#and rhaena with lines

[ride-thedragon]

And before we begin, my predictions for episode 3.

1. I audibly scream for Baela and Rhaena lines

2. Rhaenys reads Rhaenyra, Daemon and their council to filth

3. Rhaenys and Corlys are the best couple on the show.

4. Larys mocking or emulating Alicent in some way.

5. Rhaenyra says Alicent's name because gay.

6. Rhaenyra and Alicent paralleling in some way

7. Baela/Jace conflict.

8. Jace pisses me off.

9. Addam and Alyn plot thickens.

10. GWAYNE AND ALYS (WELCOME HOME, THE KIDS MISSED YOU).

11. Helaena and her bugs , maybe her kid.

12. Someone tells Aegon he needs an heir.

13. Simon Strong becomes the only man I care about in Harrenhall.

14. Daemon gets the haunted and Larys says Daemon will be haunted.

15. Vale arc starts

16. Baela speaking high Valyrian.

17. Rhaenys with her grandkids (pure copium)

18. Gwayne serves C.U.N.T

19. Bracken twink take down.

20. Finally, I'm yelling at a decision so dumb it's considered camp.

[alicentflorent]

I understand baela might consider herself more “fire and blood” than ”of salt and sea” it’s normal to be more connected to one side of your heritage but what about rhaena? Perhaps she is “of salt and sea” you know, rhaena who doesn’t have a dragon, who has no relationship with her targaryen father but was very close to her velaryon mother? Rhaena who feels like she has nothing to offer her family of dragon riders because she can’t fight alongside them, who was sent away for that reason. Rhaena who’s strength’s are more suited for politics than battle? Rhaena who spend most of her young life betrothed to the heir of driftmark and expecting to become lady of driftmark only to have that ripped away from her when her fiancé was killed?

Rhaenys was advocating for rhaena to be named lady of driftmark right up until she died and neither Corlys or Baela brought her up when he was willing to name a woman as heir.

[daeneryscel]

rhaenyra is NOT the stepmother she is the mother that stepped up 💪

[seaworthit]

The black brides

[thevelaryons]

Okay so Baela can’t get Driftmark because she is of blood and fire, as she tells Corlys and he accepts this reasoning. “Driftmark must go to salt and sea.” Then how come Corlys was okay with Luke as his heir but Luke wasn’t salt and sea. Corlys also doesn’t want Joffrey as his heir but Joffrey is the same age now as Luke was when Corlys first spoke of him inheriting Driftmark (s1xe7). Corlys tried to kill himself in the following episodes when he went to fight in the Stepstones, so he was okay with leaving Driftmark without an heir of salt and sea. But now he’s not okay all of a sudden.

You do realize that Corlys, as he exists in the show, is just there to prop up other characters, right? Trying to find any deeper meaning behind his actions is a lost cause.

HOTD changed many aspects of the Driftmark succession. In the book, Corlys did not particularly want Luke as his heir. Rhaenyra had to force the issue and she proved that she was willing to have people killed/maimed if they opposed her. Corlys was likely willing to settle for Luke as heir because he was already betrothed to Rhaena. Later, when Luke dies and Joffrey becomes heir, Corlys is already making plans to have Joffrey replaced by his own blood. Joffrey is betrothed to a Manderly girl, and betrothals are not easily broken, so he can’t just be betrothed to Rhaena now. Which is why Corlys proceeds to appoint another heir, who is actually of his blood. F&B never officially referred to Luke as Corlys’ heir (compared to the other heirs to Driftmark), probably because the situation was not so easily accepted by Corlys. Like I’ve said before, Corlys considers being a Velaryon and being his heir as two separate things.

In the show, Corlys accepted Luke as heir from the beginning, even before the betrothal with Rhaena had been made (the show scene is inspired by a book scene between Jace & Viserys). Rhaenyra doesn’t need to use violence to force Corlys’ decision about his heir. The show portrayed Corlys as a person who doesn’t really have a problem with his heir not being of his blood in season one. The events of season one were portrayed in such a way to keep Rhaenyra’s hands clean. But now Corlys’ actions in season two don’t match up with his actions in season one because of the various changes that have been made.

