#'rhaenys is hillary'

[la-pheacienne]

"One of the things that gave me the most respect for Hillary Clinton was in the aftermath of [the 2016 election], how she navigated her role/non-role and brilliantly maintained her dignity, self-respect and leadership. That felt like territory that Rhaenys was treading".

@alethiaii i'm suing you for therapy expenses

[tweedfrog]

Kicking an even bigger hornets nest than i did with that Viserys post but I think the reason I'm not as angry as other people seem to be with HOTDs adaptational choices and can kind of just enjoy the show (although i have my criticisms) is that after reading and rereading the books i think the adaptation is magnifying underlying weaknesses already present in GRRMs writing.

Like "oh why does the show make Criston Cole half dornish and then cast him as an angry incel conservative". bro. The books have the Arianne Martell nipple chapter. The book with the quote "mens lives have meaning not their deaths" killed off the second most important woman in the country 15 years ago and 80 characters have reflected on how annoying and sickly she was but it was kinda sad that she died I guess. We get like 4 sentences where we find out her brothers cared about her and she laughed at a fart joke.

In all fairness to the HOTD writers room they are nawt adapting flawless source material.

[muadweeb]

so the smallfolk she crushed are libyans in this case????

[mejcinta]

Watch as those obnoxious writers turn hotd season 3 into US Election commentary (instead of focusing on grrm's story), leaving global audiences scratching their heads.

[austencollins]

Slowly but surely finishing House of the Dragon, and I finally got to the last scene in the penultimate episode where Rhaenys busts loose and wrecks a ton of people in the Dragonpit (I was spoiled for it), and it’s like... yep, I knew I wasn’t going to agree with the scornful takes re Rhaenys killing a bunch of innocent people during her escape from King’s Landing when I kept seeing people derisively describe this as a girlboss moment.

actually i wish the show had leaned into that more tbh; some people could really use the reminder that it’s not just the noblemen inflicting patriarchy on all of westeros. & also that being discriminated against can make people go a little bit psycho.

[tessarionbestgirl]

Tb is so angry at TG actors saying none of Aegon and Rhaenyra deserve the throne, and are angry at Ryan as well sayın the whole point is to show monarchy sucks.

They really don't get that Rhaenyra committed treason and have been showed to be a weak leader. Aegon is stupid but the show doesn't fall behind in showing Rhaenyra isn't smart at all and her council is falling apart because she show not have authority.

Also sayın that considering how bad the young actors for TB have been to promote their team and Eva comparing Rhaenys to Hillary Clinton and even her horrendous comparation in S1 over Rheanys' choice to the war in Ukraine is hilarious.

[gojuo]

They don't call rhaenyra maegor with teats but only rhaenyra the cruel. Yet they had no qualms of using the anti arab slur.

I fucking hate tv shows who pretend to be progressive coz they portray misogyny as the worst thing but whitewash racism.

well to be fair rhaenyra only got the moniker maegor with teats after she took king's landing. she lined the red keep with severed heads daily and that soured the smallfolk's opinion of her which led to them calling her that. but you're right, the white feminist messaging in this show is very matter of fact. sara hess wrote the goatfucker line and she's also publicly endorsed hillary clinton, comparing rhaenys the terrorist to her as praise + her general treatment and viewpoint of criston cole, a brown man. so yeah that lady's opinion (subconscious or not) of middle easterners is quite evident.

[horizon-verizon]

ANON WAS RIGHT

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GSZRVr7WIAA4ecR?format=jpg&name=small

THIS is the feminist writing of the Dance of the Dragons that both Ryan and Sara promised by changing events in the source material... what happened to “in this world of men, we women must band together”, Jeyne’s male relatives trying to usurp her ??

Possibly cutting out Sabitha Frey and Alysanne Blackwood... Downplaying Rhaena and Baela... comparing Rhaenys to Hillary Clinton... I know what Ryan and Sara truly are.

This anon responds to this post/anon.

IT's annoying as fuck. I'm thinking of getting cannabis high for these episodes, maybe it can help w/epi 3.

It's been a pattern of them having characters angry or hold show!Rhaenyra responsible for shit she has either very little or no connection to. I rather hate the male gazey punching bag of it all.

