This made all previous episodes feel like fillers. It packed so much yet sufficient to signal future chaos, all in one episode. So tense! I love this episode so much, gotta give it another watch just to soak it all in. Whoa!
The most cinematographic episode so far, with great photography and music, which made it very intense and powerful in some parts; but unfortunately it has some quite unrealistic elements, like Sir Criston murdering a guest and just walking away...
Oh boy I'm loving this series.
This episode actually made me audibly gasp with THAT scene. I'm heartbroken for how Leanor said his vows with that broken voice, he didn't deserve any of it.
Although I loved the episode, I think it's very strange that:
1. Two blokes threw Leanor, the betrothed and guest of honor, across a table and no one seemed to care (imagine someone doing that to fucking Margaery Tyrell as Joffrey began to choke)
2. The guards did nothing to protect Rhaenyra (supposably there is at least 6 guys, not counting Cole)
3. Cole murdered a guest of honor and just walked away from it, not a single guard tried to imprison him (imagine if in the Purple Wedding Merryn Trant started beating Loras Tyrell out of the blue)
We all know Westerosi weddings dont end well!
An ell begins to fall…intense episode, now the era where everyone is against everyone begins…
I don't get what happened! one second Rhaenyra stood with Daemon ... the next, Daemon disappears and we see Criston beating the hell out of that other guy ( what's his name ?) ....
Where the hell did Daemon go? I demand an explanation. :smile:
The whole feast sequence is one pure blast of classic early GOT, all interlocking storylines/character dynamics and rising tension. Loved it.
An arranged marriage. A pre-wedding feast. What could possibly go wrong? Marrying a gay guy minutes after his lover is killed by the knight who took (supposedly) the bride's virginity: If that's not not foreboding, I don't know what is. Being harassed by your incestuous love interest at your own wedding: Love it.
PS: What a dance!
The Game continues to play out.
Matt Smith steals the win again in his short but impacting scenes.
The hearts and minds of men will always be manipulated, played by the women with grace and expertise.
I would only say about these first 5 episodes, even though I appreciate these are merely a preface to the main arc of this series, I think it could have played quite comfortably throughout all of this first season.
It's sad to say goodbye to Milly Alcock in this episode. Well done dear lady. Well played.
In Game of Thrones, if there's a wedding something will definitely go wrong. inevitable stuff. great episode. probably the best.
Incredible episode. The entire wedding alone has so many great moments and the tension building was peak. Every glance between characters said so much and you know something bad is going to happen but don’t know what, so you’re just waiting for it as the tension builds and builds and the payoff delivers. Just so well executed all around. Knowing we’re getting a big time jump next episode could make this one feel like a big setup episode, but let this be an example of how to do setup well. Major turning point for the characters and the story and can’t wait for the second half of the season. Will be very sad to see Milly Alcock go though.
Pros
+Delicate handling of the "preferences" of both Laenor and Rhaenyra was quick, realistic, and tasteful
++++++++++Rhaenyra and Criston's conversation on the boat was fantastically acted and the dialogue was perfect. Again, this fantasy show feels almost too real in how it portrays their interactions
++++++++ Criston admitting what happened to the Green Queen was perfectly done where the dialogue had her suspecting Daemon right up until Criston says he participated And the Green Queen's entrance was powerful as well both her entrance to the wedding and to the Godswood after...
+Funny moment with the Lannister telling that sexist joke and neither Viserys or Rhaenyra reacting
Neutral
*They keep on doing Viserys dirty and I get why but he looks like a total wimp here
*Daemon showing up to the wedding and just being allowed there was weird and kind of out of place considering Viserys literally just exiled him from the Crownlands
*Mushroom looks like he's relegated to Bongo player instead of core story teller unfortunately lol
Cons
-They should have had the tournament Criston raging and BTFOing everyone in the tournament while smashing Laenor's love all in one fell swoop is more appropriate than raging and smashing his face in the middle of the wedding
-Daemon killing his wife and then implying he smashed her head in with a rock is comically stupid since anyone could have seen that it wouldn't have been caused by the fall
Is this just me or the fifth episode was just a weak sauce, pathetic king, a looser hand, a childish groom and what a disaster fight scene. I can't see any good coming out of this series so far. Even CGI look very unfinished.
Completely dumb ending of literally zero sense. I thought the two morons who goofed the first series were banned from coming back. This episode was reminiscent of that crap.
A wonderful episode, easily the best yet. This show continues to get better with each episode. Though still some odd writing decisions - the sequence with the fight at the feast just didn't make all that much sense. Leanor and Rhaenyra were thrown around and none of the guards did a good job of protecting them. Compare this to similar events in Game of Thrones... it simply wouldn't have happened. There'd be hell to pay.
