re: HOTD: S2 Episode 3 (Spoilers) 9pm ET

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are brits just better actors than americans, in general? GOT and HOTD are full of these guys

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I believe UK actors in general get a lot more formal training and several start in theater before moving to TV/big screen which can help hone their craft quite a bit. They tend to actually attend school (sometimes multiple levels) in performing arts at a younger age.

Tom Glynn-Carney for instance attended multiple schools for drama/performance art before even stepping into an on-screen production.

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Correct, they’re painted as progressive thinking operating in a world that’s controlled by dumb men even though it’s the two queens who keep making things worse. Thats the subtext we’re getting, the problem is these are changes specific to the show and they’re the only part of the story that’s clunky and hypocritical.

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That's the subtext you're getting.

Both women have made stupid decisions that have helped lead to the point they are at in this story. It hasn't just shown incompetence from men. It's shown incompetence on multiple levels across the board.

Rhaenys and Corlys may be the only real competent people in this story at this point.

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Rhaenys is the worst character and biggest hypocrite on the show

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Wut.

That's so off base it's hilarious.

I’ve already pointed out one example and there are many more.

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I’ve already pointed out one example and there are many more.

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So I went back to rewatch this part of the episode because I must have missed something if that is your "evidence" of her being "the worst character and biggest hypocrite on the show".

She literally says, "Rhaenyra's council is wayward, she has a hard task. I must hope she will rise to it. But I fear she'll need you (Corlys) by her side sooner than late.".

That's it. That's all she said to him on the matter. None of that makes her a terrible character. She's literally sharing a legitimate concern about Rhaenyra and the Council dynamics with her husband in a private conversation.

And it doesn't make her hypocritical at all considering she left the Council meeting by reminding the Council that Rhanerya wears the crown of her grandsire, who reigned with a good head and held a long, long peace across Westeros. She's openly expressed wanting to avoid a war with dragons on multiple occasions in multiple scenes. Maybe her most prominent in not wiping the Greens off the face of Westeros in the Dragonpit when Aegon was crowned.

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Correct, they’re painted as progressive thinking operating in a world that’s controlled by dumb men even though it’s the two queens who keep making things worse.

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Rhaenyra to Alicent last night reminiscing on the tourney from S1E1:

"We knew, even then, that men trained up for battle are eager to fight and seek blood and glory. But you are...I know you do not have that desire within you."

They have re-invented the relationship between those two for the TV series. Now, you can argue that the showrunners have the license to do that because the story in the book is told from perspectives but they have unquestionably inserted a new angle for the TV show.

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I don’t think Otto really “knows the truth.” I think in his mind, Alicent made a play.

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So you don’t think it’s at least possible that Otto knew and just chose to allow Alicent to believe it knowing it was a story the King often told? I’m sure Alicent went into great detail about how it went down with her father. Question is could Otto have known she was wrong based on that?

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The war would effectively be over if Rhaenyra was killed in an apparent assassination attempt.

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Must not spoil...

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Rhaenyra to Alicent last night reminiscing on the tourney from S1E1.

"We knew, even then, that men trained up for battle are eager to fight and seek blood and glory. But you are...I know you do not have that desire within you."

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Women wanting to avoid bloodshed isn't just some new progressive ideal inserted in a show. You can very easily compare IRL to women who have ruled who wanted to avoid bloodshed, especially of kin. Elizabeth I agonized for months over signing the death warrant of her cousin Mary Queen of Scots. And expressed that regret again at the end of her life.

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They have re-invented the relationship between those two for the TV series. Now, you can argue that the showrunners have the license to do that because the story in the book is told from perspectives but they have unquestionably inserted a new angle for the TV show.

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GRRM has been involved with the show throughout the process, more so than he was in late GOT seasons. That angle was pursued with the blessing of the guy who wrote it at that point.

The fact that you can’t see how hypocritical that is proves you’re projecting personal preference onto the story and ignoring the actual lines and actions in the show.