History TearJerker / HouseOfTheDragon

* Lord Beesbury's death at Criston's hands. [[TookALevelInJerkass And Criston's utter remorselessness at the crime]], which even the lords and Queen Alicent find appalling. The man was a loyal supporter of Rhaenyra to the end, and he didn't deserve such an unjust fate.

* The crap Rhaenyra goes through this episode, she finds out her father is dead, her brother has stolen the throne and she loses two children within a few days. And it's only going to get worse from here.

* An understated one, but the court's treatment of Lord Willem Blackwood, who's JustAKid trying his best to be a lord worthy of respect despite his clear inexperience and youth. As if being a suitor for a future queen isn't daunting enough, he has to endure bullying from a much older and stronger knight Jerrell Bracken with absolutely no support from anyone else. ''[[KickTheDog Rhaenyra even seems to encourage it.]]'' While it's perfectly understandable she wouldn't be interested in someone so young, it's no excuse for how she (and by extension the court) treated him. Not only that, but the fight that resulted in Willem slaying his bully [[,MyGodWhatHaveIDone (which he's clearly horrified by),]] was bought upon partially by Rhaenyra's enabling. She doesn't even stay to witness her folly. [[WhatTheHellHero What The Hell, Rhaenyra?]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8b5946d660652e1a8fa93a18befdaf27.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[IJustWantToBeLoved Do you love me...?]]"'']]

* Subtle, but Aemond's resentment towards his brother ascending the throne is perfectly understandable. This is the man who tormented him in their childhood and has shown time and again he would make an awful king and has squandered all the good fortune he's ever received. Meanwhile, Aemond is TheDutifulSon who ''does'' want to rule and gives no real indication he'd be a bad king, yet he's passed over simply because he's the second son. Seeing someone you hate receive everything you've ever wanted freely while you actually worked hard for it and still never got it is a sting that many have the misfortune of knowing.
* Alicent's disposition throughout the episode. For all her mistakes, she's clearly grieving her husband and even seems to be second guessing her choices and resolve. Additionally, she's clearly uncomfortable with using her feet to influence Larys Strong (who seems to have a foot fetish). While he never asks for sex, it's clearly something she finds incredibly demeaning even though she's the dominant one in the situation. Her face screams "I am the Queen Regent and yet I'm to sully myself to this EvilCripple just to keep my family safe?"

** We should also acknowledge the servants throughout the sequence. The midwives and female attendants who we have seen throughout the season (including delivering Joffrey previously in Episode 6) desperately try to get Rhaenyra to settle, and are the first to weep when Visenya came out lifeless. The Silent Sisters, who we saw earlier in Episode 8 being very CreepyMortician with Vaemond's corpse, stand in dignified silence while Rhaenyra tends to her departed daughter of a few minutes.
** Both Daemon and Rhaenyra standing by their baby's pyre, silently despondent for the child they have lost, in a scene that clearly harkens back to the the moment of Queen Aemma's and Prince Baelon's funerals all the way back in the first episode.

* Alicent is finally willing to bury the hatchet and rebuild her old friendship with Rhaenyra....because Rhaenyra sincerely apologizes and praises her being a dutiful wife to her father. After all the bitterness, resentment and hurt Alicent has felt for the last 16 years, all it took was Rhaenyra apologizing for the rift to be slowly mended again. She is a broken, hurt, bitter old woman who just wanted her friend back.

* When Viserys announces that he will be marrying Alicent, Rhaenyra (who was unaware of her father's regular meetings with her friend) is clearly angry and hurt. Viserys' face falls as he realises just how upset his daughter is (perhaps he believed she'd be happy that he would marry her friend?) and as Rhaenyra turns her back on him and follows Corlys as he storms out.

* The marriage between her father and her former best friend has clearly alienated Rhaenyra from both of them. While it's obvious that Alicent wishes they could still be friends, Rhaenyra rejects any overtures from her. Viserys desperately tries to connect with his daughter with talk of the family she'll have one day and only wants her to be happy, but she's paranoid about him replacing her with her half-brother Aegon. And she has good cause to, as Viserys drunkenly admits to Alicent that he thinks he made an error in declaring Rhaenyra heir, now that he has a son.
* While Viserys intends to have his troops coming to Daemon's and Corlys's aid seem as a boon and an attempt at reconciliation, Daemon takes it as a patronizing gesture and goes off on a suicidal mission to end the war immediately. One really gets the impression that PoorCommunicationKills has been straining their brotherhood not just during the events of the show, but ever since Viserys ascended as King.

