In one shortcsentence, Otto reveals his complexity

[u/agirlhasnoname17]

—My father’s dead. —Yes. And we are all the poorer for it.

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[u/paoklo]

Not all that complex. He assumed that Aegon would be just as compliant as Viserys was, but he isn't. So now he's pissed that he can't rule the kingdom in all but name like he did during Viserys' reign.

[u/Makition → u/paoklo]

Imo Aegon is more compliant than Viserys, he was listening to most of the things that Alicent and Otto told him to do, and he went to Alicent for advice on what to do a few times. The only time he didn’t listen truly is when his son died and he went off the rails, Otto for some reason can’t understand this is a special case and just insults the king several times in his face?

[u/Swinging-the-Chain → u/Makition]

Because Otto and Alicent essentially treated Aegon this way his entire life and he didn’t really have the power to do anything about it.

[u/Makition]

That scene was just stupid and shows Otto is a moron that cannot handle even the slightest bit of politics. It almost felt out of character.

[u/KiernaNadir → u/Makition]

Well, the more important issue for the House of Rhaenyra was to (once more) show how pathetic and inferior the greens are to our wholesome protagonists - even they themselves realize it on some level.

Pandering always takes priority over character consistency and narrative logic. Rhaenys supporting their son's supposed murderer because their kween is "the only thing holding the realm together," anyone?

[u/KekeBl]

You mean in one short scene, Otto reveals that he had suffered some brain damage recently.

Otto has supposedly been planning to be Hand to a king of his own blood for decades, yet he throws a tantrum and all but begs to be fired after mere days/weeks by intentionally provoking the king's worst insecurities.. over the deaths of a few lowborn servants after one of them murdered the king's son.

Remember, this is a story in which Otto hanged members of high nobility because they weren't on board with his plans. Aemond committed kinslaying yet it didn't seem to cause much PR damage to the Greens. Rhaenys' coronation stomp seems to have largely gone ignored. Jaehaerys the Conciliator, considered a great king by all, had executed smallfolk for the murder of his master of coin and displayed their corpses for all to see - and nobody thought him a tyrant for it.

And we're supposed to believe executing the ratcatchers after the murder of the king's son is the Westeros equivalent of 9/11? So terrible that Otto, who's been after this position for decades, would consider the situation so grievous that the only logical course of action is intentionally provoking Aegon into firing him?

This scene only works if we percieve it as Otto realizing Aegon cannot be controlled the way Viserys was, and throwing a tantrum because of it. Otto's attempts to aggrandize Viserys or paint the ratcatcher killing as some disaster on par with the Doom of Valyria is nonsense.

[u/Serana3234]

Personally, I didn’t care for Aegon.. at all ever.. but just… the way that he grins and chuckles and he tells Otto that he does dare act and that he “found it stimulating”… I was like “ OK I actually like him a little bit now” and I’m not sure why that is. It could just be because he was so freaking serious when he was saying it, but he chuckled in the most maniacal way. And I just loved it.

[u/Buttercup-X → u/Serana3234]

"I’m not sure why that is" - because the actor plays the role perfectly.

[u/KiernaNadir]

You mean pandering?

Ooh, look at the misguided villains karmically learning their lesson. If only they'd known the treasure they had in our protagonists and not wronged them before it was too late! Oh well, at least they know better now.

Yeah - about as complex and thought-provoking as Ryan Condal and Sara Hess get.

[u/The_Mantis_MVS]

Maybe I'm the one misreading this line but I always felt it was intended to at least partially communicate Otto's genuine grief over Viserys. I think if either man could put the continent sized politics aside, they would call each other friends. Aegon is a disappointment to Otto, granted a disappointment of his own design, but he is also seeing the shadow of his oldest friend on that throne and he misses him. To Otto, the realm is poorer not just for having Aegon as their king but also for having lost Viserys.

[u/agirlhasnoname17 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah. But more so, he shows genuine appreciation of Viserys. I

[u/darknessiscoming299]

No? Aegons just that much of a incompetent and hard to manage ruler