Summary: House of the Dragon continues to deliver banger after banger, and the trend continues with Unbowed and Unbent. We have mommy issues galore, Westerosi abortion advocacy, and the continual exploration of what the moral responsibility of motherhood entails. Also, not sure if you've heard, but there are cats in the Red Keep and skinchangers(????) at Harrenhal. We have wounded male egos and the denial of feminine intuition, plus so much more on this episode of the pod

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Kindred's Curse Saga Playlist
• Fast 5: Super Sorry, Elle, Heartstopper, The Bear and My Lady Jane
• Feminist Follow-Through: National Network of Abortion Funds

Alright, so this week's House of the Dragon is giving love, but you're gonna suffer for it. And honestly, say less. We have a man who's literally walking through the swamp on a suicide mission because he's sad about a woman who doesn't think about him.

We've got Westerosi abortion advocacy and a couple different insights into a mother's love.

So grab your moon tea because we are about to dive into everything that happened on Unbowed and Unbent and Bestie, there's a lot to unpack right after this.

Hey besties, you know that weird little ache that you get when you finish a book, movie, or a TV show that just completely alters your brain chemistry? You know that feeling. When you close the cover or the credits roll and you're suddenly just supposed to move on with your life? Absolutely not.

Because you have theories. You have feelings. You probably have a new fictional boyfriend that you need to gush about. And honestly, you deserve a place where people can gather who get it. That's why I created 2 Femme, 2 Furious, a cultural salon and community space for the Shes the gays, and the they's who know that pop culture is never just about entertainment.

It's where we fall in love. It's where we make meaning of the world around us. And it's where we can figure ourselves out. And now with 2 Femme, 2 Furious, it's where we can finally find each other.

This is the kind of space that feels like a group chat with your smartest and coolest friends. Inside, there is Hot Girls Help, where community isn't just a concept, but a value that we practice. So when life gets heavy and you need help, this is where you can go for resources, support, or mutual aid. It's where we can show up for each other. On the pod I'm always saying it takes a village, and this

Right here is where we get to build one that is supportive and nurturing. There's also the Common Threads Book Club, which is basically the lowest pressure book club in existence. Every month we will choose a theme, and you can read any book in any genre at any length as long as it fits. We are just reading for joy and good conversations with our besties. There's the shared joy space where

We can put down some of the weight of the world and choose to notice the good things that are happening on purpose. You can share your weekly wins here. You can share your pets being unreasonably cute. You can share all of the beautiful, tender things that are happening in your life and in the world because radical joy is a form of resistance.

Every podcast episode will have its own discussion thread for you to meet in the chat and talk about what we are consuming together. Plus, there are additional spaces just for books, TV, or movies so you can spiral, obsess, analyze, and emotionally overinvest in whatever you are currently watching or reading. And yes, there will be bonus content starting with a full community deep dive into ACOTAR

which will include buddy reads, virtual hangouts, and bonus podcast episodes. There is also a community map so the people that you're laughing and crying with online might actually become your future coffee dates, your bookstore wandering partners, your I saw this and thought of you friends in real life.

There's also a monthly zine filled with themed submissions, member spotlights, recommendations, creativity, and all other sorts of piece of fangirl magic. And to deepen our feminist lore and action, every single month we will gather for cultural salons with guest experts

Who can teach us a little bit more about feminism, media, history, and culture, all while helping to build a shared library of knowledge and resources. This isn't just a fan page, and it isn't just a companion space for the podcast. It's a home for people who take their fangirling and their feminism seriously. All of that for $12 a month. Less than a movie ticket, and

More thoughts per dollar than anything else that's going on in your algorithm bubble right now. So if you've been looking for your people, the ones who will analyze symbolism with you like it's life or death, thirst over fictional characters with zero shame, send you memes at 2 a.m. Celebrate your wins like they are their own, and remind you that you are not alone and that we can still build a kinder, better, more equitable world together. Come on in.

We're saving you a seat. Come for the fangirling, stay for your found family, and leave knowing that you're part of something that is actually trying to create a world that we want to live in.

for more details, go and check out the link in the show notes.

Alright, everybody, welcome back to Femme & Furious. I am your host, Julia Rose Portela and we are about to get into some housekeeping before we dive into an episode of television that I really loved, even though I know a lot of people will probably be frustrated because it feels like maybe nothing happened in this episode, but this is like peak Game of Thrones energy to me. I love when we have players all over the board and they're setting up all of their pieces.

So that we can come together and have a good confrontation. I love when we get episodes like this where there's a lot of character stuff going on.

All right, so here's what's going on in the Femme & Furious universe. First and foremost, I have released a new episode series type. So if you're here and you're listening and you listen every week to House of the Dragon, first of all, thank you. Love you. but most of my episodes at this moment in time require some homework. Like you had to have seen the episode or you had to read these certain chapters. So I'm trying to add some more stuff into the feed

That's free of any homework for you. One of those episodes is already out in the world.

It's fast five. They will come out once a month, and

There will be five recommendations about what I'm watching or what content I'm consuming. and that'll give us some space to talk about some different properties that we aren't able to talk about in full on this podcast. So please, give me your recommendations and give me your suggestions on how I can make an episode like that better. I have a new email so you can send it over there. It's [email protected] at femnfurious.com.

We've got a new logo out in the world that you may have seen if you're pulling this up on your podcasting platform of choice. and there's going to be a new website that's following that. So I'm making it right now.

Last little tidbit. We've got three episodes left of House of the Dragon. I would love to hear from you about what you'd like me to cover next. So again, send me an email, bestie at feminfurious.com. And if you're on the Kindred Curse journey with me, we have finished Spark of the Everflame. That's all out in the world. We are starting with Glow of the Everflame this week, chapters one through 15.

On Friday. So I can't wait to chit chat with you about that. and that's it for housekeeping.

