Відео

Throughout the whole B&C scene I was so confused on how there was not a single guard anywhere, and even if there isn't suppose to be any guards on the floor where the royals live (which doesn't make sense as they should at least be guarded by the kingsguard) how was the entrance to that floor also so accessible with no one guarding it. The scene it self though was fine even if i was a bit disappointed, I which it had been more accurate to the books and we'd seen Helena struggle more to try and save Jahaerys.

Hill I don't get the jab at Daemon for rightfully calling out Rhaenys on her bullshit tactics. Its not HIS convenience it literally would've insta resolved the issue for everyone. Its like if Aemond came to dragonstone, killed half the peons there, flexed on the Blacks and dipped out and then Otto complained about not killing the Blacks. This is a valid point he's making, if Rhaenys was gonna make a show she might as well get rid of those that might kill her legitimate granddaughters, the only real thing left of her kids. Like does your brain just shut off everytime Daemon is on screen?

The tapestry intro reminds me of the tapestry of Bayeux. For those who don't know it's a famouse tapestry in France, in Normandie presicely, that tells the story of Guillaume the conqueror's conquest of England in 1066. It's a marvelous piece of art

Blood and Cheese was such a letdown in comparison to the book. The fact that they made Helaena choose between her sons, killing the one she hadn't named and forcing her to live knowing she'd named her son to die. I don't know how well I would have taken seeing it play out on the screen as it did in the book because of just how brutal it would be and I get the need to tone it down. But they missed the point of what made B&C so horrific in the books. My heart still broke for Helaena though.

I forgot where I read that ( it was just yesterday, but I already forgot 😅 ) Originally they wanted to turn Blood and Cheese into a dark comedy and filmed it like that. Then later they cut a few of the more "funny" scenes.... That's why we are following B and C around and not the victims like in normal thrillers and have Aegon drunk finding funny names for himself, B and C arguing and Helaena coming into the room when Cole and Alicent do it. They don't understand the material at all, if that is true. I'm short before abandoning the series tbh.

Damn that episode was disappointing.. I’m gonna need that Craster spin-off best character in GOT

I know it's unrelated but I was wondering what your take on the boys series is and when it started to go downhill

I just want to vent about how the show's framing of Blood & Cheese is all off. It's portrayed in such a way that the viewer feels as little sadness and horror as possible. Why? Because 1. In the lead-up, we follow Blood and Cheese as if they are the POV characters of this subplot. The camera follows them and we are made to feel tension as they sneak past Aegon, hoping they don't get caught. We spend a lot of time sort of being directed to see from the perspective of Blood & Cheese (if not to fully be rooting them). The lead-up doesn't build terror the way it should for such a horrific event. 2. After, Helaena just ... leaves???? It feels incredibly anti-climactic that she is allowed to basically just walk out of there. The framing here is all wrong and frankly kind of bizarre. Since Helaena can saunter out, we (the viewers) don't feel trapped in an inhuman situation, which is how Helaena must feel. Instead, the scene actually defuses tension by giving Helaena the ability to walk away. It looks like Helaena has quite a lot of freedom, agency, and safety, which is all wrong and tonally very confusing. (NOTE: this isn't about the logistics of whether Blood & Cheese would have tried to follow Helaena or prevent her from leaving. My point is about how the way it's filmed makes us feel.) 3. Then we pivot from this moment of extreme horror to Alicent/Criston, which creates even more tonal whiplash. Instead of holding an emotional beat on Helaena's and her children's agony, we transition abruptly to much more mundane feelings of awkwardness and/or annoyance over Alicent's and Criston's hypocrisy. (I actually don't think this necessarily needs to be hypocritical of either of them, but Alicent's relationship with Criston has no build-up, so again, "hypocritical" is how it's framed.) So the viewer is kind of directed to forget any feelings of anguish, horror, etc because our heads are suddenly filled with something entirely unrelated. 4. Choosing to change Alicent's role in this event from being present in the room with Helaena to fucking Criston in the next room dramatically changes how we're meant to see her. Instead of supporting her family and being a victim along with Helaena, now Alicent is actually somewhat at fault for what happened. Because Criston should have been guarding Helaena and her kids, and he wasn't because he was with Alicent. 5. This also makes the entire situation appear less clear-cut than it was in the books, where it straightforwardly a crime on the part of Daemon and co. Here, the viewer is kind of led to blame Alicent and Criston just as much as we blame Daemon. IN CONCLUSION: even though this is a horrible tragedy and monstrous act committed by Team Black, the filming and editing of the scene guides us to (a) not linger with our or Helaena's anguish over what happened, which I think is why a lot of people are saying the scene didn't feel brutal enough, and (b) sort of victim-blame the Greens.

