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Faceless Men might be the best episode of the season so far because it finally makes Criston Cole pay for the bad decisions that got him here, instead of giving him the death he thinks he deserves, its just crazy how on Seasons 2 he had everything he wanted for this war but probably never pull the trigger on time, Aegon getting burned really affect him too. He walks his exhausted army into a trap chasing the honorable last stand he has been picturing in his head, but Once Oscar Tully and Rodrik Dustin surround him, Cole asks for his men to be spared and tries to turn it into a duel, like his own skill with a sword still matters. Black Aly does not let that happen and puts three arrows in him before there was even a fight, I loved how little respect the show gives his fantasy since Cole spent this whole war acting like honor belonged only to him and he just start loosing it after the Rooks Rest fight and then with the River Man and the Gray Wolfs, it was just too much for him to handle. Instead he dies holding the favor Alicent gave him while the men he led there get cut down around him for nothing. He is still brave got to give him that but that does not erase that he marched his own soldiers toward a death he set up and his attempt to save them only comes after the damage is done once he wa against the wall, itt ends fast and ugly for him, I never saw that coming, always thought they were going to keep him as a prisoner similar to what happen to Jamie Laninster in GOT.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198330/
• Platform: {{PLATFORM}}

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Im starting to notice that the most realistic person on this series has to be Gwayne Hightower, if only Criston had heard him, because he is the only one paying attention to danger everybody else keeps ignoring and that gap shows the moment he gets back to Tumbleton. Gwayne has seen what this war does to soldiers, knows the army under Criston was never going anywhere good and knows Rhaenyra has too many dragons for Ormund to be this confident. Ormund just insults him, acts like the great houses will eventually fall in line and treats Daeron like a future king without caring what Daeron actually wants. He is really smart and has no need to give out a speech to prove he is right, he just notices things and when the fake Baratheon delegation shows up he clocks that the man does not match the real relative and attacks before the assassins reach Daeron and Ormund, for a second I and also Ormund thought Gwayne was wrong but then the rest of the assassin attack too, like this fucking ninja, how can he be that tired and that sharp. Ormund look happy and even flatered that great house supposedly joined him that he almost hands Daeron over without checking anything, then freezes and gets sick the second real violence starts while Gwayne and Jon Roxton handle it, which makes how confident Ormund acts look ridiculous. Gwayne later tells him straight up he is risking other lives to protect his own pride and Gwayne is just sick of all this so he has plans to head back to Oldtown since he is next in line there and Ormund says he will not stand in his way, Gwayne knows Ormund wont win this war at least under current circumstances, though Daeron begs him to stay, admits Ormund controls him and asks if he saw Alicent while he was gone. I wonder why he is now asking for his mother and if Gwayne might stay for Daeron, because he knows that after all this is over, Oldtown would still stand and will need someone to pick up the pieces.

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I bet the closer we get to the end of this season Rhaenyra is harder to root for because every time she avoids one terrible decision she replaces it with another. She is right to shut down Daemon wanting to burn Tumbleton, since the people there already bent the knee to her and killing them just to get Ormund would make her as cruel as her enemies say she is. The problem is her backup plan, an assassination attempt using stolen Baratheon clothing falls apart because Gwayne is paying attention, Ormund was so damn lucky Gwayne was there and had to eat up his words for insulting him, treat him like a fool. Rhaenyra is trying to protect her reputation while using a method that hands Ormund more proof she is coming after Daeron, so she ends up looking careful in public and desperate in private, she basically working based on appearance and that is just too fragile, it wont get her anywhere and its time for her to start showing some strength. Her scene on the Iron Throne make it worse, people bring her real problems, missing supplies, kidnappings, the city falling apart and all she offers is blame and distant sympathy, then the throne cuts her and you can see how scared she is even while she hides the wound, not sure if she might even suffer from the same illness as her father getting cut by the throne and hot healing back his wounds. Rhaenyra is loosing so much grip and I wonder if it will be too late for when we get to that "this is finish" scene from one of the trailers, where she will probably go too far at Tumbleton, Alicent even tells her "I warn you...", about the things the throne will make her do. Then there are The Gold Cloaks quitting because they are unpaid and getting killed, so not only Rhaenyra but also Daemon loosing grip on his man, its just a shit storm everywhere the Targaryens go, considering they running the Throne, it suppose to be backwards. Daemon barely gets useful information before killing a Hightower man running the assassination of the Golden Cloaks, then takes his anger out on Ulf in front of everyone, big big mistake in my opinion giving another unhappy dragon rider reason to turn on them.