So let us take a chic peek at this episode of television. This is your spoiler warning. If you have not watched season House of the Dragon, season three, episode five, unbowed and unbent. You should leave. You should turn this off. You should go watch the episode and then come back.

The episode is written by Philippa Goslett, and it is directed by Nina Lopez Corrado. Here's your vibe check.

This week, House of the Dragon was really leaning on Peak Game of Thrones crutch energy, and it said, let's just take all of these subplots and see what happens.

We've got Criston Cole out here cosplaying as a guerrilla warfare guy, but really he's just having a full villain era breakdown because women don't love him back. that's a pretty big testament to his character. He'd rather die gloriously than live rejected, which, sir, like we've all been there, but we didn't necessarily need to march on a swamp about it. Meanwhile, at Harrenhal Aemond is

Being mommy issued

by a literal witch who may or may not be a goat, which is unclear.

But iconic either way. Aegon and Larys are having the world's worst boys' trip. And back at King's Landing, Alicent and Helaena are the emotional core of this episode. We've got the full-on pregnancy reveal, moon tea drama, an attempted jailbreak through a secret passage that goes nowhere, and Mysaria catching everyone in their lies.

We've got Rhaenyra who girl bossed a little too close to the sun and is now feeling the burnout of it. And we are about to get into all of it section by section because this episode.

Had a lot of really rich character moments, and that's the shit that I love in Game of Thrones. So.

Our feral factor is an eight out of ten and let's dive into who this episode is for. This episode is for a

Anyone who used their MySpace top eight

as like social currency and never fully recovered from that. If you liked any sort of toxic situationship on a CW drama, you liked this episode of television.

This episode of television is also for people who are melodramatic and who think that their eulogy will slap so hard that their ex will feel

The wait of it for forever.

So, with that being said, let us dive into this episode of television.

We will go through our Slay-by-slay We will look at our key feminist themes, history, cultural context, and more. We are going to break this episode down by location because I think that that is the easiest way to approach this episode. because we are finally at this like Game of Thrones energy where we've got people all over the map.

And we're going to all these different locations. And that's the shit that I loved when I watched Game of Thrones. So I'm excited to be back in this type of energy.

So we'll start at Harrenhal, okay? Alys Rivers is doing some goat-coated shit. And I don't really know what to think about it. So let's let's dive into all of it. No, I know I know what to think about it. Alys tells these like bounty hunters who are out looking for Aemond that he's not here.

But that there are ghosts and then

She like launches into full castle lore, like history tea for these men. She's like, you stupid uneducated men. You don't know the history of Harrenhal Hall. So she's going on this monologue, in which the cinematography of this was like chilling, by the way. It was so good. I mean, just so freaking good. and this monologue ends on her saying,

This castle breathes. She swallows the greedy, the heedless. Her founding stones were watered with the blood of men, and she's always thirsty. and then she takes a rock, she throws that rock backwards, a flash of lightning goes off, which like

Puts her in this chilling frame of being backlit by the spookiness of this castle. And then all of these bats start flying out and attacking the men. And then when the men get angry and go to seek their vengeance on Alys, all we get is the goat bleat So I have like a couple things to say.

About this. Number one

I love when magical people in any universe across any property, or like the spiritual people across any property of television, book, movies, whatever you name it, that describes something that typically is inanimate as sentient. And so not only does she say this castle breathes, it's got its own agenda, it's got its own plight.

She genders the castle. She calls the castle she. So Harrenhal Hall is officially girly pop number one.

Then on top of it.

got some questions about like the ambiguity of what Alys Rivers is. So

Wondering if she's a skin changer. There's like a line in season two when she's talking to Daemon and she says, I'm an owl stuck in a human body. And then we see this owl multiple times sort of like guarding over Harrenhal And every single time that Alys is introduced or leaving a scene, we get that goat bleat

I'm wondering if she's a skin changer.

They never directly outright say this in the book, and they're not really directly saying it in the TV show either.

But it's definitely a part of the Alys Rivers vibe, is that she just can kind of magically appear and disappear at will. I'm all for Alys Rivers striking fear into the hearts of men. I just think that there's nothing better than this. I mean, she reminds me so much of Geillis Duncan, not just because she's Scottish, but

That character alongside Alys Rivers are sort of these like beguiling characters, these ambiguous characters, these characters with a depth of secrets and a well of knowledge that isn't readily available to everybody else, and using that to their advantage to get what they want.

And for that reason, anytime that we have Alys on screen, I'm completely compelled by her. I just love her so much.

So in Harrenhal we also have Aemond who is having like guilt dreams over what he's done to Aegon. All of this like repressed tension between him and his brother essentially is coming up now.

And he sort of like tucks.

Into Alys's chest, like in this very maternal way, that she's holding him. And for the first time ever, maybe since this show has started, would I say that his face looks boyish, like genuinely looked childlike, or much more youthful. Like typically when we see

Aemond on screen, he's like mewing. Like he's moging. He's serving face. he's got that like cut jaw, he's got like the high cheekbones. but this is the first time that his face just genuinely does not feel so harsh or like so angular. it seemed so boyish to me. And he's whispering, mother, and not in sort of like

a slay kind of way, you know, but more in like a Targaryen mommy issues kind of way. And once again, Alys is just here for it. Alys is going to use what she can to get what she wants, which I think is, you know, the run of the mill at Harrenhal Hall.

Harrenhal is essentially like the therapy office of Westeros. People just come here and they are solving their unresolved traumas. And one of those things for Aemond is this prophecy that certainly has to be on his mind when he's in Harrenhal because

Helaena says to Aemond in season two, Aegon will be king again, he is yet to see victory, and you you will be dead. You are swallowed up in the god's eye, and you are never seen again.

So does she say Harrenhal explicitly? No. But sort of like Harrenhal, the Isle of Faces, the Godseye is all sort of in one particular area. with Harrenhal being sort of the closest property to the Godseye. So likely he is at the location where he will die. which is, you know.