I hate how blood and cheese was directed, it should not be from their point of view, it should have been Helaena’s point of view. I felt nothing from it, no horror, no dread, they just seemed like two bumbling baffoons in that entire sequence

Words cannot describe how disappointed and disgusted I am with the treatment of Bl**d & Cheese and Alicent... 😒

the b&c scene, I don't think it's a matter of being explicit or implied to me. the setup is just... weird? like sure aemond was the one who killed luke and there's a massive benefit in trying to take him and vhagar out of the game but for daemon to hire 2 back-alley thugs for the assassination of aemond, arguably the best fighter on team green, is just so absurd and honestly an insult to daemon's intelligence. the chance of that succeeding is probably close to 0 and daemon should've known it. cheese knew it. he was folding HARD and was ready to bail on the mission. his hands were shaking when he held the knife to helaena. of course when he stumbled upon the kids, he took the easy way out because he could just tell daemon that they didn't find aemond. which again, reflects so badly on daemon's intelligence and that's just not his character. but gagging/threatening 2 women, preying on their love for their kids/grandkids, which has a much higher success rate. we saw daemon being frustrated and blaming everyone around him all ep because he couldn't do anything while rhaenyra grieved. and the point of b&c was not maximizing strategic or political move anyway, it's about revenge and inflicting as much pain to as many on the green and how that makes people stoop to the lowest lows, so I don't understand why they're changing it to daemon targeting aemond. "a son for a son" is not literally rhaenyra's son for alicent's son. it's rhaenyra and aegon who are the 2 symbols of the 2 sides. aemond and daemon are just agents for the green and the black so it shouldn't matter that aemond was the one who killed luke. and then when b&c was confused which one is the boy, like bruh, it's a pretty easy and quick check but no, they had to ask helaena and had this little mind game with her to see if she was telling the truth??? it's like the show is trying to shoehorn helaena having choose between her kids in but the context doesn't work like the book where she had to chose between her 2 sons. and the long-term psychological damage on not just helaena, but alicent, maelor and jaehaera is completely removed because alicent was not there, maelor was not there, jaehaera pretty much slept through the whole thing, so it's just helaena now (Phia Saban was wonderful in the scene though) why not just do it like the book, adding that bit of cheese's characteristics, then imply the killing by showing the reaction of helaena and alicent????

sticking to show, there can't be any doubt that deamon wanted this after cheese asked what if they don't find aemond, "a son for a son" phrase which both blood and cheese know and want to fulfill, must come from that response. as for adaptation changes , i expected worse. so i would watch the next one. btw with reference to certain comments here, strictly speaking alicent wasn't being hypocritical( though whether show ignorantly wanted to show her as hypercritical is another thing ). moral prohibition is against women having pre marital or extra marital relationships not post marital relationships. widow having a relationship was like a man having extra marital relationships, frowned upon but not prohibited. prohibition was not irrational and came to being to ensure bloodline and property ownership. illegitimate children due to a husband or widow having relationship was no threat to those since they can't inherit titles , while children from women having pre marital or extra marital relationship was a threat.

I've straight up seen people online say that since Jahaerys behaved that way towards Tyland during the small coucil meeting, they didn't mind him dying.