* In a drunken stupor, Viserys breaks down to Alicent and reveals that he once had a dream about having a male heir who would go on to become a powerful king to succeed him, which is why he pressured his former wife Aemma so hard to give him a son so he can make his dream a reality, a dream that is crushed with Aemma's and their son's deaths. Viserys stopped believing in his dream after that incident and decided to focus on mending his relationship with his estranged daughter Rhaenyra, whom he decided to make his new heir. He never expected that in just a few years, he would end up marrying Alicent, who bore him a new son and actually gives him a chance to achieve his dream once more, which came at the cost of alienating Rhaenyra ''once again'' and pissing off Lord Corlys and House Velaryon, who would have been one of his most powerful allies. Poor Viserys just can't help but think that he's been making all the wrong decisions so far, and a later scene shows that he is resigned to the fact that he's doomed to one SadisticChoice after another and cannot gain favor with someone without alienating someone else in the process.

* An understated one, but the court's treatment of Lord Willem Blackwood, who's JustAKid trying his best to be a lord worthy of respect despite his clear inexperience and youth. As if being a suitor for a future queen isn't daunting enough, he has to endure bullying from a much older and stronger knight Jerrell Bracken with absolutely no support from anyone else. ''[[KickTheDog Rhaenyra even seems to encourage it.]]'' While it's perfectly understandable she wouldn't be interested in someone so young, it's no excuse for how she (and by extension the court) treated him. Not only that, but the fight that resulted in Willem slaying his bully [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone (which he's clearly horrified by)]] was bought upon partially by Rhaenyra's enabling. She doesn't even stay to witness her folly. [[WhatTheHellHero What The Hell, Rhaenyra?]]

* Rhaenyra and Alicent begin to quibble about the former cutting off her tour of proposed suitors. While Rhaenyra continues to complain how her position makes her still feel pimped out to the lords of the realm and forced to make babies, Alicent admits that she has grown more isolated and alone (later on exhibited by her passionless coupling with King Viserys). It eventually grows into a mutual acknowledgment that they do miss each other after years of their estrangement. This would have been a HopeSpot, had Rhaenyra not been embroiled in the pleasure house incident with Daemon.
* Subsequently, Alicent confronts Rhaenyra for the incident with Daemon, clearly concerned and hurt that not only she was coerced into it by her uncle, but that she may have in fact broken both her and King Viserys's trust. Rhaenyra earnestly protests her innocence and deftly deflects the accusations, leaving Alicent wanting to trust her (but now confronted with ConflictingLoyalty between her erstwhile best friend/stepdaughter, and her father whose ambition to become grandfather to the future king is all but plain).
** Alicent's furious and upset reaction is heartbreaking. She desperately wants to believe her old friend, but is worried that if it was true, it could destroy everything, including her recently rebuilt relationship with her.
* The DramaticIrony in here, of course, is that Rhaenyra [[BlatantLies did forsake her maidenhood]] (snowballing from Daemon's stimulation)—[[ExactWords sure she ends up "untouched" by her uncle]], yet beds Criston Cole (a man who, still quite new to the Kingsguard and probably still taking his vows seriously, [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale does not exactly seem enthusiastic at first]]).

** Seven hells, him leaving his eighteen-year-old niece in the red lantern district on the Street of Silk ''all alone amidst an ongoing orgy'' since he'd been her sole chaperone is the dastardliness act he's committed yet. King's Landing might be safer in this era with the gold cloaks in their prime but still! Any disaster could have befallen a princess on her way back to the Red Keep. It's rather hard not to feel a surge of pity when you see Rhaenyra left forlorn and devastated, [[ShamefulStrip hugging her nearly stripped raiment to her]].

* Viserys asking Lyonel how he'll be remembered after he's gone, especially since it's become clear his condition is worsening by the day. It's something many royals in the show (and likely real life) ponder when they near their ends. It also highlights that Viserys knows full well he wasn't the best king, but simply hopes he did something good during his reign that they would sing songs about.

