For 2 seasons, Team Green has basically been the Targaryen faction fans loved to hate. Alicent's crew got the political maneuvering, sure, but not much juice. That's changing fast in Season 3, and Barstool's recap squad is noticing.
Our #HouseOfTheDragon recap is up everywhere now - very fun show tonight with @TheClemReport @BrendanClancy and @nickhammy5
Clem, Brendan Clancy and Nick Hammy have been running these recaps together all season, and the vibe shift on Team Green has become a running theme. It's not that the writing flipped a switch overnight -- it's that the characters actually carrying the faction this year are more compelling than the ones who used to.
I Hate To Admit It, But #TeamGreen Has Gotten A Bunch Of Juice In House Of The Dragon This Season Thanks To Two New Characters t.co/hrKb7y2UPP
A lot of that credit is going to newer additions like Gwayne Hightower, Alicent's brother, who's been fleshed out this year as a Green loyalist who openly distrusts Ser Criston Cole -- giving the faction some actual internal tension instead of everyone just marching in lockstep. Lord Ormund Hightower leading the Reach army into the fight has added some weight too. Suddenly Team Green isn't just Alicent scheming in a castle; there are real stakes on the battlefield.
Then there's Criston Cole himself, still one of the most hated names to come out of the Game of Thrones universe, and Clem isn't ready to let him off the hook just because the writers are giving him more shading this season.
This is a fair point. Criston Cole would be an all-time addition by subtraction for Team Green's stock
"Addition by subtraction" is a wild way to talk about a character while also crediting the faction he fights for with a ratings-worthy glow-up, but that's the contradiction fueling these recaps right now. Cole's still divisive, the new Hightower reinforcements are earning goodwill, and Team Green as a whole is getting talked about with actual respect for the first time in a while. With the season only 4 episodes deep and the war between the Greens and Blacks just heating up, it's worth watching whether that goodwill holds or whether Cole finds a way to burn it all down again.