BigDaddyG wrote:NardDogNation wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:NardDogNation wrote:BigDaddyG wrote:Wow... Larys beating it like it owes him money... Was not expecting that.
I wasn't surprised. Considering how debilitating his physical condition is, it makes sense that he'd develop a certain kind of fixation of perfect feet/legs. In Fire & Blood, I even remember a line , supposedly from him, about wanting his clubbed foot to be amputated after death to be rid of it.
Side note, I love the series so far with a few criticisms. Do you think it's done the book justice?
I'm not surprised he's a pervert, I'm surprised that they actually showed it out of nowhere. Also, I think the idea that he's a freak because of is his deformity is kinda lazy writing. There are enough differences in the show that I consider them to be separate pieces of cannon. I also have a few critiques. For one, Ser Cole is called the Kingmaker. Jaime even alludes to him on GOT. Yet his role on HOT D doesn't really measure up to his importance in the books. There are also missing siblings, plot gaps that were hastily smoothed over in the time jumps and a host of other issues. I like the show a lot, but it's far from perfect.
I don't necessarily view it as lazy writing. There's also the other component of it being a hella-fide power-play. He's basically reduced the most powerful woman in the kingdom (and a married woman) into his own sex object; one that he can command the time and circumstance for his sexual favors from. Imagine the validation/rush he gets, as a man that's probably never had geniune appeal from a woman AND as a former second son that was set to inherit few, if any, of the privileges his name commands.
I agree with the idea of the series being its own canon. I knew things would have to be changed for expendency and to help focus the story for more casual fans. Some changes I don't understand the point of like Criston Cole smashing Besbury's face into the table, rather than slitting his throat but I wouldn't lose sleep over any of it.
All art has the biases/agenda of the day and I definitely see it in this series. One of the things I loved most about GOT is its moral-gray and how we'd have explore/evaluate its characters through that prism. I think this show does a bit of disservice to that with its female characters and rarely puts them in a position to be judged/criticized for their actions. For instance, the thought that Rhaenys' is a bad power-broker never enters the conversation as a reason why she wasn't able to secure the throne instead of Visery's. Instead, blame it on "the patriarchy". Yet lurking in the background of the show is someone like Mysaria, a foreigner born a sex-slave, that inevitably accrues enough power to parlay with the most powerful men in the realm (Daemon and Aegon Targaryean) and dictate terms (Otto Hightower in the last episode). They do that with Rhaenerya as well and I think a lot of the changes made was to make her into a victim of her time/"the patriarchy" instead of a bad player in the game.
I agree about Larys and the sexual power play. But the show doesn't really touch on that. We have to fill that in with head cannon. But they zoom right in on his feet before he starts whackin'. There's other instances where the show does a bad a job of contextualizing scenes. For instance, we have to find out through outside interviews that Alicent has a crush on Cole. We never find out what consequences Cole faces for killing Jeffrey. What ever happened to Daemon's claim to the Vale. They go over it in the books, but they leave it as a gaping plot hole in the show. The scene where Otto asks the Kingsguard to assassinate Rhaenyra is ridiculous. He literally rode out to Dragonstone firsthand and saw what would once Caraxes enter the fold. How would that change the second time around? I don't mean to be to nitpicky, because I like the show. But there are still things that bother me. I wouldn't call Rhaenyra a bad power broker. More along the lines of mediocre. The marriage proposals to Alicent's and Daemon's kids are good ideas. The idea that she couldn't a Velaryon cousin to conceive a child with at least once so she wouldn't make her cuckolding so noticeable is confusing. I remember when Maergery suggested that Renly bring in Loras to finish the dead on the GOT show. There's a recklessness to Rhaenyra's actions that never get called out. Would it have stopped a war? No. But you'd hope a political operative would have more of clue. Tywin Lannister, Littlefinger and Varys would destroy her.
I flat out hate the time jumps and agree with you that they don't do the best job in contextualizing scenes on the heels of them. I suppose that's to be expected when you only have +10 hours to work with every season, when dealing with material this dense. Whatever the case, it's a bit of a disappointment. I hear they are only planning 4 seasons, so I presume that this will be the norm throughout the series. SPOILER ALERT: I suppose episode 10 is going to be both sides trying to shore up their support and ends with Jace being sent as an emissionary to parlay with Boros Baretheon....
Which is a perfect segue into why I think Rhaenyra is an awful powerbroker/tactician. Considering the circumstances as they are, why would she send an inexperienced boy to handle such a delicate matter? Baretheon would be a crucial ally considering his lands would be the ideal spot to stage land-based attacks on Kingslanding (not to mention the wealth and armies he has). And considering that war was effectively declared, wouldn't you at least want him accompanied by a seasoned, dragon-riding warrior like Daemon, especially in an area so close to where her enemies are? Rhaenys- who is related to the Baretheon's — is already in the fold by this point and has also declared for Rhaenyra, so why not send her?
I'm sure they'll try to explain away her bad decisions as her being a victim of circumstance as they did with the Laenor situation. I think changes to the Velaryon's were made specifically to help move that narrative along. For one, Vaemond Velaryon was actually Corliss' nephew and not brother; meaning he was far closer to Rhaenyra and Laenor in age. That, his pedigree and lineage would've made him the obvious option to father her children and would've avoided questions about her kids' parentage and claim to the throne. I also think they made the Velaryons Black to make it that much more difficult for her to find a father that could resemble Laenor in this world and make it easier for us to excuse her actions as an unfair double-standard...that she's a victim of....
I think I'm kinda beating a dead-horse at this point, so I'll try to wrap by saying that the very same system she cries injustice from is the the very same system that makes her relevant (because she couldn't have gotten there on merit). If she wasn't her father's child, nothing about her abilities would make her remarkable. She's had the opportunity to familiarize herself with how power works by being her father's cupbearer for years and yet seems to have no understanding of how to leverage someone or the overall politics of that world (e.g. insulting Lady Redwyne instead of trying to make an ally of someone that likely is sympathetic to her and whose family has the second largest fleet of ships in the Kingdom; finding a suitor that better secures her claim; using that gathering of suitors to familarize and ingratiate herself to the Lord's of the kingdom, etc). Everything about her is reactive instead of proactive (how the **** was she not keeping an eye on Vhagar when dragons are her only advantage?!?!?!), which makes her a horrible player in the game IMO.
P.S., (1) I definitely think Cole and Alicent engage in a sexual relationship at some point in the series, especially with Viserys dead. (2)I think the Kingsguard are kinda like special forces. Remember that Ser Barriston Selmy singlehandedly rescued the Mad King in Duskendale. If Westerling accepted Otto's orders to assassinate Rhaenyra, I DEFINITELY think it would've been a covert type mission. (3) Jeffrey was a minor player in the game, so Cole killing him probably wasn't that big a deal. Corliss was the head honcho of that faction and he is so power-hungry that he probably wanted nothing to get in the way of his son's marriage to a future Queen. Plus, he probably thought Cole did him a favor since Jeffrey's relationship with his son put all his power aspirations in jeopardy.
10/22/2022 7:56 PM