News
Blood and Cheese are the worst people in Westeros.
Welcome again to Worst Individual in Westeros! After every episode of Home of the Dragon, Slate writers will collect to reply an important query: Who’s the worst individual in Westeros? This week: senior editor Sam Adams and affiliate author Nadira Goffe reply the decision.
Sam Adams: Properly, good day there. A mere 22 months after we convened to decide on the worst individual on the very first episode of Home of the Dragon, right here we’re once more. Even within the streaming period, that’s an terrible lot of time to go between seasons, so I selected to do some experiment and watch the premiere of Season 2 with out doing any catch-up. That proved to be an enormous mistake. I used to be instantly confused by the primary scene, which takes us again to the acquainted courtyard of Winterfell fort after which to the Wall, for a dialog I couldn’t make heads or tails of, between two characters I fully failed to acknowledge, even with the assistance of the introductory recap. I subsequently spent sufficient time with the Dance of the Dragons article on the A Tune of Ice and Fireplace Wiki to suss out what’s happening right here, but it surely does increase a broader difficulty: How can we decide the worst individual in Westeros if we don’t know who any of those individuals are? So, earlier than we begin providing up candidates: Nadira, how was your reintroduction to the world of Home of the Dragon?
Nadira Goffe: I tried to do the identical factor and obtained roughly 4 minutes in after I realized that I didn’t even bear in mind Younger Penn Badgley (aka Harry Collett) was, in actual fact, Rhaenyra’s son, Jacaerys. So, I did what I all the time do in these dire conditions and navigated to YouTube for a extra thorough recap (Man of Recaps, I owe you so a lot in your years of service to my mind). Now, I’m firmly again—and so is Home of the Dragon, which, conveniently, begins proper the place we left off. It’s been mere days since Aemond by chance killed Rhaenyra’s youngest son, Lucerys, successfully dashing any probability of avoiding an all-out warfare of dragonfire and brimstone. Now Rhaenyra is out in search of proof of dying whereas these in her nook make their preparations, and when she finds it, she calls for to have Aemond’s head. They already took one eye, what’s yet another ( … and the remainder of it)? Daemon seeks to satisfy this request whereas #TeamRhaenyra shores up her allegiances. In the meantime, at King’s Touchdown, Alicent is attempting to rein in her ne’er-do-well sons who occupy the very best seats of energy (nice!) whereas additionally having some enjoyable along with her sidepiece, Ser Criston Cole. Alicent’s father, Otto—who, lest we overlook, began this entire beef by setting Alicent and Rhaenyra at odds after they have been younger—because the Hand to the King, his grandson, is attempting to verify there are not any extra missteps till the Hightowers are the uncontested rulers of the realm. Aemond continues to be in denial about his mistake being, properly, a large effing mistake, as a substitute adapting an All’s truthful in love and the warfare that you created, Mother mentality. What I’m saying is: Most everybody in Westeros sucks. I’ve little to no sympathy for anybody besides the grieving Rhaenyra and, most particularly, younger Jace, who we see discover out about his brother’s manslaughter. However the benefit of most everybody sucking is that it leaves loads of good candidates for worst individual in Westeros. I do know who I’m considering, however let’s bat round all of our high suspects for the week. What did you make of Daemon and Aemond this episode? I discover them to be two sides of the identical coin—it doesn’t assist that their names are composed of the identical letters—and each exhibited a stage of callous dismissal (Daemon, of Rhaenyra’s grief; Aemond, of his previous wrongdoings) that was fairly icky, in my view.
Adams: Let’s begin with Aemond, we could? He’s probably the most completely, virtually comically, evil of Home of the Dragon’s characters, a sneering one-eyed baddie and not using a single redeeming high quality. It’s true that he didn’t imply to kill his nephew, thereby bringing your entire realm to the brink of a horrible battle; he additionally doesn’t appear all that damaged up about it. However whereas he may truly be the worst individual in Westeros, I don’t assume he’s the Worst this week. The worst factor he does is butt into the small council unannounced and clarify that he’s raring to go to warfare—which is fairly jerky, however nowhere close to the really horrible issues he’s clearly able to. So, considering strategically, we’d higher maintain him in reserve till per week the place his monstrousness actually jumps out.
