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00:00For Rhaenyra, it's a really outlandish risk to try and go to Alicent and say we are the
00:07only two people left at either of these councils that have the power, influence, and desire
00:12to see about a peaceful end to this thing.
00:20Your false queen Rhaenyra is a kinslayer.
00:24Your uncle declared for Aegon, did he?
00:28Aegon Targaryen is no true king.
00:32The Brackens and the Blackwoods are ancient foes and rivals.
00:36One of the big ideas about this series was generational conflict.
00:42That's the standing of the Blackwoods and the Brackens when we first find them, which
00:45is a sort of microcosm of where House Targaryen is getting to.
00:51They happen to have the two largest armies in the Riverlands.
00:54It's 40,000 swords that they all come together under one banner.
00:58I will enlist the Brackens, subdue the Riverlands, and take Harrenhal.
01:03A bold scheme indeed.
01:04Well, the gods favor the bold.
01:05They did not favor Ser Arryk.
01:08One of the pivotal scenes is the first day of Cole's work as Hand.
01:14We've always seen Cole as a strong, brooding guy, and this was a moment to peel back all
01:20those layers and understand what he's like alone in a room with himself.
01:26It's such a massively anxiety-inducing day for him because the Hand of the King is a
01:31diplomat's role, and he's always been sworn protector to the Queen.
01:35Now that duty of care has been passed on to someone else, and suddenly all eyes are on
01:39him.
01:40That's a very nerve-wracking thing.
01:45Cole is a terrible choice to be Hand of the King.
01:48Aegon's ultimate goal is to have someone who is a feared warrior but not a great politician
01:52because he doesn't want to be outshone.
01:55To war, then.
01:57I'll come, too, with Sunfyre.
01:58Aegon.
01:59Your Grace.
02:00Aegon has this insecurity that drives a great sense of confidence.
02:07I'm as fearsome as any of them.
02:09In this case, he wants to wear the king's armor.
02:12He wants to visually push himself forward as a leader.
02:16Aegon is not thinking tactically.
02:18He's being impulsive.
02:19It's the same old trends in him.
02:22His self-awareness is growing, and not in a good way for him because he's becoming more
02:27aware of how much of a fraud he is.
02:29And it's eating him from the inside out.
02:38Daemon in the most base of ways has a fight with his wife, gets in his car, and runs off
02:43to Harrenhal to conquer it.
02:46Daemon has gone in his wisdom to try and make amends, I think.
02:50We've got to go and march on King's Landing.
02:52We need an army.
02:53And at the moment, we don't really have an army.
02:55Daemon is hoping to meet some resistance in there.
02:57He's looking for it.
02:58But he's frustrated in the fact that he can't find it because the castle is so poorly occupied.
03:07I'm claiming Harrenhal.
03:10Apparently so.
03:12Simon Strong is Lionel Strong's uncle.
03:15He has no loyalty to his family because he is a man of honor and believes that Larys
03:21burned his family.
03:29Daemon comes in ahead of steam, and all Sir Simon wants to do is have peace.
03:39The most interesting part of the Harrenhal story is what it does to Daemon.
03:44He starts to have these hallucinations, these dreams.
03:48He's not sure what's real and not real.
03:53We know that there is a magicality, and all of a sudden he sees young Rhaenyra, and she
03:59means something to him.
04:00She meant something at that age, and it also told him that it was a dream.
04:07His past is coming back to haunt him in broad daylight.
04:11The real idea was to bring Daemon into contact with something in the supernatural world that
04:15he could not deny.
04:21I've decided to send Joffrey to ward with my cousin, Lady Jane Arryn.
04:26Aegon and Viserys will accompany him.
04:29I want you to go with them.
04:31Rhaenyra's made this immediate calculation that her family is unsafe.
04:33They got to her and her home, and there's nothing to say that they can't again.
04:36I think she sends away her youngest and most vulnerable children to protect them in a place
04:41where they're hidden away, and hopefully where they can weather the war.
04:45The endless risk of losing one of your children, I think she perceives to be hideously compromising
04:52while she's in that grieving process.
04:55There's a decision to try and dislocate herself from her own motherhood.
04:59I cannot promise to make you happy, but I ask you, make this sacrifice willingly, for
05:06all of us.
05:07Your Grace.
05:08I think being in a family that has so much power and feeling so powerless, it's heartbreaking.
05:14When you have such a want to help, it's like confirmation to Rhaena of what she's always
05:18feared, that everyone just thinks she's pathetic.
05:21She's also the daughter of Daemon Targaryen and Laena Velaryon, and there's a fire burning
05:25in her as well.
05:26It's really lit by that resentment of being sent on this mission she regards as a bit
05:31demeaning.
05:32You do a great service, and may yet find yourself glad to be out of harm's way.
05:36Do not coddle me, Baelor.
05:37Grant me at least that dignity.
05:39I meant no insult.
05:41Rhaena's definitely got some bitterness and jealousy towards Baelor, but I think she's
05:46also in awe of her.
05:47There's always going to be such a love there.
05:50Very classic for sisters.
05:52Should all come to ruin here, you will bear our hope for the future.
05:57She also sends away the three eggs that Daemon discovered from Syrax's clutch in season one,
06:02and the egg of young Viserys Targaryen, as an insurance policy so that all of her eggs
06:07are not in the singular Dragonstone basket, hoping that while Lady Jeyne Arryn wants an
06:13adult dragon to defend the Vale, the sons of House Targaryen and multiple dragon eggs
06:18will do the job.
06:19What do you know of the movements of Alicent Hightower?
06:26Rhaenyra sees what's coming.
06:27She's trying to put an end to it, and to beseech Alicent to help her see that through.
06:33She sees it as her job as Sovereign to risk herself before she risks the lives of possibly
06:38millions of the realm.
06:40It's quite a chaotic choice, but Rhaenyra also wants to look the person who's caused
06:45her such pain in the face.
06:53When Rhaenyra and Alicent come together, they're right back to that moment where Viserys died.
07:00He changed his mind.
07:02I've been at times unkind, but never untrue.
07:06She has to reckon for the first time with the idea that possibly her father changed
07:09his mind, that she lost the mandate.
07:13But when Alicent explains that his last wish was that Aegon be king, and she starts talking
07:19about the prince that was promised, that's when Rhaenyra realizes that Viserys was talking
07:25about the prophecy.
07:28It's a story he once told about Aegon the Conqueror.
07:35That story and what she's told herself has given her such strength.
07:39This just throws Alicent's world into complete chaos.
07:43There's been a mistake.
07:44There's been no mistake.
07:46Please.
07:47Rulers can exploit prophecy, either knowingly or unknowingly, to see through their power
07:52and their influence over the realm.
07:54A terrible war is looming, and even victory may be so bloodiest to be counted a loss.
07:59Do not let your pride blind you to the blood.
08:01There's been no mistake.
08:03Rhaenyra does not get what she wants.
08:05It's not because Alicent's unwilling to hear it, it's simply because Alicent is saying
08:09my power has been stripped away.
08:11Even if she wanted to do something, she feels like her hands are tied.
08:14It's too late, Rhaenyra.
08:15Alicent.
08:19That causes her to have to reckon finally with going to war.
08:22And suddenly she chooses her title.
08:25She doesn't just inherit it.
08:27Alicent and Rhaenyra are both affected by what they have lost and the history that they
08:33have with each other.
08:34You don't forget it.
08:36So the rest of the season is about embracing reality.