#bronn stokeworth

[daenerysoftarth]

we should talk about lollys stokeworth more, she deserved better and i remember being really unnerved every time she was mentioned in acok and asos because of the casual way the brutality inflicted on her was mentioned... i know part of that is because that IS the environment of westeros, but at the same time a highborn woman being raped by lowborn men being dashed aside by the gov seems historically inaccurate and unnecessarily violent in nature. even if im being generous with germ and say hes trying to portray the complete dehumanization of disabled people as a contrast to tyrion himself, it's still a very sloppy and callous way to do so, and is undermined by the fact that lollys herself never has more than like.. 2 lines and the ableism isnt explicitly called out in text like tyrion's experiences with discrimination are. it really feels like she was written in as a joke, and i dont understand what the point of her character arc (or her character at all) is beyond portraying an extremely grotesque view of disabled women and their treatment in the middle ages

[catofoldstones]

I hope Bronn dies in a freak accident and Lollys gets all her inheritance that is due to her after so much grief, violence, and loss.

[snowdropssarecold]

Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, Lollys Stokeworth

[horizon-verizon]

The Seven Kingdoms were full of highborn maidens, but even the oldest, poorest, and ugliest spinster in the realm would balk at wedding such lowborn scum as Bronn. Unless she was soft of body and soft of head, with a fatherless child in her belly from having been raped half a hundred times. Lady Tanda had been so desperate to find a husband for Lollys that she had even pursued Tyrion for a time, and that had been before half of King's Landing enjoyed her. No doubt Cersei had sweetened the offer somehow, and Bronn was a knight now, which made him a suitable match for a younger daughter of a minor house.

-- A Storm of Swords - Tyrion IX

[asoiafwomensource]

Lollys Lackwit had been proclaimed Lady Stokeworth, with Ser Bronn her lord.

[gotham-at-nightfall]

Part XXIV: Tyrion IV

Part XXX: Arya III and Eddard VIII

Drawing Every Named Character in A Song of Ice and Fire

By Alejandro Kay

Chapter I: Prologue

Chapter II: Bran I

[kingsmoot]

Okay but I'm thinking back about the show and in the end Tyrion gives Bronn Highgarden (let's... let's not) meaning if they went on with the Bronlollys marriage... Lollys is Lady of Highgarden and Lady Paramount of the Reach

she would be if she had married bronn (and i'm guessing stokeworth hall would pass to the next relationship down the line of succession, sorry, tanda) but according to my sources (people replying to my post) bronn did not end up marrying lollys 🥲

bronn ending up warden of the south is something i genuinely cannot muster up a reaction to. like i'm just past the end of my rope at this point. sure. why not. ser bronn of the blackwater is gifted highgarden and made warden of the south. why not. let's make patchface warden of the west. let's make hotpie master of coin. the democratic national convention has unanimously selected nimble dick crabb as its presidential nominee for 2028.

[agentrouka-blog]

Can Jon take Sansa’s name by marriage? Even if he could, to me, it seems that he’ll remain as a snow, (yk he’s motherless, friendless, oathbreaker, turncloak, etc etc, all his speech of that), so if they have children, then they will be bastards? Or is it possible that they inherit their mother’s name? (Maybe King Bran ends up legitimizing them) The whole topic of bastardy and names is very interesting but confusing 😭😭😭😭😭😭

While it is not common, I don't think it would be utterly unthinkable for a man to take his wife's family name, especially if he is a bastard and she is of a nominally higher rank. Though that wouldn't be strictly necessary. Jon could remain a Snow and have Stark children if he is married to a Stark.

Bronn doesn't take the last name Stokeworth when he marries Lollys, but any child they have together is bound to be a Stokeworth, most likely.

