#but then there's the puppet....... does the puppet have a daemon.............

[swordtit]

i have daemon aus on the brain and i think it would be really fun if sidestep thought they didn't have a daemon at all (to really drive home not feeling human) but in reality the farm separated them from the moment they were pulled out of the tube and unbeknownst to them their daemon is still in the farm's clutches.

(i also think their daemon has yet to settle, so imagine if you will sidestep going through events in the game and the daemon, miles and miles away, locked in a cage or submerged in a tube of its own to keep it docile, transforming into different animal forms that would best suit it to help it's other half.)

[weirwoodweirds]

You guys don’t get it, MAYBE they just forgot that Alyssa has an in-book description, because they love doing that, but TO ME it’s everything. Alyssa was not particularly beautiful, at least not by Valyrian standards, she had a crooked nose and dark blond hair and mismatched eyes. But to Daemon, who never knew her, Daemon who specifically likes girls with a Valyrian look(see show Mysaria asking if he’d prefer a girl with silver hair, see book Mysaria having pale hair) of course that’s what his mother looks like. She looks like Rhaenyra, like Aemma. And Daemon was so bitter about his marriage to Rhea Rhoyce, not an unattractive woman but a specifically not Valyrian woman, and more than that one who didn’t take his shit. It’s worth wondering if one of the many reasons Daemon, so obsessed with his Targaryen legacy, was jealous of Viserys, who got his perfect Targaryen bride in Aemma. It’s worth wondering if Daemon wished he’d been married to his aunt, Gael Targaryen, the youngest of Jahaerys’s children, only a year older than him. But instead he got Rhea, further disrespect in his eyes.

In terms of Alys, cursing him with these visions, she wouldn’t know what Alyssa looked like. Or she would, with all her magic, and chose to make Daemon a puppet of the mother he lost in the body of a woman he’d be attracted to. And yeah, it’s nasty to think about, but it’s actually very smart for Daemon’s character. Alyssa who died in childbirth, her son who’s second wife died in childbirth, and his third abandoned by him while she lost her daughter. And Aemma, who’s death and the death of her son he celebrated because it would make him heir. Rhaenyra, his niece, genetically, due to all the inbreeding, closer to being his daughter, who he groomed. So in his visions he fucks his mother, her grandmother. Forced to confront the tangled web of his family and their mad traditions that he takes so much pride in.

And I don’t think it was Alys’s intent to play to his obsession with the throne by having Alyssa feed that delusion, I think it was more intended to imply how twisted he’s become in his pursuit of power. Or maybe it was her intention, and she’s pushing him towards a mad pursuit of the throne that culminates in the fight above the God’s Eye, because whether the writers will keep to that as an act of loyalty to Rhaenyra is anyone’s guess. But I think it wasn’t intended to feed that delusion, more to make him confront all the women he’s used and abused through the guise of his mother, the one woman he would conceivably respect, who he instead has sex with before she dies in front of him. Pushing him to acknowledge the ways he’s wronged Rhaenyra and ultimately sacrifice himself to take out Aemond and secure her.

Anyway this show does a lot of things wrong when it comes to the Targaryens as a whole but someone in the writers room understood Daemon this season.

[mrderofcr0ws]

how is it that ryan condall was so intent on making aegon a pathetic loser we aren’t supposed to like…and yet he’s the only one who had an amazing story arc in season two????

while daemon was tripping balls, rhaenyra was turning against her heir to place herself one step closer to the throne, corlys struggled to find someone to name his successor, rhaena almost died in the vale, otto rotted in a cell, alicent sold out her sons, aemond threatened to commit kinslaying x3 against his sister, criston dealt with imposter syndrome, jace grasping for any attempt to make himself seem legitimate, and baela being overlooked in so many ways— aegon was becoming a king.

how — genuinely how considering his character assassination in the first season — was aegon the ONLY ONE to come out of this sad excuse for a season better than before? he rose from the ashes (literally) despite the writers actively trying to dig him into his grave through what they’ve written for him.

we’re supposed to hate aegon but let’s make a check list of everything he did this season that makes him the most entertaining character this season and the one with the best arc.