I'm not mad at the fact that Alicent/Criston exists - they were obviously playing up the yearning between the two at the end of S1 - but they did that relationship so dirty in just jumping straight to... _that._ Like... the whole point of a will-they-won't-they is showing how they get from A to B. Even if you discount Criston entirely as needing that development, and declare that he never actually cared about his honour or believed in anything, and was only ever a bitter incel who was salty because he didn't get Rhaenyra (which, to be clear, I don't believe at all), there's still the matter of Alicent. S1 unambiguously depicted her as someone who was subject to years of sexual coercion, both inside and outside of her marriage, who was deeply unhappy, and who - even if you as a viewer don't buy her belief in duty and sacrifice as sincere - clearly clung to those ideas as a way to try and rationalise it all and give her life some kind of meaning; to convince herself it would all be 'worth it', somehow. So, you might think that a well-written show would... oh, I don't know, give her an arc where we see her come to grips with the fact that her r*pist is dead and gone, and all her complicated feelings about that? With the realisation that she's free of him? And not just of Viserys, but because she's _done_ her duty, to her marriage and her house? Having to reckon with the exhilaration and terror of feeling allowed, for the first time, to really _want_ things? Coming to terms with her own sexuality, and working through her trauma? Taking those first tentative steps with the only man who has never required her to use her body in order to secure her loyalty; who has never betrayed her trust, or used her? Wanting him, but fearing it might cost her her closest friend and confidant? What's the thing that finally causes the dam to break? A moment of deep emotional distress, like the grief after B&C? A moment of wild euphoria, after Viserys is dead and Aegon is crowned and there are no more promises to keep, no more oaths to betray? What's the moment where they finally feel able to drop all their protective raiment of duty and honour and sacrifice, and be truly (metaphorically, and literally!) naked and vulnerable with one another? Haha no, jk, guess none of it meant anything and she was just a hypocrite all along, or whatever. - HotD writers, apparently.

I really like your take on how there really ought to have been at least a little more exposition, even if it wasn't super detailed, something like one or the other of them making mention of the climactic duel they were supposed to fight in the "lost" (unmade original 7th season) of Clone Wars, although I have heard that this event is still considered effectively off-screen canon. The concept of Cad Bane as basically a space version of Lee Van Cleef's iconic "Angel Eyes" Setenza in the legendary "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" is s great idea, as there have always been Western elements in Star Wars. As someone who is very familiar with all of the film & TV media that's out, I can both appreciate how his appearance in BOBF jives with his prior appearances, where he'll poop up for an episode or two and then we don't see him for a while, but also how this can frustrating for someone like you who isn't as familiar and literally has to Google "Who the heck is this guy?" Beyond that... As much as I love Spaghetti Westerns as dearly as I love Star Wars... I feel like whole the concept of Cad Bane was good but the actual execution of the character came off as sophomoric at best. To me, he's always been just a little too much of a Mary Sue character. He's always got some other trick up his sleeve, some unexpected gadget or gizmo to one-up the Jedi with, and while that made for an exciting first encounter in Clone Wars Season 2... For me at least, it got old really fast. I also felt like a lot of the plans he comes up with especially in later seasons are just so contrived that there's no reason they should've been successful. Even his "gunslinger" look with the duster coat and wide brimmed hat, toting a pair of six-shooter looking blasters is questionable whether it was straight up copied from Nico Okarr from "The Old Republic" MMORPG (TL:DR, Bane technically appeared earlier on-screen, in 2009, whereas "The Old Republic" game wasn't released until 2011, but had been development longer, so...) I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I feel like the entire character was a missed opportunity for something better than the arrogant, cocky Mary Sue I find him to be, so I wasn't exactly heartbroken of his ignominious apparent death, more like "Oh good, let him stay dead" lol. Cheers though to Corey Burton for his excellent voice work. I recommend you check out Clone Wars, Rebels, and Bad Batch, though; they do an excellent job of storytelling that doesn't require you to be a superfan from the jump, and the later seasons of Clone Wars are SOOOOO well done and definitely not a kiddie cartoon show. Anyhow, great video, I really liked your perspectives.

10:26 What do you mean specifically by _"they can't show that on film on TV"_ ? If you mean explicitly decapitating a child, then yes, I absolutely agree. If you mean simply killing a child, I disagree. Jahaerys was clearly stabbed first, and they could have shown that. I'm not saying they should have, only that they could have. In early seasons of _GoT_ we saw Lommy get stabbed in the throat. For me, the scene did not work, and could have worked better even without showing the killing. Like when Robert's bastard was killed in front of her mother in a brothel. Beyond the actual killing, I also thought there wasn't enough tension between the 3 characters.

