#Bethany bracken

[snake-berry]

Bethany Bracken, prior to her execution

"I found her in such lamentation and heaviness as I never saw no creature, so that it would have pitied any man's heart to have looked upon her."

i hath returned from my faraway travels, to post once more...

anyways yeah drew bethany in a slightly diff style than usual! even if shes an awoiaf footnote i am obsessed with her partially bc she is so obviously inspired by catherine howard (my forever fave of henry viii's wives). so yes hope u all enjoy my cornplate fanart. also justice for bracken women!

[coldraindropsss]

Michael Manwoody, Elaena Targaryen, Shaera Targaryen, Jaehaerys ii Targaryen

Bethany Bracken, Terrence Toyne, Bonnifer Hasty, Rhaella Targaryen

Jena Dondarrion, Baelor Targaryen, Valarr Targaryen, Kiera of Tyrosh

Roose Bolton, Walda Frey, Lyonel Hightower, Samantha Tarly

Jeyne Arryn, Jessamyn Redfort, Lady Essie, Sylvenna Sand

[beneathxblackwaves]

The Nine Mistresses of Aegon IV:

→ Suki Waterhouse as Falena Stokeworth → Laura Donnelly as Merry Meg → Dominique McElligott as Cassella Vaith → Ebonee Noel as Bellegere Otherys → Flora Spencer-Longhurst as Barba Bracken → Katie McGrath as Mylessa Blackwood → Anne Hathaway as Bethany Bracken → Tamzin Merchant as Jeyne Lothston → Reese Witherspoon as Serenei of Lys

[ophelias-lamentation]

Barba and Bethany Bracken- mistresses of Aegon IV

[rozsesandart]

Lady Bethany Bracken, sister of Barba Bracken and seventh mistress to Aegon IV Targaryen 🥀

Art by @rozsesandart

Art masterlist - kofi - socials - commissions info

[atopvisenyashill]

connections between naerys and sansa?

There’s plenty! She’s very much in a Naerys/Aegon scenario in ASOS & ACOK, where she has no ability to leave the capital, no one doing anything meaningful to protect her, and a King that is obsessed with sexually humiliating her. There’s a lot of romanticism and chivalry surrounding her character and how other people react to her character, the same as Naerys.

But also, Sansa makes the comparisons to Naerys herself, and she does it before she realizes what kind of person Joffrey is! In fact, it starts with her very first chapter where she compares Joffrey interrupting Ilyn Payne & Sandor Clegane to Aemon demanding a trial by combat against Ser Morgil:

A whole day with her prince! She gazed at Joffrey worshipfully. He was so gallant, she thought. The way he had rescued her from Ser Ilyn and the Hound, why, it was almost like the songs, like the time Serwyn of the Mirror Shield saved the Princess Daeryssa from the giants, or Prince Aemon the Dragonknight championing Queen Naerys's honor against evil Ser Morgil's slanders.

She will compare Joffrey to Aemon and herself to Naerys again later, to Ned:

"Father, I only just now remembered, I can't go away, I'm to marry Prince Joffrey." She tried to smile bravely for him. "I love him, Father, I truly truly do, I love him as much as Queen Naerys loved Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, as much as Jonquil loved Ser Florian. I want to be his queen and have his babies."

(lowkey she’s so fucking funny for that “i only just now remembered” comment, idk how ned kept a straight face for it)

She then uses Aemon (and the Cargyll twins) to make Tommen feel better and dunk on Joffrey:

Prince Tommen sobbed. "You mew like a suckling babe," his brother hissed at him. "Princes aren't supposed to cry." "Prince Aemon the Dragonknight cried the day Princess Naerys wed his brother Aegon," Sansa Stark said, "and the twins Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk died with tears on their cheeks after each had given the other a mortal wound." "Be quiet, or I'll have Ser Meryn give you a mortal wound," Joffrey told his betrothed.

