re: House of the Dragon S1E8: “Lord of the Tides”--Official Thread

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He rallied everyone for the cause

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Yep. It didn't end with a traditional fantasy 1v1, but when has GRRM ever been traditional in this world?

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I think you're underestimating them both here. To related it back to GOT, you potentially have a Tywin and a Littlefinger. Sure Cersei was the queen but she did what Tywin told her to. Now we don't really have much evidence one way or the other to say how much Alicient is acting out of her own ideas vs what Otto tells her to do. But we have seen Otto manipulating her to think the way he wants her to so it certainly can't be ruled out that Otto would have convinced her later to supplant Jace with Aegon. And most of us never knew what Littlefinger was up to or capable of until it was too late. Similar situation with Larys as we don't know his motivations, only that he wants chaos in the realm.

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Just answer me a single question, what allies would Larys/Otto have in a hypothetical scenario where Alicent agrees to bind the three Houses under Rhaenyra's suggestion?

Then answer a second question, what motive would either of them have to try and take on the three strongest Houses? And to what end?

That's why her offer is so powerful, it not just forms an impenetrable alliance, it forces a shift in motives of otherwise opportunistic rabble rousers due to a unified front of the heads of the Houses they wished to manipulate, but no longer can. To which any further activity on that front would be seen universally as treasonous, and against an insurmountable alliance.

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I think that it's at least possible that the Hightowers support Otto over Alicient,

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Not a chance.

And to what end? The Hightower bloodline will already be on the throne, be cemented as the third most powerful house, so the Hightower House is going to cosign treason on behalf of Otto, threaten their own lives....why exactly?

Furthermore, Lary's likely just remains a scheming second son with a limp without the opportunity to massacre his family and force Alicent into a corner. Or better yet, as a confidant to the Queen he would have a much easier time maneuvering within the new alliance to be Hand to Haelana/Jace. There no longer is much motive or benefit to the sort of scheming he has done knowing the Houses are no longer fracturing apart or vying for total control.

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Sorry if already posted

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Arming went from a serious but slightly mopey kid to a pure psycho the second he got on that dragon.

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Just answer me a single question, what allies would Larys/Otto have in a hypothetical scenario where Alicent agrees to bind the three Houses under Rhaenyra's suggestion?

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Otto: House Hightower. He and his brother have been ruling there. They are likely loyal to him. Most of them probably haven't seen Alicient in years but it doesn't matter because I don't see it as Otto vs Alicient. I think Otto would end up making Alicient do whatever he wants her to do, potentially outing Jace as a bastard despite being married to Helaena.
Also House Velaryon. As mentioned earlier Rhaenyra wouldn't be able to offer a marriage with Jace to Rhaenys in this scenario. There is a strong possibility the marriage to Luc is not enough to persuade Rhaenys to back Rhaenyra. Maybe she sits out the war entirely, but she certainly suspects Rhaenyra may have murdered her son so maybe she joins Otto out of vengeance. You keep saying there's a bond of 3 houses, but I really don't think Jace gets House Velaryon in this scenario. Rhaenys was barely willing to back him as is, even with a marriage offer to make her granddaughter the future queen. Additionally, there's several other great houses out there and many of which don't want a woman on the throne. Aegon and Aemond are single men in this scenario so they could easily marry to bring two more houses into the fold.
Lastly, as I mentioned in an earlier post there's potential allies down the road in Rhaenyra and Daemon's children, though this gets a bit murky.
Larys: who knows? He has a way of making things happen. Don't forget he is now head of House Strong so he likely has men of his own now too.

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Then answer a second question, what motive would either of them have to try and take on the three strongest Houses? And to what end?

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Again, they aren't taking on 3 houses, just Rhaenyra. But the motive is because Otto wants a king he can control. He wants power for himself and his line. Helaena as Queen does not offer this. No one knows Larys' motives. Rhaenys may want vengeance for the murder of her son. Aemond despises Jace and Luc. Many houses won't support a female on the throne in Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra and Daemons first born son may want a claim to the throne himself.

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I thought Aegon told his mother that it was the Velaryon's idea although he may have just been shifting the blame off of himself.

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He 100% was blame-shifting. The show has not done anything to make us believe the Strong Bastards would come up with a plan like that. They've so far been shown to be followers, not leaders.

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They may not have put the pig there but I think it clearly showed them laughing which seems like a bad idea,

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Yep.

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I think he enjoys intimidating his nephews because he remembers being bullied as a child. If all he wanted was violence then why did he barely react when Jace punched him?

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Because he's smart. He wanted the confrontation to try and make Jace look bad. It's the same reason Aegon kept...ahem...egging on Jace about being a virgin. Aegon wanted Jace to react and look like a hot head - that didn't work. But when Aemond made the not-at-all subtle jab at the "Strong boys" it was too much for even Jace and he threw the punch. Aemond won as soon as Jace lost his cool.

Maybe stating that Aemond only wants violence was a bit too on the nose. It's not direct violence, but rather strife and chaos he aims to sow.

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I do think he has respect for Daemon as he seemed amused when Daemon cut off Ser Vaemond's head like he was in awe of him.

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Again, watch him the entire time. He had the same smirk the entire time Vaemond was popping off and when Rhaenys backed Rhaenyra. He just thrives in chaos. I'm not sure it was admiration for Daemon other than the fact that he loves to see shite go sideways.

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Again, watch him the entire time. He had the same smirk the entire time Vaemond was popping off and when Rhaenys backed Rhaenyra. He just thrives in chaos. I'm not sure it was admiration for Daemon other than the fact that he loves to see shite go sideways.

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After rewatching the scene, he also took a quick jump back with the rest of his family when Daemon did the head slice.

For as bad arse as Aemond attempts to be, even He was briefly shocked/stunned by how savage, (while being completely calm, cool, and collected), his Uncle was in that moment.

Such a great scene

I could see them firing up the Blackfyre Rebellion right after

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and my AMC show DARK WINDS is doing 6 episode seasons).

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damn good show