A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms 1x04 Full Reaction!
Added 2026-02-09 20:55:35 +0000 UTC
Comments
Again, you got both The Irishman and GoodFellas on the brain with all the Aegon on everyone’s face. On top of, I swear, I can hear that somewhere my dad is laughing at how vindicated he is over why he felt it was not a good idea to use junior names. Looking forward to how things go with the little pissant trying to steal what Rhaenyra thinks she should have. As this is my first, far as I’m aware, introduction to Dexter, yes, the little lad is stepping up. Not sure about the reasons for the shifting of the dialogue. Love Baelor and Maekar both being disgusted by what a cowardly rabbit Aerion is. Which does put some of what Raymun said into question. Good words on Bertie picking choice spots to glare at Aerion, and I’m loving how Sam, and the show as a whole, isn’t treating Maekar as just a one-note villain, even calling him a villain sounds a stretch. Daeron makes a good proper introduction complete with some nice nuance. Looking forward to more. And good catch about Dunk being more agreeable to the cheating when it’s his own life on the line. Helping too is that it’s already an unfair fight, so the human thing would be to take every advantage that you can. I recall that you spoke of the deviation from the source material as it pertained to Steffon, and over the weekend, a few others mentioned the particulars. Whilst not completely undermined, it DOES have that thing of a, “You mean the guy who was introduced as an asshole turned out to be an asshole?”, sort of feel, thus slightly undercutting the gut punch, as you say. Lyonel is sharp to clock that which is confirmed to us. Leading to everyone on youtube’s reaction highlight of the week where Baelor decides to be a mensch. The theme song withholding worked as a fantastic joke/subversion of expectations. Now it does hold the similar energy of how you don’t hear the Imperial March during Darth Vader’s scenes in Obi-Wan until the final one. Or in Rogue One, how you have the two subdued presentations before the hallway scene with what sounds like a demonic choir from Hell literally singing the Imperial March shortly before you get one damn fine classic presentation of the theme to close the scene out. See if we get the credits sequence next week. Thoughts on this fandom/world: The low point for me is season five of Game of Thrones, complete with, as I’ve said, the one scene that I REFUSE to watch ever again. The two specific grievances that I have with the last season notwithstanding, plus the legitimate criticisms with House of the Messy that just haven’t bugged me that much; I’ve overall been fairly positive with all of this. Main overall downside is where it pertains to favorite characters. Particularly when I’ve gotten rather severe backlash for who my favorites are, and who I have my problems with that others seem to love. At least here, everyone seems fairly united about hating Aerion, making me say to people, “You know what? I ain’t going to argue with you on that one.” But yeah, it does seem to be sounding like a consensus view that this last scene of this week’s episode does seem to have gotten the fandom very happy in a way that it hasn’t been for some time.
Thomas Corp
2026-02-09 23:14:49 +0000 UTCWhenever anyone asks what I think of the Superbowl, I say "I'm not a very big baseball fan." They seem to get the hint. About the only time I've cared about any of them is when it led to the Pearson triplets being conceived. I imagine "What the fuck is a trial of seven" would become a huge catchphrase if "Who the fuck are the Knutsens" didn't already exist. Even better that this is the show's way of getting across exposition that the book can just put in Dunk's head. Aemon's reveal to Jon of who he is has some very revealing tidbits if you really think about exactly which family members he mentions, and in what order. Though the really interesting thing now is that it removes an entire generation, saying that Aerys was Aegon's son without his book son Jaeherys II in between. One of several changes the show made to the ancient lore with no one dreaming there could one day be spinoff shows that actually covered them, and House of the Dragon did probably the smartest thing by just casually retconning some of them back to how they were originally, but this is a rather bigger one to try to pull off so I have no idea if they'll go for it if it ever comes up.