☑︎he engages well with the smallfolk and knows their importance whilst others do not.

☑︎he lost his son horrifically.

☑︎he could see through the liars in his small council and knew that he was becoming a puppet king which resulted in otto’s firing. (good for him because otto is a manipulative mfker who never should’ve got a second chance with viserys)

☑︎he was eager to learn but everyone — even his own mother — shut him down time and time again. his hand and his brother plotted without him. his council sought not to involve him and he was smart to turn to larys despite his reservations.

☑︎he survived the attempt on his life at rooks rest despite the fire and the fall— the burns and broken bones.

☑︎he was smart to play dumb with aemond and say he remembered nothing. he learned finally that no one around him could be trusted fully and that he was an expendable tool for those around him and not a king in their eyes.

☑︎despite his pain and needing to be forced into it physically, he seeks help from larys and the grand maester even if he keeps them at an arms length trust-wise. this is where he builds his strength and we see that fire in him begin to shine once again.

☑︎he learns the importance of having a master of whispers and how valuable larys strong truly is with how much he knows and how much he can do. (hate to say it but it’s true) (aemond was a fool for not putting all his chips in for larys)

☑︎he does not wish to be seen as a coward when larys proposes fleeing from kings landing, but he knows he must leave to return. he knows he is not safe in the red keep— whether it’s rhaenyra coming for him or any of his family, he knows now that no one will look out for him. he decided to leave not because larys says to but because he knows that when he comes back for the throne— he’ll be taking it with fire and blood.

aegon targaryen they can’t make me hate you— especially when tgc is playing you

[mejcinta]

See, I don’t even think Baela and Jace love each other. They barely know one another. We get no indication whatsoever of how any of them feel. The first time these kids ever met was at the worst funeral in the world, then Baela is fostered in Driftmark with her Grandmother while Corlys is running away from his grief and how he gave his children away to the Targaryens because of his ambitions and he lost them both. Corlys was the one originally pro Strong boys, Rhaenys was not. She would not have grown up hearing how great they were just for breathing. How does she feel being betrothed to a bastard? (She might not be anti bastard but truly as much as tb wishes, No noble raised girl in Westeros dreams of growing up and marrying a bastard) A bastard who’s brother just usurped the position her Grandmother was raising her for. Now, Rhaena may love them as brothers because she has been raised with them but now she’s suddenly engaged to marry her little brother. We got to see how Aegon felt about being betrothed to his little sister and it was realistic. How do they feel about their Uncle being murdered in front of them in favor of Rhaenyra? Baela has just lived with this man for the last 6 years and he did love her mother. He would not have been trusted to give a Eulogy at her funeral if Corlys and Rhaenys felt he didn’t love their daughter. The twins have no resentment and animosity towards Rhaenyra for that careless Valyrian wedding so soon after their mother’s death? They just smile like puppets and take their places next to the bland boys and get stars in their eyes when they see Rhaenyra who herself is bland af as a future Queen. She’s done nothing in the past 6 years deserving of that kind of admiration. Unlike Alicent ruling the 7 Kingdoms and Rhaenys ruling Driftmark In Corlys’ absence. Dragonstone is almost deserted. Rhaenyra made no boss moves in that time, nothing that showed any ambition or skill. She couldn’t have been further from the image of Queen Alysanne if she tried.

On to the boys, we get Jace’s feelings on Harwin’s death but not Laenor’s? How do he and Luke feel about the murder of their father? The whispers that Rhaenyra and Daemon did it? Jace is not as naive as Luke, does he believe it? She made them bastards in the first place and then she made them fatherless bastards. 6 years later do they still see and care about Laenor as their father? Did/do they grieve him? Besides the Driftmark succession, what are the lingering effects of his death? Is there any resent towards Rhaenyra for the positions she’s placed them in? Towards Daemon, who was a stranger to them for replacing their father?