* The DownerEnding of the rushed wedding (with poor Ser Joffrey's blood still staining the floor of the dining halls no less). It's topped off by the already overly-stressed and ailing King Viserys collapsing after the vows are exchanged. Earlier, [[BloodFromTheMouth he was coughing up blood,]] but pushed it aside when he saw [[KissingCousins Daemon and Rhaenyra in private conversation.]] It's heartbreakingly clear that he's on his last legs and there is little that can be done for him now.

* Lady Laena's [[KillItWithFire suicide by dragonfire.]] She is facing the exact same birth complications as Queen Aemma did, with the Pentoshi maesters and nurses unable to get the baby out. Daemon faces the exact SadisticChoice as his brother once did, [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes but cannot bring himself to order his wife cut open.]] Desperate and in agony, she staggers up to Vhagar, who can clearly see how much pain her rider is in, but is reluctant to hurt her. Only when she all but pleads for it does the great dragon reluctantly do so. Daemon rushes to save her but is too late and can only watch, powerless, desolation etched into his features as Laena is burnt alive before his very eyes.
** It's suggested that despite his love for them, Daemon has yet to settle into the father role, as his daughter claims he ignores her. When the two are grieving their mother's death, Daemon is ''clearly'' trying to find a way to comfort them, but simply can't think of what to do or say. All he can do is walk off with his head hung in shame.

* Jace is grieving Harwin, but completely unable to do so openly or seek comfort - which only further upsets the young boy.

* In that swallow where Daemon does his last second word change, he begins to form the word: "Ra...", before controlling himself to avoid argument with Viserys. He’s yearned for her for a decade, from his last conversation with his brother to this new first. [[note]]It goes so much deeper than Rhaenyra between Daemon and Viserys. His refusal to wed them was just where it all ends, but Daemon has so many reasons to be mad at his brother. D has done nothing but be loyal to him, he raised an army to back V during the 101 Council and then V didn't made him his Hand. D begged him to annul his marriage and he didn't. He had him playing musical chairs in his council just because Otto didn't like Daemon. He exiled him ''twice'' over shit Otto said, he named his daughter heir partly to spite Daemon and then he spends years asleep at the wheel, while letting Rhaenyra get disrespected and without anything but lip-service support (which D figures out in half an hour at the funeral). Honestly, how could he have said all of that? How do you even begin to explain that to someone as clueless as Viserys? Who only ''now'' wants his brother back because he's regretful for estranging them. At the end of the day Daemon really doesn't need anything from his brother, ''why'' would he ever want to go back to a court where the leech that conspired against him is now back in charge? The fact that he would actually do so ''for Rhaenyra'' just shows how much he loves her and that all he's ever wanted is for his family to be strong and safe.[[/note]]

* The confrontation between Rhaenyra and Alicent seen in the trailer is given full context in this episode. After the altercation between Aemond and the Velaryon heirs (Baela, Rhaena, Lucerys and Jacaerys) over Vhagar escalates to Aemond going to kill Jace with a rock and then Lucerys taking out one of Aemond's eyes, Rhaenyra and Alicent demand redress over their children's injuries. When Viserys once again imposes the uneasy peace, Alicent snaps, steals his Valyrian catspaw dagger and is dead set on blinding Lucerys herself, ending with her drawing blood on Rhaenyra.

* The remarriage of her father very clearly bothers Rhaena, with a look of hurt and betrayal marring her face for Daemon so quickly putting aside her mother's memory. In fact all the kids seem a bit discomfited and not just due to Dragonstone's horrendous cold misty rain. The bride and groom drinking each other's blood might have something to do with it.

* When Rhaenyra and Daemon arrive in Viserys' chambers, they're both horrified and heartbroken to see the state of him, with Rhaenyra looking on the verge of tears. Daemon even acquires a MyGodWhatHaveIDone look on his face, as he thinks back to all the times he pettily spited his brother, only to see what it amounted to here.

