The Princess and the Queen

Well, it took about 20 minutes to figure what the $&@@ happened since last episode

I am torn. The original cast was awesome. Then you realize they swapped 2 main lead females. Because apparently aging makeup only works for men. The replacement for the queen was at least convincingly a look alike. But the replacement for the princess gives off a completely different vibe and character. So I very thing we understood about the princess does not suddenly seem like her

Disappointing...

The show did spend the entire next 40 minutes explaining all the new characters, but Jose family line they belong to. I think they tried to be too creative in the episodes beginning and had to spend the rest unraveling the confusion.

Did I mention how disappointed I am that they changed the princess actress? Really feels like they just killed off cool characters.

As I'm seeing a lot of criticism online about this sixth episode it seems a portion of the audience doesn't care for the large time jump between the fifth and sixth episodes, the longest one yet at ten years. The recasting of two major characters, namely the two for which the episode is titled sees Olivia Cooke and Emma D'Arcy step in for the two younger actresses we got to know in the first five episodes of the season. As good as they were, it leaves large shoes to fill but I think both new actresses prove more than capable here. It's best to think of this second half of the first season as a new beginning, or even as a second season that you didn't have to wait long for. This whole season is more of a prologue to the meat of the story which is what this is building to, The Dance of Dragons that was detailed in the Fire and Blood book and alluded to in Game of Thrones. This is all crucial backstory for the fallout of these two former friends now turned bitter enemies and the allies they make and break along the way. The important characters to play in the upcoming war have been fleshed out so we know why they are going to do the things they do. This episode was a great reintroduction to characters that we are still getting to know and it was a nice juxtaposition of Cooke as Queen Alicent chewing through her dialogue calculating out in the open while D'Arcy brought quiet and calculated movements as they both begin to put their pieces in place to play the ultimate game. Even though the younger versions will be missed, I'm excited to see what the older versions will bring.

Missing Milly Alcock and Theo Nate! They were one of the reason to watch. Let's see what the older characters have to offer. Thanks goodness Sir Christian is still here, being played by the same person!!!!! The show is still well with the time to continue watch, just missing certain folks. Guess I'll wait and watch to see the end results. The dragons are the best part of the show. The queen has turned into a completely different person, just jealous that she doesn't have a living relationship of love and respect. And there is no real as tionship between her and Rhyenyran. Be more concern about herself and hers sons.

The new Rhaenyra and Allicent are not at all enough like the originals. Their accents, voices and mannerisms are completely different. I feel like Rhaenyra cried through the entire episode and there was none of Allicent's softness that was there before. However some of the other characters stayed the same but now have completely different (unexplained) personalities, for example Criston. Too much time has passed with not enough information to catch us up. I basically understand where we are at with the story, but I don't have any attachment to any of the characters anymore. Disappointing. I hope it gets better though.

I'm so torn, I wish they'd done it differently, maybe 12 episodes split into 2 6's with a break and fill out the gap between episode 5-6 with a bit more and then left it for us to want it back. I feel they've expected a lot from the audience, to expect them to just ignore a 10 year odd gap, mixed with the many issues that continuity exposed. To then bring in new actors and just expect to keep flowing to me is too much.

Rhaenyra the young was phenomenally good, our group of 10 all thought her performances were the highlight of most episodes. The new actor whilst not bad just could've benefitted from a kid series hiatus over just a week, not even acknowledging how much time passed I found annoying but they've skipped ahead a few times already.

The queen was arguably an improvement but she's quite different now and missing her development is a Shame. The husband to Rhaenyra is awful, he feels like a Shakespeare actor who can't fit in with normal roles, didn't enjoy him at all.

This episode felt alot weaker story wise, less depth, gravity or importance and more teen drama and silliness. My other annoyance was the fire scene which I felt was poorly executed far too short. It just feels a really disjointed show trying to rush through so much!

I'll carry on but if it doesn't pick up by the end I won't be back for 2. I really enjoyed the first few, then the forced rushed insest angle and this just has killed my buzz for the show.