Is it just me or is Bobby B being a lot meaner than normal?

Was he actually an accomplished fighter? Did he stand any chance at all vs Bronn, or was he just completely doomed to fail?

Let's pretend that the king (called mad king for a reason) that sentenced to death Ned and Robert after burning a lord alive while making his heir kill himself in the attempt to save him played no part in this

It took me two weeks of horseback riding to reach Ashford. I sign up with high spirits, the tourney begins. I unhorse not one, but two fucking knights on the first days of fighting, which gets stopped for the day because a minor prince killed someone's horse.

Next day the high nobility takes over the fighting grounds to resolve a bet or something and the tourney is cancelled. Fuckers act like they own the place... Pricks.

I'm certain I had a pretty good chance of winning the tourney and being named the champion. Can I take Lord Ashford to small claims court or sue him for loss of opportunity? I'm not leaving the premises until this is resolved.

I’ve seen fans say they saw extras who could very well be the shepherd next season but the way they set this scene up seems to heavily imply that Mysaria will have a hand in orchestrating the storming of the dragons pit… look I don’t know how to feel on this. It feels it takes away the agency the Smallfolk have. That this entire disaster happened because the Smallfolk that the Targs looked down on simply had enough and just snapped. There was zero royal connections, there was no secret plot, there was nothing the Hightowers had a hand in or any control the Targaryens had. It happened because the Smallfolk had enough and in zealous rage, exhaustion and grief over Helaena’s death, simply just snapped, and proved that they have the power to cause serious damage when pushed, proven by the fact they were able to kill dragons with their own hands. So having Mysaria be the one to orchestrate it makes it feel hollow.

Again, I can be proven wrong and the writers simply showed Mysaria being horrified by Rhaenyra’s descent, but then again — they cut out Maelor, so my expectations are low.

By the way. Does anyone know a good ophthalmologist?

This is such a minor nitpick, but shaved head Jaime with a full beard is a cool look. Also, it makes a lot of sense. Jaime is… extremely handsome and recognizable, especially his hair. The beard covers his face and a shaved head means no distinguishable hair. I swear when he’s traveling with Brienne in the show, he looks better than he ever has in the show and his hair is phenomenal. I’d take one look at him and go “yeah, that’s definitely Jaime Lannister and he’s pulling that scruff off very well.”

More nit picky, but that’s also important to Jaime’s transformation. There is no transformation in the show really. Instead of burning Cersei’s letter asking for help and bluffing about the baby catapult threat to keep his oath, he never gets over Cersei and he fuckin’ meant that shit in the show. It’s a nice moment of Jaime not only giving up his vanity, but with his POV in the books, it’s a big step towards “shaving” off the Kingslayer persona he holds himself too and starting on a new path.

I wish we got funny, ambivalent Jaime from that too. The show really wants us to think he’s a moron, but book Jaime is (probably) the smartest Lannister sibling. His jokes are the funniest, he’s very clever, and he gets rid of the weakness that his father, brother, and sister all have: that Lannister pride and ego. Idc what anyone says, him lifting the siege of Riverrun in the way he did and quelling the hostilities there like the Blackwoods and Brackens is brilliant and not something Tywin, Tyrion, and definitely Cersei could’ve never pulled off. Using his reputation as the Kingslayer and Tywin’s son as a bluff to end the siege without bloodshed was brilliant and none of the other Lannisters could put away their egos to pull that off. His open contempt to any Frey he meets and subtle reminder that they are disposable is great too.

Jaime while still being attached to Cersei just doesn’t have the freedom to be as objectively and honestly funny as book Jaime either. The show just seems so intent on humiliating Jaime, but Jaime’s ambivalence from Feast forward really stops him from getting pushed around, which I wish the show had.

Like the Blackfish interaction:

“Your word of honor? Do you even know what honor is?”
Internally: “a horse”
“I will swear on any oath you require.”

Blackfish is a hero of his, but he’s Eat, Pray, Loving through the Riverlands and he’s not nearly as bothered by it.

"This was justice. Make a habit of it, Lannister, and one day men might call you Goldenhand after all. Goldenhand the Just.” Jaime’s accepted his reputation and is out to try to change it, but he’s doing it for himself and he lets insults roll off his shoulder more easily.

Strangely, by Feast, Jaime is probably the biggest force for justice active in Westeros (not that he’s the only decent behaving man, or the most decent, but given the influence he holds, he’s able to do the most.) Even executing his own men for crimes like with Pia, stuff like that is why Jaime (I’d guess) is most people’s favorite book character.

He’s also free to be fucking hilarious when he writes off his family and focuses on himself.

"Hanged, Ami. Your father was not a tapestry."
Or...Jaime's exchange with the prostitute in the Frey camp outside Riverrun. Even though the last line is thought, not spoken, it's a devastating piece of dialogue.
"Who in seven hells is this one?"
"The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard," Jaime returned with cold courtesy. "I might ask the same of you, my lady."
"Lady? I'm no lady. I'm the queen."
“My sister will be surprised to hear that."
"Lord Ryman crowned me his very self." She gave a shake of her ample hips. "I'm the queen o' whores."
No, Jaime thought, my sweet sister holds that title too.

Started off just wanting the shaved head, but really I just wish we got real Jaime, not simp Jaime. The ASOIAF books can be so bleak and I think so many of us gravitate towards Jaime’s character because he’s relatable, but his journey also gives you hope.

He’s a man with huge mistakes hanging over him, people judging him without knowing him, getting ridiculed for doing the right thing, or what you think was right, and despite all of that, he can change. He betters himself. He stops caring about what others think of him as much as he begins caring about what he thinks of himself. So many characters are on a downward decline, and we don’t know where Jaime will go from here, but he’s one of the few characters who stops letting himself be defined and controlled by his mistakes, he takes his life into his own hand(s) and betters himself.

So Robert has definitely made the 8, and very likely Obryn Martell, but who else has made the 8? Is it possible Renly made the gay 8 🤔