I have a tendency to consider Daemon the identical method—when somebody is so evil on a regular basis, it begins to get a bit mundane—though he does hatch a really horrible plot this week. However earlier than we get to him, let me recommend one other candidate from their bloodline: Aemond’s brother, the newly topped King Aegon. In a method, Aegon is attempting his greatest. The namesake of Aegon the Conqueror, Aegon the second is saddled with the moderately much less intimidating sobriquet Aegon the Magnanimous, however his generosity is generally a perform of his weak spot. (He’s additionally not the sharpest device within the shed; he doesn’t even know what “magnanimous” means.) When the commoners strategy him with their petitions, his impulse is to provide them something they ask for, however that’s solely as a result of he’s extra involved with being preferred than being simply. His father Viserys might not have been probably the most imperious of rulers, however he had an ethical compass. Aegon appears to take his cues from whoever he’s spoken to final, and we all know there’s nothing that King’s Touchdown’s formidable climbers love greater than an simply swayed monarch. This week, not less than, he’s extra of a scummy little weasel than an outright terror: All he does is invite a toddler into the small council and humiliate Tyland Lannister when the latter factors out that the eve of warfare will not be the perfect second for Convey Your Princeling to Work Day. Obnoxious as hell, however I really feel like his conduct is generally a matter of laying the groundwork for future worstness. The place do you come down, Nadira? Who’s your least favourite Targaryen this week?
Goffe: God, if incompetence and annoyance of the sniveling selection are sufficient to make somebody the worst, Aegon would really win it. Although watching Tyland Lannister change into more and more beset by a toddler with a 613 lace-front 18-inch wig is entertaining, and Aegon is my least favourite Targaryen this week, him merely being the world’s greatest pushover on the planet’s greatest seat isn’t sufficient to make him the “worst.” In order that leaves us scrounging for one more Westerosi baddie to crown. I’m inclined to vote Otto, however most of his treachery, at this level, is residual. Alicent, hilariously sufficient, comes off like an exhausted mom simply attempting to do her greatest—who amongst us? I’ve my eyes on a couple of characters within the sidelines: To me, probably the most entertaining schemer is Larys Sturdy, who proved he was probably the most indiscriminately vicious by establishing the deaths of his personal father and brother final season, however he’s barely on this episode. Which brings me to my precise grievance about this present: Loads of the villains are unhealthy, however barely any of the villains are unhealthyass! It’s maybe in our greatest curiosity to get into Daemon’s horrible plot that you simply spoke of, and think about that possibly this week’s worst individual isn’t a Targaryen in any respect. To fulfill his niece-wife, Daemon plots to kill Aemond by contracting two randos—the quintessential duo of infiltration: the muscle and the navigator—to sneak into the palace and kill the prince. And, properly, issues don’t go as deliberate. What do you make of the episode’s large snafu?
Adams: Gotta be sincere: I type of cherished it. If reminiscence serves, Daemon has traditionally been among the many extra competent, much less clearly inbred Targaryens. However he makes a reasonably catastrophic error in judgement by assigning an especially delicate process to 2 miscellaneous guttersnipes. (In accordance with the Wiki, they’re recognized within the histories as Blood and Cheese, however right here they’re simply guys.) Though she’s the one grieving the lack of a son, Rhaenyra has the knowledge and/or restraint to carry again for a minute, gathering each her wits and her forces earlier than deciding on her subsequent transfer. However Daemon is intent on getting an eye fixed for an eye fixed—or moderately, because the episode’s title places it, “A Son for a Son.” (I suppose when Aemond Targaryen is round, greatest to keep away from the topic of eyes altogether.) So he places on his sneakiest cloak, grabs a bag of gold, and slithers his method into King’s Touchdown, the place he offers Blood, who’s primarily a disgraced ex-cop, and Cheese, knowledgeable rat catcher, what looks as if a easy sufficient process: Sneak into the palace, discover the blond man with an eyepatch, and kill him.
Easy and, as vengeance goes, fairly direct. However you get what you pay for, and a fistful of cash will not be sufficient for a royal assassination completed proper. Daemon’s new hires are sharp sufficient to sneak into the palace undetected, however to not maintain monitor of who it’s they’re purported to be murdering. Stumbling into the room occupied by Helaena, Aegon’s spouse (and, lest we overlook, additionally his sister), they arrive upon his younger kids, and, remembering solely that the blond man with the bag of gold mentioned one thing a couple of son, proceed to decapitate 6-year-old Jaehaerys as proof of a job properly completed.