Changing one's name is definitely possible, in general:

"I will, ser," said Leobald, and only then raised the matter of Lady Hornwood. Poor thing, with no husband to defend her lands nor son to inherit. His own lady wife was a Hornwood, sister to the late Lord Halys, doubtless they recalled. "An empty hall is a sad one. I had a thought to send my younger son to Lady Donella to foster as her own. Beren is near ten, a likely lad, and her own nephew. He would cheer her, I am certain, and perhaps he would even take the name Hornwood . . ." (ACOK, Bran II)

A child born in wedlock is not a bastard, even if a parent is a bastard. And people have changed their last names specifically to make this distinction:

 "She was the fairest treasure of the Maidenvault. Lord Oakenfist the great admiral lost his heart to her, though he was married to another. She gave their son the bastard name of 'Waters' in honor of his father, and he grew to be a great knight, as did his own son, who put the 'Long' before the 'Waters' so men might know that he was not basely born himself. So I have a little dragon in me." (AFFC, Jaime I)

Then there's the story of the Karstarks, whose name evolved from the original Stark name (though no bastardy was involved).

Names can be flexible.

Plus, by the time we get toward the ending of the books, there is bound to be room for some changes in social mores and traditions, given the levels of general upheaval. They will not just return to the old status quo completely. Not in terms of female inheritance, probably, and not in terms of bastardy.

[alessiathepirate]

Game of Thrones

A DECENT PRICE: Bronn x fem!reader

Summary: She's the one talking to Bronn about going to Dorne instead of Jaime...

Notes: English isn't my first language. I apologize for any mistake I may have made while I wrote this short story.

Warning: swearing, mentioned killing

•••

She hated Lollys Stokeworth, yet she couldn't say why.

She was the same naive girl as every other she'd met, but she still hated her with great passion. She hated how close she was to Bronn and how shy she became when she noticed Jaime. She hated how cute her laugh was and she most definitely hated that Bronn called her every sweet nickname he could come up with.

But still, that wasn't the time she started to hate her. That was the first time they've met face to face, sure, but she disliked her long before that. She despised her the moment Bronn explained that Cersei had promised him Lollys' hand in marriage if he won't fight for Tyrion's innocence.

And that hurt. It hurt more than she wanted to admit it. Even if she let Tyrion go with Jaime's help, life back in the Red Keep wasn't the same. She couldn't do what she used to do, she didn't have Tyrion or Bronn for company anymore - she was so damn lonely.

Her sister took everyone from her; both her favourite sibling and her favourite sellsword, and she was sure she'd never be able to forgive her for that.

But she was there, back in Bronn's company, knowing he's pretty much the only one left who doesn't hate her brother for no reason at all. Only if Lollys would just go so they could talk...

She wondered if Bronn wanted the same. She wondered if he'd like the thing she wanted to offer him, she wondered if he'd accept it. And deep down, even if she brushed it aside, she wondered if he missed her like she missed him.

"Lollys, darlin' why don't you go and show Ser Jaime the castle. I'm sure he'd like it."

Maybe he missed her too.

Jaime looked at her, his eyes questioning what he should do, if he should stay instead. She nodded and her brother gave Lollys his healthy arm to hold onto.

After a while they were out of sight.

She looked at Bronn and he looked back at her, then he smirked like he always did.

"I see that the trousers are back."

She smiled.

"Father's gone, my sister's too busy being a cunt to scold me, so yes. The trousers are back."

"I'm sorry 'bout your father." he said as he turned around and then they started to walk along the coast. He didn't offer her his arm to hold onto and she was glad that despite being a knight and having new clothes, Bronn stayed the same.

"No, you're not." she said as she avoided his eyes. "Even I can't feel sorry for his death and I'm his daughter. I'm sure you didn't like him at all."

"I tolerated him. He was still an ass to you though."

"Tolerated..." she chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I tolerated him too. When he wasn't fucking us over. Me and Tyrion."

Bronn stopped and so did she. They were further away from the castle, she couldn't see Jaime or Lollys anywhere. They were alone. Completely alone, like back in the not-so-bad days.

"You let him go, didn't you? Tyrion." he looked at her like he always did when Tyrion let him accompany her wherever she went - he looked at her with confidence and curiousity, like he's sure what she'll say yet he still cares how she'll say it.

