HotD Has a Chance to Deliver Coolest Moment in TV History – Or Ruin It Entirely
What moment, you ask? The one that George Martin himself most looks forward to see, according to his response to a fan question: "Well yeah… the Battle Above the Gods Eye."
The Battle Above the Gods Eye occurs closer to the end of the Dance of Dragons, the civil war that only just began at the end of Season 1, so it is probably a couple of seasons away for now.
It happens after the relationship between Prince Daemon and Queen Rhaenyra deteriorates to the point, when Daemon decides that challenging his nephew and long-time enemy, Aemond, riding the mightiest dragon in the world, Vhagar, to a duel is a better option than returning to Rhaenyra's side.
Aemond obliges and the two do aerial battle over the great lake called Gods Eye, which ends with the opponents plunging into that lake to their deaths (or presumed deaths). The series already began a build-up to this battle since the brief standoff between Daemon and Aemond in Episode 8, and the upcoming seasons will surely introduce more parallels and reasons for enmity between the two men.
If we're lucky, the payoff will be worth the setup.
This showdown has a potential to become one of the most epic scenes on television ever, but only if the showrunners and the actors manage to do it justice. The scene is inherently even more free to interpretation than most of the rest of George Martin 's narrative, as told in Fire & Blood and preceding versions of the story.
According Fire & Blood, all the witnesses observed the battle from very far away, and the narrative smells of heroic legend, with details not adding up (Daemon performing an incredible acrobatic feat, despite not being in a good physical condition and moving stiffly, presumably thanks to approaching fifty at the time), so the showrunners may be tempted to reinterpret the scene, and such reinterpretations rarely improve upon the source, at least insofar as shows based on George Martin's books are concerned.
And of course, their direction, fighting choreography and special effects might simply be not up to the task – and a version the scene trying to stick with the book can easily end up looking very dumb, if done poorly thanks to the above-mentioned "heroic legend" air about it. We can only wait and hope.