I wish the show writers would’ve fleshed out the tb kid’s personalities and inner thoughts/actions like they did the kids/teens in GOT. The interactions between the young cast with each other feel so natural. The younger generation in HOTD didn’t get that much screen time in comparison but still, we see the dynamics between the Stark siblings so clearly within the first 2 episodes. We get a sense of their inner thoughts, feelings, goals, beliefs and conflicts.

Jon loved his father and Ned loved him, like Rhaenyra loves her sons. He raised him like his other children, YET we know how Jon feels about his parentage. We see although he himself can have classist tendencies, he is self conscious about his bastardy. He has moments of bitterness and self loathing. His brothers and sisters- including Sansa- loved him and despite that love for him Sansa’s pov of bastards is typical of the period she was raised.

Sansa’s reaction to her betrothal to Joffrey barring she did not yet know his true parentage and his true nature is realistic for a noble Westerosi girl. Robb’s reaction to the forcing of his hand and his marriage alliance to the Frey girl is realistic as well and how he eventually fucked it all up. That’s why I don’t Bristle at the idea of Jace and Sara, it would be the most human thing he did.

Thank you, anon. I really love your perspective and analysis of the Blacks teens. They deserve so much better.

I'll be saving this in my file for fics lmao. Because the show writers are useless at this point.

[sunnysideaeggs]

hi friends, welcome back to another episode of me complaining about the dragon show. this is a long post for a long episode, spoilers for s2e6 of hotd, and spoilers for fire and blood, since i will be discussing a bit of my theories about the ending. enjoy!

the lannisters as always serving. i love the armor, the red, the details, targaryens wish they had that drip.

lions? fighting? yes lord jason show us the budget

also i think it’s cute that lord lefford and his men have a little golden dandelion pin. i think the different ways westerosi people embrace their sigils is cute

why is the golden tooth’s lord so surprised to see lord jason being a show off? sir that’s your liege lord you must know how he is 😵‍💫

‘he dares summon me 🤬🤬🤬’ bitch you’re regent because you have fightfing ability. use it. i hate aemond ugh

‘i’m prince regent not a dog’ ✨ stop acting like a bitch then ✨

everyone in the council wishing aegon comes back home lol

larys’ hair looks unmatched today

alicent and dalton? 💀 this would be a great moment to remind the audience of how dalton is a rapist, a tyrant, a heathen and a criminal, and anyone that allies themselves with him is icky. but oh wait isn’t he a black ally?

i will not tolerate any more tyland slander. he’s my little finance bro and he must be respected

now this is a question. what position does alicent fill exactly? she’s not queen anymore and being queen mother of an adult king doesn’t grant her any more saying than anybody else

i would be more inclined to empathize with alicent’s loss of power if she had spent any morsel of her power actually saying or doing something. i don’t care about the loss of a ‘leveling voice’ in the council when she didn’t have any thoughts this season but ‘war bad, aegon bad, viserys good, peace good’

she’s in her FOMO era though. she wishes this was aegon instead. she should’ve employed this maternal energy in him. it would’ve served her better.

now this is another consequence of alicent’s character being so butchered it became a 50’s caricature of what a woman is. book alicent was such a powerhouse that no one would dare question her presence in the council. and she was evil af. that’s the alicent we deserved

i can’t stop thinking that the hand pin rhaenyra gave corlys is the same pin she stole from otto lmao

i fail to see how rhaenyra admitting she’s being held back by her council gives her power. they’re admitting she’s a puppet ruler. ew

rhae mentioning that the knight has noble blood first of all 😭 smallfolk don’t count. it’s unthinkable they would have the ability. she said no real person involved fr

‘the dragons are gods’ i thought we were well past that

if anything i watch every episode to see daemon being haunted for all his sins. truly what he deserves