The scene of Criston killing Laenor's lover is s7/8 Game if Thrones level of stupid. How come he can do that, punch the princesses' fiancé and then just walk away peacefully? Where are the guards? It wasn't a BIG issue but it was a bit reminiscent of the idiocy & lack of consequences in the later seasons of GoT which I'm not at all a fan of.
Good episode otherwise.
This was so great it felt like peak GoT. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. 10/10.
Matt Smith has such a strong presence, steals every scene. So proud of him! Still 11/11.
Boring episode had to rewind a couple of times because i got distracted
In the conversation between Queen Alicent and Sir Cristen, its obvious they are both speaking about different aspects of that night. Or were they both talking about Daemon? The way I interpreted it, he was confessing to his transgressions with the Princess. Since he didn't know what went on with Daemon that night, would he have accepted punishment if he knew she wasn't talking about him? And to her, he was just confirming the Princess lied to her.
Well, this was a little incoherent. One too many things all squeezed into one episode that's also the second shortest so far...
With every episode this feels like a tale stretched out beyond what the story will bear. So many of the scenes feel like a paint by numbers dance with little of the soul found in the books. Like the kingdom itself, we are all waiting for Viserys to die and perhaps then things might get interesting.
I was about to boycott the show because they almost killed the only attractive character, hoping they will show Criston's ass properly next time!
Holy light of The Seven this was intense.
+ Daemon flipping out the horse was cool
- The lady falling down injured isn't cool. She's a trained horse-rider/hunter and should know how to fall safely, especially when she saw the danger coming
+ Daemon using the rock I think is overkill but it can be done to look like an accident
+ Alicent and Otto's dialogue showing Otto is a caring father despite everything that's going on
- Laenor and Joffrey sparring with real swords is both unnecessarily dangerous and bad for the edges of the weapons, but at least they're wearing gambison
+ Setting up Laenor and Joffrey as being "together" right from their first appearances in the episode
+ Handicapped "Grema Wormtongue"-looking guy who was looking at the flowers being enormously condescending and passive-aggressive to Alicent was such a tense scene, where you can clearly tell he's doing it deliberately to unsettle her
+ Laenor and Rhaenyra's conversation about liking "roast duck" vs "goose" confused me at first, but the moment they revealed Laenor's sexuality with Joffrey, I remembered this scene and thought "Oh, THAT's what they were talking about. What an odd metaphor" lol
? If "roast duck" is women and "goose" is men, then isn't Rhaenyra, by saying she prefers "roast duck", saying she's lesbian? If so, why is she in love with Ser Criston? Unless "roast duck" means "heterosexual" and "goose" means "homosexual"?
+ The dialogue between Rhaenyra and Ser Criston's values is amazing. It shows Ser Criston's honour and loyalty to his oaths yet also selfishness asking Rhaenyra to abandon an entire kingdom of responsibility just to run off together. You can see Rhaenyra being tempted, but when she tries to explain the insignificance of simply running away together against the gravity of her obligation to the Seven Kingdoms, Ser Criston doesn't even listen because he thinks his loyalty to his oath of chastity as a Kingsguard was his only redeeming value as a person. The classic battle between responsibility and personal pride
+ Oh my light of The Seven. Alicent and Ser Criston's dialogue was filled with so much dramatic irony. The contexts are completely set up with Alicent coming from last scene with her father, Otto, talking about Rhaenyra and Daemon, and with Ser Criston coming from the last scene talking about Rhaenyra and Ser Criston. Because of how little detail Alicent was speaking with, it was so tense because we know they're both thinking about completely different situations. And then when Ser Criston reveals what he was thinking, Alicent has no idea how to react, and then lets him go. You can see the disbelief on his face. She's probably relieved that Rhaenyra drank the "tea" because of Ser Criston and not Daemon, but she still doesn't have an actual answer to her question here. She just assumed if Rhaenyra did it with Ser Criston that she... didn't do anything with Daemon?
+ The grandmaester rejecting a new treatment for no reason other than clinging to outdated traditions and his own personal beliefs (which are clearly not solving the problem) is horribly stupid, but is very realistic to what many people actually do.
+ Rhaenyra's sarcasm at Lord Jason's sexist joke was hilarious: "Your presence is always such a pleasure, Lord Jason"
+ I love how the interruption of the Valeryan's entrance shows their arrogance and pride very clearly
- There's no in-story reason as to why Ser Criston is the only Kingsguard not wearing a helmet (showing his face to the viewers is not in-story). Why don't they just all not wear helmets for consistency?