She nodded.

"Well, I'm happy he's not rotting in that cell anymore. Give him my regards when you see him."

"I'll give him our regards when I find him."

"You don't know where he is?"

"No. I have no idea. But I think it's better that way - for now. If I knew I'd be happy and Cersei would know I know where he is. I don't want her to find him. Hell, I don't want Jaime to find him." she confessed with a sad smile. "Gods, I always tell you fucking everything."

"It's part of my charm." Bronn teased and she chuckled. "So the Golden Boy didn't take it well? Tywin's death?"

"No. Not at all. He said he'd cut Tyrion in two if he found him - that's why I won't let that happen. Not him, not Cersei, not even the fucking Gods will find him." she took a deep breath as she did her best to calm down. "But that's not why we're here."

"Here we go, and here I thought you missed me."

She raised her eyebrow in disbelief.

"Of course I miss you! The Red Keep is boring without you around. Besides, now I have no one to drink with."

"I'm sure I could visit you from time to time."

Bronn smirked and so did she. They'd meet again, no matter how it will go, no matter what he'll say.

She grabbed the scroll she had in her - or rather Jaime's old jacket's pocket, and gave it to him with an apologetic, kind smile. She didn't like Lollys, that was a fact. But she cared about Bronn. And he'd never be heartbroken no matter what would happen, but she still wanted him to be happy - or pleased with himself at the very least.

Bronn took it and quickly read through it. She tried to look at anything else but him as he did so.

"Lollys will marry--" Bronn looked at her, she couldn't read his expression. Tyrion could read him well, but she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. "But your sister said--"

"My sister says a lot of things and it's a surprise she's still alive after all those lies." she explained. "Cersei won't give you a castle. She wouldn't give me a castle either. We were helping Tyrion and she doesn't like it at all."

Bronn kept his gaze on her and he seemed unreadable. Unreadable and completely calm. Sometimes she wondered what kind of adventures he had been through to be that calm and uncaring about certain things.

"That's not why you're here. There's somethin' else." he pointed out facts really well.

"I'll go to Dorne with Jaime. We'll bring Myrcella home and I'd- we'd like you to come as well."

They looked at each other without a single blink and it reminded her of the times when they were doing this in boredom in Tyrion's chambers, when he was still dealing with Joffrey's stupidity as Hand of the King. They'd compete to see who blinked first. Bronn always won no matter how much she cheated.

"You hate Cersei."

"I do."

"But you'll go to Dorne to find her daughter..."

"I don't hate Jaime."

Bronn tilted his head and raised one of his eyebrows as if he'd say 'you can't bullshit me'. She really couldn't.

"I don't hate Jaime that much."

"It's still not a good enough reason to go. And if it's not a good reason for you to go then I won't go either."

She tried to remain cold like all the Lannisters who were great liars. She was a great liar too, but Bronn was too good at sniffing her lies out.

"In Dorne I can finally lose Jaime. And when I'm out of his sight I can finally go and find Tyrion." she explained, her lower lip twitching slightly as she waited for his answer.

Please say yes.

"Well, that seems to be a good enough reason." Bronn changed his posture, his hand landed on the handle of his sword as his back straightened.

"So you'll come with me?"

"For a decent price."

She laughed as she took a step back, her mouth hurting from the movements. It's been a while since she laughed.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. You are Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, you must have a very expensive price now."

"That's the world we live in."

She looked up at him with a smile, her cheeks slowly turning a shade of pink as she knew what she'll say. "Somehow I knew that's what you would say, so I already thought of a price."

He seemed intrigued, that much she could read from his expression.

"Really?"

"I paid you instead of Tyrion sometimes, of course I did!" she tried to act hurt, but failed miserably. Instead she just smiled.

"So what? You'll offer me a castle I won't get like your sister, or gold and silver like your brother?"

"I'll give you Casterly Rock." she said quickly, her mouth running dry.

She didn't think she would ever see Bronn surprised or confused for even a moment. But in those few seconds he looked like it, even if his face stayed completely calm, only his eyebrows raising slightly.

