#because it’s rhaenyra’s actions against addam that are explicitly said to cause her downfall

[thevelaryons]

I can’t stand it that Addam dies because of Rhaenyra. 😭😭😭 She deserved none of his loyalty. He should’ve just left her to fend for herself instead of trying to save her ass after she accused him.

I get what you’re saying but Addam can’t exactly abandon the situation as is. Though technically he did leave Rhaenyra to fend for herself, lmao. But he wanted to clear his name from the false accusations so that’s why he has to continue fighting in the war. The text even says as much:

Thus began the Second Battle of Tumbleton.

The dragon was Seasmoke, his rider Ser Addam Velaryon, determined to prove that not all bastards need be turncloaks. How better to do that than by retaking Tumbleton from the Two Betrayers, whose treason had stained him?

— Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons

Addam, out of all the dragonseeds, is the one who gained the most by siding with Rhaenyra. Which also means he has the most to lose. It feels redundant to state the obvious but Addam was not part of the nobility for his whole life; it’s only a recent thing. Before that, he was one of the smallfolk. That means he’s going to hold a certain mindset where he feels beholden to the highborn around him.

We can see this in the POV chapters of Davos Seaworth, another one of the smallfolk elevated to a higher status, and therefore, the sense of loyalty that derives from it:

That is, if Stannis won his throne. If he lost …

Everything I am, I owe to him. Stannis had raised him to knighthood. He had given him a place of honor at his table, a war galley to sail in place of a smuggler’s skiff. Dale and Allard captained galleys as well, Maric was oarmaster on the Fury, Matthos served his father on Black Betha, and the king had taken Devan as a royal squire. One day he would be knighted, and the two little lads as well. Marya was mistress of a small keep on Cape Wrath, with servants who called her m’lady, and Davos could hunt red deer in his own woods. All this he had of Stannis Baratheon, for the price of a few finger joints. It was just, what he did to me. I had flouted the king’s laws all my life. He has earned my loyalty.

— A Clash of Kings, Davos I

By fighting for Rhaenyra, Addam was allowed to carry his father’s name and legitimized as the family heir. He even earned a knighthood out of it. None of which he could have if he remained a commoner. So when he’s falsely accused of treason, of course he’s going to attempt to clear his name from the accusations. There was really no other choice for him if he wants to retain that connection to his father’s side of the family. His actions also serve the double purpose of keeping his honor as a knight and proving that his bastard birth does not make him a traitor.