* When Rhaenyra and Daemon visit Viserys' bedside, Viserys finally realises that Daemon really did fulfill his promise that if wed to Rhaenyra he would restore their house. The poor leper begins to break down from the pain and regret and repeatedly says: "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." both because he is apologizing to them for rejecting Daemon's proposal years ago, preventing them from being happy together sooner and for scaring his grandsons when he could have been hale and known them longer.
* For that matter, the fact that little toddlers Viserys and Aegon the Younger, both understandably get tearful when brought before their grandsire, who looks like death and must ''smell it'' despite all the incense in his chambers. They (and their poor child actors) are quickly terrified when he reaches out to them and you can see the diseased king's heart break in half that this pitiful state will be their only memory of him.

* Dyana; Helaena's serving girl, who's actress is ''frighteningly'' good at portraying both sheer terror and the trauma of being sexually assaulted by a royal and therefore at the royal family's complete mercy to do with her as they please. It's difficult not to have your stomach drop out at her performance.

* Helaena's married life to her brother, Aegon the Elder, stands in sheer contrast to her half-sister's. Her husband can only be with her or bed her when he's a stinking, drink-addled wreck. And in this state he probably mistook Dyana, his wife's pretty servant girl as his wife and "took his rights" of her. He doesn't even ''remember'' having her against her will and whatever sympathy Alicent's poisonous rearing of him might elicit as he mopes that nothing he does is enough; is quickly extinguished when he touts that his rapine was just a bit of "harmless fun".

-->'''King Viserys I Targaryen:''' It both gladdens my heart... And fills me with sorrow... To see these faces around the table. The faces most dear to me in all the world... Yet grown so distant from each other. In the years past. ''(removes his half-mask, looks directly at Rhaenyra who manages to temper her distress and pity)'' My own face... is no longer a handsome one... If indeed it ever was. But tonight... I wish you to see me... as I am. Not just a king... ''(to Aegon the Elder)'' but your father. ''(to Daemon)'' Your brother. ''(to Alicent)'' Your husband... ''(to Jace and Luke)'' And your grandsire. Who may not, it seems... walk for much longer among you. Let us no longer hold ill feelings in our hearts. The crown cannot stand strong if the House of the Dragon remains divided. But set aside your grievances. If not for the sake of the crown... then for the sake of this old man, who loves you ''all'', so dearly.

* Viserys' final moments, alone in the dark, believing that he reunited his family for good, but not realizing that his last words were misunderstood by his wife, as he thought in his delirium that he was speaking to Rhaenyra and muttered that her Aegon will be the Promised Prince, unknowingly setting the stage for a reignition of conflict between the Greens and Blacks, [[TragicHero undoing with his last breath all the work of a life he spent upholding his duty to pass the legacy of unity and concord he inherited]].

* King Viserys' death. The realm is visibly somber in the early morning, with Alicent visibly shaken, and Princess Rhaenys is notably upset at the news; bitter for how things may have been, they were cousins and she loved him. Otto Hightower, out of respect for him, ensures the realm remembers him as "Viserys the Peaceful", an apt moniker if ever there was one. To add more tragedy to the mix, it's clear that as we all feared, Alicent ''gravely'' mistook his DeathbedConfession for her placing Aegon on the throne, despite the fact he's clearly unfit and unwilling to do so (not to mention even the other lords know damn well he never would have wanted that).

* Lord Beesbury's death at Criston's hands. [[TookALevelInJerkass And Criston's utter remorselessness at the crime]] which even the lords and Queen Alicent find appalling. The man was a loyal supporter of Rhaenyra to the end, and he didn't deserve such an unjust fate.

* Alicent's disposition throughout the episode. For all her mistakes, she's clearly grieving her husband and even seems to be second guessing her choices and resolve. Additionally, she's clearly uncomfortable with using her feet to influence Larys Strong (who seems to have a foot fetish). While he never asks for sex, it's clearly something she finds incredibly demeaning, even though she's the dominant one in the situation. Her face screams "I am the Queen Regent and yet I'm to sully myself to this EvilCripple just to keep my family safe?"
* The poor illegitimate child of Aegon, left in a cage for a doubtless short and brutal life. His royal father holds no regard for him except as a source of violent entertainment, and probably wouldn't even be aware of him were it not for his distinctive silver hair.
* Oddly enough, Aegon is quite pitiable in the scene where on the way to his coronation, he asks Alicent if she loves him. The way she responds implies that the answer is obviously yes but it's also a little sad if you consider that Alicent may have ''never'' told Aegon that she loves him, which may have a lot to do with how he's turned out. In addition, it's notable how he begs to ''not'' be made king to Aemond. Considering how thousands of innocent people have died and whole kingdoms have fallen to madmen desiring to be King of Westeros, it's peculiar to see someone so desperate to not be king because they ''know'' they would be terrible at ruling (which hasn't stop the likes of Maegor the Cruel or Joffrey). But Aegon's personal wants don't matter: he's going to be dragged into this role solely because he's the firstborn of the Hightower-Targaryens and forced to kick-start a war he never wanted to happen, all because of his grandfather's ambition to gain more power for their family.