I really like each the viciousness and the randomness of this act. Recreation of Thrones was a present about schemers, elaborate plots and counterplots that exposed themselves solely within the second simply earlier than a poor unlucky obtained his throat slit or his lifeless sons served up in a piping-hot pie. However Home of the Dragon is extra about unintended penalties, the horrible issues that occur once you put weapons of mass destruction within the fingers of individuals with a bottomless sense of entitlement and inadequate genetic range. Daemon’s scheme is a crude and rash one, but it surely’s sufficient to deprive the king of his male inheritor and push the realm that a lot nearer to all-out warfare. (The truth that a kingdom on excessive alert doesn’t have a single guard stationed outdoors the queen’s bed room is a plot comfort on the extent of “Dany type of forgot concerning the Iron Fleet,” however we’ll let it slide.) Not since Tywin Lannister obtained crossbowed on the commode has a royal suffered such an ignominious finish. Royal blood is all properly and good, but it surely received’t shield you from getting your throat slit by the bottom of the low.
I really feel like we’ve narrowed it right down to a two-way contest. So, what say you, Nadira? Is the worst Blood, or is it Cheese?
Goffe: I’m proper there with you, Sam. I discovered the ultimate moments of the episode actually so silly—however after I thought of it some extra, I spotted how narratively scrumptious of a second it’s. Probably the most torturous factor concerning the ending, in addition to the grotesque nature of the acts themselves, is that it locked me in to maintain watching a present I’ve been on the fence about because it started. When Daemon hires the 2 sneaks to kill Aemond, Cheese asks him level clean: “Properly, what if we will’t discover him?” Daemon offers a pointed look that’s as much as our interpretation, however reads, to me, as “Discover him or else.” With that little bit of foreshadowing, it was virtually humorous watching these two bicker about who they’re purported to kill (till it turned decidedly not humorous). Nonetheless, Daemon probably made a mistake offscreen (properly, past trusting these two), which is uttering the phrases “a son for a son.” If Daemon did say that to Blood and Cheese—that are hilarious names when in comparison with the havoc they are going to wreak—then Daemon will get docked one other level for not making it clear that the deal is for a selected son, and that son solely.
I really like your distinction between the 2 exhibits, a distinction that, in Home of the Dragon’s case, is confirmed by the truth that the present appears to succeed in new heights with its “d’oh!” moments. What can be fascinating to me about this particular violence is it factors on the underlying commonality between practically all of Home’s gamers: their infantile nature. The rift between Rhaenyra and Alicent began and endured due to infantile grudges, Daemon and Aemond can’t assist however act brashly on impulse, Aegon has the entire motivations of a spoiled brat, and the entire kids vying for declare to the throne are appearing on feuds that actually began on their model of the schoolyard playground—however have since, in fact, grown deadly. Each transfer they attempt to make is undermined by the naïveté of themselves or of whomever they belief to do the soiled work for them, and the shirking of obligation itself doesn’t bode properly for maturity. On the finish of the day, this can be a group of people that can’t, for the lifetime of them, get their shit collectively, however they need a lot extra and way more fiercely than any of Recreation of Thrones’ gamers did initially. So of course the ball will get fumbled on the most important second. Now, it’s not a warfare of loyalty and obligation, of guidelines and dying needs and prophecies, however one purely of revenge—which is much more harmful, as vengeance throughout generations has no clear finish. However you requested a great query: Which of the 2 dastardly infiltrators who beheaded a toddler is the worst one? I feel we’ve got to go along with Blood, who’s the one of many two that really carried out the horrific act.
Adams: Now look: My man Cheese offers his candy little terrier a tough kick within the ribs, and that’s one thing I don’t forgive. However Blood actually goes for the jugular, and though the episode retains his foul deeds offscreen, the sound design makes certain we hear the arterial spray and the sound of a blade sawing by means of tendons as a toddler’s head is separated from his physique. (They could have gotten their goal flawed, however the “convey me the top” half got here by means of clear sufficient.) On the one hand, he’s only a pawn, and the truth that these dopes let the queen stroll out of the room to alert the guards whereas they’re nonetheless laboriously beheading her son makes it doubtless they’re about to be proven the extra sadistic facet of the king’s justice. However his sheer lack of restraint, the wicked willpower with which he carries out his process, is in some way worse than Daemon’s bloodlust. Say what you’ll about Westerosi the Aristocracy’s thirst for vengeance, however not less than it’s an ethos.
So thanks, Nadira, and congratulations, Blood. Till King Aegon’s dragon slowly roasts you alive, you’re the worst individual in Westeros.