Again, there’s a focus on Aemon’s romantic relationship with Naerys because that's what appeals to Sansa. But when people say "Sansa sees the world through stories" it's not just about how she romanticizes or idolizes knighthood, nobility, and chivalry - she thinks through information by comparing it with similar historical events or stories and analyzing it. She clearly sees the problem with Loras protecting Margaery from Joffrey by comparing him to the Toynes instead of Aemon, and Joffrey (once again) to Aegon the Unworthy:

She is so brave, Sansa thought, galloping after her . . . and yet, her doubts still gnawed at her. Ser Loras was a great knight, all agreed. But Joffrey had other Kingsguard, and gold cloaks and red cloaks besides, and when he was older he would command armies of his own. Aegon the Unworthy had never harmed Queen Naerys, perhaps for fear of their brother the Dragonknight . . . but when another of his Kingsguard fell in love with one of his mistresses, the king had taken both their heads. Ser Loras is a Tyrell, Sansa reminded herself. That other knight was only a Toyne. His brothers had no armies, no way to avenge him but with swords. Yet the more she thought about it all, the more she wondered. Joff might restrain himself for a few turns, perhaps as long as a year, but soon or late he will show his claws, and when he does . . . The realm might have a second Kingslayer, and there would be war inside the city, as the men of the lion and the men of the rose made the gutters run red.

She’s also not wrong in her assessment here because the Tyrells (my guess is Garlan and Olenna) are so worried about this outcome they just murder Joffrey and install Tommen; like Bethany Bracken, Margaery is groomed (with all the implications that are included in such a loaded term) to be sexually available to the King because her father wants power and doesn't care if his daughter is sexually abused to get it. Like Terrance Toyne, Loras is considered attractive, skilled, and has several brothers more than willing to start a war to avenge his death. I think it's incredibly intuitive that Sansa ultimately comes to the same conclusion as two seasoned political players like (presumably) Olenna and Garlan come to, and she makes this judgement call very quickly!

And Sansa also hits on a lot of (correct) similarities when she makes these comparisons between Joffrey's court and Aegon the Unworthy's court; Aegon and Joffrey both have wild, violent temperaments while being notoriously difficult to control. It’s not just Naerys that attempts to get Aegon to stop marital raping her; Aemon’s useless tears aside, Viserys does do the bare minimum here in sending Aegon away so Naerys can heal from her miscarriages, Daeron got shitty with the Brackens about being tacky over Naerys' marital rape and ill health, Baelor fasts himself to death over Naerys’ miscarriages, etc etc. All of the “authority figures” around Aegon think his behavior is wrong but Aegon proves stubbornly difficult to control or kill. Joffrey falls along these same lines - Cersei, Robert, Tyrion, Tywin, and even Varys all struggle to get some control over Joffrey but like Aegon, he knows once he’s of age and has that crown he doesn’t have to answer for SHIT and stubbornly resists every attempt to curb his behavior. Joffrey is a hell scenario waiting to happen because like Aegon, he’s petty and petulant enough to pull the stunts Aegon pulls like pitting his true born kids against his bastard born ones and causing another violent succession crisis. I say this as like, the ultimate Joffrey Apologist here, lmaooo, he has reasons for being a nasty piece of shit but the Tyrells are right to look at him and go “oh that’s trouble” because he is a ticking time bomb. And the crazy thing is, it’s not just Sansa who compares Joffrey to Aegon the Unworthy:

"A king can have other women. Whores. My father did. One of the Aegons did too. The third one, or the fourth. He had lots of whores and lots of bastards." As they whirled to the music, Joff gave her a moist kiss. "My uncle will bring you to my bed whenever I command it." Sansa shook her head. "He won't." "He will, or I'll have his head. That King Aegon, he had any woman he wanted, whether they were married or no."