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The episode was so well balance as everyone gets enough screen time, this time Alicent and Helaena had some really good moments because it shows how most of their problems came from choices Alicent already made, even though she still talks like freedom can be negotiated but Rhaenyra just shuts her down once again, I know its very unlikely Rhaenyra kills Alicent, they got a lot of history together. Her escape attempt fails, the news Helaena is pregnant becomes another threat Rhaenyra can use against them and their confinement gets stricter, but the worst part is that Helaena knows Alicent lie to her about Jaehaera during their escape and that was a very fucked up moment between the two. Helaena confronts her about leaving Jaehaera behind and asks why she ever allowed the marriage to Aegon, simple questions Alicent really cannot answer, for the most part during those times it was Otto who was making all this decisions for her. She says she wants to save Helaena, but Helaena has every reason to wonder if her mother is just saving herself again. Rhaenyra makes it worse by forcing Alicent to go to Harrenhal and help get Aemond killed by one of her assassins or who knows if Alicent will kill him herself in a moment of desperation, after all she already reconize most of her shield are monsters. I liked that the show does not pretend this is a clean deal between old friends, it is another forced choice by people who spent too long believing they could control what happens next. Aemond makes his own bad call at Harrenhal too, since Alys kills the stable boy to protect where he is hiding, shows him the hidden dragon eggs and offers him a way out of the throne fight. He knows she is dangerous and stays anyway because he does not have many options, which makes sense for his character but is not smart.

I never felt the episode gets crowded and but not every piece gets the same attention, still feels like one of those full of context, preparing everything for the next big episode full of action. Hugh sneaking into Tumbleton to find Kat should be a happy reunion, I really thought it would but she sees his claiming a dragon as the moment he left her alone during the worst part of her life, since he believes he earned a better future for them while she believes he just chose power for himself. The problem is that during that time she suffers way too much, they lost their daughter, then she had to take that long trip to Tumbleton where she probably got abbused based on her description, at the end makes Hugh felt like it was worthless to get such status and that he has lost more than he has earned. Ulf has a similar problem, he finally has the dragon and status he wanted but lost his freedom and Daemon treats him like like shit everytime he can, makes both men now have enough power to become dangerous if that resentment keeps building, which makes how carelessly everyone treats them look stupid. Aegon choosing Larys over Tyland also works, since he has finally figured out a useful adviser is someone willing to tell him an ugly truth. The parts that I felt they were too short or rushed it was Baela and Alyn kissing shows almost no context and got out of nowhere and the Vale section mostly repeats that Rhaena got a dragon while losing the life she wanted. The attack on Corlys gives the episode real consequence, his men were finally marching back to help Rhaenyra hold the capital when soldiers loyal to Ormund cut them off and Corlys ends up captured giving you more reason to want to know what happens next, this also makes me think if Ormund really has the advantage as he says, while Rhaenyra is still reacting from behind the whole time. Faceless Men is not the cleanest episode of the season but it might be the most satisfying one so far because pride, delay and reckless choices finally start costing everyone, and Gwayne stands out the most because he is the only one who understands that surviving this means noticing the danger before it becomes impossible to stop.

