A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms 1x06 Reaction

More short seasons you might enjoy - Beef (new season just released - very good drama) - Chernobyl (enjoy might be the wrong word here, but its great) - Devs (sci-fi not too dissimilar to Severance in vibe) - Queens Gambit (chess prodigy + her life - very interesting)

I wonder if Ser Arlan saying a knight always finishes the story is a hint he did knight Dunk because that would be the proper end of their story together. Just a thought.

If you do a poll for a new long show please add the Shield. Fantastic show about corrupt cops in LA up there with the great anti-hero type shows of the 2000's like Sopranos and Breaking Bad

you should watch From, it is quite captivating

Please answer this! A lot of your full Vimeo reactions say "Private video. You don't have permission to watch." For example, the finale of Better Call Saul can't be viewed. I'd understand if this was only a problem with old episodes, but for instane Mad Men 4x7 and Andor 1x10 from just a few months ago are also unavailable. This has been a consistent problem since you switched from Google Drive to Vimeo. I joined Patreon intending to watch your full reactions to some of my favorite TV episodes, and now I'm finding out they're not even available, so it feels like I'm wasting money. Could you explain why these videos aren't available? Surely you aren't making them private yourselves? If it's possible, I'd really appreciate it if you could restore access to these episodes (and many others), and I also think it may be worth reconsidering the video hosting service, because this is ridiculous. I have no idea why you decided to change from Google Drive to Vimeo, but it hasn't been a good decision for your supporters!

Does anybody know what comes next after this?

rowan and dunk parallel each other in an interesting way, they're both smallfolk using their bodies (for combat, for sex) to advance their position in society and they both seem to have told a lie to achieve this (about knighthood, about pregnancy)

Another performance I appreciate is Henry Ashton’s Daeron again. Very accurate portrayal of a man tormented and overwhelmed by his “gifts”, and how he throws into doubt the whole natural madness of the Targaryen. Instead, he argues it is the power, privilege and masculine culture that makes so many of them and frames the danger to Egg as “making a man out of him”. The cut from fishing to the dead fish really puts the exclamation point to the argument.

Don't mean to be a negative Nancy, but the editing on this is a fucking joke.

Allegedly when the shooting ends for season 2, they will take a brief break then start shooting season 3. By brief I mean between 6-12 weeks. This is to give the actors a break plus change shooting locations. The showrunner & HBO understand that the early Dunk & Egg stories require a young Egg. They don't want a Stranger Things situation where kids in between seasons no longer look like kids and by the time 5th season arrives the cast needs permission to leave the old folks home to finish the series while pretending to be in high-school still.

"Prince Maekar demands a word" "Ser Duncan requests an audience" I really like this subtle contrast in how they address each other, tells you a lot about their characters and status

Glad you guys loved it, I knew it would be up your alley. I hope you watch Witch Hat Atelier as well sometime soon.

One of my two critiques of the show was the reveal that Egg snuck away again. In the novella, Prince Maekar agreed with Dunk and sent Egg with him.

MAEKARLINGSSS https://x.com/noahwhimsy/status/2032479818982293775?s=20 give me 36 seasons about the maekarlings. haven't felt this way about a doomed family since the greens in season 1 of the dragon show.

the book was written in the 90s! so I think it's more likely Frieren was inspired by akotsk rather than vice versa

"Plenty of sons have died in their father's armor, how many fathers have died in their sons?" In the book it's said that Baelor's armor was too tight, and we can infer that it caused his death. The tight helm didn't absorb the blow as well as it should've. I took that line as Valarr (the son) thinking of himself as a coward. What son wouldn't take his father's place? Why didn't he don his armor and fight? Maekar was a gem of a character, i loved him and his children. From the very beginning you see what they're setting up with character. Baelor gets a long introduction, Maekar gets "and his brother Maekar". Baelor's respectable son is participating in the tourney, Maekar has one crazy son and a drunkard he has to *force* to participate. He wants to be like his brother; it just can't seem to happen. His sons didn't turn out as he wanted. But we also see that he left to personally search for his kids out of worry for them, instead of leaving it to his men. He kills his brother out of panic for his son. Then we see his "last son", the one that's still normal, sneaking in to kill HIS brother, but intentionally. What a devastating sight it must've been to him. I love how that sequence of events happened. Daeron says, "we'll make a man out of him" and then we see Egg noticing his hair grow back, targaryen hair, a symbol of that toxic family. And immediately after, we see him try to do something that will only feed into that toxicity. Proof that staying there would've destroyed him too. Some changes from the book that I found a bit iffy: in the book Maekar went to Dunk, instead of summoning him to his room. I thought that was such an important gesture. We also all assumed that Maekar DID give Egg permission to go, Egg lying is a show addition, but we never actually see him do it because we only follow Dunk's pov so I guess he could've been lying in the book too. I prefer that Maekar did allow him tbh. Also, they cut down what he says to Dunk "Some men say I meant to kill my brother. The gods know it is a lie, but I shall hear the whispers until the day i die. And it was my mace that dealt the final blow, I have no doubt. The only other opponents he faced in close combat were the three knights of the kingsguard, whose vows forbid them from doing anything but defend. So it was me. Strange to say I do not remember the blow that shattered his skull. Is it a blessing or a curse? A little of both, I think."