+ The tension in the room when Daemon walks in (especially after being exiled) is cool, and this tension doesn't even get time to clear before Alicent suddenly interrupts the speech, inflating even more tension in the room
+ I love that reference to the Hightower green war beacon with Alicent's dress. I'm excited to know what that means for Alicent's intentions here
- I totally predicted that, during the dance, both Rhaenyra and Laenor would foolishly look at their respective lovers while everyone in the entire hall was watching them, and certain people would take notice, because obviously people will notice if you're staring at other people while dancing. This isn't a negative because I predicted it, but because both Rhaenyra and Laenor should know everyone is watching them, but decided to flirtatiously gaze at their real lovers anyway
+ During the dance, I heard music suspiciously similar to The Witcher's, which is awesome
+ I love the interaction between Daemon and Ser Gerold Royce (cousin of Daemon's late wife), and then Daemon reveals his motive for the murder: inheriting Runestone, then showing that Viserys is listening and already knows Daemon is guilty
+ Ser Joffrey using the term "cunt-struck"
+ Ser Joffrey's foolish speech at Ser Criston making Ser Criston think of who knows their secret and the risks of that secret being revealed, setting up tension for what happens later
+ Viserys' focus on Rhaenyra with Daemon looking like they're almost kissing was intense
- When the party was interrupted I had no idea what was happening, which might've been the intention, but I was completely lost, and I didn't even know who Ser Criston was beating in the face.
> At first, I saw a Valyrian with white hair getting flipped, then I suddenly saw a guy with brown hair getting beaten, and I didn't even realize the guy who died was Ser Joffrey (because he had no face) until I finished the whole episode and read someone else's comment about the dark tension between Rhaenyra and Laenor marrying minutes after Laenor's lover was killed.
> I had to watch the scene a second time to realize Ser Criston wasn't defending the party against invaders but started his own fight with Ser Joffrey about him being told to keep the secret (which he may have interpreted as a threat), and then it made sense to me what the hell was going on in that scene and why the panic all suddenly stopped when Ser Criston killed the guy
> I was so confused trying to figure this out that I didn't even notice Rhaenyra was also getting kidnapped in the midst of all of this until watching it a second time
- Yes, based on what I read in other comments, I agree it doesn't make sense why Ser Criston was allowed to 1 continue beating someone with none of the 6+ guards stopping anything, and 2 roam free after basically murdering a guest of honour in front of at least 10 direct witnesses
- What the hell? Rhaenyra was kidnapped during the earlier panic, but then shows up perfectly fine. Now I'm confused again.
+ Ser Criston preparing to commit Seppuku made sense regardless of my confusion earlier, because of already breaking his Kingsguard chastity oath and not being allowed to marry Rhaenyra. But now it makes even more sense after I realized he murdered a guest of honour for his own sake
+++ And with that triple cliffhanger at the end of another Red Wedding is pure Game of Thrones returning to its former glory. Pure George R. R. Martin.
Total -: 09
Total +: 22
The tension
The drama
The tragedy
How come Criston could do that with no attempts of interruption at all AND just walk away afterwards. That is bs.
Oh, another wedding in the GoT-verse. Of course, there'll be deaths and much blood.
Somehow I liked the way Rhaenyra and her future husband came to an understanding - well if the respective lovers (especially his) had just respected that agreement and not found it necessary to mark their turf, maybe things would have worked out. But then again, Daemon returned after murdering his wife (so he could be free to marry Rhaenyra? Or why exactly? And everyone knows but no one cares?), Criston's jealously in love with Rhaenyra and hates himself for breaking his oath of chastity, Alicent discovers that Rhaenyra did have sex (just not with Daemon) and she's angry that her father was made to leave, and Viserys' health takes a turn for the worse...
Overall, there was much happening in this episode. Still, especially regarding Daemon the story-telling remains sloppy. Wasn't he banned from the court in the last episode, and now he's just marching in unchallenged? Is Criston supposed to be the only guard protecting Rhaenyra? Why did no one pull him off of Leanor's lover? And let's not dwell that HoD keeps treading the same paths that GoT went before it... so in some way, every little twist has been done before.
What's wrong with the King ? Dragon scale or maybe an STI?
This episode is GoT at its best. It just builds and builds and builds tension to a point you don't know what the fuck is going to happen.
Those last 15/20 minutes were just superb.
the girls are fightinggggg and im here for it
Somehow this episode just seemed off. Like it felt out of place in comparison to the series so far.
One thing is clear this is not game of thrones. It's the same universe. The same talk of dragons. But very clearly do not measure this show in comparison to game of thrones.
one of the better episodes but felt rushed, as mentioned before some unrealistic scenes
Best episode yet, by a long mile.
It is reaching the level of the good seasons of GOT
finally some good stuff HBO
Now that's medieval wedding!