"Casterly Rock? Now that your father's gone you'll just give it away to a sellsword?"

"You're a knight now." she argued. "And I won't give it away. I'll keep it."

That looked like the very moment she broke her very best ex-sellsword. Bronn stayed completely still, even his fingers weren't tapping a rhythm on the handle of the sword.

"Jaime can't have Casterly Rock, he's Kingsguard." she began to explain quietly. "Tyrion can't have it either when everyone's looking for him in all the Seven Kingdoms. Cersei is too busy to notice that I'm stealing it from her, but if she tries to stop me I'll fight for the damn castle for you."

"But-- you can have it?" Bronn found his voice and pointed at her with his finger.

"I can." she confirmed and then with a grin added: "We can."

"You--" for a moment she thought Bronn lost his voice. "You never wanted to get married-- Tyrion said you never got married, because you always won against Tywin when--" she waited patiently for him to finish. "And you want me to marry you so I'll go to Dorne with you?"

She stayed silent and so did he.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I'd let you marry me even if you'd say no to Dorne." she said quietly after a while, avoiding his eyes.

Bronn looked at her like she grew a second head. She almost checked to see if he's right.

Then his eyes cleared, his fingers started to play a rhythm and he grinned.

"You missed me that much?"

She didn't know what to say to that. He continued to observe her.

"Or were you just jealous?"

A loud 'excuse me' was stuck in her throat as her cheeks turned red.

"I don't understand how this has anything to do with--"

"You were jealous!" his chuckle almost made her crawl away in shame. "Giving away Casterly Rock because of Lollys Stokeworth who I won't even marry-! Gods, you're a crazy woman!"

"Hey!" she tried to argue, but every other word was stuck in her throat when Bronn grabbed onto her shoulders and then touched her cheeks with both of his hands.

"A damn crazy woman."

"Every Lannister is crazy."

"But it looks good on you."

She wondered what she should do. She had been in war with him, she had been drunk with him, she had protected King's Landing with him... Yet none of those seemed as scary and unsure as that.

"It's part of my charm." she quoted and Bronn grinned. "But you, who wants a castle this badly, accuse me of jealousy... Other Lords would kill for that castle you know."

"I'm a sellsword, darlin'."

"A knight." she corrected him.

"Once a sellsword always a sellsword. I'd kill all those golden boys for you."

"For me?" she asked, her lips once again twitching. "Not for Casterly Rock..."

"You're my favourite customer, you deserve a discount."

She took a deep breath as his fingers pressed into her skin. She liked being close to him - that close.

"A discount? Really?" she teased with a small smirk. "What, you'll only take half the castle?"

"I don't want the damn castle, your sister can keep her castles."

"Gold then?" she asked as his thumb danced around under her eye.

"Your brothers gave me plenty."

"Rich man, huh?"

"Rich enough."

"I'm afraid I'm running out of options here."

"I'll take the other part of the offer."

She stopped breathing for a second.

They danced around each other for a long time. They jokingly flirted when Tyrion wasn't around or when Bronn was helping her learn how to be a decent enough fighter. But that - that was straight forward, no rational thought given.

And when Bronn finally kissed her she thought 'Jaime's gonna kill him'.

And then their lips started to dance around and she thought 'he'll kill us both'.

But all those thoughts were forgotten when one of his hands found her waist, pressing her close to him. Bronn was a good kisser, but then again, Bronn was good at everything - most of things. She didn't remember ever imagining his lips on hers, but she knew that's how she wanted a good kiss to feel. Just the right amount of passion mixed with the right amount of roughness.

"So," she began after they parted. "you'll come to Dorne with me?"

"Gods, you're annoying!" she laughed with him. "Yeah, I'll go to Dorne with you and your Golden Boy, so you won't get killed."

"I can defend myself, you know, I had a wonderful teacher."

"Yes, a rather good-lookin' fellow."

She smiled as she let go of his shoulders. She looked towards the castle Bronn most definitely won't get, and she felt rather happy about it.