#houseofthedragon, #facelessman, #hotd, #targaryen, #hightower, #gwayne, #cristoncole, #rhaenyra, #daemon, #alicent, #helaena, #aemond, #daeron, #ormund, #corlys, #aegon, #tumbleton, #westeros, #dragon, #dragons, #television, #episode, #review, #fantasy, #hbo

Rating: 80/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

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https://i.ibb.co/kswCBVtX/08a5882fde95.pngUnbowed and Unbent was such a good episode because how much context it gave, not only for the present time of the series but also how it connects with previous events, also because Rhaenyra and Daemon spend the episode arguing about the wrong danger while Ormund Hightower is already working them over from inside Kings Landing. Rhaenyra can feel something bigger coming for her, she even says out loud that the enemy is inside her own walls, but she is so locked onto Aemond and Vhagar she never points at Ormund as the one actually running this, they blind thinking that he is far on Tumbleton. Daemon reads the city better than she does and still treats her fear like grief and weakness instead of admitting she is onto something real, and that leaves both of them partly right and still losing. Their marriage is not helping and not working because Daemon thinks power alone should settle every challenge to her claim while she wants a partner who takes the rumors about her sons seriously, I have to agree with Daemon that every other claim to the throne must be exterminated because Rhaenyra wont take the throne so easily, there will always be some kind of danger because she is a woman taking the throne. They got this cool private argument in High Valyrian, probably the longest conversation in High Valyrian the show has given us so far, Rhaenyra is losing her grip and Daemon is tired of letting revenge call every shot, Daemon feels they got to move forward with this war and stop loosing time looking back at what has been lost and trying to make justice, also Daemon knows a secret plot can bring down a ruler. The dead Gold Cloaks, unpaid men and growing anger in the city should tell him that something is wrong, yet he dismisses Rhaenyra’s fear that one enemy is working against them, even while investigating the killings himself. Everything start making sense when the Daeron coin shows up while interrogating a man that had to do with the Gold Cloaks killing, this finally points to Ormund, it only confirms that Ormund has been one step ahead of them the entire time.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198330/
• Platform: HOB MAX

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Ormund is the best part of the episode because he does not need a dragon or a battlefield win to make Rhaenyra look weak. Paying killers with coins stamped with Daeron as king is smart, especially with her own Gold Cloaks going unpaid and it does more than name Daeron as another claim to the throne, it tells everyone Ormund has money, the Faith behind him and a prince he can put forward as the safer option, this is the first time that Ormund puts Daeron out there to the public as a legitimate claim to the throne and not just playing his part in the army for the Greens. Rhaenyra has more dragons but Ormund gets that dragons do not fix unpaid soldiers or stop people wanting a different ruler, most of the small folk. His lesson with Daeron tells you how his brain works, he praises the Dornish for surviving through tricks and patience and fights that ignored every normal idea of honor, he does not care if it was right, only that it worked, reminds me of Serisawa "there are no rules in violence", which makes it even better when Daeron beats him at the game with the dragon piece exposing how thin Ormund patience is, specially since he is a bad looser. I also like that Daeron does not seem hungry for the throne, careful around Ormund and quick to apologize for winning, which makes the coin plot feel worse because Ormund is not building Daeron up for Daeron, he is using that face to give the campaign a cleaner look while other men do the killing, Daeron would be Ormund puppet king if he ever takes the throne.

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Rhaenyra gets harder to root for here because grief has narrowed her focus despite evertyhing that is happening around, even while she understands her rule is in danger for the simple fact she is a woman taking the throne by force. The bounty on Aemond has pulled killers to Harrenhal but it has also blown up in her face with Lady Frey, who was promised that castle by Jace, its hilarious on this scene how Rhaenyra throw poor dead Jace under the bus when she said "my son is dead", like his word means nothing if he is dead so Lady Frey is getting no castle. Giving her a council seat is the right quick fix, but the meeting still feels like a mess with Rhaenyra steering everything back to Vhagar when there are much more important topics. She is not wrong to want Aemond dead, and Baela and Addam finding signs of Vhagar gives her reason to keep hunting, but she is using it to dodge everything else that needs patience instead of revenge. There is also this situation where she kinda keeps dodging seeing Joffrey and thats says a lot about her mental state, she has already lost two sons and seeing him hurts, but making him wait while she handles every political fire makes it look like the war is eating the rest of her family too. Baela feels that same distance since Jace died, still trying to prove her worth to Rhaenyra after the part she played in the battle that killed him, and Rhaenyra should understand that guilt better than anyone but barely has room to notice it, she doesnt openly says it was Baela fault but the truth is that Baela couldnt safe Jace. This is why Daemon refusing to fall in line, following every Rhaenyra's order that follows vengence is both annoying and needed, someone has to tell no to this woman, he disrespects her in front of the council, but he is also the only one close enough to tell her she is going to sink this ship with her grief and vengence plans.