Also true for one Daemon Targaryen, who was given a prophecy by Alys. So it's like this weird intersecting lines of Daemon and Aemond And that's not the last time that we're gonna talk about a parallel between the two of them.

I mean this parallel between Aemond and Daemon is something that they are constantly pulling at.

Aemond is going on and on about how

He admired Aegon growing up and he worshipped him and yet he was never seen favorably by his mother. and of course, like you have to think of Daemon here, who has basically said the same sentiment in season one. And

Alys replies to this and she says,

Sometimes the child that grieves her is the one a mother loves best. And

When Aemond asks, like, well, how do you know that? She says, Because I'm one who has been grieved. And whether or not this is true, this is a hundred percent a direct manipulation into the heart of Aemond Targaryen, who very clearly just wants the love of a mother. And so Alys is willing to step into this role and be sexualized in this role,

To what end? We don't 100% know at this point, but we do know what Alys's objectives are pretty clearly. She wants Harrenhal And now she's got a key player in this war on her side in order to potentially make that happen.

So there's something about Harrenhal and like Alys Rivers and what she is inducing in these men that is clearly bringing on mommy issues because the last time that Daemon was there, he was having weird sex dreams about his mom, and now Aemond is here doing the emotional equivalent.

And that brings us sort of through to like

The end of this episode where we haven't seen any of the dreams that Aemond is having as he's at Harrenhal, which is interesting because obviously we got a lot of it last year with Daemon. And honestly, like I love that stuff. So we just get this, you know, shot of Vhagar's eye opening and then Aemond waking up.

And Alys tells him at this point that Vhagar flew off in the night and no one knows where she is. Everyone in this episode is sort of crossing paths with the trail that Vhagar has left behind or is

searching and seeking Vhagar in some way and capacity

But

This is a very big blow to a healing Aemond He feels that he's nothing without his dragon. That's how they've been raised. and so again, we don't know where Vhagar is, and we don't know what Vhagar is out in the world doing right now. we just know that Aemond is on the mend, and losing Vhagar, quote unquote, is

A blow to his ego. and so by the time we get to the end of this episode, we have Alys who is being surrounded by a group of men who once again just go right to sexual assault. Like they go right to the threat of rape. And for other women, I would be highly concerned and I'd be even more annoyed, but Alys seemingly allows this to happen almost.

Provokes it in in many ways. And that's not victim blaming. That is me calling Alys out as the grand manipulator that she is, severely underestimated because of her station. and yet she sort of like watches and allows these men to circle around her, makes a big fuss, and then that.

stirs up Aemond to come and save the day. And she even says, like you've took a turn in your healing because it's not a physical healing that he needs at this point. It's an emotional one. and especially after saying that he's nothing without his dragon to be able to slay four men and quote unquote save the day for this, you know, woman that has been taking care of him. is

Something that is proving to him that he still is fearsome even without this thing.

And on top of it, if we go back to what Alys says at the beginning of the episode to these bounty hunters that come in and are looking for Aemond where she says that the castle feeds off of blood, that this castle is infused with the blood of the people who built it.

And that she is always thirsty, like she is a vampire and she wants to suck the blood out of all of these men. And not only does Daemon slay them right near all of this weirwood tree, but he kills one directly on it. literally shoves him through a branch, and so now this man is bleeding out literally into the weirwood tree.

I mean, and there's not a single thing in Westeros that is more interesting to me than any time that we get like mythos or mythology about the old world or the old gods. So the fact that these weirwood trees are a part of like the mythology of the old gods.

That they cry blood, that they have bases in their trunks, that they are used

As a way to watch over the world and allow the old gods to witness events that are happening in their lands as this like path of connection is like super interesting to me. And so there's something about Harrenhal being like in the gods' eye with all these weirwood trees.

And so, like having somebody be killed, you know, in this castle that is surrounded by these Weirwood trees and like this magic haunting of Harrenhal that is constantly happening, induced by the magic of these weirwood trees. to see somebody literally impaled on one and bleeding out into it, to me is this like.

Invoking of the old gods or this sacrifice to the old gods, whatever that may be, that Alys is sort of engaging with. I think it's just really interesting. I don't know. Anytime that we're at Harrenhal Hall, I'm like the most interested. I just think that she is just a freaking boss. and I love her so freaking much.

so let's take it to Rook's rest.

where Aegon and Larys are on the world's most toxic road trip.

So while we have Aemond at Harrenhal talking about how mother loved Aegon best, you know, we have Aegon sort of saying the same thing. basically being like because I was the firstborn son.

I wasn't allowed to enter into these championships he says, I don't even remember the the pretext. I just know that it was probably something like my father didn't want me to fall off of a horse. And the way that, you know, he felt very guarded and protected and sheltered in a way that Aemond was not, because he was the firstborn and he

Basically, it is like, I'm jealous of Aemond. felt that he was constantly in Aemond's shadow because Aemond was a better fighter. Aemond was super smart and took to High Valyrian much faster. and then he like kind of concludes this whole monologue by saying Alicent loved Aemond more, in like this direct contrast to Aemond's own belief that Alicent loved Aegon more.

and like the reality is like she probably loves Helaena best, you know, this way that she feels that she has failed both of these boys, that she's failed Daeron by sending him off,

See all of the ways that Alicent has unintentionally failed her children, and that she has picked a different path of how to raise each one, which is not uncommon. Every kid needs a little something different. So you can't always treat every kid the same way. You can't be the same mother or the same parent to your children because your children are just different people and they're going to need different parts of you, different aspects of you. and so.

The way that like women are just so limited in their choices when it comes to a world like Westeros, that Alicent has made different choices for each one of these children, and none of them feel loved or supported or cared for by her. and how that weighs on her, and how she feels that she needs to redeem herself because of that, and the

The fact that all of them are making these different choices that she has weighing on her as their like moral and ethical compass as a mother, like the moral responsibility that falls in motherhood. We've talked about this on the show before, but like so fascinating to watch, especially as we get to these conversations that we'll talk about a little bit later between Helaena and Alicent. So

As Aegon's going on this tirade, this you know complete monologue about his childhood.