Dont forget about daemon is a baby killer wife killer and woman beater. Most toxic man ever born in westeros

And the funny thing is there is actually a good by D&D. In animation. ua-cam.com/video/WY_GyBuuf_c/v-deo.html&ab_channel=ValarMorghulis

2:41 Father! I loved, _Raised by Wolves._ It's such a shame that it was cancelled. As someone who has never seen any of Ridley Scott's Alien films, I thought it was far more compelling than _Westworld,_ which scrambled it potential. Plot wise and character wise, it was just superior. It's such a shame.

They had one job, and they fucked it up. I hate the very concept of Alicole. The Kingmaker from the book has finally completed Condal's transformation into a mix of Terrence Toyne and Arys Oakheart. What a disgrace.

Daemon was not specific on description on Aemond by Age . RIP Baby Jahaerys

None of the changes from Fire and Blood have ever really got to me but changing B&C does. At least when it comes to Alicent, Rhaenyra and Aemond, I can honestly believe the maesters would disparage them and make them look worse than they are. I mean, two are women and the last is a kinslayer. But I don’t think the same can be said of Daemon due to GRRM’s bias towards him (and sparing Nettles/betraying Rhaenyra, killing Aemond and being the male ancestor of the current line of House Targaryen). And where is Rhaenyra’s wrath? Did we not get a look that promised utter bloodshed last season? Emma D’Arcy’s performance was wonderful but I don’t understand this obsession with passivity the writers have.

Blood & cheese honestly felt so unimpactful. I remember the sickening chill I hit reading this in book & seeing it on the animated shorts from Got extras, but like here it fell rather flat for me. It feels muted. Esp as the children were asleep and Alicent wasn’t there to witness it, nor was there the cruel twist of them choosing opposite child. It didn’t grab me viscerally and everytime I imagine way it could’ve been better it makes me more disappointed in the version we got.

Can I be honest? Imo, this was a really bad continuation the S1 trend of "oops, didn't mean to commit a warcrime it just happened!". Not even touching on the Alicole... debacle. The problem with B+C is Daemon having basically no culpability anymore in killing a child. I was only marginally okay with Aemond not intending to kill Luke. He's not very old or experienced, it makes a certain sense that he could make a grave error like that. And it does add a certain bitterness to the narrative, as maybe things could've been averted if things had gone differently. I can grant the writers that much. But Daemon? An experienced, wife-murdering, warmongering, veteran Daemon made such a mistake? You've lost me. Not to mention the idea that he would send such incompetent morons to kill Aemond. Freaking Aemond. B+C targeting the heirs makes the most sense because they're vulnerable. They're not even capable of fighting back, whereas Aemond would be too much of a challenge for most assassins let alone these two bumbling idiots Daemon finds. Nothing makes any sense to me anymore. Just calls the Blacks the heroes of the story and be done with it. Daemon only intended to kill Aemond and from his POV Aemond intentionally murdered Luke. He's literally guiltless now for B+C's carnage, outside of perhaps contracting Sudden Onset Stupidity when he hired those two goobers who couldn't follow simple orders. I don't even care if the subtext is that he meant for them to go kill whoever they could. That should've been bolded, italicized, underlined TEXT. By not being very clear about this to the (very casual and very Black-biased) audience, we are now going to have to deal with HORDES of people justifying his actions and continuing on treating him as some kind of avenging hero and not the polished turd he actually is. And this is to say nothing of the lack of impact B+C as a scene had. Halaena's actress did fine. It was the material that was lacking. I didn't expect them to show a kid being decapitated but a little more distress? A little more panic, fear, terror? Anything at all? Even B+C could've been more verbally cruel. Plus, Alicent wasn't even present. The unintentional(?) comedy of Halaena bursting in on Alicole was just the final nail in the damned coffin. Any atmosphere they did manage to create was absolutely ruined. I'm really disappointed. This was a KEY point for season 2's writing and they utterly failed imo. Edit: this just keeps getting longer because I keep having things to add. Rip.

Ryan keeps on disappointing me with what he's doing with Alicent. It's like they don't know what to do with her character. Its frustrating as an Alicent fan.