[daenystheedreamer]

I'm sorry to say but Cersei isn't the Hillary of ASOIAF....Rhaenyra is. Her fans are Hillaryhive coded

daemyra is kind of billary.. but thank you sara hess for the rhaenys is hillary quote it ruined my life. also cersei 100% is a) being wife of politician because thats the way you got into politics back then (medieval era/70s) and then pretending this is a feminist act b) hating your cheating husband but staying with him for optics c) killing children. cersei IS hillary be for real. peak 2016 hillary would have fully exploded bernie sanders if she could

[la-pheacienne]

No but you don't get it. Show!Rhaenys, who is exclusively characterized as anti war/peacemaker/conciliator, is being paralleled to fucking HILLARY CLINTON. Just, wow. I genuinely don't have words.

[faiakishi]

If Harris wins we should Rhaenys Targaryen Hillary Clinton and start referring to her as 'the President Who Never Was'.

[jaundicity]

i love eve best but that take with rhaenys channeling hillary clinton... girl what was that.

[apricotatsea]

Got my friend to start watching hotd and he called rhaenys "Hillary coded" lmao

[lunamond]

Now that Rhaenys' story is done, I thought it fitting to dig out this old post.

Seeing her full arc on the show makes it pretty clear that Rhaenys "Hillary Clinton" Targaryen is probably the most bastardised character.

"And yet you toil still in service to men. Your father, your husband, your son. You desire not to be free, but to make a window in the wall of your prison. Have you ever imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?"

Rhaenys Targaryen, Ep 9

There are a lot of moments in Hotd that are quite dumb. But this is probably one of my most hated quotes in the whole show.

What does Rhaenys even mean by this?

"You toil in service of men"???

Ehm, Rhaenys?? That's literally all you've been doing this whole season?!

There could definitely have been a version of Rhaenys (based on the book) who is ambitious and focused on her own power, but that is absolutely not show!Rhaenys. Throughout the show, Rhaenys continuously helps Corlys to advance his various schemes to build his legacy.

Not her or even their legacy, no, it's all about HIS legacy.

She is even willing to sacrifice her children for this purpose (marrying Laena to Viserys, and Laenor to Rhaenyra). And while she is critical of this both times, she still goes along with her husband’s demands.

Her behaviour perfectly lines up with what Alicent says:

“We do not rule, but we may guide the men that do.”

And then the most offensive parts:

"You desire not to be free, but to make a window in the wall of your prison."

Ok? What should Alicent do then? Just casually dismantle the entire system of patriarchy?

This line is just utterly baffling to me. It would be one thing if this moment revealed a deep internal bias on Rhaenys' part, but based on the way this entire scene is framed and discussed by the fandom, it seems to be meant as a badass moment in which Rhaenys really calls out Alicent.

But, if we take this prison metaphor a bit further:

If Westerosi patriarchy is the prison and Alicent crowning her son and exerting power only through her influence over him is merely a window, then what does that mean for every Targaryen dragonriding princess or queen that have come before her?

What have they done to dismantle this prison?

I'm personally confused about what exactly Rhaenys is calling Alicent out for? Is she criticising Alicent for not elevating other women? Is she criticising her for not breaking herself out and seizing power?

If it is the former, then Rhaenys is being quite hypocritical, considering that Rhaenyra, in the previous episode, just convinced her to give Driftmark to Lucerys instead of Baela.

Rhaenys herself has scarcely done anything to liberate herself, her daughter or her granddaughter.

If it is the latter, then this is quite tone deaf, considering Rhaenys is part of the ruling dynasty, almost became ruling queen, and in her big show of defiance is literally breaking through the ground massacring hundreds on a dragon.

Rhaenys calling out another woman who has none of these things for not breaking free of these constraints while she herself couldn’t even manage it is quite frankly dumb as hell.

"Have you ever imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?"

This last sentence is probably the dumbest part of this entire quote.

I'm quite honestly baffled by what Rhaenys is even supposed to mean with this. Is she asking if Alicent ever considered ruling through her husband/son? Then, yeah, that's literally what she is trying to do.

But if Rhaenys is asking if Alicent imagined herself literally sitting the throne in her own right.

Like, no? Alicent is only a consort?! Should she do a coup? Overthrow the Targaryen dynasty?

Ultimately, this scene is just really indicative of Hotd's greatest flaw. The writers are aware that the driving source of conflict in both Alicent and Rhaenyra's lifes is the misogyny they experience, but not enough to comprehend this struggle in a nuanced and complicated way.

So instead, they end up putting their female characters in anti female oppression and pro oppression categories.

Either they're rebellious punk rock and not like other girls, or they are a prudish trade wife and are part of women for trump. Either they're Team Black or Team Green.

This is just super disappointing because for one feudal patriarchy doesn't work like that, but it also takes away all sympathy from the women who don't have the ability for open defiance out.

In the end, the show is more concerned with giving the "good" women, badass girlboss moments, showing how they defy the system.