Aegon as a character is starting to grow a lot and it really gives me the impression that the show is going to turn him around drastically to the point that we might root for him at certain point, because Larys finally stops feeding his excuses and tells him the truth. Aegon keeps blaming Aemond for everything, and some of that anger is fair, but his childhood complaints are just another way to dodge responsibility since he had the crown, a powerful dragon and people around him the whole time. Larys calling him a terrible king and a terrible man is exactly what he needed instead of sympathy that would keep him stuck, it does look like both Aegon and Larys are starting to touch the bottom. Aegon accepting the escape plan shows the words of Larys have landed, but for some reason didnt steer him to become a better man as he decides to kill the man who found his crown who on top is the one runnig the camp they in, honestly he just seem more active and with less pain, it is progress but only changes him from the outside and not the inside as Larys suggested. Aemond has the opposite problem at Harrenhal, without Vhagar he falls apart and admits how much of his personality is nothing without Vhagar, as a kid he always felt like that and was threated like that, even as a grown man he was humilated by Aegon back on Season 2 when he was a that brothel, and his dreams about Aegon and need for comfort from Alys make him look weaker without erasing what he has done, if only Rhaenyra knew all this about Aemond. I like the parallel scenes here, both brothers think Alicent loved the other more, both desperate for someone to tell them who they are. Helaena refusing the moon tea is another version of that fight over control, Alicent wants to end the pregnancy to save her, but Helaena will not give up the one thing that still belongs to her, at that scene I was like "dont do it" because then it would change drastically things in the future.

#houseofthedragon, #rhaenyra, #daemon, #ormund, #daeron, #aegon, #aemond, #alicent, #helaena, #larys, #criston, #gwayne, #baela, #addam, #mysaria, #targaryen, #hightower, #westeros, #dragons, #kingslanding, #harrenhal, #tumbleton, #recap, #review, #television

Rating: 75/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

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This was probably not the most exciting episode of the series but for GOT and HOTD fans this might be the most satisfying episode in my opinion as we get to know more about dragons, more about their riders, see how Aegon knows Sunfyre is still alive, how Daemon lies for Rhaena, so many things happen on this episode. It all felt like small talk but not just to kill time but to give more context. Initially that rabbit across the river from Tumbleton gave me a bad feeling, the town looks peaceful for seconds, then Green soldiers fill civilian homes while locals strengthen the defenses. Ormund has spread roughly fifteen thousand men through the town, meaning Rhaenyra cannot send dragons without roasting people who already bent the knee to her. That setup is smart and nasty, he uses every family as protection while daring the queen to become the monster her enemies already call her. Lord Footly and his wife confront him while he sits naked in their bath I would guess, Daeron waiting nearby like a squire and Ormund talks about order like taking another mans home is normal for him, or to say it better its the right thing to do, to beat the Targaryen because its clear he hate them all, the greens, the blacks. We also get to know his little perfume container and the incense around him make the scene stranger, this guy can command an occupation, yet a bad smell seems capable of ruining his day and I liked that weakness because it never makes him soft, especially once Alicent explains his sensitivity to odors. The occupied home of Cat and her brother makes it personal, Green soldiers enter their space and one immediately turns threatening toward her, trying to make a move on her. Tumbleton never needs a giant battle to feel dangerous, the danger is already eating at civilian tables, sleeping under their roofs and calling the takeover protection, but the moment Verminthor The Bronce Fury lands near by makes things so much more interesting, this is going to be way better than Rooks Rest. At Tumbleton they are cutting down trees because the town was never built for war, trapping every family between an army inside and dragons outside.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11198330/
• Platform: HBOMAX

