Zabel Appreciation Post

Okay, let's all share one thing that Zabel did with or in The Book Of Carol that you liked, loved, or thought he got right.

It could be a favourite scene that Zabel wrote. It could be a creative choice that he made. It could be to do with the storylines, arcs, or characters more generally, including his original characters. It could even be giving us hot as hell Ash in that cool ass plane!

The only rule is it must be something positive. This is an appreciation post only. If you have nothing positive or nice to say about Zabel, this is not the post for you, so please scroll past. All negative comments & reposts will be deleted - you have your own posts for negative comments.

I'll start. I absolutely loved all the fun and comedy moments Zabel wrote. In particular, I loved the car scene when Caryl were bickering like an old married couple. It was absolutely hilarious. Also, the field scene when Carol was trying to convince Daryl she needed to go into Ash on her own and then nearly took her eye out on the tree/bush as she rushed to get past him to get in front.

Reply or repost with yours. I'm excited to read them.

There was so much I loved but I'm gonna go with my Caryl-loving heart. The scene when they were saying goodbye when Carol was on the plane and she and Daryl were looking at each other. We didn't get another "I love you," but an "I know," which was so perfect because yes, yes, they do know.

And, my goodness, my HEART, YA'LL, the looks on their faces, the longing, the desperation, the LOVE!!!! Oh, it was so beautiful! 😍 🤩

What positive Carylers are not:

What they are:

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; not one has to agree on everything and it goes both ways. We should let people have their feeling’s without needing to insert our own. There’s enough toxicity in the world as it is. If you need to bolster your own opinion by putting someone else’s down, was yours really that strong?

Absolutely! I don't love everything about the spinoff, but I love enough about it that im happy with what we got and what we are still getting.

Been watching Walking Dead for years, and took a Daryl spinoff to see Carol and Daryl as more than platonic soulmates. Reading what they are putting out it's gonna turn romantic real soon.

Daryl is weak.

Okay, bold headline. I’m a journalist I know how clickbait works. Jokes aside, hear me out.

A lot of fans say that Daryl acts totally out of character in the second season of his spin-off. Getting close to a woman that quickly. Kissing her. Not thinking about going home anymore or not fighting tooth and nail to get there anymore.

And while I very much agree and the Daryl from the Spin-Off doesn’t feel like the Daryl from the flagship show anymore, there’s a pattern I’ve noticed throughout the series.

The word Daryl gets described the most is probably “loyal”. But what if he’s not that “loyal” man, everyone makes him out to be?

Daryl’s not good alone. He needs people. He latches on to them. First it was Merle, his bad influence of a brother. Then it was Rick and the group. He needs a role model. Someone to follow.

what happens though if you take away his role model, is always the same thing. He falls into despair, latches onto someone else and forgets where he came from.

Remember the arc after the prison fell? He was stuck with Beth, thought the group is dead. But instead of making use of his tracking abilities, determination, pure willpower to prove himself wrong and see that most folks are still alive or just whatever to find out if the other’s are really dead, he succumbs to pessimism and suggests to Beth to just stay at the funeral home, doing nothing but playing house. He would’ve stayed there for much longer if Beth hadn’t gone kidnapped. Once Beth was gone, he stucked to the Claimers until Rick came along again…

Same thing with Leah. He believed his leader (Rick) to be dead, his guilt made him shy away from his family, he lived in the woods until Leah came along. It took him longer than with Beth to finally give in and decide to stay with Leah, but still - he isolated himself from the thoughts of his family and stayed with a woman - and yet again, he would have stayed there, away from his family, if Leah hadn’t left herself. He didn’t have a clue about what’s happening in Alexandria, with the Whisperers, with Rick’s kids and probably didn’t wanna know either.

Rinse and repeat we got Isabelle. In this case, it’s even worse because Daryl’s stuck in another country. But again he’s far away from his family, again there is a woman, again he’s latching onto her and yet again he is forgetting about his people back home to the point where he’s almost not considering to go back anymore at all.

It’s also highly ironic to me that the Villain of the season, that cult leader, describes what’s going on with Daryl in Episode 2x03 perfectly:

“Must be hard living without a semblance of faith. No organizing principle, nothing to cling to [….] a man alone it’s a sad state.”

Daryl always believes he is alone, that his group has given up on him. His low self-esteem and the thing’s he had to endure prevent him from seeing how loved he is. But he’s never been truly alone, after he found Rick’s group.

Having to fend for himself as a kid has left his mark on him, so he’s clinging onto people, desperate of not wanting to be alone.

Now that doesn’t go without saying that I don’t believe Daryl didn’t find something in France. He found what he wishes for - a family of his own and to not be the “lonely man” anymore. But it’s time to come back from Neverland, to achieve that dream.

With all of these things considered I start to believe the Daryl we all know and love is still there - he just needs to be reminded that he is loved, cared for and so, so missed.