Larys fucking claps back. he basically is like you had every single advantage. You had the best tutors, you have a dragon, you

Had everything that you wanted, and you were lazy. Instead of being a good king, you were out fucking and drinking and doing whatever it is that you wanted to fucking do. And so he says, You were a terrible king, but worse than that, you are a terrible man. And this is coming from somebody like Larys, who is such an interesting and compelling character, right? Because Larys isn't somebody who

is particularly likable. he's like our stand-in for a

A little finger type of character.

But we like a character like that in the Game of Thrones universe because that's a character that's going to play their different allegiances and play their cards close to their chest in order to maintain the very little bit of power that they have and though they are continuously disadvantaged, take whatever resources they have and make sure that they gain something out of it.

They're resourceful, they're sneaky,

Larys is technically somebody who should have an inch of power in this world. He's technically the head of House Strong at this point.

And yet because he's crippled and because he is suspected to have like killed his own family is essentially a nobody in this world. has a lot of power stripped from him. And it's just so fascinating to watch because

Larys is master of whispers. and he is in charge of the dungeons and ended up gaining a lot of power. I mean, this is somebody who ended up having Otto Hightower locked up and saved specifically as a bargaining chip for his own life and his own agenda.

Knowing that it was potential that the blacks would one day come back and take over King's Landing. So like he is somebody who you know, fights and scrapes for every bit of power that he has. And for him to say this to Aegon, I I think, you know, between Aegon like having this journey through

His loss of power, and the way that that is impacting his experience of self. and then to have Larys say this to him and show him that this is who he is, through the eyes of somebody else that was under his direct influence is I think beginning to

lift the veil for Aegon a little bit. He's starting to maybe wipe off some of the the steam that's blocking his rose colored glasses

I just thought that this entire story, albeit very short, in this episode, between Aegon and Larys is some of the most juiciest bits, in this episode. And then of course we have Tyland showing up, so Tyland not dead.

In Rook's rest, though completely adorned in like

The fullest Lannister get up. so totally fits in. And now that, you know, Garrick is clocking this conversation that Larys and

Tyland are having then goes to kind of confront Aegon, in which Aegon then kills him with sunfires.

scale.

And while this is probably going to turn out to be a bigger problem next episode, thought that the line You will call me your grace as he stabs this guy Garrick is just really great. just a banger of a line.

Alright, so let's pop over to Tumbleton, where Ormund Hightower is once again being a thin-skinned twat. so we see that there is a message that is delivered to

Ormund in Tumbleton that says gold blood spilled,

Three marked in the tally, the account lies open. and then we see him go and chit-chat with Daeron who basically calls Hightower history boring as fuck. He's like, this shit is so dry. and then immediately backtrack when Ormund is getting annoyed over this. And Ormund uses like approval and validation.

As a control tactic in real time. So he's like, it would please me to hear you recite the histories. so Daeron you know, sort of caves and does what he does best, and he is trying his best to appease.

Ormund.

So I just want to say that they're playing Cyvasse which is like a book invention. I don't think we've seen it on Game of Thrones ever, if I can recall correctly. It's like a chess adjacent, but it's specific to the Game of Thrones universe. So that's why they're playing sort of sideways. It looks like a chessboard, it sort of has the vibe of chess, but it's not the same thing. So it's called Cyvasse

Which was really cool to see that in real time, to see them playing it, especially because the symbolism of this ends up being very heavy-handed. you know, which we'll talk about in a second. So Ormund gives a whole speech on

Meria

Martell. And

First of all, this speech is like a masterclass in backhanded misogyny, right? he first of all credits her as the only woman gifted with a military mind, which is incorrect and not true. and why do I say that? Because when I think about Westerosi history, especially when you think about something from like the Game of Thrones universe, you have to think about Arya and then you have to think about Nymeria.

And Nymeria is named after a princess who predates

Meria Martell. So

Anyway, we're not gonna get into the story of Nymeria on this podcast, but

The reason why Ormund says this is because he can't resist. He's so sexist and so prejudiced, like looking at women through the eyes of this very specific lens of his prejudice. and so he says, like, she was gifted a military mind, but basically, because she was gifted a military mind, she was fugly. Like capital F U G L Y. she ain't got no alibi, she's ugly. Okay.

he can't resist adding she was a blind princess. She was hideous, hairless, she was thick of waist. So he's basically like she was fat, bald, and ugly. Because apparently, to Ormund, an attractive woman would never be able to have a military mind like this, and never be able to be a man in battle. And one of the things that

Ormund also does in this monologue that he's giving about Meria Martell is that he essentially admits that the Targaryens have a lot of strength. He's like they've got strength in numbers because they've got a large military, and they've got strength in their obscene dragons. I mean, he can't even.

go out of his way to revere them. He literally thinks they're an obscenity.

but he goes on to tell the story about guerrilla warfare, which we'll see a little bit later with Criston Cole, where

Meria Martell realized that she was never going to be able to defend Dorne.

from an attack on the conquering Targaryens, right? and so she drives her people sort of underground to prevent dragon warfare.

so

Why is Ormund giving Daeron the speech? He's giving Daeron the speech to once again sow doubt about his Targaryen lineage. not necessarily whether Daeron is Targaryen, but whether or not Daeron should be relying on his Targaryen nature

essentially every time that Ormund is able to separate Daeron from his Targaryen nature is a way that he's able to keep him manipulatable and that works to Ormund's benefit because Ormund is seeking out his own gain and power right now. the other thing is

Daeron then asks, well, is Meria Martell then a hero or a villain? And Ormund doesn't answer this question. he sort of chuckles at it, but he doesn't directly answer it. And this is a good question for Daeron because.

Daeron is a Targaryen, right?