Well, I'm glad that moronic actions and some carefree speeches were properly punished at the end. The show got me worried for a moment there until he killed him... I really hope that what happened after the brutal "fight" was part of someone's plot and they didn't just let the murderer walk away freely, no one tried to kill him or arrest him. That shamefully would be some GoT level of writing.
That shipfucker would probably win in the end, and would even manage to get it up to produce an heir. There are truly no justice in that universe.
Overall, quite good as per usual.
I only hope they wouldn't overuse unnecessary explanations. It was such a powerful visual scene for Alicent in that vibrant dress, in her House colors. I would prefer not to have any comments about it. Or at least for him the guy she should have married instead, after his sincere smile of approval of her kill not to answer, just nod or smirk.
Quite a lot happens in the episode, and it is also visually stunning with great attention to detail in both costumes and interiors, I love the royal ships. The Velaryon castle is very impressive, too, and there is a brief cameo of dragons (supposedly Velaryon ones as they come to the wedding feast). I guess a lot is going to happen soon since the king is unwell and it looks like he is seriously ill or even dead at the end of the episode? Alicent gets a lesson from her father about playing the game of thrones and learns that she should have insisted on her son's being declared the heir instead of believing in her former friend's innocence. She also gets more information on Rhaenyra's doings from the lame son of the new Hand, and finally confronts Ser Criston and makes him confess to having slept with Rhaenrya. I thought she would reveal it on the wedding feast or take some revenge but what happened in the end seemed not to have been organised by her.
Rhaenyra and her fiancee seem to have a deal as he is gay and want to keep meeting his lover after the wedding and Rhaenyra wants also to keep Ser Criston as a lover, however he seems not happy to hear about it as he suggests they elope together and get married, though it seems he cares more about having stained his honour by breaking the Kingsguard's vows of chastity than about Rhaenrya herself.
The wedding preparation feast is very intense and suspenseful as the king's speech is interrupted by Alicent's entrance, Daemon also comes even though he was probably not invited and we know he murdered his wife (though I don't know why he hated her so much since she's got character and is quite independent-minded so they should have been a good couple?) and now he demands Runestone as his inheritance from the relatives of his late wife. And then during the dance he openly flirts with Rhaenyra, with the princess suggesting he kidnaps her and they marry. Earlier he also tries to seduce Velaryon's daughter.
I am not sure about the fight at the end of the feast, I though it was some plot concoted by Alicent but it seems that it was Ser Criston who attacked the lover of Rhaenry's Velaryon fiance and apparently beat him to death, I'm not sure why he did this as it was because the said lover confessed his affections for the Velaryon and Ser Criston wanted to protect the princess or on the other hand, he wanted to revenge himself on her after she'd rejected him? Maybe it was on Alicent's instigation as she seems to stop him as he is going to commit suicide. And Rhaenyra is now speedily married off without all these celebrations which were planned for the real wedding since it was only a preparation feast. I am not sure I get all the intricacies of the story since I have not read the book it is based on.
"My father could not have picked a better man for me to marry" she said to the guy who had been trying to marry her only 2 episodes ago
Damn we had to wait like 6 seasons to see a Lannister get burnt this bad in GoT
Finally stayed awake through an entire episode!
wtffffff, someeeeeeee game of thrones vibes, Finally an epic episode, literally enjoyed every part of it and was really full of thing's, Last part ( weeding) really makes you become sure that it's connected by GOT, Really missed that as a big fan of GOT, I'm happy and probably will make a rewatch, Nice job!!
when I see GREEN I get excited #swear to the greens not the blacks
oo The tension
Can't wait for next episode...
Review by SuitBlockedParent2022-09-19T18:09:53Z
1x05 - We Light the Way: 9.0/10 (Near Perfection)
After 60 minutes of pure brilliance, I can only describe it as stunning, exhilarating, and memorable. “We Light the Way” is the best episode of the season thus far. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute; nevertheless, I have certain reservations regarding the ending—I feel the writers allowed themselves to get away with a little too much.
I’m unsure if I’ll ever really warm up to Daemon because he remains as perplexing as he did at the season’s outset. Knowing that George R. R. Martin considers him one of his favourite characters makes me eager to see where his character goes from here. I thought Ser Laenor was somewhat underwhelming, and I hope that changes; he seems out of place, and I can’t put my finger on why that is. Seeing him get so distraught at the end that he could hardly finish a sentence is a foreboding sign that things are about to get very serious, as if they weren’t already.
One of the things I enjoy most about the show is how my sympathies shift each episode as I see the characters grow and descend further and deeper into savagery. After the conclusion of “Game of Thrones,” I’ve been wary about committing too deeply to this show. This episode, though, is one of the best I’ve seen, and it’s more than convinced me that the show warrants my complete attention.