EXACTLY! This is why I said what I said in my post. The 1st season and this one so far are doing such a beautiful deep dive into Carol and Daryl's characters, and it's a gift. I'm telling ya'll, it is a freaking gift! The Caryl of it all is going to be so beautifully earned, not scrimped, but fully fleshed out with both Carol and Daryl done their due!

ETA: Oh, in that case, taking your edit into account, not EXACTLY!. I, erm, don't agree this is bad writing or retconning at all on display.

LEW EINSTEIN?

Damn, the gears in my brain aren't working because they automatically do a Polish - English translation from Lew to Lion.

I cannot get into a man called Lew but I can get into a man who's called Lion?

Yeah, only thing I am not feeling is the name Lew. It could change, though. Hopefully it does

my meandering thoughts after ep7:

i think a lot of people are overlooking the importance of daemon's scenes in episode 7 in focusing so much on oscar tully. like ok sure it is objectively funny to see daemon be read for filth by a teenager, but this is not some meta punishment doled out by the writers because they hate his character - or even oscar "gagging" daemon. this is daemon directly responding to rhaenyra's accusation during their ep2 argument: "I think you used my words as an excuse to take your own revenge… to indulge the darkness you keep sheathed within you like a blade." Oscar's own words to willem blackwood call back to this: "it is true that he made clear his base desires, but you did not have to pursue such savagery. You did it… because you wanted to."

like yes, daemon is being humbled, but he is also specifically acting contrary to his own desires, and choosing to do what is necessary in service to rhaenyra's claim. it's obvious in the look he shares with ser simon, and in his shifting expression from anger to acceptance as he realizes he must do this to earn the crucial support of the riverlords. i do not think the daemon of episode 2/3 would have responded this way. he would have given into that impulse that's telling him to smack oscar around and burn the lot of them. he is putting aside what he would do, in favor of what rhaenyra needs him to do.

And the look on his face afterwards is full of horror - for the first time we really see him haunted by his own act of violence, when we've typically seem him remorseless or flippant (rhea royce, vaemond velaryon, the unnamed body they used for laenor's "death") if it advances his aims. this contrasts with rhaenyra in this same episode, where we see her really indulging in violence for the first time - she sacrifices the dragonseeds in pursuit of finding new dragonriders, which is also a repudiation of her and daemon's earlier argument, where he accused her of being too weak to spill blood to achieve greatness.

(literally everything they do ties back to one another, their influence on one another, and which parts of each other and viserys they choose to internalize and express - two halves of a whole, indeed - so it baffles me that most daemyras are unsatisfied with this storyline just because they aren't physically together, but that's a story for another post)

daemon's scene in the Harrenhal godswood leads directly into the vision with viserys, where he is confronted with the question of whether or not he still wants the crown (really, if he ever actually wanted it - or was it just a symbol of his brother's love, of recognition, of the ultimate tool to achieve power and respect in this world). he's just had to make a choice and take an action that conflicts with his own worldview, of what strength and loyalty means, of the acceptability to the ends justifying the means, of the ramifications of the collateral damage that such choices have - which is all tied into the true weight of bearing the crown. is he really cut out for this? i think it's clear the answer will be 'no' - and it will reaffirm his support for rhaenyra, at the same time her own journey has brought her to a place where she has found a way to wield her power and authority in a way that can be respected (and feared) and is independent of her reliance on daemon's martial prowess and masculinity.

if there's still any doubt that daemon's visions all have purpose and are moving him forward, i really don't know what to tell you. it's frustrating to see his arc reduced to "daemon is doing nothing all season" because most of it has been internal. both daemon and rhaenyra have grown from the accusations levied at one another in their argument, and i think are positioned well for a reunion that allows them to "finish their conversation" from a place where they are both more able to function within the parameters of their strange and unique relationship as sovereign/consort, husband/wife. uncle/niece, and even brother/sister (as their relationship to viserys is very much reminiscent of siblings competing for their father's love and attention). it's a very clear arc to me, and i am very excited to see how it all comes together in the finale (as well as how this sets the stage for future conflict between them).

(the " but in the book…" arguments about daemon at this point are also weak IMO, because daemon basically does nothing during this section in the book. and because the show has added different dimensions to his character that simply do not exist in the source material. his time in harrenhal is summed up in a couple of paragraphs. the riverlords all honor their oaths without conflict - and he fights in the battle of Stone Hedge, which you can mourn as an adaptational choice you do not agree with, but personally i think it's far less interesting than what we were given in the show.)

this is where i wish the fandom at large would give the writers a little more credit, and extend your faith a little further. sure there are some odd choices throughout, and yes they have taken adaptational liberties you may not agree with - but as we near the end of the season, the overall vision for daemon (and rhaenyra) is clearer, and i think it will be even more rewarding looking back on the season as a whole.

Thank you, thank you. I just cannot anymore with the vaaaaast majority of commentary on this season. I just cannot.

i don’t give a flying fuck about the rules. RHAENYRA, BABY, JUST CLAIM HIM YOURSELF.

This whole series of shots was EVERYTHING!!!!

Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen in HOUSE OF THE DRAGON (2022-) S02E07 | "The Red Sowing"

This was amazing!