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This man does AMAZING WORK!

Great interview! The show really is stunning, I'm blown away by all the work behind it. Feels like such a waste Amazon is rushing the seasons to be only 8 episodes. Oh well, waiting for season three.

I have heard a theory that Wheel of Time may be a reverse Game of Thrones by starting off at a low and getting better each season. But there were parts is Season 1 that I loved. The Nyneve Lan relationship was better in the show. The cold open in Episode 7 was one of the best in cinema. And we now know what a great character Ishmael was in the Amazon version. It started with Episode 8, a very interesting take on the Eye of the World.

Ohmigoodness I love this so much! The absolute abundance of care and PASSION that goes into every square centimeter. I feel a little sad to hear him almost apologizing toward the end of the chat about the reality of not being able to meet "some people's" expectations. I do not think unrealistic expectations are the responsibility of the cast/crew, and the things they're doing with the time and budget they have available to them is just such a joy to watch (even moreso knowing, again, how much they themselves are invested on a personal level in the world and story). On a similar note, I want to commend you for your seamless interview style and keeping such an encouraging and upbeat note. It would've been so easy to express some sort of fan disappointment at the lack of creatures (42:42) but instead you turned it into a bit of shared hype about how the creatures are indeed really cool and a great segue to continue the conversation. Not that disappointment is taboo or anything, I just thought it was so cool to have such a positive transition that celebrates more than laments <3 It is also so fun to hear about the desire to explore more of AoL. If only, right? 😁 Again, just blown away by what a treat it is to have such a meticulous and invested team behind the show. Thank you to you and Ondřej Nekvasil for taking the time to geek out about WoT!

The climactic scenes of both these episodes suffered from lack of groundwork. Needed alot more time with Halaena and her kid for B&C to land, needed alot more time with the Cargill twins for the duel to be impactful. The best scene in E2 was Otto losing his shit, and that's because of the time put into his character and the fact he's been so calm and collected for the whole series.

Cairhien looked very imprressive, wish we got more of it. The sets were stunning! The only one I ddin't like was probably Emond's Field and two rivers but that's probably personal taste. Everywhere outside of that was awesome, really amazing work

The costumes look great. Ishamael's costume, looking like a modern dress suit and so different from how the other characters dress is so amazing

26:33 I howled with laughter at this 😂😂😂 “what a come back moment that would be” 🤣🤣

That's not Laenor, it's Addam, Alyn's brother.

The writing is pretty bad. Instead of trying to erase Nettles I don’t understand why they won’t give an arc to the girls. Why still go on about Aemond getting bullied and crying about not having a dragon when Rhaena is the only character that doesn’t have a dragon and believes her father ignores her for it. I want her to hatch morning and learn from Jeyne but they don’t want to put this on screen? They don’t let her grieve on screen when her mothers dragon that she wanted to claim is taking lives now. And Baela never having any interaction with Rhaenys, Rhaena, or Daemon is insanity. I just don’t get it. They don’t want to expand but they should

I think Cargyll-fight works, even though you don't know them, because they're more symbol than character - in a way, their fight is a microcosm of the whole story.

My main issue with this episode was the acting, or maybe the writing. Some parts were great interactions but there were times where characters were on screen in a scene that was suppose to carry some emotional weight. But the dialogue just didn't support it.

can get pass 5 mins, the lady voice makes me sleepy af

The "Blood and Cheese" plot should not be viewed as a failed heist. Ryan Condal fundamentally misunderstood the assignment. This event is akin to Sophie's choice, designed to psychologically devastate the Greenst. The intention was to undermine them in the book psychologically, killing both children would have been a more impactful and devastating option if its a failed heist. The execution of the choice felt sloppy and messy, not required either. Additionally, the plot should have included the assassination of Helaena. Given that she possesses one of the largest dragons, her death would eliminate a significant threat not that they set any of it in the show. The assassination plot was also intended to destabilize her mentally in the books so she can't be a rider and a weapon. Not addressing this aspect is a major oversight, especially since there was no prior setup indicating the importance of her dragon. All of these choices honestly snowball into each other until you end up with a mess like game of thrones... I hope Ryan Condal doesn't ruin the season. It seems like Miguel Sapochnik was doing most of the heavy lifting in the previous episodes.

Preston said this and I agree, the whole character should not have been so emotionally muted and disconnected from the plot. It just doesn't work

We have dumb n dumber to thank for all the stupid, pull you right out of the immersion, changes from the books that made absolutely no sense 🤦 They truly do know how to fk up what really works from actually brilliant story tellers in the name of their “brilliant” “reverse expectations” go to thing that we got in last seasons of got

Then who’s the guy watching everyone play the vr game?? If it’s the aliens testing ground for the best humans, how did a human have access to it? My apologies if I just forgot if they revealed it in the show I just can’t remember honestly

Helena did try to put up some resistance. By offering up the necklace. But when she couldn't get them to change there minds. She decided to give in and give them the boy. And as soon as they were distracted with the boy. She made her escape with the daughter. In the book she offered her own life instead. But I do know why they did it this way because the character in the show is much different than the one in the books. I wish they wouldn't of gotten rid of some of the great Dialogue from the books. "You hear that. Your Mother wants you dead." Why would they cut that. I suppose they wanted the boy to be asleep before the attack?

100% agree... s1 was kinda like 20-30 years rushed in 8 eps, we barely get the main characters developed, so the side characters were not getting good details at all. altho im not sure that's called a "plot hole"?

I think the dragon was truly Epic

scorpions have been around for a few million years.... Sooooooo.... yeah.... They are OK in that world.....ijs.... Good job...