Ryan
2026-02-09 22:50:16 +0000 UTCTime to get back to the show where right now everyone has some Aegon their face. And we get the tidbit that there have been four kings with that name by this time. Starting with the actual Aegon the Conqueror (there's now word of a show being made about him, but I have no idea how you make that work dramatically when the story in the books is just scene after scene of "a bunch of armies gather together, then the dragons show up and roast them all"), then the second we're well familiar with as the little pissant trying to steal what Rhaenyra should have. And from there...well, it's not exactly a spoiler to say A Targaryen wins the Dance of Dragons, but I'd still better stop there. We also see here just how good an actor Dexter is, with everything about his demeanor changing now that he's not hiding his identity. One very odd adaptation choice is they give all of Leo Tyrell's lines to Baelor, but still went to the trouble of putting him in the scene, just silently sitting there. I have to wonder if there was some last minute rewriting there, like when they had to explain why a noble from Essos was slumming as a battlefield nurse. Bertie gets some choice bits where Baelor makes his feelings about Aerion very clear just by which parts of his speech he chooses to look at his nephew during, and even Maekar clearly doesn't think much of him, putting some big holes in Raymun's thoughts on the family, however good a guy he may be in general. As understandable as Dunk's reaction to seeing Daeron again is, we all want to say to him "I know you're getting a thirst for it, but you need to save some for the rest of them." At this rate, everyone's going to think the sight of that hair color is like hearing "cleaning woman" for him. Henry Ashton's also quite impressive here, giving a lot of layers in little screentime as a guy who's well aware of his own flaws and genuinely sorry for the harm they cause. Definitely hoping he gets more to do in future seasons. Also a nicely subtle bit of characterization that in a fight that's genuinely for his life, Dunk seems to have no problem with the same kind of cheating he was so outraged by just one episode ago. Upon getting to the trial, I mentioned before that Steffon being made so much more of a jerk seemed like it would harm a latter scene, and yeah, that's pretty much what happened, as his being such a seemingly nice guy in the book makes his betrayal a huge gut punch, while here you're just left feeling like Michael Bluth opening a dead dove bag. But the rest of the scene works out great, with us all but getting confirmation that Dunk really has been lying that Arlen knighted him, which Lyonel clearly figures out but decides not to make a big thing of. Followed by inevitably the best moment of every reaction when Baelor shows everything a knight should be, flying in the face of how things usually work in Westeros. I've seen some people who were upset at the subversion of the theme song in the first episode, saying it felt like the show thought it was too good for that kind of sincerity, but they should be feeling much better now that it's clear the crew was just waiting for the proper moment to unleash the tune in its full glory (and possibly meaning we'll finally get an actual credits sequence next time). After I was so let down by the last GOT season and HOTD Season 2 showed some major seams, I never thought I'd be as into this show as I've gotten, but this is what can happen when the love of the material is this strong.
Ryan
2026-02-09 22:13:26 +0000 UTCYet another great episode of this show, and one we got earlier due to the big leather egg fight, as John Cleese would call it. Kind of figured the late announcement about that would cause the delay with this, no problem. Stayed up late to catch it myself, on the off chance that you would have it up by the weekend. Nice that the episode was reasonably short, allowing a little bit of extra time for sleep. They speed through the usual bullshit of the liar revealed trope. I like it how Dunk is pissed off, yet moments later, sticks up for Aegon. Sweet that Aegon clocks that. He also looks rather adorable in his sort of Palpatine-looking outfit. Baelor shows he is somewhat tame by Targaryen standards. After all, he could have just thrown Dunk into the chokey. (Or, well, I’ve not seen the musical, is that still part of the story? I’d imagine that it is.) Not the best look that he’s not as upset about what happened to Tanselle as we’d like, fair point though he raises about how the puppet show may not have been the brightest idea. All the same, he makes his displeasure with Aerion’s actions known, further endearing him to you. Seems that most everyone is rather liking Baelor and finds him to be quite a good egg. Rotten that the out he gives to Dunk gets rejected by Aerion. Quick thing about Aerion: This is now the