* Rhaenyra and Daemon hearing the news of Viserys' death.

* The harrowing mid-term miscarriage poor Rhaenyra has to endure. From the fact that the pain is so great that she can't stay still, to her calling for Daemon to halt his plans and come to her only for him to ignore her. To her hateful scream of "GetOut" to the child within her. And after it's done she gathers and cradles her stillborn baby Visenya in her arms and rocks her as she did Joff in episode six. She even wraps her tiny, malformed body herself in preparation for the funeral. Unlike Aemma, she had beaten all the odds in the birthing bed but the Stranger got their due at the last.

** Both Daemon and Rhaenyra standing by their baby's pyre, silently despondent for the child they have lost, in a scene that clearly harkens back to the the moment of Queen Aemma and Prince Baelon's funerals all the way back in the first episode.

* Rhaenyra is also staring at him, gasping, when he ''finally'' lets up the pressure and releases her; with utter dismay. She believed with absolute certainty that she was the exception to his ability to commit depravity only to be rudely awakened and disabused of such a notion. The one silver-lining is that her shock confirms that he's never laid hands on her before this moment in like manner.

* [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone The horrified look of remorse on Aemond's face]] as he watches Arrax's severed wings plummet (and no sign of his nephew, who's been reduced to red mist) to earth says it all. For all his hatred of Luke for maiming him, when his revenge is handed to him with interest, he realises too late that he never truly desired to see him dead. This was a boy who he trained and played with in their youth before everything went so wrong. Luke's demise throws everything into sharp relief for Aemond and his trembling expression reveals him not as the battle-tested badass he wishes himself to be but an arrogant youth who vastly overestimated his abilities.
** And this one impulsive move of his will have dire consequences, that will spell disaster for his family as he has thrust them now into total war with no chance for compromise and branded himself a kinslayer; the greatest taboo in Westeros save regicide and breaking guest-right.
** What's even more heartbreaking is that Luke himself never wanted to fight his uncle, and not just because he knew he'd lose. He came to Storm's End to barter peace and did so even with Aemond there. While he never apologized for taking Aemond's eye, Luke is also audibly shocked at Arrax's disobedience and is shouting for him not to attack Aemond or Vhagar. Tragically, Lucerys had as much control over his dragon as his uncle did when they decided to dance.
** Aemond desperately trying to control Vhagar after getting a face full of dragonfire, [[OhCrap likely realizing that the dragon is no longer treating this like a game]]. It's clear he knows that his nephew is in ''serious danger'', and despite his commands to Vhagar he is helpless to stop it from happening.

** Daemon himself is very somber as he makes the walk alongside the Painted Table to Rhaenyra, he even looks like he's wiping a tear from his eyes. Lucerys may not have been his son, but he was ''family'', part of Rhaenyra herself and he undoubtedly loved him just as fiercely. In less than a sennight Daemon has failed to protect yet ''another'' person he cares for; he wasn't even in the council that made the decision to send the boys as messengers and couldn't have spoken up against it.

** Rhaenyra's silent grief is arguably more palpable. Emma D'Arcy deserves huge credit for showcasing with no words at all every trace of heartbreak on the woman's face. She's so shocked and devastated that she can't even bring herself to speak and when she does, it's little more than a desperate blubber. It's also implied the grief she felt in that moment was the catalyst that led to her baby's stillbirth. TruthInTelevision, as intense emotional trauma has been known to cause miscarriages.
* The harrowing mid-term miscarriage poor Rhaenyra has to endure. From the fact that the pain is so great that she can't stay still, to her calling for Daemon to halt his plans and come to her only for him to ignore her. To her hateful scream of "get out!" to the child within her. And after it's done she gathers and cradles her stillborn baby Visenya in her arms and rocks her as she did Joff in episode six. She even wraps her tiny, malformed body herself in preparation for the funeral. Unlike Aemma, she had beaten all the odds in the birthing bed but the Stranger got their due at the last.