Ormund then says, a cunning mind can resist the most savage of beasts. And what happens right after this, again, very, very heavy-handed in the symbolism here, but

Daeron wins Saivas with a dragon piece. So he puts the piece, right? This big looming piece over all of the other pieces. puts him in the middle, puts this dragon piece in the middle, realizes that he's pissed his uncle off because not only is Daeron a cunning mind,

But also he has one of those savage, obscene beasts. and so he gets to be both because he is both High Tower and Targaryen. and so he is making this point right here to his uncle, not obviously intentionally, or perhaps intentionally, though he quickly backs away. He's like, I got lucky, let's start again. He goes to take the piece off of the board, and his uncle.

Sort of slams his hand down. Ormund slams his hand down and is holding his hand over Daeron's hand, which is holding the dragon. And that's exactly what Ormund is doing.

He's trying his best to keep Daeron on a leash. He's got the dragon locked up to the best of his ability because he knows that when that dragon gets full size and Daeron realizes his power and strength because of Tessarian, it's over for Ormund. So if he can't break into his mind and break his spirit and get him to a place where he can be trusted and

feared perhaps even now, then like Ormund knows that it's game over for him. So

It doesn't really matter how obscene Ormund finds the dragons.

Literally all Daeron has to do is say dracarys one time to Tessarion and like Ormund would be girl dinner for my girly pop over there. So I don't know. I just loved this whole scene. and I I I really love watching Ormund.

Like it's good to have a villain again, somebody to really root against. not the just the greens versus the blacks, even though you know Ormund is part of the Greens, but we come into this story loving both Alicent and Rhaenyra and realizing that the depth of their love for each other and their affection for each other over many decades,

Is something that is like the emotional core of the show. And so even if you're rooting for Rhaenyra to get on the throne, you're also not really rooting for the demise of Alicent to a certain degree. and so to have like this villain that's finally here, who is opposing Rhaenyra in every way,

The pockets of the high towers run deep. So he can afford to go and cut out more trees. They have resources. They have money. And they're using money

To literally buy people off because Rhaenyra has none. Her coffers are empty. She's got no money. She can't pay the gold cloaks. So what is

Ormund able to do? He's so wealthy that he's able to print coins with Daeron's face on it, even though this is not standard at all in Westeros. and so not only is he giving these people what they want, which is fucking to get paid, right? and and thinking about the fact that Hugh has asked multiple times how to get paid.

that the blacks have sort of reneged on every

promise that they've offered to people that are helping them secure the throne, and how that's causing them some bad blood. and and then they're not paying the gold cloaks. And so you have a character like Ormund who can come in and say, Well I can pay you. And it's also going to be imprinted with the king that I'm raising up, which is Daeron Targaryen. So

Just brilliant, brilliant stuff when it comes to everything that's going on with Ormund. And he is an incredible villain and a formidable man and a dangerous one. And I'm excited to watch him because I think he's

great.

So let us go over to King's Landing and let's talk about the Alicent and Helaena show.

So finally, finally, we have cats All over the fucking Red Keep, and this is my jam. You could not make me any happier. The only reason I would literally ever want to live in the Red Keep ever is to hang out with cats.

That's a cat cafe before they were popular.

It's just fire. It's a whole mood.

Orwyle brings Alicent the moon tea. And he's basically like, I can help you right now, but this is the last time I'm gonna have to start telling Rhaenyra Like I can't be disloyal to her. Sorry. and Alicent understands. I I thought that this was like a pretty good conversation between the two of them.

Here's what I'll say. Not only does Helaena do like a full Jon Snow she's like, I don't want it. but

They end up having this conversation where Alicent is like, this is Moon Tea it's going to help you have an abortion here in Westeros. guess what? I've done it when I've brought shame on myself. Rhaenyra's done it when she's brought shame on herself. And like, you can do it now too. And I really love that Helaena just.

basically is like this is mine. This baby is mine. It's my own. It's mine.

This is just like a harrowing

Way for a woman to express agency and bodily autonomy in a world like Westeros, where women have so little of it. And we've watched literally almost every episode of this season have some sort of rape or sexual assault. So, like the fact that this is just the world that they have to live in, where you know, and not so distant from our own world, where somebody who

wants to be a mother, like Helaena, has to make these unbearable choices because of the weight of the crown.

And how this one thing that women have in this world, which is essentially some modicum of choice, whether or not they want to bring a child into this world, is something that is consistently weaponized against them. And in particular, right now for Helaena. So

This conversation then bleeds into a further conversation about motherhood and this concept of.

a mother's unconditional love, in this conversation that Alicent and Helaena have, where Alicent is like, We need to go and we need to go today.

Helena's like, okay, but what about Jaehaera And Alicent is basically like, you know what? Maybe it would be good for her to be sort of a ward, aka adopted by Rhaenyra Rhaenyra is not gonna cause her any harm. But like, we can't risk that she makes any noise and diverts.

Our attempt to get out of here. Helaena calls out the hypocrisy and the bullshit of all of it. She goes, You look away when you lie. But there is true irony or hypocrisy in the fact that what Alicent is so desperate to do, which is get her and Helaena to safety, is something that she cannot see and respect.

That Helaena is doing. She does not look at Helaena as a mother, even though Helaena now is. She only can look at her as her daughter. And that is taking away this critical role that Alicent knows that she feels as a mother, and the moral and ethical responsibility that she feels as a mother. She feels that Helaena is her last chance at redeeming herself.

For feeling like she's failed as a mother. And yet she can't let go of the fact that Helaena is also a mother

And has the same desires that as a mother to her daughter, Helaena feels the need to not abandon Jaehaera and not leave her behind. and in fact, refuses to do so, and that is so deeply frustrating to Alicent, and it's causing tension between them because Alicent can only protect her for so long.

And is trying her best to deliver this incredibly hard truth to Helaena, which is that.

