the air is thick with ghosts

this is where I ramble about my favorite films and tv shows... in a more or less coherent way

[ggwatches]

Alicent's Point of No Return

Daggers, nightshade, and the final severing of maternal identity

The Harrenhal arc in season three of House of the Dragon has taken Aemond on a trippy journey. In the penultimate episode, “The Dragon in Winter,” however, we see how Alicent finally takes matters into her own hands—not to claim power, but to destroy the legacy she built, choosing to harm the son she once wielded a blade to protect.

Alicent comes across two daggers in this episode. The first belonged to Ser Adrian, which she picks up from his dead body, a desperate attempt to carry out the mission of the slain assassin. Then she notices the nightshade, remembering how Helaena had just warned her daughter Jaehaera about their poison. It’s heartbreaking that Alicent decides to harm Aemond using the very thing her daughter was trying to protect her own child from.

The second dagger is the Valyrian steel blade, now in Aemond’s possession. She catches a glimpse of it just before offering him the poisoned drink. This is the exact same dagger she once used to threaten Rhaenyra after a young Aemond lost his eye. For a mother who fiercely protected her children and demanded an eye "in return," it is tragic to see Alicent now seeking to destroy the very son she once fought so desperately to avenge.

This is a woman who has reached the horrifying realization that she failed as a mother. She exerted every effort to prepare her firstborn to be king, only for him to turn into an entitled coward—a "terrible man." Her second son is erratic, burning with a need for validation. Helaena is the only child she believes she can still save.

While part of Alicent’s motivation is to "set things right," as she told Rhaenyra during their secret meeting at Dragonstone at the end of last season, what actually brings her to this point is far more complex. She is a woman crushed by a lifetime of duty, having burned herself out under the Hightower's light. When Rhaenyra warned her that surrendering King’s Landing would cause history to call her "The Cold Queen," Alicent delivered one of her most poignant lines: “Let them think what they must. I am at last myself with no ambition greater than to walk where I please, breathe the open air, to die unremarked, unnoticed, and be free.”

Yes, it was selfish. But for a woman who tried so hard to do everything right her entire life, it is a remarkably brave decision to finally abandon what is already lost to save whatever little remains.

[ggwatches]

In an interview with TV Insider, Ryan Condal explained the reason behind Rhaenyra's dismissal of Mysaria that it was Rhaenyra choosing to abandon Visery's peaceful philosophy and embrace violence, represented by Daemon.

While this makes sense on paper, I don't think the storytelling itself earned this interpretation. The connection between Visery and Mysaria has been poorly established to begin with, but by the end of episode 7, it simply fell part. If she really was an advocate for the smallfolk, why have Sylvi question her integrity? Having Rhaenyra seek validation through Mysaria's empty praises then muddled the connection further because Mysaria was no longer the conscience. Inadvertently, it also shifted Daemon to the position of being the pragmatic, logical voice.

The writers could have given us an in-world reason for the dismissal, such as Mysaria's incompetence as a spymaster, but they decided to leave it out and opt for a dramatic cliffhanger with Rhaenyra saying "no" to Elinda, her lady-in-waiting, expecting the audience to make the connection themselves.

I know that characters are complex and dynamic, but by the beginning of episode 8, the show had already humanized Daemon too much, and stripped Mysaria of her moral authority too much, for that scene to carry the intended thematic weight.

I'm sorry but you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Condal's quote from the interview is below the cut.

"We had always looked at Rhaenyra being torn between Viserys’ philosophy, which is somewhat embodied by Mysaria, it’s somewhat embodied by Alicent in her conversations with them, and then Daemon, which is the fire and blood, ruled by dragons, uncompromising. It’s very, very black and white to him and his empire building and his dreams and ambitions, all the reasons that Viserys passed him over to be king." "Rhaenyra is torn between those two avenues: Asking yourself, can I rule as a woman during a time of war and still be true to the reasons that Viserys chose me to rule? Or do I simply just have to become Daemon in order to win and to hold this whole thing together? From Rhaenyra’s perspective, it wouldn’t be to be an authoritarian, it would just simply be to keep control, to hold the center. She has to make all these compromises as she goes along, and then finally she literally casts Mysaria out and throws in totally with Daemon in the end, thinking that that’s her only way to be seen as legitimate to all of the lords and the people that she’s so reliant on in the end."

[chrishayley]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 3.08 -  The Treasons at Tumbleton

[alysmond]

"There's something kind of Joan of Arc, I think, about this imagery. And I find it really exciting because for the first time, Rhaenyra is cognizant of the image-making." – Emma D'Arcy

JOAN OF ARC (1948) dir. Victor Fleming HOUSE OF THE DRAGON "The Treasons at Tumbleton" dir. Andrij Parekh

[gameofthronesdaily]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON | Season 3, Episode 8, "The Treasons at Tumbleton"

[cerusee]

Okay. For my money, the entire thesis of Chris Nolan’s 2026 film The Odyssey is that society chokes and sputters and dies when we abuse, ignore, or violate social norms like the laws of hospitality. That is not really what The Odyssey (the book/poem) is about, but I can clearly see why in the horror that is the 2020s, someone could read The Odyssey and go oh my god that’s a lot of bad dropping in. That’s a lot of bad visits. That’s a clear vision of how the loss of social norms and cohesion fucks you up and how war, literal, brutal war, is a terrible wound that destroys your humanity and your understanding of what civilization and society is. I don’t know that the iteration of Greek society that ultimately birthed the poem would agree with Nolan’s take, but I think this movie is quite ideologically coherent, that Nolan knew exactly what he was trying to say with each and every adaptational change, and I think he wasn’t nuts for using one of the most famous classical western civilization works as a way to make that argument.