IRL historically no scorpions wouldn’t exist in the medieval period. But in the lore of ASOIAF yes they do exist, one of Aegon I sister-wives and her dragon was killed by a scorpion in Dorne.

I disagree with wholly with any sort of Vengance toward house Baratheon and Burning Storms End..

Your interpretation on Ye's boss twlling his boss: it was stealing Ye's idea. I get that you dont understand Chinese culture especially at that time. He just didn't think the political implication of shooting the sun and just backfired. He was NOT trying to protect Ye. If he were, he would have just told her so. Also he looks so ashamed when Ye stepped in.

Really fun discussion, hit some points i hadnt heard before, particularly about the strongs!

I think that in this era, outright manipulation is difficult because of the Dragons. Dragons are essentially modern day nukes; the ultimate trump card. In GOT there are no dragons so its easier to impart ruthless political manipulation. Just my theory..

I think Larys's hatefulness is meant to be interpreted as originating from resentment over being marginalized due to his disability. We never see Lyonel and Harwin being mean to him over it, but he certainly ends up sidelined by not being about to take part in what the rest of his family values (cf him having to hang with the ladies at Aegon's bday hunt). And the foot fetish stuff definitely implies that Larys's current desires are rooted in deep traumatic feelings about his disability and being able to feel powerful despite it. But, all that said, I certainly agree that the show requires us to fill in the gaps with the Strongs and they could definitely have used more screentime.

Ser Crispen Cole is *not* Dornish, he's from the Dornish Marches, which are the bordering regions between the stormlands and Dorne, so he's actually from the Stormlands. His family serves a Dondarion. (it's a weird term, it goes back to the English Marcher lords and such, basically the border between England and Scotland both gave their lords a lot of ruling latitude in exchange for being armed to the teeth and raiding occasionally.) Not even mentioning how weird it would be for a Dornish knight to be in the Kingsguard since Dorne isn't part of the Seven Kingdoms yet.

Good job, ladies. Totally agree on Harwyn and Cristin Cole.

Criston isn't from dorne he is from stormlands.

Bonded by their ridiculousness. Haha that's hilarious.

Omg are yall excited or what?

Yes only 3 more days to go to "House Of The Dragon". I heard the 1st episode will be a bit slow till the end. But that's ok we need to have that build up a few episodes to the action and exciting stuff.

I've also rewatched House of the dragon and I think in many ways Aemond is like Daemon in many ways. He the younger brother who deserves the throne more than their brother, and their skill in sword. Its so much similar

Think Martin deliberately wrote the women in his books as pawns of their powerful families, just like in the European Middle Ages. Cersei was married to the Baratheon King by her father just kike Allicent is married to the Targeryarn King. Each family gains power thru the marriages. Even Caitlin Stark was eager to marry her daughter Sansa to Goffrey, to improve the family's standings.

I will say that I understand Daemon‘s character because I can relate to him and some aspects. If you go back to season one and episode one you see the difference in the parallels between him and Otto. Otto directly, manipulating the king and Damon sees it and he picks up on it. He has tried to get rid of Daemon so many times and the only time he is successful it ends up backfiring on him. Viserys as king has made the entire kingdom, vulnerable and open to war he fails to take action when it’s necessary he pushes away his allies in favor of enemies that have been plotting against his family before, and after he was born. Daemon sees anyone as a threat.

I love that they've kept the characters complex. You can really see everyone's perspective and how they feel about the things they do or want to do. Daemon and Otto were the ones who laid the foundations for Viserys rule to crumble and for war after his inevitable death. I think Daemon wishes he was evil enough to have actually usurped his brother's throne, especially going forward into the Dance. Also, about your question about Targaryens going mad. They say a lot in the GoT books that when a Targaryen is born the Gods flip a coin to determine their sanity. There's a lot of hints towards the fact that because they have dragons blood this makes them more animalistic.

Thank you for your review. It's so nice to see some love for the Tencent production as I enjoyed it a great deal. I think it is one of the best book-to-screen adaptions out there. I cannot wait for season 2 - it will definitely be a challenge.

"House Of The Dragon" season 2. Only 1 more week. Are we excited! I know I'm very excited. The introduction is over now we get to the bulk of the story.

Very interesting commentary! Very interesting!

In trying to make every character grey, HOTD made them all too similar. Sometimes you just need basic good guys and bad guys as well as complex characters and GOT had all of it.

Very interesting commentary. I always had the theory that Daemon can do many things, and some things are more important to him than others. The crab man is a nuisance to daemon I believe and once it becomes clear that priorities have changed, taking out the crab man by himself is almost like, he is moving the plot forward by taking out an antagonist, to make room for another antagonist. The focus changes in the realm after that. He is like the reader turning the page in my mind, only he is doing it from within the story. Brilliantly written in my opinion.

The FIRST TRISOLARAN WAS A LIAR! THEY TOLD US DON'T RESPOND!

Also,let’s talk about how in the books Penelope is never described as thin! Colin is into her curves and describes her as lush

I think we might see them all in Caemlyn early in the season. I feel like Elaida should see Rand so she can have the prediction. And it is on the way to both the Tower and the Waste.

I read Wheel of Time but couldn't get into the show. Too fake. Im curious to see if it lasts longer than Rings 💍f Power though that one's even worse by the look of it.

together on the road. moraine will be in hiding moving fast

Queen Nynaeve, The Raging Sun of Manetheran

Loved the show and I’m really happy you and Laura covered this. Great work as always.