Rhaenyra is going to have no option but to kill this baby. That this is going to be another threat to Rhaenyra's reign. And that if Alicent was in the same position, she would do the same thing. And where Alicent has already succumbed to this idea or philosophy that being in a position of power is going to force you to do things that you don't want to do. And that is going to change you irrevocably.

Reneira rejects that when her and Alicent have this conversation. But Helaena, who has expressed sentiments where she said, I was happier before I was queen, can understand perhaps where Alicent is coming from, and yet she will not bend and will not allow herself to be overridden in her agency and autonomy. even when Alicent's like, just pretend that this moon tea is regular tea. And

Helaena sort of knocks it away and is like, and yet it's not. It's not, though. It's not regular tea. And it's going to put me in a position to do something that I don't want to do. And you are not going to be the person to force me to do it. And, you know, Alicent goes out of her way then to protect her with Mysaria and essentially tries to use Mysaria's feelings.

about Rhaenyra against her in order to buy her silence.

And we know from this conversation that Mysaria and Daemon had a couple episodes ago that Mysaria is wondering if this deal that she had made with Alicent, that Rhaenyra had made with Alicent, is born of this affection and romantic connection that is like underlying their relationship. And Daemon sort of wonders the same thing.

and is agreeing, right? And you know, Alicent here is giving Mysaria a different perspective where she says, I know what it's like to be

Basking in the glow of this person that you so admire. Guess what? I admired Rhaenyra too. and she chose Daemon and she chose him a long time ago. and so she's sowing these seeds of doubt about

What she suspects that Mysaria might be feeling and experiencing as somebody who is in close proximity to Rhaenyra

And so when Alicent attempts to buy her silence, Mysaria's You would have me keep this from her. And she says, I'm already her prisoner. And then she goes to point out, as you once were. so she's pointing out to Mysaria that, like, our station as these people who are.

Prisoners and cannot win the affection of this person, Rhaenyra doesn't actually mean anything. I'm her prisoner, but what does that actually mean? Because you were her prisoner too, and now you're sitting on her crown council. Guess what? My history with her is longer and deeper. and she doesn't say that, but she insinuates it. So this is such a good conversation between the two of them, and

and so I I wanna talk a little bit about Helaena and like these little snippets of prophecy that we're getting from her. So she says about Aemond, he's alive.

She then says he burns without fire. So is this his physical stab wound? Like, you know, sometimes if you get hurt, it feels like a burning sensation.

Or is it alluding to this?

Torment of what he's going through, the guilt that he is experiencing about Aegon, this confrontation of his mommy issues that he's feeling with Alys, or is it alluding to something bigger that we haven't gotten to yet? so that's something to kind of note. And then again, later on.

She is like, I need to see the moon. I need to go outside. I need to see the moon. And everybody is just like, Helaena, like, you'll have to watch it from the window. Just whatever. she's iconic and she's unhinged, and I have no notes. I love Helaena on her little prophecy game. she's the one that's paying attention to the cats, okay? Cats walk in back and forth, kind of like mewing and meowing, and

She's like, mom, that's abnormal behavior. We should trust the animals. if you are listening to this podcast and you don't have a cat, let me tell you something. You will never have a closed door again in your house if you have a cat. None. any single time that there is a door closed in my house, my cats sit in front of it. They want access to every room. There is one room.

in my house where I do not let the door be open for my cats. I have it closed because it's a a safety hazard for them, to be honest. They have been sitting in front of that door

Mewing and meowing like I have.

denied them a treat, like I have starved them of of food. A cat will never accept a closed door. So the fact that this cat is pacing back and forth and then they're like, hmm, let's open it up. So it's a secret passage that they discover. They head down there and they discover, you know, in a dramatic kind of way that the wall is blocked off, that the passageway is sealed up.

and of course the the irony of this is that it's the high towers themselves who would have sealed the passages off.

likely after the events of Blood and Cheese, that's when this happened.

And of course they find themselves in a precarious situation at the end of this because now they're stuck. They can't get back out.

but now they can't go forward, and then they end up snuffing out their torch by accident. So not good.

so let's stay at the Red Keep, but let's talk about Rhaenyra and you know, sort of the blacks, Daemon and all of this stuff. So, first and foremost, we have a Crown Council meeting where Addam and Daemon both are just talking for and over.

The women in their lives, which is really fucking annoying. So Addam, while well-intentioned, being like, Hey, we just got back in today. You can't send us back out on another mission, because Beala needs to eat. And Baela who was halfway out the door ready to obey this command from Rhaenyra, is furious that he has stepped in on her behalf when she was already.

ready to go. she looks at him with such disdain and then is like, I'm ready to fly. And Rhaenyra pulls the task away and gives it to Daemon instead, who flat out rejects Rhaenyra and her direct order. So not looking so good for Rhaenyra in this moment. but also Daemon does see past her

grief spiral and her revenge spiral and tells her the truth.

He basically tells her that now that she's in this position of power, that revenge really shouldn't be her priority. that she's underselling herself. And he reminds her again and again over many episodes, and a few times this episode, he's like, You're the queen of dragons. This is beneath you to be.

doing all of this stuff and while her crown council is addressing all of these different issues that need to be taken care of, that need to be a priority, all she can think about is Vhagar, Vhagar, Vhagar. She keeps coming back to it and she can't let it go.

And I I just think that the way that they are framing Aegon and Rhaenyra in these different positions where Aegon has nothing and no one left. Like all he fucking has is Larys Strong and still he carries himself with like the unflappable confidence that only a man could or only a a king could and is consistently repulsed.

That people don't recognize him and that he has no power and refuses to bend even though he has no power. He's been proclaimed dead. he's maimed so badly that no one can discern who he is. and yet like

holds himself still in a higher esteem versus Rhaenyra

Who is like slowly seeping into this story of paranoia that she's consistently telling herself, where she's got a lot of people around her, but now she doesn't know who to trust. She's got Daemon, who has just, you know, prioritized Rhaena and Sheep Stealer over her, which is a difficult choice.