[notgaybuckybarnes]

THE ODYSSEY (2026) dir. Christopher Nolan

[drygingergood]

Oh, I have THOUGHTS on this costume and the character's whole presentation. This costume was one of the things that, when I saw a glimpse of them before seeing the film, made me think, 'huh. can't wait to see how they make THAT work', and boy did they make it work. 1. He doesn't have a human face. If it isn't covered by the helmet, it is out of the frame, or blocked by something, or he's shown from behind. This sequence on the beach, shot in broad daylight, is where you can see him the most clearly, and still his face lacks an expression, and his eyes are black voids. 2. When he's on screen, you can always see and recognize him immediately: in a dark-ass frame, in total chaos of a battle scene, from the back, in the distance? Can't miss him if you try. 3. He's fucking terryfying. It's this uncanny feeling of something sharp, cold, unfeeling, not quite tangible, not quite human, invading and unstoppable. I'd say I distinctly perceived this character as an 'it', not a 'him'. A 'he' is a person, and this is something else. You can't reason with this Thing (well, maybe if you are Odysseus and you're doing what it wants anyway). 4. As in this film Agamemnon is not so much a character as an anthropomorphic personification of War, it is exactly right that its armour looks like a crazy amalgamation of historical and modern. War may change with time on the surface level - weapons and clothes and tactics and means change - but, quintessentially, it stays the same. None of this is achieved through the costume alone, of course. It's a combination of the visual image, cinematography, the actor's work, other actors' work, music and sound design (especially that!) The overall effect is very effective in its clarity.

Hell, it even tracks that many people find him attractive (personally I'm not into this, but no kinkshaming in this house). Warmongering has always had good propaganda, and selling the construct of heroic masculinity to men through making it look sexy (and carefully constructing what 'sexy' even is around everything military) has been a working strategy for millenia.

And finally, this is a freakishly brave artistic choice on Ellen Mirojnick's part (and her team, of course). Whoever came up with it deserves a cookie, because they HAD to know how they will be drowned in shit from the very first promo shot. I applaud the nerve and the verve of everyone involved.

[ggwatches]

What kind of world are we living in if the only way for such a beautiful soul to be at peace is through death?

My dear Helaena, you are free at last. Let these ugly people rot in their own waste.

[sublunagh]

RENATE REINSVE as NORA BORG in SENTIMENTAL VALUE (AFFEKSJONSVERDI) dir. Joachim Trier (2025)

[dracaria-dracarys]

Freddie Fox as Gwayne Hightower

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON S3E6

[yenvengerberg]

ALICENT HIGHTOWER in HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 1 Episode 7, "Driftmark" Season 3 Episode 7, "The Dragon in Winter"

[pissbataille]

Your wife, of course, was of their blood. That ended all too predictably.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON— 3.07 THE DRAGON IN WINTER

[gameofthronesdaily]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON S03 E07 The Dragon in Winter

[dmcmercy]

I love how the new episode portrays the bond between dragons and their riders. Daemon and Caraxes are so familiar with each other, Daemon smacks the saddle and tells him to shush like a friend. Though, of course we also have the continuing theme of dragons refusing to obey which is great. Daemon is an experienced rider of 30+ years, it’s not like Rhaena or Aemond where you could argue they weren’t skilled enough, it’s a blatant show that dragons could simply choose not to obey at any time and the riders are completely helpless.

Aegon and Rhaena are both really interesting in how they mirror their dragons. Aegon is injured and dying/dead, the first time we’ve seen him happy since Rook’s Rest is with Sunfyre again. It almost gives the vibe that he wishes he could curl up and die next to his dragon.

Meanwhile Rhaena has fully changed her look to match Sheepstealer’s wild nature. It’s a bond that’s clearly grown a lot stronger since Ep 1 as now he listens to her, she can fly with ease, and he’s very protective. For once, she argues back against her father, denies him, insults his ideas for how they can fix it. Completely refuses to even consider giving Sheepstealer up. Obviously there are a lot of other factors but it suggests that just being around Sheepstealer is influencing her own behavior. After all, she does claim “He is a part of me.” (He’s not in the episode but Aemond very similarly changes his whole personality after claiming Vhagar.)

Lastly, Daeron, who clearly loves Tessarion but has her locked up, a very literal metaphor for choosing his Hightower side over his Targ side. And she follows his lead into violence immediately after Daeron kills Kat’s brother, burning the corpse and notably stomping all over the candles, the symbol of his past piety and his gentleness. They’re very wordlessly in sync, possibly because she was a cradle hatchling so they’ve had that bond for years and even as he rejects his Targaryen blood, he’ll have that connection to her that can’t be broken.

[daenerys-stormborn]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 3 Episode 7 — "The Dragon in Winter"

[queendayne]

realising daeron is a fawner just like his mother……..aemond is fight aegon is flight helaena is freeze but daeron is just trying to Be Good so he doesn’t get punished.

[queendayne]

not gwayne straight up SAYING IT

[chrishayley]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 3.07 -  The Dragon In Winter