Joffrey makes the comparison himself. He's a piece of work just like his hero and he is directly threatening to rape Sansa the same way Aegon raped Naerys and poor Bethany Bracken. He is directly admitting he is "unworthy" and practically daring all of KL to overthrow him for it because he thinks they'll blink before he does (and he is unfortunately deadly wrong in this assumption).

And when you extrapolate out from there, you can see other, similar patterns between Naerys' life and Sansa's, beyond the Joffrey-Aegon, Margaery-Bethany, Loras-Terrance, and Sansa-Naerys parallels. Tyrion himself aspires to be a sort of Viserys II type player (see: "It should have been called the Lives of Five Kings" rant he gives to Oberyn); a power behind the throne directing his crazy family to do what's right or smart or proper. There's an interesting echo in Viserys taking direct action in sending Aegon away from Naerys and Tyrion stopping Joffrey in his assault of Sansa - like Viserys, he can see the monster in the king he is raising, makes an attempt to stop it, but fails because he underestimates just how dangerous and erratic his little king has become. Like Viserys, Tyrion is suspected of poisoning his own nephew in an attempt to get closer to power and the throne (and Viserys, like Tyrion, is probably innocent - the sort of fasting that Baelor was doing regularly is hard on the body!).

I don't think any of this is coincidental or accidental either, because of that haunting scene where Joffrey destroys the gift Tyrion got him. Here's the scene, excuse the wall of text, but it's important:

He plays the gracious king today. Joffrey could be gallant when it suited him, Sansa knew, but it seemed to suit him less and less. Indeed, all his courtesy vanished at once when Tyrion presented him with their own gift: a huge old book called Lives of Four Kings, bound in leather and gorgeously illuminated. The king leafed through it with no interest. "And what is this, Uncle?" A book. Sansa wondered if Joffrey moved those fat wormy lips of his when he read. "Grand Maester Kaeth's history of the reigns of Daeron the Young Dragon, Baelor the Blessed, Aegon the Unworthy, and Daeron the Good," her small husband answered. "A book every king should read, Your Grace," said Ser Kevan. “My father had no time for books.” Joffrey shoved the tome across the table. “If you read less, Uncle Imp, perhaps Lady Sansa would have a baby in her belly by now.” He laughed … and when the king laughs, the court laughs with him. “Don’t be sad, Sansa, once I’ve gotten Queen Margaery with child I’ll visit your bedchamber and show my little uncle how it’s done.” Sansa reddened. She glanced nervously at Tyrion, afraid of what he might say. This could turn as nasty as the bedding had at their own feast. But for once the dwarf filled his mouth with wine instead of words... [Joffrey gets a Valyrian sword and figures out a name for it, Widow's Wail, it's a few pages, it's not relevant here] Joffrey brought Widow’s Wail down in a savage two-handed slice, onto the book that Tyrion had given him. The heavy leather cover parted at a stroke. “Sharp! I told you, I am no stranger to Valyrian steel.” It took him half a dozen further cuts to hack the thick tome apart, and the boy was breathless by the time he was done. Sansa could feel her husband struggling with his fury as Ser Osmund Kettleblack shouted, “I pray you never turn that wicked edge on me, sire.” “See that you never give me cause, ser.” Joffrey flicked a chunk of Lives of Four Kings off the table at swordpoint, then slid Widow’s Wail back into its scabbard. “Your Grace,” Ser Garlan Tyrell said. “Perhaps you did not know. In all of Westeros there were but four copies of that book illuminated in Kaeth’s own hand.” “Now there are three.” Joffrey undid his old swordbelt to don his new one. “You and Lady Sansa owe me a better present, Uncle Imp. This one is all chopped to pieces.”