** While the interaction between Alicent and Dyana goes rather positively, Alicent still makes a point to silence Dyana by making her believe she'll be deemed a whore who enticed Aegon if she tells anyone else what happened, not to mention that Dyana already risked herself by telling a couple others before Alicent. While this was done primarily to protect her son, Alicent's words sadly ring true in that many would believe that either Dyana lied about the circumstances or that she brought the rape on herself.

* Oddly enough, Aegon is quite pitiable in the scene where on the way to his coronation, he asks Alicent if she loves him. The way she responds implies that the answer is obviously yes but it's also a little sad if you consider that Alicent may have ''never'' told Aegon that she loves him, which may have a lot to do with how he's turned out. In addition, it's notable how he begs to ''not'' be made king to Aemond. Considering how thousands of innocent people have died and whole kingdoms have fallen to madmen desiring to be King of Westeros, it's peculiar to see someone so desperate to not be king because they ''know'' they would be terrible at ruling (which hasn't stop the likes of Maegor the Cruel or Joffrey). But Aegon's personal wants don't matter: he's going to be dragged into this role solely because he's the firstborn of the Hightower-Targaryens and forced to kick-start a war he never wanted to happen.

* Oddly enough, Aegon is quite pitiable in the scene where on the way to his coronation, he asks Alicent if she loves him. The way she responds implies that the answer is obviously yes but it's also a little sad if you consider that Alicent may have ''never'' told Aegon that she loves him, which may have a lot to do with how he's turned out. In addition, it's notable how he begs to ''not'' be made king to Aemond. Considering how thousands of innocent people have died and whole kingdoms have fallen to madmen desiring to be King of Westeros, it's peculiar to see someone so desperate to not be king because they ''know'' they would be terrible at ruling (which hasn't stop the likes of Maegor the Cruel or Joffrey).

* Lord Beesbury's death at Criston's hands. [[TookALevelInJerkass And Criston's utter remorselessness at the crime]] which even the lords and Queen Alicent find appalling. The man was ''right'' and was a loyal supporter to the end, and he didn't deserve such an unjust fate.

* Queen Aemma's DeathByChildbirth is not only truly horrific in its bloodiness, but it also gains an additional tragic and unpleasant edge by the fact that the decision to give her a TraumaticCSection was made without her consent. Made worse is that Aemma isn't unconscious when it happens and we get the pleasure of hearing her plead for them not to do this to her. Despite Viserys I's clear love for her, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany the pressure of the situation]] made him choose the life of the baby over hers without even asking her. The decision is made in light of Mellos's warning that if they do nothing, both mother and child will probably die—but it's AllForNothing when they both die [[MortonsFork anyways]]. No matter how bad Aemma's death in that other situation might have been, it's harder to imagine it could've possibly been worse than this one.
* Alicent having to watch her brother joust against Prince Daemon, who seriously injures him by attacking his horse[[note]]Both in real life and the series, deliberately attacking the horse of another knight or one's own horse would have disqualified an entrant from a tournament on the spot.[[/note]] To add insult to injury, Daemon has the gall to ask for her favor immediately afterward, which she is compelled to give, with a smile on her face, in front of a cheering crowd. It becomes understandable why Ser Otto ''hates'' Daemon.

* Oddly enough, Aegon is quite pitiable in the scene where on the way to his coronation, he asks Alicent if she loves him. The way she responds implies that the answer is obviously yes but it's also a little sad if you consider that Alicent may have ''never'' told Aegon that she loves him, which may have a lot to do with how he's turned out.

** Both Daemon and Rhaenyra standing by their baby's pyre, silently despondent for the child they have lost.

** Daemon himself is very somber as he makes the walk alongside the Painted Table to Rhaenyra, he even looks like he's wiping a tear from his eyes. Lucerys may not have been his son, but he was ''family'', part of Rhaenyra herself and he undoubtedly loved him just as fiercely. In less than a sennight Daemon has failed to protect yet ''another'' person he cares for; he wasn't even in the council that made the decision to send the boys as messangers and couldn't have spoken up against it.