"Can't argue with that." she joked. "Jaime's gonna kill us both."

"So you didn't tell him your plan to get married."

"Of course I didn't. He thinks I'm offering you some castle far from here."

"That's why I'll look out for your ass 'til we reach Dorne. Then I'll steal you away, marry you and help you find your brother." he explained.

"Oh, he'll kill us for sure." she said and then looked at him. "Can I steal you away now?"

"I was thinking of saying goodbye to Lollys."

She hit his arm with a pout.

"You'll come with me to have some wine before we go."

"And your brother?"

"He'll have a fun time with Lollys around. I'm sure she enjoys his company."

Later, with cheeks red from the wine, she climbed the ship with the men and when Jaime wasn't around to see, she rested her head on Bronn's shoulder, letting him grab onto her waist with anything but courtesy.

[vitaminkenjoyer]

a funny scenario for winds would be jaime going on some robinhood arc where he tries to feed the smallfolk in the riverlands by distributing some of the rock's resources and then in king's landing house rosby (with olyvar frey as ward) n house stokeworth (bronn) refuse cersei's requests to send food down to the capital so then in a desperate hail mary attempt she tries to bring in some food from the west or smth and finds out jaime's already gotten to the stores and steam starts coming out of her ears

[goodqueenaly]

In your opinion, in AFFC, what would have been the best way for Cersei to get rid of Bronn? Could she have just sent him to the Riverlands to ‘help’ Jaime, or to the siege on Dragonstone?

It's not that Cersei didn't have different ideas of how Bronn might have been (in her mind) quietly dispatched. Indeed, when she berates Falyse Stokeworth for the miserable failure of Balman Byrch's assassination attempt, Cersei scolds her that "I asked you to arrange a hunting mishap. An arrow gone astray, a fall from a horse, an angry boar ... [sic] there are so many ways a man can die in the woods". If Cersei is not always the smoothest of operators, much less conspirators and assassins - see, for example, her clumsy attempts to kill Robert, echoed in some of the schemes she suggested above - these were, if only in a very much relative sense, subtler plans than Balman Byrch's naively chivalric interpretation of her barely unspoken directive to kill Bronn. In Cersei's mind, I think, she imagined the plot would have happened quickly and discreetly: Bronn was at Stokeworth, her Stokeworth friends (in the loosest sense of the term) could have lured him into a convenient trap there, Ser Bronn of the Blackwater would have met an untimely end, and no one would have been the wiser as to the queen's hand in all of it.

But the bigger point here is why Cersei believed she had to have Bronn removed in the first place. By buying off Bronn with Lollys Stokeworth, Cersei had freed herself from the fear that he would support Tyrion in the latter's trial - but because Cersei has long operated under the base assumption that Tyrion is the prophesied valonqar who will eventually murder Cersei herself, Cersei could not simply live and let live when it came to Bronn. It could not be the case that Bronn named Lollys' child "Tyrion" out of a sort of wry fondness for his former employer - no, Bronn had to be hinting at his continuing allegiance to Tyrion, even to the absurd point of hiding Tyrion at Stokeworth itself. It could not be that Bronn was simply taking a leaf from his old employer's book by building a personal army for himself out of a handful of sellswords, in order to secure his power in an uneasy position - no, Bronn had to be mobilizing a pro-Tyrion army with the intent of deposing and killing Cersei.

Put bluntly, only Cersei's paranoia had convinced her of the need to have Bronn killed. In her haste to get rid of someone she believed was Tyrion's agent and protector in virtually her backyard, Cersei had not only acted with her characteristic assassination clumsiness, but had also targeted someone who posed no actual threat to her. It was a move that backfired spectacularly, because not only did Bronn survive (which he might have no matter what manner of assassination Cersei chose, given her penchant for chancy prospects), but he did so while forcing Balman to confess that Cersei had put him, Balman, up to it in the first place. Now Bronn knows that Cersei was out to get him on no grounds whatsoever - and as jure uxoris Lord of Stokeworth, he now controls one of the Iron Throne's primary local vassals, the very families Cersei might be calling on for support as her regime crumbles in TWOW. (But at least she and her family didn't ruin relations with another major local Crownlands family, the Rosbys ... oh wait.)