God I love that passage so much. There's a lot there but what's relevant is a) both Oberyn and Garlan are trying to get a measure of who Joffrey is, and have some child murdering plans potentially in the works during this scene. Watching Joffrey destroy a priceless tome of history given as a well thought, well meant, incredibly generous (and pointed) gift from his uncle is more than enough proof for either man to decide Joffrey is not worth the headache, and please note Garlan is the only person to call Joffrey out to his face, and Oberyn is a few pages later the only person to acknowledge this was a fantastic and kind gift from Tyrion that Joffrey reacted absolutely deranged towards for no reason. and b) Tyrion is almost literally saying to Joffrey "I can be your Viserys, I can make it so you're remembered as a great king the way Daeron II or Baelor are, or a great warrior like Daeron I, but you have to understand the reason why I'm worried about your behavior" and Joffrey does the most destructive, unworthy thing he can possibly do - he quite literally destroys priceless, useful historical knowledge and wisdom with his bare hands, in favor of senseless, petulant violence. As Catelyn would say, Joffrey's real bride is not Margaery, but the war he's fighting and the crown on his head.

All of this to say - there's a lot of parallels between Sansa's situation in KL and Naery's life and these parallels are drawn not only by Sansa herself, but also by several people around her. However, I hope for better things for Sansa than what poor Naerys got - I hope for an Aemon the Dragonknight that will do more than just cry while she's raped, but actually step into that room and defend her, or else give her the power to defend herself. Despite the long wait for The Winds of Winter, I also think it's likely we will get some sort of Dragonknight, devoted sworn sword for Sansa and this person will help protect her, and Sansa will have agency that Naerys could only ever dream of.

[jays-asoiaf-reblogs-and-archive]

Art by Jota Saraiva

[tragedy-peanut-gallery]

what are your thoughts (and potential headcanons) about aegon iv's nine mistresses?

Ouffff well I gotta be honest I probably won’t have as many headcanons about them as I did for the daughters in law of Daeron and Myriah- but I’m more than happy to share my thoughts about them!

Falena Stokeworth

Thoughts: Groomer!!! Get lost lady you’re literally his dad’s age!!!!! Should’ve locked her up in Harrenhall and thrown away the key maybe!

Headcanons: Honestly I think canon already kind of spells it out for us given her age relative to his own, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was preying on Aegon’s whole mommy issues deal in order to get into a relationship with him. Pain and suffering all around.

Megette

Thoughts: Honestly poor girl she deserved sooo much better :( pretty sure her whole deal was supposed to be another commentary on how nobility don’t actually give a shit about the smallfolk even when they’re lovers and all that, but goddamn I just feel bad for her :(

Cassella Vaith

Thoughts: Ngl another girl who deserved so much better- it’s kind of weird how they give her a description but not the other mistresses but hey who am I to judge- makes her easier to draw ig?

Headcanons: Oh she was absolutely psychologically tortured during her time with Aegon because that man is notttt capable of being nice to any woman. I imagine the reason she wasn’t married off after being returned home was because of how traumatized she was

Bellegere Otherys

Thoughts: Okay this may sound stupid as hell given all the shit I talked about Aegon prior to this but like…. Idc, I support her decisions in choosing one of the most rancid men in Westeros to be her lover. In her defense!!!! Pickings for royalty were very slim- her only other options were a former teen dad who’s still hung up on his ex wife and is always busy trying (and failing) to keep his nephews from dying, a member of the kingsguard who’s obsessed with his own sister, and Baelor, of course she was gonna go for Aegon! Bellegere can get the one exception because I think pirate women are really cool and tbh I think she’s also the only one who was with him for funsies before dropping his ass like a sack of potatoes when he got too annoying for her

Headcanons: Ngl I kinda like to think her daughter Nahra took up the whole trading/smuggling/pirating business after her, and Bellegere got to retire and chill in Braavos watching all the shit go down with the Blackfyre rebellions. Good for her <3

Barba Bracken

Thoughts: I mean…. She’s a bitch, but tbh she kinda deserved better too. Even if she is meant to be a bad person, she was also just a teenager when Aegon began sleeping with her and was mostly pushed forward by her own dad, and its sad that she then continued the cycle of abuse to her own sister :(

