This is also why the Greyjoys are basically being written out, as despite a slight mention of them they make Rhaenyra look bad with the sacking of Lannisport.
Dalton Greyjoy is basically Rhaenyra's tit-for-tat against the Lannisters, as he uses his fleet to attack and sack that side of the continent. It's also where Lady Johanna makes herself known as a leader; for all this series' girlbossing, they write out the women who really do make a difference. Jeyne Arryn was the Lady of the Vale and refused to marry. It's suspected she was a lesbian (from Septon Eustace) but she might just be bi. In any case, she was written to be standoffish and cold towards Rhaena, when Arryn was an ally and sympathized with Rhaenyra as she was also a woman dealing with misogynistic attacks on her character.
It looks like they took Dalton's character and shoved it onto Choob's character. I also liked how the Lyseni pirates all speak with English/Irish accents. Illyrio I could understand because he made himself a magister; Lyseni and the rest of those close to Braavos are a multitude of languages and ethnicities.
The Greyjoys were also historically the only people who wore armour on their ships because they could actually swim. Now everyone wears armour on ships when that wasn't a thing when Euron Greyjoy was slaughtering the Sand Snakes.
Gregor Clegane is more likeable and respectable as a man than the whores in House of the Dragon, at least he’s honestly a piece of shit.
Sandor. Gregor Clegane was an awful, awful person. Breaking a woman's teeth in after raping her and raping a toddler? Yeah, no. Sandor at least has some redeemable traits.
You can’t have Aegon change character between seasons. Because suddenly he’s not a lecherous freak and is just a dim but good-meaning frat boy, mourning his son and being a king unwanted and unloved by everyone. It is not a “girl power” moment when his mom turns on him, it is a very lonely and sad man getting yet another betrayal from a woman who ruined his life.
NGL, I didn't like him being a rapist. I always saw Aegon II as being a bit of a playboy who sought out sex as a means of relief from his official duties; he's one of the few Targs who actually didn't have a bone to pick with his siblings and was content whoring around and drinking. It would have made more sense to have him suffer from ED, as that would call into question the quality of his 'seed', and sour him in the eyes of the Small Council. You are correct on his characterization; he went from declaring war - that his mother pushed him into - to being a broken man after being burned on Sunfyre. Aegon in the books was still very much physically broken but hated Rhaenyra THAT much he was willing to see her burned alive.
I will say Ulf the Sot's characterization is on point: he's meant to be disloyal, a real drunken bastard (all puns intended) who got the gentlest dragon (and who ends up surviving the war). I do like Hugh and his turn into villainy after what happens to Tumbletown will be interesting to watch - if they actually show the fight. I noticed that, aside from the ship battle, they don't show actual fights anymore. In the original series, the Riverlords fight would be fully choreographed. This happened in S2 where they shirked away from actual fighting. S5 of GOT started branching away from what made the show great, but one great battle was Hardhome. If done today, you'd just see the aftermath of Jon fighting the White Walkers, and not the entire horrific transformation of the Wildlings.
Aemond kissing Alicent is just weird. People thought it was an Alys Rivers' vision - and her just saying, 'I'm a witch' and the Seedlings running away was almost Millennial-style writing - but no he just kisses her. Alicent has gone from being a vindictive woman who took power because she hated being deprived of it and throwing her son Aegon on the throne in a coup in S1 to a fanfic lesbian in S2 to more incest fanfic in S3. The Goldcloaks were meant to open the gates as they were loyal to Daemon and kept order in the city. They were overwhelmed during the King's Landing riots.
Also, is Ormund Hightower huffing some kind of drugs? I noticed the background was always blurry when he was in the foreground.