The reason Baela and Rhaena were never considered for Corlys’ heirs in the book is that legally they can never inherit Driftmark while Rhaenyra’s Velaryon sons live. Laenor was the heir to Driftmark. So naturally, his sons will be heirs after him. Then it will be Laena. After her, it will be her daughters. Once Laenor and Laena die, the matter comes down to their children. There is no situation in which either Baela or Rhaena could be named heirs to Driftmark ahead of the boys, especially if one of the boys (Luke) is older (it’s not like the situation with Rhaenyra versus Aegon, where Rhaenyra is older). If the Dragon Twins were named heirs ahead of Rhaenyra’s sons, it would completely expose that the boys are illegitimate (why is Lord Velaryon randomly making his granddaughter heir ahead of his grandson?). Everyone would know and it would create a huge scandal. Laenor would be considered a cuckold publicly. It also makes house Velaryon lose any potential ties to the Iron Throne. King Viserys would either have to start executing Rhaenyra & her sons for high treason or he would start targeting Corlys and his family if they dared to expose Rhaenyra (just look at what happened to Vaemond and his family). Either way, the situation would get ugly. So of course, Corlys has to play along with the ruse. He doesn’t attempt to change the line of succession at that point and is willing to settle for Luke because it at least serves his family’s interests. During the war, Corlys has the upper hand over Rhaenyra, so he can attempt to change the succession accordingly.

There’s a reason why Corlys later passes Addam & Alyn as Laenor’s bastards instead of acknowledging that he is the one who fathered them. There isn’t anything stopping Corlys from saying he’s the father. At the time, Rhaenys is dead so Corlys has nothing to be afraid of. But Corlys’ intention is to change the succession to favour his own blood and the only way to do that is to pass Addam & Alyn off as Laenor’s sons instead.

House Velaryon follows Andal succession. Laenor’s sons (Jace/Luke/Joffrey) come before Laenor’s nieces (Baela/Rhaena). Laenor’s brothers (Addam/Alyn) come very last. By passing Addam & Alyn off as Laenor’s sons, and by virtue of them being older than Joffrey, they are ahead in the line of succession. And when the succession issue has been resolved as Corlys sees fit, there would be no further reason to change it to make either Baela or Rhaena the heir.

It’s easy enough for Corlys to make Addam his heir over Joffrey in the book because of the way the Red Sowing is structured. Corlys took part in planning that with Jace. It was said that whoever claimed a dragon would be honoured by being ennobled. So it’s not particularly a suspicious situation for Corlys to act at this point. Once Addam succeeded in claiming a dragon, Corlys can “reward” him by naming him heir to Driftmark. Rhaenyra needs Corlys on her side, since he’s providing the majority of her army, so she has to accept the situation with Addam (even if it means passing over her own son, Joffrey). Jace supports him in this decision because he was making active efforts to appease Corlys to keep him on their side.

The show complicated matters with all the changes it made in season one, and now season two. If HOTD had portrayed Corlys more similar to his book counterpart (aka reluctant to accept Luke as heir in the beginning), then there wouldn’t be as much confusion about Corlys now being reluctant to accept Joffrey as heir. So long as Laenor’s sons exist, Baela and Rhaena were never going to be considered as heirs to the Driftwood Throne.

[sukibenders]

"Rhaenyra isn't the stepmother, she's the mother who stepped up!"

The HOTD writers themselves are hardly doing anything to support that narrative, so I take this rhetoric with a grain of salt. While I think, in some way, Rhaenyra does care for Baela and Rhaena....if I had to point out a motherly figure for them that could pose as someone stepping in Laena's place, Rhaenyra would not be it.

[klaus-littlestwolf]

So…

The whole Nettles storyline isn’t happening which sucks cause it was awesome and Sheepstealer was Awesome!

The writers Know that Sheepstealer was awesome and because of that I’m sensing that the dragon that’s killing all of the sheep is probably Sheepstealer who is going to be mounted by Rhaena now for precisely No Fucking Reason!

Is she going to spend weeks earning the dragons trust by feeding him sheep? Chiseling away at his hard demeanor watching him eat day in and day out until he allows her to mount him?

No, of course not because Rhaena doesn’t have that kind of time.

They won’t give us Nettles, and they can’t Not give us Sheepstealer…wtf HOTD writers? Wtf?

[duncan-rohanne]

for a show that is trying so hard to be feminist it's failing on spectacular level. every woman on this show is somehow put into role of a victim. they are the victims of patriarchy and they can't get out. every time they try to have their voice heard the bad men will shut them out. every time they try to have a relationship the bad men will ruin it. every time they try to have friendship or family bond the bad man will step in the middle. and it got to a point when it's not subtle, it's hitting out on the head constantly. this episode especially.

and it's fucking wonder because the book didn't do that. yes, westeros is patriarchy. a hardcore one. it's so patriarchal that a war is fought not to have a woman on the throne. but the women of game of thrones and in the books were more than victims. they worked their way around it. they schemed, they fought, they clawed their ways out on the top. book!alicent wouldn't even try to become a regent? why would she? why are we watching show!alicent be so bitter? her son is a king, second son a regent, daughter is queen, she is fucking the hand, her father is doing her bidding somewhere and her brother is at her feet. if she played it smart she would be the most powerful woman in seven kingdoms but no, she isn't allowed to be scheming, she isn't allowed to want revenge, she isn't allowed to play the players. she needs to be victim.