I ESPECIALLY don't like the change they made for Alicent. Not only other reactions were literally laughing after Helaena enters the room, since it just looked silly to see Alicent riding Cole, but it shifted the focus from horrific b&c to a random sex scene between charachers that didn't even have a built up. It automatically makes us feel disgusted &feel like Alicole is wrong. People already blame Alicent for being a wh**e and giving Helaena second trauma. But I do understand where it comes from because placing b&c next to Alicole sex was a bad choice. This contrast reflexively evokes feelings of injustice, anger or disgust to Alicent and Cole. As if we saw a poor grandfather on the street who sells his things to survive, and then we saw rich drunken youth having fun. The latter are not to blame for grandfather’s poverty, but placing these two lifestyles next to each other creates an unpleasant impression of those who have it easy, especially if it includes "sinful pleasures" like alcohol or sex. It's especially messy because Alicent in the book suffers next to Helaena.

Bravo Daemon you just got your brothers Grandson killed

I was heart broken when raised by wolves was cancelled too i really wanted to see how it would end :(

I agree with others with the Blood and Cheese scene. I think personally I needed more from Helaena, in the books she offers her life rather than her necklace. Like seer or not, surely she wouldn't give up that easily. And for B&C to just walk casually, unquestioned through the throne room was wild, again different in the books, they slip into the tower unseen. Like, I know it's an "historical account" but its pretty well written out by George that they could have just followed it, I think. I did also prefer that Alicent was gagged in the tower by Blood and Cheese, rather than gagged in the bed by Cole.

Honestly they made a mockery of what blood and cheese actually was supposed to be ablout. Also i hate that alicole thing. No development nothing. Just random sex scenes to vilify alicent even more. All i want is some consistency with her character.

its not his convenience its rhaneyras and her own grand children convenience any sane person would bear the stain than let war and death wage

Great review, I mostly agree with the points being made. Blood and Cheese were less horrific than I thought because of the change they made to delete the younger son, but still plenty brutal. I think they've played well enough in S1 with Cole and Alicent that their pairing makes sense. Cole replaced his lust for one princess with another and Alicent was very clearly looking forward to Viserys being gone so it would be "her time". I am curious if this will juxtapose Cole and Larys Strong, since both men are clearly interested in the dowager queen. So when do we get a Patreon or some sort of community for the true Hill's Alive stans!

Not in love with so much of the series being driven by mistakes but I did enjoy the Coen brothers style to this episode

Seeing Winterfell and the Stark theme playing over the top gave me all the feels

You’re right on the money with this. B&C left me really conflicted, because I’m torn between appreciation of their not going into too much detail, while also being annoyed by its accidental-ness. I’m also annoyed by Alicole, it just feels like a ploy to turn us further against the greens. Even the GOT Lannister’s weren’t treated this lopsidedly

The Cheese was definitely rancid 🧀 P.S. I think my favourite moments of the episode were as follows: 1. Jace struggling to relay the news of allies to Rhaenyra 2. Alicent and Criston's sex scene - the second one, right after B&C, not the cunnilingus - even though their pairing was abrupt and unexpected (I have a soft spot for Alicent and I like that she's having consensual intimacy for once) 3. When Rhaenyra is watching the fishermen(?) on the beach, notices the wreckage, and immediately flies down with zero hesitation, while the men scream and f**k off. Her and Syrax really hit me in the feels that entire scene

Twitter/X reaction to this episode, was both disturbing, gross and funny. That app is really really despises Alicent and the Greens. That’s why Miss Hill channel is a safe haven for me, she is one of the few Asoiaf content creators that provides clean cut well thought analysis of the series.