They are so good at grasping what the point of a story is and looking at the plot/characters in relation to what the creators are trying to convey instead of what they would like to see or what would be "cooler". Like ofc Dunk is not joining Lyonel, he's a HEDGE knight. I can't wait to see their discussions for the next seasons, especially since they haven't read the source material. It's going to be so much fun. Great reaction as always!! On a side note: is the one piece live action coming out next week for sure?

"A true knight always finishes a story." Are you listening, George? I've made my peace with never seeing Winds, but if Martin wanted to publish a few more D&E stories... Anyway, I hope they make ten seasons of this show.

Any chance of watching White Lotus soon?

I love how Maekar Targaryan is depicted in this show. He feels like one of the more nuanced and layered Targaryans. The fanbase often treats him like a terrible person largely because he’s the father of Aerion Brightflame. But honestly, compared to the truly awful parents in Westeros, Maekar doesn’t really seem abusive so much as emotionally stunted. He’s stern, cold and clearly not a great father — but he does seem to genuinely love his children in his own awkward way. Unlike controlling patriarchs like Tywin Lannister, he also lets his children choose their own paths even when he disagrees with them. And it’s pretty clear he disapproves of Aerion’s behavior in general. It’s also hard to know how much of Aerion’s instability is actually Maekar’s fault. Aerion already comes off as deeply delusional, and considering how many Targaryens struggle with madness, it may be more nature than nurture. Especially since his other children seem relatively well-adjusted by Targaryen standards. I think what makes Maekar strangely compelling to me is that, unlike many Targaryans, his flaw isn’t cruelty, insanity or lust for power. He’s just kinda... mediocre. Overshadowed by Baelor Breakspear, emotionally distant, never quite living up to the image of what a great prince or father should be. There’s something weirdly human about that.

I got legitimately jumpscared by the credits song, because we performed to it during our graduation concert lol. Felt very weird, banger song, tho

"He is my LAST son" -Maekar, a guy with several sons I know what he's saying there but it's so funny to me

They may have lost their dragons, but the same messed up family dynamics that only the Targaryens know how to possess remain more alive than ever. I like the conquerors, Daenerys and I really love our three siblings from Team Green in HOTD. But the Targaryens present in AKOTSK are probably my favorites in the entire history of the house. Maekar might initially seem like a bad person, but subtly, and especially in this last episode, you can see his love for his brother and particularly for his children. The moment when Egg wants to kill Aerion and his father is there to silently interrupt, and even without verbalizing it, you understand: Egg can't. Maekar understands the feeling because he feels the same conflict as a father, but in the end, it's his son in that bed. His conversation with Dunk is also very good, he really wants someone good to teach Egg things, but without Egg getting too far from him. "He's my last son." Maekar feeling that only Aegon can still be saved is truly heartbreaking because he loves them all. Aerion, despite being the little villain of this first part, It's interesting to see his devotion to dragons in an era where his family no longer possesses them, through their own fault and because of a fight between siblings, when you really stop to think about HOTD you can realize how absurd the war between Aegon and Rhaenyra was. That's certainly something difficult to accept because the Targaryens are born to be devoted to dragons and Aerion without knowing a dragon, feels so much love for them. I can't wait for season 2 next year.

One of the best episodes, second only to episode 4 imo. A really nice closure balancing the somber with the comedic parts. I want to especially commend the performance by Sam Spruell as Maekar, a poignant dramatic performance of a man that you feel is going to be lost & haunted for the rest of his life for his was the blow that killed his brother. Also, great non vocal performance by Egg and Maekar in the hair & knife scenes, communicating the hate (and self-hate to an extent) that he feels towards his own family and Maekar’s understanding of it but also his acknowledgement that acting on those violent feelings will only make you more broken, as they made him. PS. like the Jazz choice for beginning and ending, a bold one really makes the story seem timeless. PS2 I like Lyonel” I love you like a brother/hate you like a brother” quote. Summarizes the Baratheon family perfectly, might as well be talking about Stannis and Renly.

Bro I am legit having JJK withdrawals... How am I going to last until Wednesday?