(throwback to s1) also i find it interesting how in the show viserys cut himself with the throne when he sent away daemon, when the moment he cuts himself in the book is when he condemns vaemond and the silent five unfairly. the show trying to make his mistake be standing up to his entitled family instead of enabling his entitled family 💀

simon must be so done with daemon 😭

i wonder if caraxes has been having weird dreams too

daemon packing his shit and sleeping outside harrenhal in a tent jsjjsjsjs

alys like: ‘where my goodbye hug at? 🧐’

‘perhaps those who strive for (the crown) are the least suited to wear it’ preach.

but rhaenyra does strive for it, she can’t be five minutes reminding people of her crown duh. the only one who recognized the duty of the crown and the burden and duty it takes is egg and that is why i love him

i can’t with the fucking viserys glazing smh

alys my love why would you say ‘centuries’ when it comes to the tullys? they’ve been around for a century and a third, not more. i love the tullys but they haven’t been liege lords for centuries

once again condal proving he didn’t read the books

now if ser whatshisname dies trying to claim a dragon i will say he died a dragonrider’s death, therefore he was successful or whatever

poor steffon :( it’s cruel to give a knight a ceremony for his death and seasmoke was cruel to lure him just to burn him

why did they leave him there instead of idk throwing water? try to save him? smh

he died a dragonrider’s death tho

actually the dragonkeeper choosing to slice his throat instead of succumbing to his burns tells us throusands about what an actual honorable valyrian death is like. and it doesn’t have anything to do with burning

now i would like some more insight on the resentment it causes to know you have a noble father and he leaves you to your devices. imagine your dad being your boss but you can’t say anything :(

i still think it was so stupid of dyana to not run away from the city when she had the chance and the money. i know they kept it for slander purposes but still

since when do the peasants are choosers? they’re eating rats and bowls of brown, why are you complaining about fish?

aemond’s lover is a traaaaaiittoor lol

tell but not show. we haven’t seen any food or feast since the dinner back in s1. got did way better with the food

also giving the blacks’ storyline of feasting while the people starve to the greens has not gone unnoticed.

bitch what? rhaenyra is slapping lords? she’s fucking joffrey. this is beyond disgusting and disrespectful. fuck her i hate her so much and every episode gives me more reason to hate her even more

‘fear me 👹👹👹’ i will cheer when she dies chained

also she just hits her allies and speaks some bs, doesn’t explain herself, doesn’t create more plans, just fucks around and fucks off. ew

i know mysaria is a lickspittle because no one else would say rhaenyra ‘raised in feasts and lazyness’ targaryen becomes being with a sword lol

aemond speaks the truth but fails to endorse it. it is in the crown’s best interest to make sure the smallfolk curse the blacks all the more, instead of leaving them to think whatever. when there’s a siege you hate the one keeping the siege not the ones suffering with you

aemond is so easily blindsided (pun intended). he is so quick to shut down the flatterers in the council but doesn’t realize he’s fucking the worse traitor of them all lol

yay egg is awake! (of course orwyle will prioritize 👑 the king 👑 instead of dealing with a simple prince duh)

my baby is in pain :(

aemond targaryen i will see you in the seven hells if i don’t sent you there myself. keep your hands away from him you leech. i’m on daemon’s side for this one

why would the maesters leave him alone? he’s the king king, he can command them to not leave the room and aemond can’t overrule him

rhaena being sidelined and forced into a storyline that isn’t hers (diminishing her importance and the last dragonrider until daenerys) will not be forgotten.

we get to see daemnyra’s kids’ dragons but not helaegon’s kids’ dragons? a crime.

i would like to remind everybody that grrm himself said dragons are not nomads and they don’t go flying around just because. condal once again

rhae rhae showing she’s vizzy’s daughter because she threatens to cut tongues when she gets mad at the truth and can’t even give a reasonable explanation for why. at least joffrey cut tongues when people were singing slander and not just trying to be useful

fucking tyrant.

while rhaenyra cries about not being respected as a ruler jace actually makes plans to win the war. she’s not respected because she’s fucking useless not because she’s a woman.