[dyannawynnedayne]

top five minor (like minor minor) asoiaf characters

FAIR clarification there's so many babies in these books! but oooh lets see

Gael Targaryen is my main girl i love her sm. I'm on and off working on a fic for her where she doesn't die but ends up in Volantis with Saera and it's about that weird relationship between the sisters. She's basically my oc, cognitive disability squad unite

Mirri Maz Duur, im also on and off writing a fic about her.... i was almost done with it too but i got distracted!!! i just think there's so much to her story to explore. she's probably one of the less minor minor of the characters but yk

Lollys Stokeworth. Cognitive disability squad unite. Protect her. :( On that note I can't wait for when she 'accidentally' pushes BRONN down the stairs and he breaks his neck and her and baby Tyrion get to hang out

The Widow of the Waterfront!!!!!!!!!

Sweets!!!!!!!!

[aegor-bamfsteel]

For the Salty Ask List: 6 and 17 :)

6. Has fandom made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

I like to think I was very (too) open minded when I joined fandom, and evolving tastes made my ship preferences narrower. I don’t seek it out, but I’ve gotten to be neutral toward Gèndrya (which is really straight Dunk/Egg, you cowards).

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would’ve made ABC happen…

I would’ve had Daemon I Blackfyre live past Redgrass, as many Noble rebel leaders in English history did (the Jacobites, most of the Montfort children and Godwin siblings). I think it would’ve been an interesting character turn for everyone even if he wouldn’t be king necessarily.

For the main series, I would’ve had Falyse Stokeworth push Bronn off a seaside cliff not written the over the top Lollys rape not written most of the gratuitous rape scenes tried to give the characters of color some depth or at least not have them speak like the Hulk Sansa not being molested while trying to learn how to run a castle Cat deciding not to release Jaime in Brienne’s care, I guess

[medievalandfantasymelee]

Propaganda for Bronn

In a world of heroes and villains, all of whom are inevitably noble- Bronn is just a normal guy- which is surprisingly refreshing. He is a man after financial security and despite being a literal mercenary he is surprisingly loyal to those who treat him well.

In the books he ends up being a fairly good husband to Lollys Stokeworth, which she frankly deserves. Plus he's super rugged.

Lollys-Stokeworth's-fairly-good-husband [Jerome Flynn] VS. Mikoláš Kozlík [František Velecký]

[thesellsword]

“You came all the way from Stokeworth just to be upset with me?” ( from Jaime ) / @tymptir

"fucking yes, you bleedin' bastard," bronn's voice is hushed here, blue eyes almost dangerous. "and how dare you. what did you do? break off my bloody engagement? i would've had it good in that place. could've even made myself fall in love with that woman. but no. no, i get fucking word that the whole damn marriage is off." he points at him. "what the fuck are you planning? and it better have a bigger reward this time. or i swear to the seven, jaime lannister, i'll take your other godsdamn hand."

[mononijikayu]

im rereading f&b today and found something interesting because i thought of so many historical and in universe parallels. now these thoughts are gonna be all over the place as its 5 am??? but ill probably correct myself when i wake up later on and decide to see if i actually made sense.

so in this chapter, in rhaenyra triumphant - there is a dispute regarding successions of rosby and stokeworth. by this point, rhaenyra had returned to the capital and had already gotten to sit the iron throne. now at this point, rhaenyra had a few nobles killed and that includes lords stokeworth and rosby, otto hightower and jasper wylde.

the reason lord stokeworth and lord rosby were executed was that they colluded with the greens to put aegon ii and the greens in power. prior to that they were black supporters, but being imprisoned by the greens - they bent the knee.

rhaenyra felt herself betrayed by friends she thought would fight for her. the way other lords defied aegon ii and his imposing of power. she viewed rosby and stokeworth as turncloaks for not holding up to their vows. that being said, the punishment was only for lords rosby and stokeworth, that did not extend to the rest of the family. because the rest of the family were still loyalists.