Ormund was easily the strongest part for me, because he can act like a fair lord in one room, then reveal the control underneath once Daeron is alone with him, he got the boy so confuse and yet dominated. When Cat and her brother demand justice after the soldier attacks her, Ormund hears both sides and orders punishment to the soldier who make a move on her, making him look reasonable. He turns that judgment into a lesson for Daeron, explaining that a ruler must control the public and his soldiers to latter on at close doors make Daeron take his first life, that first kill by hand. Then Gwayne sends word from Harrenhal that Aemond and Vhagar cannot be found and thats when Ormund flip and breaks the second realize his plan has lost its biggest weapon. Its interesting also how well Daeron knows him as he sends the servant away before Ormund hacks at the table with his sword, one of my favorite reactions because Daeron knows what is coming, if they ever go different ways this might be interesting. Daeron looks trained to survive that temper, which tells us plenty about their years together. Ormund is like a constant reminder, praising Hightower order while treating Targaryen blood like something dirty that needs control, like a disease on Daeron's blood. Daeron sitting close to Tessarion gives the opposite feeling, the dragon reacts badly to Ormund and Daeron has to calm her while the man who raised him gets closer. I think Ormund goes very very low when Daeron asks whether mercy is a kingly virtue, because it is that question that defines every thing he has thought him over the years, this is when the mask goes off and Ormund answers with anger instead of guidance. He puts the sword in Daerons hands, forces him toward violence, then offers respect once the damage is done, showing every kindness from him is just another tool to build a king he can control.

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The character of Rhaenyra just keeps expanding this season, she looks more lost every week and the small council scene makes that clear without anybody needing to announce that her rule is in trouble, when I say expanding Im going into the madness direction, she seems to be loosing it more and more, its like most Targaryen specially the blacks are born to fall into madness, thats just my perspective from the series. The table has empty positions, Corlys is missing, she pours her own wine and the council discusses how long the Rivermen and Winter Wolves need to reach Tumbleton. Honestly I get this is a though position but other than the people of Tumbleton what does this town represent for her? got six dragons, why not send two to some other Green Bannerman and do the same with them to force the greens out of Tumbleton, there some things on the series that lack some logic for me. She start to build up the small council by recycling some of them, lets Orwyle keep the Grand Maester title and return to her council, waves off the old attendance spheres as relics of a dead regime, but changing symbols does nothing about the money, food and loyalty problems in that room. Torrhen Manderly becomes master of coin, something that I saw coming after the rat banquet, he suggests taxes while the crown gold remains missing, exactly the solution that can turn hungry people against a new queen. In storage, Rhaenyra finds the broken model Viserys built of old Valyria while rats crawl through it, matching the kingdom she is trying to hold together, here she has a small moment with Alyn of Hull who suggests cats against the rats, a simple idea she likes and their conversation feels more useful than half the speeches upstairs, for this and for his father Corlys missing he then gets a seat a the council?? I was like hhhmmm. Then Ulf arrives with favors for his drinking friends, asking for tax relief, land, and pardons after they filled his head with requests, I totally flip but the worst is when Rhaenyra refuses, the way she refuse and tells him he cannot return to the tavern because Silverwing makes him too valuable to risk, which is logical for the crown and terrible for keeping Ulf loyal, he is literally in house arrest. Then he brings up the Queen of Bastards graffiti scrawled through the streets, since his friends only care about his money, and Rhaenyra reminds him his body belongs to her service now. Her response makes everything worse, sending Gold Cloaks into the streets to erase the graffiti and hunt whoever made it, while frightened residents are dragged from their homes and her wish for love turns into another reason for the city to hate her, lets remember this Gold Cloaks are still the same trained dogs Daemon build 20 years ago, during Season 1.