Headcanons: I kinda like to think she and Daena had a very toxic frenemy-ship, that’s my main reasoning to explain why Aegor was so loyal to Daemon lmao

Melissa Blackwood

Thoughts: I mean, she’s one of Naerys’ only canonical female friends so she gets an automatic like in my books. And also kinda funny that the Bracken/Blackwood slap fight actually caused another Targ civil by just pushing their female relatives in front of a horny king. She absolutely deserved so much better

Headcanons: I refuseeee to believe she died in childbirth, in my head she’s also retired chilling in Raventree Hall with her daughters and occasionally got updates from Brynden about the war crimes he was committing <3

Bethany Bracken

Thoughts: Deserved so, SO much better. Mr lord Bracken sir I will see you in HELL!!!!!

Jeyne Lothson

Thoughts: Only thing I have to say is…. Absolutely gothic horror girlie because holy shit. My god. Was George intentionally writing her story to be horrifying or was it a weird fetish- I’m hoping to god it was the former. Anyways she absolutely deserved so much better than all the adults in her life

Headcanons: For added flavor aka more horror! I do headcanon her to actually be Aegon’s daughter, and I believe Danelle was either her daughter or granddaughter because- well, we do definitely need to sprinkle in some more cursed bloodline shit to the house that’s already doomed cause they’re living in Harrenhall, yippe :))

Serenei of Lys

Thoughts: Boring as hellllll that she died from childbirth like- COME ON!!! Let the lady die from implosion, or slipping on a banana peel or something!!! Also kinda sucks that we barely know anything else about her! I want the lore George!!!

Headcanons: Due to lack of lore, I’m stealing someone else’s previous headcanon that she’s actually a Hightower bastard because 1. Absolutely hilarious and is absolutely the level of hustling scam-artistry that I would expect during Aegon’s reign, and 2. Kinda explains her whole deal- why Jon even brought her to court, why we know nothing about her past, why she’s so distant and kinda secretive. Shout out to whoever came up with that headcanon cause that lives in my head rent free forever now

[alicole-sideblog]

I've never heard anyone talk about Terrence Toyne and Bethany Bracken in any capacity. Their AO3 tag has a single fic in it.

But I think we — the Alicole gang — are the proper people to love and appreciate them.

"Ser Terrence Toyne was found abed with his king's mistress. 'Twas love, he swore, but it cost his life and hers,"

His famous forebear, the dark and dashing Terrence Toyne of whom the singers sang, had been so fair of face that even the king's mistress could not resist him;

A dark and dashing pretty boy, you say? House Toyne, you say, as in the Stormlands? Lady Bethany Bracken, you say, a non-Targ lady stuck in an official relationship with a crappy Targ king?

these guys are at least as much Alicole mini-mes as Aemon/Naerys, and probably more.

[nanshe-of-nina]

Posthumous Characters GIF Sets → Bethany Bracken

Bethany was groomed by her father and sister expressly to win the king’s favor and displace Missy Blackwood. In 177, she caught Aegon’s eye as he visited at Stone Hedge to see his bastard son, Aegor. By now, the king was fat and foul-tempered, but Bethany delighted him, and he took her back with him to King’s Landing. However, Bethany found his royal embraces distressing. For comfort, she turned to a knight of the Kingsguard, Ser Terrence Toyne. The pair was discovered abed by Aegon himself in 178. Ser Terrence was tortured to death and both Lady Bethany and her father were executed. When Ser Terrence’s brothers sought to avenge his death, Prince Aemon the Dragonknight was slain while defending his brother, King Aegon.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

I was looking through some of your posts and are there really people who think Bethany Bracken “got what she deserved”? How do you spin that? She’s Aegon 4 mistress, not his wife, it’s in no way unlawful to be unfaithful, there’s no justification for her and her father’s death