Now you've got Orwyle and Mysaria who have done something explicitly in secrecy, you know, against Rhaenyra for Alicent in this episode. and so when those things kind of come out, they're going to force Rhaenyra to spiral even further into the sense of anxiety that she is feeling. And it is a deep sense of anxiety, and that

Weight of the pressure that she feels that she's under right now is only being emphasized by her gender and the fact that she is a woman and the fact that it is things about her femininity that are being held against her, right? So the queen of bastards,

Which is like a specific insult, not to the boys particularly, but to her, the mother. and so we have like this use of her femininity against her, and the way that this is just an additional thing that is stacked against her. Daemon pointing it out in this episode that, you know, as a woman, it's going to be harder for her to accomplish all that she wants to do because people will be consistently expecting her to fail.

And so she needs to not put these petty grievances ahead of like real progress that she could be making.

And calling out her mistakes.

So let's sit with the sept scene for a second because as patronizing as Daemon is right here, telling her that she's a woman and she'll always face opposition, I think it's very astute that he acknowledges that her opportunity on the throne is not the same as everybody else's. But he also gets to the heart of what she's doing, which is being idealistic.

It's also in this conversation that he confirms, like, yeah, somebody's taken out the gold cloaks from within. So we have an enemy from within. and people walk into the sept. So at some point they switch to high valyrian in order to have this conversation privately, in which she insults him in high valyrian. She's like, Ooh, Daemon, he's supposed to be so revered, and like, look at what's happening with the gold cloaks. I thought you were taking care of this, and like nothing's getting taken care of.

And he switches back to the common tongue to insult her, though it is a truthful insult, in front of the entire sept and everyone listening. So he like belittles her sort of at every opportunity. but he does say to her, You are more than this. And this is like weirdly romantic because he's basically saying, once again, this is beneath you, you are the queen of dragons.

You could be so much more than you're allowing yourself to be. He's told her this over the course of so many episodes that he thinks that she's selling herself short.

And so there's something about it in like the part of me that like really loves Daddy Daemon and also loves a morally gray man that is like, if I was reading this in a book, I would be turned on by this. But when I'm watching it and I'm seeing the way that he switches back to the common tongue to say this in front of the entire sept and all that could be listening, if is so fucking insulting to Rhaenyra. and this is when Rhaenyra then

expresses the sentiment of her anxiety, the depth of her paranoia, where she says, Something stirs against me, something crouched, something formless,

A cold presentiment.

and so you know what I always say on this podcast is we trust a woman's intuition, and she's right. There is something that is looming. she doesn't know where Aemond and Vhagar are. She doesn't know what has happened to Aegon. And Ormund is dismantling her reign from the inside out. and so Daemon like dismisses.

Her intuition dismisses this as something that is

fabricated because she's tired and this has been a long journey and she's grieving and all of this stuff. he's basically like you hear the wind and you think it's omens, but it's not. The the thing is that

This couldn't be more of a threat to her. and it's when somebody goes that deep into an anxiety spiral that they are a highly dangerous person. They are being wound up to set off at any particular moment. And that is when people make drastic moves. And so I think we can expect something drastic from Rhaenyra by the end of the season because nobody is validating her feelings. least of all her fucking husband.

And it's only setting her off more to not have any answers and to not be getting these conclusions of things that she needs, because those are the things that are sparking her anxiety. To know where Vhagar is is to soothe some of the anxiety that she has. And then she can go on and have the mental capacity and the emotional capacity to deal with the next thing.

I'm not saying that that's the rational way to go about things all of the time, especially not when you're a ruler

And

the prosperity and security of the realm is contingent on like your stability, but you know, we're watching the descent into madness right now for Rhaenyra so

Last little tidbit here, we have Rhaenyra then going to watch Joffrey sleep, which she's like half hidden behind this door, like in shadows. she seemed very visibly afraid. Like it seemed that way when she puts it off. She's like, I'll see Joffrey later when I'm not so busy.

But I think the loss of Luke and Jace has weighed so heavily on her and this is like not her last child, but essentially

This war and her

Fight to claim the throne has lost her the things that are the most precious to her. And now she's watching the next most precious thing on her list. and fearing it. I I think that we're going to watch her have a little bit of a struggle trying to have this connection with Joffrey, wanting him nearby to know that he's safe and that she can protect him, but not wanting to get close enough feel.

feel the weight of the grief that seems inevitable for her heirs that he's going to be lost in some capacity. so this was like just such a beautiful shot. and I really loved watching this. And I think again, this testament of like what it is to be a mother and the show is really looking at Alicent and Rhaenyra and looking at Aemond and Aegon and looking at Helaena and Jaehaera

And like how all of these people are directly impacted by the mother and how Rhaenyra and Alicent, as like these two matriarchs of their family, are operating and how they navigate their relationship with their children and how that directly impacts.

The events of this war and what has happened is just like such a fascinating thing that I think the show is doing. And then of course we have Daemon who is rallying the Gold Cloaks. He's basically like, guess what? Us Targaryens, we're known to be conquerors. Not sure if you've heard of him, but Aegon was the conqueror.

and he's like, so if you stick with us and you put in the work now, when the seven realms becomes nine and then nine becomes twelve, he's just basically like, We are dragon riders, we are gods. Rhaenyra might have told me to keep my eyes down and focus on smaller problems, but I can't help it. My eyes are on the horizon, and I just know that and my

Niece wife are going to take over all of these different areas and we're going to conquer them and we're going to have prosperity and expansion and wealth and guess who's going to get the finest silks, the most gold, all of this stuff. It's you, the gold cloaks, who I need right now to work for no money.

so if you keep working for no money, I'll give you a pizza party later on. Cool.

And that leads us to Daemon's like really disturbing ending here, which is on a feast for traitors,

And Daemon who is violent and gritty and

Running operations like Blood and Cheese.

This is one of the first times that I've really seen him.

disturbed by what he's seen. This shakes him up, I believe.

