Fire and Blood 8

 The book-spoiler post. Gonna once again spoil a major, major death (the one that Thrones already spoiled, as I mentioned in an earlier post), as well as another one.

WHY IS HARRY WESTERLING STILL AROUND? Look, I like Graham McTavish, he's a good actor. But according to the subtitles, Steffon Darklyn is in this show, so the one thing Westerling could possibly be given to do (steal Viserys's crown and give it to Rhaenyra) is already taken (one presumes) by the guy who canonically did it.

Okay, next, the two older Strong Boys are now betrothed to their first (officially) or third cousins or step-sisters. K. But I guess those betrothals are going to be annulled? Because otherwise there's no reason to send Luke to Storm's End, right? And, uh, Luke has to be sent to Storm's End. That's a pretty big point in the story. (Edit: I see I'm misremembering. Luke's mission to Storm's End fails in part because he's betrothed... to Baela?)

Speaking of the problems this episode caused with Rhaenyra's kids, Aegon the Younger is still a baby! Yikes. Is the Dance of the Dragons going to last longer than the two years it took in the books? Cuz if it doesn't, Aegon's going to be too young to be traumatized by what ultimately happens to his mother. (I told you there'd be spoilers. Don't blame me.)

As for the predictions for the last two episodes, throw everything I've been saying out the window. Viserys died an episode before I thought he would. My new guess is that Episode 9 is going to be both sides girding for war, and that Luke is not going to survive the season. I still don't think we're getting Blood and Cheese this season, but I'm a lot less sure of that than I was last week. I guess if Luke dies in Episode 9, we are getting Blood and Cheese, but if he makes it to Episode 10, we aren't.

Speaking of Blood and Cheese, was there a single mention of Aegon the Elder even having kids? Must have missed it.

From a book-reader's perspective, this episode flustered me, because it's a rare one where I could watch it without relying on my book knowledge (*cough* introducing Seasmoke in Episode 3 *cough*), but at the same time, the changes that they've made threaten to wreak future havoc with the narrative.