#also he is a history nerd and wanted to write his own anarchy and matilda and if you know history that's all you need to know really

[giudittas]

why I suddenly see many takes like "the dance is actually about how feudalism is bad you shouldn't like neighter side" like sorry but this is so CLEARLY not what GRRM wanted to say here 😭

[thesunfyre4446]

I really don't get why people are so obsessed with viserys naming rhaenyra his heir. Frankly speaking, the moment aegon was born his words lost their meaning almost entirely since westeros is a medieval society. If we look at the real world actions that inspired the dance (the anarchy) we will see that not only Matilda (the ONLY heir, to whom nobles swore not once but TWICE) was challenged but she was challenged by her first cousin whose claim rose from female line (and he wasn't even the eldest). imo it's the biggest flaw of the dance bc rhaenyra's claim is so weak from medieval point of view that the fact she was supported by so many nobles is what truly makes asoiaf fantasy lol (and don't get me started on a general political side of the dance, bc it's a mess and f&b in general always looked to me like a soap opera rather than a history book about politics and stuff). And considering she also wanted her illegitimate child to succeed her it should've literally stripped her of any remaining support as well, her only advantage should've been in dragons and possible political alliances/marriges.

The other thing that kinda bothers me is that aegon is called an usurper even in universe which considering the rules of the realm is mind-boggling tbh. I feel like the fans (and grrm himself or maybe he just wanted something cool) don't grasp that feudal society (like in asoiaf) and centralised government (like absolute monarchy which is what many fans believe targaryens to be) are two completely different beasts.

Sorry if it's a bit messy, English is not my first language and I write on my phone

i could write you a 100 page essay about matilda's (yes, i'm a huge history nerd) tragedy of eventually realizing that she will never be able to sit the english throne as a woman and starting to fight for her son to be king instead (and he ended up being a horrible horrible man that abuses women f*ck you henry ii justice for eleanor) ]

yeah the houses that supported the greens claimed that the oath they swore to rhaenyra lost it's value the second the king had a son. in ep 3 the lords all assume that aegon is now the heir without viserys even making an official announcement , it's that obvious to them. it's very problematic when the lords believe that aegon naturally has a stronger claim then rhaenyra - the chosen heir - that's a succession crisis. aegon's claim is based on precedence & the andal law and rhaenyra's is based on the king. (that's the problem, rhaenyra's whole claim & political power are completely dependent on vis, the second he died - she was pretty much doomed).

yeah nonnie F&B politics are messy and illogical lol, but i will say that the lords who supported rhaenyra didn't do it in the name of feminism, most of them did it for personal gain or because they believed the blacks had a better chance of winning. (like jayne arryn that was worried that her own claim to the vale will be challenged if the greens won).