ah yes, apples grown in the gardens of dragonstone. as if the reach isn’t team green. lmao

also it’s so funny that no one ever through about buying more food exported from the reach (coast clear and no need for sea routes). the writing is so stupid bruh

all he ever wanted was to hear someone was sorry about what happened to him :(i’m sorry egg, your mom is sorry)

now some sunnydumping: back in 2021 i got covid, i probably catched it from my mom. i was bedridden and with awful fever and pain, my mom did stay by my side and constantly apologized for me being sick. of course it wasn’t her fault but she still felt bad. alicent apologizing to her burned son speaks to me so much

alicent was around 14 when her mom died, gwayne is older than that and was in tourneys during the first ep. did the writers forgot? why would they say ‘oh you were 8 when mom died’ this man fought daemon 💀

THEY’RE AGING DAERON? i expected it but i’m still disappointed

the horses are so cute with their armor aw

rhaenyra didn’t fucking knew about mysaria’s plan 💀 the smallfolk are right to thank her though. she might be the cause there’s a blockade but it’s not logical the crown hasn’t done anything about it

‘we must leave now’ no tf they don’t. helaena and alicent should stay right there instead of going to the streets. most of the smallfolk is deeply religious and wouldn’t dare to desecrate a sept. what are they, blackwoods?

and the narrative backs me up. the people were outside the sept, but didn’t actually enter and instead just conveniently went after the queens when they exited the sept. they should’ve stayed.

the smallfolk throwing food at them 💀 well damn that’s why you’re starving if you’re throwing good food away

i’ll miss leon stermont ngl. he was funny.

eeeegggg :((( his little tear while reaching for the milk? i’m crying. also give tom his emmy rn

aegon wanted his medicine and sleep but larys instead gave him his lore. poor baby :(

matthew needham the actor you are

i love love love larys and aegon together. the two best actors of the show on scene, their microexpressions, their shared disability and the ruthlessness it brews. this is the most vulnerable larys we’ve ever had and i am so mesmerized by them

new theory: i am a ‘aegon poisoned himself’ truther, and now i am of the mind that larys may help him, and poison his king following his orders (jesus and judas who). after that, he chooses death because what else can he do. he fulfilled his purpose and he served his king.

btw larys’ purpose to me is the old gods grand conspiracy. he’s advancing stuff so that the events of asoiaf can happen. he’s but a piece in a board.

he also may poison aegon without aegon knowing but thinking he’s doing it out of kindness. he doesn’t want the boy he grew to be fond of to be stripped of his power, life and dignity. better to die a king.

i hope we can get past all that dan schneider shit from s1e9 and we get to the real deal of larys’ motivations now. power and chaos, chaos and power. chaos is a ladder after all :)✨

daemon seeing viserys mourning 😭 he’s just in a really bad mushroom trip

where is elmo tully? this is muppet erasure

seasmoooookke i’m mad at you

still go get your rider boy

???? no claiming scene ???? 🤨

also we probably could’ve a) seasmoke claiming scene and b) sunfyre recovering scene instead of steffon dying trying to claim seasmoke and caraxes screaming in the background with alys and daemon, better use of cgi

rhaenyra’s problem is that she can’t fathom that not kissing the floor she walks on and still being loyal to her can coexist. no girl jace is your biggest ally he doesn’t doubt you he just sees you need help. smh

another thing i dislike is how they paint rhaenyra to be this universally beloved queen and the poor underdog fighting against the world at the same time. pick a side hbo

here we have grrm’s bad maths: 2/3 of the houses sided with the blacks, the blacks have thrice the dragons the greens have. but still the greens won (by virtue of aegon outliving and killing rhaenyra). how was that? the greens are the underdogs and the blacks have the numbers advantage

jace literally wakes up and starts thinking about ways to help his mother. but he says ‘ayo maybe you should check on your husband and ask him for help’ and then his mother cries and makes a fit because apparently he’s doubting her. narcissistic mom where

because apparently women need to be raped to be sympathetic? can’t mysaria be a sex worker who just so happened to want power and catch daemon’s attention? why does she need to be abused by her father? and tell her backstory to a targaryen of all things. she won’t ever understand how horrible that is.