second time I’ve seen Finn Bennett playing someone with a complicated father and son relationship, and likewise, the second time I’ve seen it on HBO. Curious if this is going to be a trend for him. Maekar asking “What the fuck is a trial of seven?” is me whenever I hear any of the youts’ slang. Or whenever you guys make references to Buffy related stuff. Love your own reaction to Maekar asking that, beating you by one second. And Baelor and Maekar both show the strong, relatable sibling energy by being equally as pissed off for Aerion’s cowardice with invoking the trial of seven. Noteworthy that Maekar doesn’t object to Dunk invoking trial by combat. Love it how Sam perfectly sells it how Maekar is blatantly upfront about being very cross with his son for being such a boy who complains because he thinks the world is unfair; crying to his mother when the toy breaks or the knee is skinned. Maekar is my favorite character in this show. Calling that right now. He might be rising in the ranks of the favorites in this fandom. Clock starts ticking. You highlight well that Aegon put in the work in collecting allies. For instance, Lyonel, love that you called that. In the reaction when Aegon gets the credit, I chimed in, “Jess thought of it first!” Sweet of Raymun to be on Dunk’s side. Love how Daeron sort of apologizes for making it worse for Dunk. Yeah, we both got hit with emotions with the scene with the shield. Dunk dismayed about how it looks more like death, and Steely Pate points out the life. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. Love how Lyonel is of the mind of the opportunity is too good to pass up, in addition to how he’s grown fond of Dunk. A crushing blow when Steffon sells out. Knew he’d earn your ire there. Love how you encouraged Raymun to reject his cousin, and indeed, Raymun is disgusted with Steffon’s actions. Hell, even Lyonel looks disgusted, meaning he’s continuing to establish himself the most likeable and reasonable Baratheon thus far, crazy fuck though he still is. He is proving himself to be an honorable stand-up motherfucker, as you put it. And later, as you say, “An eccentric one, but a real one.”, fair description. The knighting is emotional. Just as it is rather stirring hearing Dunk sell the “Can ten righteous men be found in Sodom?” style call. Shame about the fart, figured you wouldn’t care for that one. Then we see the gates open; Baelor rides out, inciting a very wonderful reaction from you. It’s an interesting thing how both brothers are involved on the opposite sides. Maekar, much though he’s not happy about the situation, at all, Dunk did attack his son, and he is under the belief that Dunk captured Aegon, hence if he lets either thing slide, it does send a bad look. The flipside is, although as mentioned, somewhat cold to what happened to Tanselle though he was, Baelor does concede that Dunk did what was right in response to Aerion going too far, Baelor even admitting that he might have acted the same, and turning a blind eye to that would look as bad as Viserys dealing with Rhaenyra’s kids blinding Aemond by letting them off the hook without so much as even a slap on the wrist. Plus, he does seem to like Dunk. Thus, he stands by Dunk, leading to the reaction from you that I expected, complete with you rocking along with the theme music. You say that you greatly loved the big scene so much. I knew you would; very happy to see that. Fun times it should be next week. Bringing us to a topic you’ve talked about here and in Fallout for example. How those of us know what’s coming given the source material. Well, it’s not as in-depth as the Pennywise lore, but though I’ve not read the source material, I am stuck with some information. There were some lines from the parent show that outright talks about events of this period. Some of them from Joffrey the love to hate little shit that he is. (Though the one tidbit he mentioned sounds all right.) Consequently, there is some knowledge on my end. Hence, I might be wrong, but I’ve got a reasonably good idea where some of this is headed. Obviously, not talking specifics until we come to it, if we come to it. Certain pieces have been sliding into place throughout the episodes, and a few pennies have begun to descend is all I’m saying. You say that you are choosing to be optimistic, it sounds good to me, smart idea or not. Probably not going to be great with hoping that we won’t get any Artax/Jack Woltz level of traumatic horse scenes. But then again, you did say that optimism paid off here. Makes me smile, hearing you hold to said optimism, if nothing else. By the same token, they could drastically alter shit compared to the source material. You never know. Regardless, a beautiful reaction, Jess, and I look forward to next week’s reaction. I say keep holding onto the optimism as that’s the spirit!
Thomas Corp
2026-02-09 21:56:50 +0000 UTC