Few things in fandom are liable to trigger Aegor-Wanksteel than the treatment of this character, but yes; there are several Great Fandom Minds who make light of Bethany’s rape and murder. Some say she should’ve known better not to anger her rapist. Others that she and her rapist and lover were in “a love triangle”. Still others that she deserved it for “corrupting the Kingsguard,” as if she was responsible for Toyne’s actions. You’re right in that there’s no real lawful way in the text for her execution (executing a father and child unjustly has been grounds for rebellion against Targs in both past and future incidences) but trust the GFM to find a “logical way” out of this half-baked Katherine Howard parallel that victim blames a female character they dislike (sometimes while claiming they’re feminist and policing the way other people talk about female characters).

It’s one of the reasons why I keep emphasizing Bethany’s importance outside of shitting on House Bracken. While Toyne had brothers to try to avenge him, they had no armies. Bethany didn’t even have brothers, just a sister, and a nephew…who’d later try raising several armies to fight the Targs. #justice4brackenwomen attempted, though unfortunately not accomplished

[coldraindropsss]

Bonnifer Hasty, Rhaella Targaryen

Terrence Toyne, Bethany Bracken

[princess--of--the--dragonstone]

BETHANY BRACKEN

ㅤㅤㅤ«ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴀʀʟʏ ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ ㅤㅤㅤᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋᴇsᴛ ᴅᴀᴡɴ ㅤㅤㅤʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴜᴍᴘᴇᴛs sᴏᴜɴᴅɪɴɢ ㅤㅤㅤʟᴏᴠᴇs ғɪɴᴀʟ sᴏɴɢ ㅤㅤㅤᴋɪss ᴍᴇ ғᴀᴅᴇ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ㅤㅤㅤᴊᴜsᴛ ғᴀʀ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ ㅤㅤㅤɪ'ᴍ ᴅʀɪғᴛɪɴɢ ㅤㅤㅤᴛᴏᴜᴄʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ sᴏᴜʟ ㅤㅤㅤɪ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍɪɴɢ ㅤㅤㅤsᴀғᴇ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ɪs ɢᴏɴᴇ

BURNING HEART - SVRCINA

Mistresses of Aegon IV Targaryen [7/9]

[thaliajoy-blog]

The nine mistresses of Aegon IV. The letter A can stand both for Aegon...or for Adultery, like the famous Scarlet Letter.

They're all inspired by portraits or pop representations of royal mistresses - notable exceptions being Megette and Bellegere.

The position of the letter "A" on these ladies is important as to what relationship they had with Aegon.

Falena's is on display on a pretty ornate necklace but also half-hidden by her bodice - a sign of both pride and of an attempt at discretion.

Megette's is on her belt - quasi a sign of possession on Aegon's part ; it's also on her belly (and Megette is the woman who gave him the most children). That relationship was probably one of the most unequal he had, since she wasn't a noble and was kept by him in a place, until she was sent away by Viserys.

Cassella's in on a choker around her neck - this relationship was also unequal and possibly non consenting, since she was a hostage at court and he kept her in his own chambers. Cassella came back traumatized from the experience and seemed to have been mad and delusional for the rest of her life. So a relationship that "chocked" her.

Completely different for Bellegere Otherys ; she wasn't a court mistress but an independant woman with a ship and a business, and she had other lovers besides Aegon - so the letter "A" is set on a necklace that hangs from her belt, showing her casual attitude to him.

Both Barba Bracken and Melissa Blackwood wear it around their neck, but around a loose string : they are openly royal mistresses and have a relative control over their position (it doesn't choke them).

Bethany Blackwood's is on a necklace close to her neck, with several string. Bethany was groomed into her position and had great expectations put on her, and she ultimately tried to get free when she had her affair with the kingsguard Terence Toyne. Her necklace represents that relation she didn't want and which emprisoned and chafed her.