i don't even want to talk about rhaenyra because they whitewashed her to a point where she can't even make a decision/action without someone advising her.

cersei lannister would never. daenerys targaryen would never. arya stark would never. catelyn stark would never. margaery tyrell would never. hell, as certified sansa hater, sansa stark, especially her, would never. they played the men around them to their best abilities. they guided their husbands, sons, brothers, lovers.

it's so frustrating. alicent and rhaenyra are like "i'm so clever, i can fix this but the men won't listen to me." yeah girl, you had 20 years to do it and you kept making it worse, not learning from your mistakes. i wouldn't listen to you either.

like i said, for a feminist show, i'm not getting any feminism. either take down the patriarchy (which would be interesting arc but it can't be since this is a prequel) or learn how to work within it. this is just perpetual story of "oh well, i tried..."

[maxanor]

the way la*nyra did not exist on the f&b wiki until 2 months ago yet targ stans act like the show is erasing crucial queer history by "not showing their relationship" and "replacing it with rhaenicent" there's really nothing you can do but laugh

[derangedthots]

so i've spoken before abt how jace might've insisted on postponing his and baela's wedding till after the dance (despite ample opportunity/mutual desire) bc his love for her wanted to give her a ceremony without death looming over it. and that his fear for her compelled him not to wed and inevitably bed her when the tragedy of three harrowing labors might take what should be a joyful time away from them and - even more than that - take his beloved baela from him.

but what if, and bear with me for a moment, what if beyond rhaenyra and laena and rhaenys - all three women robbed, in some way shape or form, of a queendom - jace's thoughts took him to another targaryen ancestor, robbed of her birthright, burdened with the loss of her husband, and left alone to defend and protect their children from usurpers? maybe i'm just spitballing but what if jace's nights during the dance were haunted by the memory of rhaena targaryen, black bride, queen of the west, queen of the east, and whose ghost yet haunts the halls of harwin's his father's home at harrenhal?

what if he sees his baela, bold and brave and so beautiful, and knows - gods willing - he'll make her his queen. what if jace sees her and wants so many things for her but not one of those things is to make a rhaena targaryen of her. rhaena who was queen of the west and queen of the east but never ruled as queen of westeros in her own right - and, in trying to spare baela of that fate, jace dies anyway.

and she becomes a bit like rhaena regardless: robbed of her love and her crown.

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

ok ok its my fault for being on reddit but r/houseofthedragon rn full of people arguing that demon and his 99% neck lizard have a stronger bond than aegon and sunfyre and it's so fucking frustrating that its entirely condolt's fucking fault that this is even a fucking argument because he thinks the greatest bond between a dragon and his rider to ever go that fucking hard in this universe is pRopaganda and gives dae mon and car ax es more screentime. i'm just so fucking done man. never showed us sunfyre TRULY until it was time for demon jr the anime edgelord to attack him and aegon, never get the fact that sunfyre is literally on aegon's arms, never got the coronation flying, DIDN'T GET ANYTHING UNTIL IT WAS TIME TO FUCK HIM UP FOR THE PLOT.

i wish this mf would get fucking fired before he has a chance to touch these two anymore because I don't think i can handle how he will underplay and butcher the fact that this dragon literally fought tooth and claw with a broken wing to find his way back to his rider.

[atopvisenyashill]

podcast makes a point that the iron throne is completely at odds with the concept of the valyrian freehold, and kinda dooms the targs from the start because the freehold being a large group of families reminds them that their power is completely tied to the living and very killable dragons whereas the throne demands only one person on top, so you HAVE to reconcile the branches on your family tree or they WILL start getting massacre happy about being The One On Top.

it’s a really great point. anyways i think this could be fixed by aegon giving every single lord paramount a dragon. there’s no way this goes wrong it’s full proof i’m a genius.

[thesilverlady]

If someone has told me before the show that Aemond would be a fan favorite over Jace and luke, and Helaena would be a fan favorite over Rhaena and Baela I wouldn't have believed them. But here we are.

goes to show how an adaptation tragically has the power to influence the perception of a viewer. So many people who got onto the book after the show mix these two when it comes to discourse, canon events and characterization

[lana-del-rhaena]

young maddie ziegler is book daenaera velaryon. to me

[hauntingblue]

Weird that helaena didn't foresee this btw she has predicted nearly every tragedy that happens to the greens

[userparamore]

– We have no dearth of dragons. We have two large enough to stand against Vhagar. They are called Vermithor and Silverwing and they sleep just beneath our feet. – Yes, and if only they had riders, none could stand against me. I would go forth in strength and not from necessity. – There is Rhaena. – Who nearly lost her life in her last attempt. I would not risk it again. – There are those of our line who never ruled. Those who married into other noble houses, their children born with other names. – A generation ago, or more. Their blood would be thin. – And yet…

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 02.05 Regent