And then last but not least, let us go to the Riverlands where we're just gonna talk about Criston Cole for like 1.2 seconds.

Criston Cole has expressed sentiments to Gwayne about how he doesn't have a place in the world, how he doesn't belong. and Gwen offers Cole a post at Hightower. this could have been a really cool off-ramp for Criston Cole if he wasn't spiraling so far out of control.

He no longer values his own life because he's seen Dragon Warfare and he's basically just like, for fucking what? We're not gonna win. So he is on this suicide mission and he knows that he's on his this suicide mission.

We see how absolutely agonizing this march through the riverlands is. Their horses are getting.

Bucked up by crow's feet. They've got leeches on them. I mean

It's raining, it's not comfortable. and at every opportunity they're seeming to be bested and yet

Criston can't help but see this through. because Criston Cole is just a lover boy who can't handle female rejection. if we're being honest. So he's rejected by Rhaenyra. He, you know, basically says to Rhaenyra, like, let's run away together and start a family. And Rhaenyra like, I'm the fucking

Crown princess, you're out of your fucking mind. I want that throne. and so what does Criston Cole do? He resorts to petty tactics that leads him straight into the arms of Alicent, and then he's rejected by Alicent. so it's very telling. Number one, it lets us know who Criston is, right?

Criston is somebody who clearly does not feel like he has a place in the world, says as much to Gwayne last episode, and is seeking out this like concept of creating and establishing a family with these women to supplement for something that he feels like he doesn't have. and on the other hand, it is this concept that I really love to look at, which is like,

The nice guy, quote unquote, it causes more harm than good. and the nice guy is one of the archetype of men that I think is the most dangerous to women because they present as lovers and allies, but when women will express their autonomy or express their boundaries or

reject whatever notion that the the nice guy is putting out, they get violent or petty. and this is exactly what's happening with with Criston here.

He's like, Gwayne bro, as nice as your offer is, there's a difference between

Being part of your house and having a home. And Criston just wants a fucking home. Like he wants a home and a family. Like he really just needs to get away from all of this. He's got a pretty high perception of himself. He's like, I'm the best warrior in all of the realm. and I'm going to die a glorious death where I'm unbent to either one of these people, to the blacks or the fucking greens.

And it's going to be so amazing that they're going to sing songs of it and Alicent will hear of it

And all I kept thinking about is like Criston Cole, you would really love AOL Instant Messenger, where you could leave a cryptic lyric on your away message for your crush to read. you were born at the wrong time. like just so unwavering in his need to be wanted and to be seen in this particular capacity that.

In the wake of his rejection from Alicent decides that to die a death that is so glorious she hears about it is the only possible way that he could get the validation for the affection that he's looking for from her, which is seriously unhinged and

I'm here for it.

And

That brings us

To our feminist follow-through, which I'm just going to throw back to an organization that I've already highlighted on this podcast, which is the National Network of Abortion Funds. so I'm going to tag a link to that in the show note

This is a grassroot organization that is determined to build a world where all reproductive options are valued, accessible, and stigma-free. So they believe that all people know how best to care for their own bodies and build their own families. And they are committed to ensuring that the conversation about racial, economic, and reproductive justice includes.

The people that are most affected by the barriers to abortion access. So, I will put a link in the show notes. You can donate if you'd like to, but there are other ways that you can get involved. They have local events, they have campaigns,

they have all sorts of resources on intersectionality and reproductive justice. They have resources about how to talk to people about abortion. they have an option if you are somebody who needs an abortion.

They have all sorts of resources to help you find the funds to make sure that you are able to take time off of work to cover your travel cost if you need to cross state barriers, or give you any sort of additional resources that you may need if you're somebody who's in this position. So, as nice as it is to have a fantastical concoction like moon tea, in these sort of fantasy stories.

In our waking world right now, we are people who have to deal with, you know, the very real limitations of abortion access in at least in America, So if that's something that you're interested in, that's your feminist follow-through, go do some homework on it

and

let us dive into the burn book where we will look at the superlative for this episode, starting with the bold and bothered award.

This award is strictly for the femme and the furious, and it goes to the quote or the moment that really relays the most feminine rage. And it goes to Rhaenyra, who says to Daemon, Have I somehow found myself back on Dragonstone? Where my voice again must compete with yours? I love this.

The She-ro Award goes to the baddie who is the most inspiring, or the moment that is the most empowering, and it goes to Alicent downing the moon tea on behalf of protecting Helaena, even though we see her later on literally trying to soothe her cramps.

She literally brings on her period and is in physical discomfort, and that's a She-ro to me. The Femme Fatal Award. You know, for the most smash the patriarchy moment of the episode. I'm going to combine this with the Speak Your Truth trophy, which is the best quote or line, because

It's literally Alys Rivers saying this castle breathes. She swallows the greedy, the heedless. Her founding stones were watered with the blood of men and she's always thirsty. And then throwing the rock, having the backlight, and like all of the bats coming out. I just fucking love her. I think she's a fucking boss ass bitch, and I would love to be her friend. I just feel like we would have a really good time together.

And that leaves us with the honorary heartthrob because I'm just a girl, okay? And I want to talk about the most swoonworthy moments. And it was really hard for me to put my feelings for Daddy Daemon aside. and honestly lift up another man that I love on the show that I don't talk about nearly as much because he doesn't get as much screen time, and that's Addam of Hull. Addam having a major crush on Baela and being like, guess what? if they try to pawn you off to some.

you know, old man that you don't actually wanna marry, I will come and get you and we will fly into exile together. And you know what?

Okay, Addam of Hall. I see your game. I see your game. I just think you're cute, and I really love you. so thank you so much for listening. That's our episode for today. I will see you on Friday, Glow of the Everflame, chapters 1 through 15. Next Tuesday, I will be back. House of the Dragon,

Episode six

And until then, you are the realm's greatest warrior, and you will die as such,