#Book!Rhaenys is baratheon-coded so we kinda expect her to make unwise choices but not show!Rhaenys

[synchodai]

"Rhaenys would have been branded a craven and hurt her cause if she ran away!"

The same Rhaenys who kept criticizing Corlys's ambition and Daemon's glory-seeking? The same Rhaenys who kept disparaging men for valuing their ego over their lives? That's the woman you think would sacrifice her life and dragon for an insignificant castle because she would rather die than be called a coward?

(And retreating is not the same as desertion — it'll only be deserting if Rhaenys flew off to far-flung Essos to abandon her allies entirely. If she just flew back to Dragonstone, Rhaenyra wouldn't scold her for not sacrificing her life to defend piddly Rook's Rest when both sides are already precious about protecting their dragons. Losing Rook's Rest won't significantly impact their reputation when they've already lost Duskendale, a more important holding, just that same day.)

This is what happens when you make her the opposite of her book counterpart but still make her do the things book!Rhaenys does. Her engaging in a vainglorious fight knowing she would likely die and cost her side their biggest dragon just doesn't make as much sense anymore, and of course people will question it.