away. Right away.
B
Away.
A
Damn. Sad.
B
Sad. All right. Anything else you want to say?
A
Just excited for the season. I. I don't know that we need
B
too many more trailers. I.
A
Let me throw that out there. I love a trailer. I love a trailer. I love to see what we can. I like to break them down.
B
I need to hear Roddy the Ruin say, that's true. To die for the Dragon Queen.
A
That's true. You're right. They've shown us not everything, but a lot. I like. I don't want them to show us too much. Watch.
B
Give me Tommy Flanagan.
A
Give me Roddy. Give me Roddy. Show us. Darren, you know what? Drop another trailer.
B
What's Alice doing? You know. What's Black Alec doing?
A
Yeah, you know, exciting questions.
B
I got some things to see.
A
Are we gonna meet Bloody Ben?
B
One more.
A
Do you think Oscar Tully is just subbing in?
B
Yeah, I think Oscar Tully is definitely subbing for Bloody Ben.
A
I mean, I'm a big Oscar Tully fan, but I do. I like Ben Jacott.
B
You just like Ben Jacott is a name you just want to say to Chris. Chris Ryan. You just want to make Chris Ryan confront the fact that a character's name Benjicott.
A
You're right. I do.
B
And now I can't talk of Thrones every Sunday this summer for the rest of our lives. Deep dives on Tuesday. Thank you to team red and green. Our team. That's right. Carlos Shirboga. Always. Jacob Cornett is here. Scott Lee's here.
A
Always.
B
Our dinner. Rip palace. Always somewhere around here. Hopefully getting some lunch. He hadn't eaten when last I saw him. Are Jomi and dinner on.
A
Yes.
B
The crew. Everyone here at Sycamore.
A
Daemon Targaryen.
B
Y' all are the best.
A
We always like to thank Damon if we can.
B
Thank you.
A
Thank you, my darling. I love to be in Westeros together. It's exciting.
B
I'll miss you in the next episode. I know.
A
I'm sad. Text me if Dex does something hot tonight. I assume he will. He will. Yeah. So I await your owl.
B
It's just like exhale.
A
I mean, hopefully.
B
And we'll see you soon. Bye. There's a new way to sweetgreen Meet Wraps Handheld. Hearty and made for life on the move. With bold, chef crafted flavors, fresh ingredients, and over 40 grams of protein. They're built to satisfy without slowing you down. Try wraps today in the app or@order.sweetgreen.com available at all participating locations.
Podcast: House of R (The Ringer)
Hosts: Joanna Robinson & Mallory Rubin
Date: April 29, 2026
Episode Focus: Deep-dive analysis of the House of the Dragon Season 3 teaser trailer
In this detailed and characteristically enthusiastic episode, Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson break down the second official teaser trailer for Season 3 of HBO’s House of the Dragon. They analyze every significant moment, interrogate what changes the showrunners might be making to George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, speculate on character arcs, and revel in dragon math, symbolism, and all things Westerosi. The pair move nearly frame by frame, intertwining lore explanations, book-to-show comparisons, and their signature banter, all while keeping it (mostly) spoiler-safe until an extended book-spoilers section at the end.
[08:42 – 13:51]
[16:53 – 20:07]
[23:38 – 30:53]
[33:34 – 36:22]
[37:05 – 40:49]
[43:49 – 49:00]
[53:08 – 58:22]
[60:50 – 82:44]
[Spoiler section begins at approx. 95:00]
Mallory:
“Thank you, my darling. I love to be in Westeros together. It's exciting.” [119:30]
Joanna:
“I'll miss you in the next episode. I know.” [119:33]
| Dragon | Rider (if known) | Team | Notable Mention | |----------------|------------------|-----------|-------------------------| | Syrax | Rhaenyra | Black | Opening shot | | Sheepstealer | — (possibly Rhaena) | Black | Seen in The Vale | | Vermax | Jace | Black | At Gullet | | Moondancer | Baela | Black | At Gullet | | Caraxes | Daemon | Black | Riverlands, Winter Wolves arrival | | Vhagar | Aemond | Green | Multiple, Harrenhal | | Dreamfyre | Helaena | Green | Mentioned | | Silverwing | Ulf (not seen) | Black | Not present yet | | Tessarion | Daeron (not seen) | Green | Not present yet | | Tyraxes | Joffrey (unclear if appears) | Black | | | Seasmoke | Adam (not seen) | Black | Not present yet |
This episode offers essential context for both book readers and show-only viewers confused by the rapid-fire trailer. It clarifies motivations, highlights major changes and mystery points, and predicts where the season may go—while drenching everything in wit, warmth, and deep fandom. If you want to know why everyone’s hyped for House of the Dragon Season 3, this is your go-to breakdown.
For more, follow House of R on Spotify/YouTube and catch their weekly deep dives throughout the Thrones season—and don’t forget to send mailbag questions to hobbitsanddragonsmail.com!