now the issue is that because rhaenyra beheaded the lords, the succession was a matter of contest. both lords had elder daughters but also two younger sons. now, successions like these are incredibly interesting especially if both sides of the party were young. rhaenyra had two pieces of advice from daemon and corlys.

daemon's perspective was to get the two daughters to be wed with both ulf and hugh, in that way - you not only secure the path to the crownlands with the protection of dragon riders, you also reward ulf and hugh for their usefulness so far. his sense is focused on making sure that they reward the dragon riders enough that they would actually be bonded closer to them in loyalty. which makes sense as one of them held the dragon vermithor who was to rival vhagar in ferocity and size.

but that begs the question - would hugh and ulf be loyal and satisfied enough to the black's cause because of these rewards?

to make this point, we gotta travel a couple centuries. this is akin to the brokering of the lannisters on the stokeworth inheritance. falyse stokeworth was fighting her sister lollys for the right to inherit the lordship of stokeworth. cersei supported falyse over lollys but she tried to marry off lollys to bronn to ensure that her brother tyrion does not have allies. but bronn outwits them by killing falyse's husband and deprieving them of rulership in stokeworth.

as hugh and ulf were greedy for power, would they not try to murder the younger brothers to ensure no rivals to the lordship of stokeworth and rosby? would they not try to deprieve their wives from having power anyway, relegating them in a trap of a marriage - especially how young they were??? and even so, would they have continued to even be loyal servants of the queen knowing that she was weary of them???

historically, we have had situations like this where men would be married to heiresses with equally high stations or higher stations by royals, specifically those who wanted to establish a new order by blood which would start out new bloodlines and loyalties to wipe away the old order.

we have marriages like henry vii and elizabeth of york. he won his crown off the battlefield but he won the country in itself by marrying elizabeth of york who was a direct descendant of the house of york, the legitimate line of edward iii. henry's claim comes from his mother who was descended from the beauforts - who were from an illegitimate line.

ulf and hugh would have used these marriages, both being bastards, to legitimize their stations higher through these noble marriages. with a marriage to legitimate daughters of a noble house, they can hold power in their own right by usurping their wives and becoming lords on their own whim.

so while its an amiable idea, which supported a woman's claim and allows them to reward their services to the blacks - that would also lead to a lot of uncertainty considering that ulf and hugh were not as trust worthy to many in rhaenyra's court and despite being dragon riders, there was no certainty how they would fair as lords and noblemen.

corlys on the other hand had the perspective that was rather interesting. he points out that while rhaenyra was named heir by her kingly father - this was specifically only to her case. they have yet to make a case where the widespread salic law was changed in all of westeros. because if it was the case, there would be no fighting happening regarding rhaenyra's claim to the throne. she was special in nature that she was chosen specifically as heir to amend the throne's line of succession from pure salic to semi-salic.

but again, the question is - would this work???

there is a compelling thought to corly's idea - which is in many levels shows us how fully unprepared westeros is as a whole for equal female rulership. corlys has been in patriarchal westeros for almost all his life. he has watched his wife get passed over to rule and even her bloodline shunned. and this is why they were fighting a war, because a man had decided to name his daughter heir to defy the conventions settled by westerosi tradition.

but alas, we understand that this was specific for the king's own heir. there was yet any plans to make that a whole thing. most lords get their right to rule by being born first or being a man. he himself points out that men would be up in arms for their right to inherit should rhaenyra start a tradition of providing a semi - salic tradition to try and make it possible for elder daughters to inherit before the male heir.

which proves that westeros in itself has to be dismantled first from the tradition of male to male inheritance but this would take time to even actually reinforce fully because the war for a succession where a woman herself is fighting is just as much under threat from male opression.

as much as it is true that rhaenyra needs to stand by other daughters who had inheritance rights as well, it also paints a tragic picture that it is true that rhaenyra would alienate a lot of support if she too decided to try and make an argument to try and give it to the daughters. hence, abandoning her cause.