mysaria being a ripoff of varys’ backstory 🧐

bruuuh i actually don’t think rhaenyra and mysaria are a good thing. power dynamics, especially with mysaria being a former sex worker and a sa victim, a daemon victim and at some point rhaenyra’s prisoner. can’t mysaria be a good employee without having to please her boss sexually? can rhaenyra respect one of her employees without fucking them? it seems not.

this episode was long aaaaaaffff and i think the scene with rhaenyra and mysaria could’ve been cut completely. mysaria giving her lore just doesn’t hit as hard when larys gave his piece, the make out scene is just fanservice and the ‘oh no’ ending could’ve been just alyn claiming seasmoke and pulling a dany

7/10 solely because of my greenies and alys.

[kingcunny]

Helaena who is Rhaenyra’s (her groomer) prisoner thoughts ? How does she feel about her ?

in the aftermath of blood and cheese helaena is so lost to grief and with no outlet for it, she turns on alicent. blames her for everything thats happened. if alicent hadnt hated rhaenyra so much, if she just let her marry rhae- jace, none of this would be happening, her children would still be alive, shed be happy (feel the need to say, we dont Know this but this is how helaena is thinking. shes “coping” by imagining a different, better reality for herself.). so when rhaenyra comes to take kings landing, helaena views it as her big sister coming to save her from her mother and brother. and rhaenyra is all too happy to feed into helaenas delusions if it means she can use her to hurt alicent.

i think rhaenyra and helaena would have to talk about b&c at some point (rhaenyra maybe bringing it up out of guilt) and when they do rhaenyra completely throws daemon under the bus. rhaenyra had No Idea what daemon was gonna do. she was Horrified when she found out. she wept for poor little baby… *reads writing on hand* jaehaerys. but… she Knows how helaena feels… helaenas brother killed her son :( ((very intentional word choice) absolving rhaenyra of blame. giving helaena a target for her anger. trying to make helaena feel guilty for aemonds actions)

helaena is Not in her Right State of Mind while shes rhaenyras prisoner. shes regressing back into herself to a time when she was younger and happier. back to when she was a little girl and rhaenyras little buddy. shes going full hero worship on rhaenyra, she can do no wrong. even though rhaenyra keeps helaena isolated (especially from alicent) im not sure she even fully realizes she IS a prisoner. rhaenyra is Nice to her, nicer than aegon or alicent. she listens to her. she Understands her. rhaenyra is just keeping her safe. helaena is “coping” by pretending things are better than they are. that rhaenyra is there for *her*. that she has someone who cares for her.

im not sure what breaks helaena out of this. maybe its maelors death. but realizing that shes, yet again, just a pawn in rhaenyras game definitely influences her suicide. helaena is tired of being everyones puppet. shes tired of being used. so shes gonna cut her strings.

[nash-dara]

In what world was s1 favouring the greens? They were shown as hypocrites, rapists, pimps, murderers etc. the blacks were clearly the heroes of the story and they continue to be.

I can give you few examples that are pivotal to the whole story;

• Rhaenys' hair is black because her Baratheon Blood is so strong, she didn't inherit the typical Valyrian features.

• Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey are not 'Strong' babes, they are only rumored, those are only rumors made by the Greens.

• Alicent became someone whose somewhat sympathetic and does some terrible and stupid decisions when in the books she's very decisive and the one who planned it mostly and not a puppet of Otto. She's supposed to be a cunning manipulative stepmother.

• The show make Alicent usurp the throne because of a misunderstanding when in the book it's because she's ambitious.

• The show Aemond, they made him do a "prank/bullying session gone wrong" shitshow, for the reason that he just supposed to appear as sympathetic in killing Luke instead of a psycho going into a rampage .