Jeyne Lothston was also a pretty young girl when she became Aegon's mistress (she was fourteen), and there are some disturbing things about this, like the possibility that he was her father (by his first mistress Falena Stokeworth), and even that Aegon bedded the both of them together. So the "A" letter is very close to her throat,hanging from a collar that is tight around it, and accompanied by the same bat brooch her mother wore.

Serenei of Lys' necklace with the "A" is rather loose and falls on her stomach : Serenei is a woman in control of her relationship and not "chocked" by it (she was also thought to be older than Aegon & a sorceress like her daughter Shiera) - but she does die in childbirth as a result of the relationship.

[atopvisenyashill]

too many years lost in history

aka i have the songs from six the musical stuck in my head and since it’s kind of a “playing into the stereotypes to interrogate the stereotype” take on the wives of henry viii, i thought the dramatic takes on the characters would mesh well with the mistresses (and wife) of aegon the unworthy. also i need something to do with my hands when as i listen to all the asoiaf audiobooks lmao

naerys targaryen

falena stokeworth

merry meg

(pretend it says daughters and not sons since they had all girls) (justice for merry meg, aly, lily, willow, rosey, and all smallfolk everywhere)

cassella vaith

bellegere otherys

barba bracken

missy blackwood

bethany bracken

jeyne lothston

serenei of lys

sorry i struggled with her lol, she and falena have the least amount of characterization so far. i’m excited for her though, just because of all the witchiness surrounding her, she has to have some interesting layers!

okay now everyone sing with me let’s go:

SO THEY HAD NO CHOICE

(*characters singing in background* SO WE HAD NO CHOICE)

BUT NOW ITS US ALONE

SO THEY HAD NO CHOICE

(SO WE HAD NO CHOICE)

WE’RE TAKING BACK THE MICROPHONE

IM GONNA RAISE MY VOICE

(WE’RE GONNA RAISE OUR VOICE)

GEORGE SAID WE ALWAYS NEED YOUR LOVE BUT NOW ITS TIME TO RISE ABOVE!

if you wanna know the songs, in case any of the lyrics interested you (go listen to six pls i love it):

every queen gets one song, and then there’s a song that introduces the holbein portraits and hans holbein, an intro song, and then two songs at the end where they realize they should stop fighting & imagine their lives if they’d been able to choose their paths.

naerys - catherine of aragon’s song “no way”

falena stokeworth - anne boleyn’s song “don’t lose your head”

merry meg - jane seymour’s song “heart of stone”

cassella vaith - catherine parr’s song “i don’t need your love”

bellegere otherys - anne of cleves’ song “get down”

barba bracken - anne boleyn’s song “don’t lose your head”

melissa blackwood - jane seymour’s song “heart of stone”

bethany bracken - katherine howard’s song “all you wanna do”

jeyne lothston - group number “haus of holbein”

serenei of lys - catherine parr’s song “i don’t need your love”

my lil ending song - finale group number “six”

[allyriadayne]

from a doylist perspective, do you think grrm genuinely hates bittersteel and the brackens?

i think he just does it for fun. he obviously knows which house are the "good" guys and on the "right" side of history most of the time (and also as a clue for or to wink at the reader) but he also likes to subvert these expectations, like having bloodraven being the biggest war criminal in westeros and this shady entity trying to kill bran, but also having the brackens join robb or the tragic fate of bethany bracken.

in my opinion the bracken vs blackwood feud has never been about good or evil or right and wrong and i think the show did a good thing in showing it with the battle of the burning mill being this nonsense fight about an issue already solved years before or willem blackwood using daemon's words to just do what he wanted in bracken lands. it was not a "brackens are the good guys" more like blackwoods are capable of atrocities too.

i know the point of the feud is that nobody remembers what started it and these guys are just following "tradition" and it's not because i'm biased but i like to think that if germ ever does reveal the cause of the feud the brackens are going to be the first wronged party. especially because of his liking of subverting expectations. it'd definitely be a shocker.