because you'd have to discount - how much support do these daughters have over the brothers??? would the lower vassals of that house accept that decision??? would they then be deposed by their brothers anyway should they be placed in that situation??? would that then cause infighting between many other houses regarding the succession rights??? there's a lot of stuff to unpack.

within the universe, we see that this is something that is constantly argued on female rule in westeros - for all the great councils which passed over women and even so citing rhaenyra's being made heir as a stain on the legacy of the targaryen dynasty because to the patriarchy, it caused a wedge on the status quo. the status quo which to them works because it is lead by men.

throughout this, all i could think fo were various female rulers who were discounted upon their sex. henry viii for example legalized his two elder daughters from inheriting, making them bastards and not princess once he divorced or killed their mothers. this paved the way for him being able to name his bastard henry fritzroy as heir and later on make edward vi as the only legalized heir because mary i and elizabeth i were bastards under english inheritance law. they were the last option within the immediate family.

and it sucks to think about how prevalent this was because both choices lead to a disadvantage not only for the war in itself but also for the whole system which needs change. a change in the status quo of male domination. the partriarchal essence seeping through even the most amiable council that would probably do good.

because if she was in favor of ulf and hugh, then the ladies stokeworth and rosby could be puppets of their husbands. they could be reckless about how they run the houses. at the same time, the entire council especially corlys was weary of these two. so obviously, there would be bombastic side eyes about this matter.

then if she gave it to the sons, then the daughters get to be safe but they'll not have the opportunity to rule in their own right because even if she gives it to them, then maybe their brothers could take their right to rule. and even then, would those in their own local lords and ladies even try to support them??? would these knights sworn to this house decide to even support a daughter over a son???

this hard ass decision that rhaenyra had to make was what she thought safest bet at the time and yet that also basically put her in danger and caused just as much trouble she was trying to avoid. because she would be judged either way, especially with a male dominated society - her decision would be shunned and judged one way or another.

when you think about the circumstance of what she had to decide on at the time, it was a complicated position in the first place. one that had a lot of repercussions that were not going to be good one way or the other.

and yet the way people would judge her for making mistakes like this is even less than the repercussion that many other male counterparts have received. this is what makes the dance of the dragon more poignant about the double standards on women and men.

because when women make very decisive and strong decisions, its often called 'unnatural' and they are called names. as though the way the she-wolves of england were monikered as such because they made decisions that usually men only do.

for example, as mentioned before, rhaenyra beheaded otto, jasper wlyde, lord stokeworth and lord rosby under the charge that they betrayed her and their word by enabling aegon for starting a war that stole her throne, killed her children and caused chaos in the realm.

rhaenyra herself though that this was justice because otto and jasper were conspirators and lord stokeworth and lord rosby going along with it helped justify that by bending the knee and surviving aegon ii. however when you see other people react to that, its as though rhaenyra herself is the devil because she killed them to satisfy her need for justice in her own way.

yet if we compare that to aegon ii who had many lords and ladies beheaded and their heads put on spikes for trying to stay true to their vow on king viserys's settled line of succession. they were declared unloyal to the person who usurped the throne and were intimidated constantly with not only occupation but also terror.

the succession was to these lords and ladies settled for near two decades in favor of a daughter and suddenly declaring that the king changed his mind last minute was not something that would be easily believed, especially because the succession held firm for decades. and yet the moment it was challenged, it was accepted and aegon ii was supported by many for that act because the patriarchy said that he merely defending his right to the throne.

i don't know but these thoughts make it so intriguing to me that such decisions, especially made by a woman, is so often viewed as something that is done out of spite against other women when there are so many layers that you have to think about it. and its important to dive through them, to view perspectives that were more than what we have on the text. i like to think that makes the people in these pages so real, just as much as the hardships they feel. but i don't really know. i think it is as it is a sad reflection of even today's society, where women themselves are still judged for the hard decisions they make when they rule through different avenues of life.