Honestly, while I watched Blood and Cheese I felt nothing, not even disappointment, and then I felt anger and disappointment during the ending credits because I felt nothing during Blood and Cheese. It came across as B&C: "We're here to kill your son" Helaena: "Here's a necklace please don't kill my kids." B&C: "Not enough" Helaena: "Oh uh, well Catch!" Throws Jaehaerys to Blood and Cheese to be decapitated

They really dropped the ball on Blood and cheese. The point was to show that this is war there are no true “good or bad guys” Martin expertly creates characters that inspire both sympathy and hatred. When he wrote the dance of dragons he wrote it in a way that both sides had virtues and flaws, both sides committed atrocities and victories. Blood and cheese was horrific and Daemon and too a degree Rhaenyra was all for it. They forced Helaena to choose either her younger son Maelor or older son Jaehaerys to die (hate they cut out Maelor) and if she refused they threatened to rape Jaehaera. She chose Maelor and they killed Jaehaerys. This is when Aegon really took responsibility and stepped up since his son was murdered and Helaena never recovered. She went MAD with grief and could barely hold her younger son. They didn’t show her watching with horror as her son was killed. They didn’t show Alicent being gagged and forced to watch her grandson murdered. They didn’t show the killers waiting for her, not stumbling on accident. They even took Jaehaery’s severed head with them to give to Daemon and Rhaenyra. While I agree that if the blacks really wanted justice Aemond would be killed and show says that but… the point of blood and cheese being so horrific and brutal was to show that the Blacks aren’t innocent victims in all of this. Here they made blood and cheese a mistake. They didn’t show the pure evil and brutality of Rhaenyra and Daemon condoning such an act. This act that would push the commoners against them. And they needed the two sons to make Helaena choose because that mad “son for a son” so powerful. Ultimately the small folk LOVED Helaena and I hated how they cut out how much the commoners loved Helaena and her children as an exemplary consort versus Daemon. And her suicide and the murder of her sons really drove the commoners to hate on Rhaenyra. This just shows their bias towards the blacks by not portraying blood and cheese the way it is: a brutal and horrific murder of an innocent child. Yes the Greens are not innocent they have committed atrocities like the murder of Luke but to not show the atrocities of the blacks just shows the bias. And to have her walk in Alicent and Criston afterwards!!! Whoever wrote that should be FIRED!!! I never took those two to have a physical affair. They obviously are trauma bonded together after their bad experiences with sex but due to Alicent’s trauma and religious beliefs and Criston wanting to cling to his vows it seems out of character for them to have a physical affair rather than emotional. But I do like them together, I think they heal each other in a way. They are trying to make the Greens as unsympathetic and unlivable as possible, essentially forcing audiences to side with the Blacks which is not the original story that didn’t encourage a side. The original story showed sources bias towards Rhaenyra and towards Aegon. Equal virtues and flaws for both. I’m absolutely disappointed especially since this will feed into the Black Stans who think Daemon and Rhaenyra are the good guys and just simply “make mistakes” when they are blood thirsty and cruel. Why else do they call Rhaenyra Maegor with teats.

_"...While your men guard against Wildlings and Weather..."_ In that one phrase this green summerboy delegitimized all that hard work and sacrifices the Starks made. He truly is his mother's son. I can't wait to see him die via crossbow bolts. If I was Cregan, I would not stir finger for these arrogant fools after that statement. I'd promise everything but deliver nothing and enjoy my Westerosi equivalent of popcorn as the fools kill off themselves and break their own power 😂

That was intense, but also good!

You're the only UA-cam reactor I've watched so far who supported Alicole. 😆

2:55 Amanda Collin is Jeyne Arryn and the RBW set designer got hired by Dunk & Egg

We were looking forward to your review and...oh god it's a live reaction. I'm sorry you had to face these changes this way. But thank you for your candor sharing this.

The Hills are alive with the sound of Reactions!!! Hey girl!!! I have arrived 😄And i am currently recording my "What if the death angels landed on planetos" audio haha.

Idk about Daemon's complicity in Prince Jaehaerys's murder. Daemon gives Cheese a knowing look when he asks what if they can't get to Aemond. Jaehaerys is definitely the contingency plan, though I also think that Aegon himself was a target given Blood and Cheese's reaction upon stumbling into the throne room.

Literally kept saying to my roommates " I can't wait to watch my favorite ASOIAF reviews"!!!

As soon as I saw it I said I need Hill to break it down cause she’s the only one that actually gets asoiaf

Great Vid! Also love Raised by Wolves!

3 minutes ago, wow I've never been so early. I just sat down to watch something while eating breakfast 😅😂