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Daemon getting to the Vale should have been another political stop, yet Caraxes refusing to behave turns the visit into the most personal problem he has faced this season and its here when the episode sky rockets for me, from Caraxes, from Rhaena, from the Daemon lying to Rhaenira, when you look at it everything conencts. Lady Jeyne sits above Daemon, reminds him about his former wife and wants him gone once he receives the gold. The comedy of Daemon hauling heavy bags works because Caraxes ignores him, thrashes around and senses Sheepstealer nearby. Then finding Rhaena with the Sheepstealer crashes his duty into family business, his daughter is scared, isolated and refusing to leave the first bond that made her feel she belongs and has a purpose. Daemon offers to take her to Pentos or return with her to ask forgiveness, but Rhaena will not abandon Sheepstealer after everything that happened so she asks him to lie, tells him she has never ask him for anything in her life, even insinuate "unless you betray me" , damn big words and he realizes protecting his daughter means returning to the Red Keep with a story Rhaenyra will question, he sits between his wife / queen and his daughter from another marriage. I mean everything about his trip to the Vale was damn sick, because the shots and talk at the Vale looked cheap because it all look like another errant he had to run. Back in Kings Landing, Daemon presents the head of a shepherd as proof that Sheepstealer is handled, then tries to move the council toward using the Vale gold for soldiers, gas lighting all them until Rhaenyra snaps with everything going on, she cannot focus once the head appears, the voices fade from her perspective and grief over Jace controls her again. Mysaria didnt bought the show and clearly does not buy the proof neither, she even challenges Daemon after, so the fake answer, Rhaenyras unanswered questions and Mysarias doubt turn his protection of Rhaena into another fuse to slowly burn inside the family.

Its been a while since we got some good content out of Criston and Aegon, but this episodes strips powerful men down until their pride is almost all the have left, and even for Aegon felt like he had nothing else for a minute, seen Sunfyre in a kind of comma and having to kiss some man dirty boots to stay alive. Aegon reaches Rooks Rest with Larys, walks to Sunfyres body, holds one of the dragon scales, and insists several times that Sunfyre is alive even when nothing answers him. Sunfyre body has become a local attraction as local men charge people to touch the dragon, then threaten Aegon and Larys, forcing both behind false identities as men of the faith. Criston reaches Harrenhal with Gwayne, passing bodies left by Aemond before finding the castle empty except for Alys Rivers who drops some news on them about Rhaenira winning the war, sitting at the throne and controlling Kings Landing, leaving their force without Vhagar or support from the capital. Gwayne wants to join Ormund at Tumbleton, which makes sense, while Criston talks about honor and continuing the original mission against forces far larger than their own. It almost feels like the characters of Criston and Aegon are old news, I really like that not only because I dont like them but its like the series puts them on hold and start to build momentum on them so at some point not only recycle them but turns them into something more important to the story. When you zoom out you can tell how every other character has some interest on the story and is risking more than their life. That connects back to Ormund, Rhaenyra, Daemon and Ulf, because every section shows that dragons, crowns, swords and old names no longer guarantee obedience. Tumbleton gives these threads room to breathe while pushing them in the same direction and the same ugly point, nobody controls the situation, alliances feel temporary and I am giving episode four an 8.5/10 because its full of context on every aspect of the story and its characters, including the dragons.

#houseofthedragon, #tumbleton, #hotd, #rhaenyratargaryen, #daemon, #rhaena, #sheepstealer, #ormundhightower, #daerontargaryen, #tessarion, #ulfwhite, #silverwing, #hughhammer, #vermithor, #alicenthightower, #aegontargaryen, #sunfyre, #larysstrong, #cristoncole, #gwaynehightower, #alysrivers, #kingslanding, #redkeep, #dragonseeds, #tvreview

Rating: 85/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Rating: 100/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.