• On the flip side, they highlighted all the crazy antics of Daemon and erase his good side. He wasn't supposed to kill Rhea, or those moments that shows Daemon cares about his family and not just a power hungry and war monger person were erased.

• Although I do admit that they frame Rhaenyra as the 'protagonist' in the pilot episodes and washed some of her crimes including killing Laenor which is in the book but in the show Laenor somewhat fake his death with the help of Daemon and Rhaenyra.

• However it doesn't changed the fact that they also did the same thing to other characters namely Alicent and Aemond. They also didn't show that Rhaenyra do ruled the Dragonstone and know how to rule and not just a spoiled princess who wants to inherit the Iron Throne because her daddy said so, no, even other lords agree upon it and only minor houses favored the Greens.

• Honestly, I just really enjoy the nuance of each character in the book, no matter what team they are even if they are not the team I root for because all of them are complex and not just a binary, white-black morality and now because it is adapted into a show they somewhat have free passed to butcher it. It is just sad and disappointing at this point that they (the show) didn't frame it as like a History Book telling what happen in the past before Dany as they put biases to a lot of characters whether they are Greens or Blacks.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Hope I gave you some clarity why I think the season 1 was bias to the Greens, although right now I'm still unsure too if the season 2 would be able to show the balance viewpoint of both Team's warcrimes.

[atopvisenyashill]

ANOTHER HOTD/DOTD ASK

Do you think Aegon was so unprepared due to the Greens wanting another Viserys or because they genuinely didn’t know what to teach him?

Sub-question, do you think nyra and alicent were going to have a friendship blowup regardless of the succession?

hmmm. i think the problem is they really underestimated how emotional he is and how negatively affected he is by the way he's "prepared." those moments we get where alicent is lashing out at aegon because of her own fears, she's merely replicating the way otto treated her - but whereas alicent comes out with a lot of skill (and a deep paranoia), aegon breaks under that. it's not that, imo, he's not being taught by otto and alicent (though i imagine there is less teaching than they'd like but not that much less - look at aemond). i do think the idea that they wanted another puppet was a factor but viserys at least understands optics while aegon clearly does not. so i wouldn't say it's a lack of education more so that emotionally, he just can't handle the stress.

and like……….alicent marries rhaenyra’s dad less than a year after nyra’s mom died when ali was 15 so yeah lmao. that’s such a crazy situation to be in emotionally, even if alicent has all girls. especially when you factor in like, even in a scenario where alicent & rhaenyra start to repair things and alicent kinda gets in rhaenyra’s head about how she’s being perceived so she spends several months genuinely trying to have kids with laenor…….like there’s no guarantee that’s gonna work out. and part of her resentment of her father & daemon getting to fuck around while she cannot is that viserys married alicent. it’s going to bubble up for her eventually. and while that’s happening, even if rhaenyra gets through to alicent about her own insecurities & anger over being pressed into this marriage, the underlying issue that alicent resents rhaenyra’s supposed freedom is still there because she is forced to share a bed with nyra’s dad 😭 i don’t want to say the problem isn’t the succession bc obviously that’s it’s own issue, but the problem is the viserys marriage.

i don’t think it’s impossible that they get to a point emotionally where they realize their resentment of each other is misplaced but to get to that point, they HAVE to hash it out and with those two, that probably means a blow up lmao. i think a scenario where alicent has all girls is the Best way to set the foundation for a reconciliation between them, because when you take the fear over an aegon v rhaenyra war out of the equation, it’s sort of like who is alicent turning to here if she fucks it up with rhaenyra, daemon?? lol.

[emaistome]

Many people consider that Alicent Hightower as a character doesn’t have agency, calling out a supposed misogyny from the show runners. At the same time, they scrutinize and vilify everything she does and considers her as the most morally corrupted character in the entire show while men like Otto, Corlys, Viserys, Daemon and Aegon do things that Alicent wouldn’t even Imagine doing. So my question for today is who are the real misogynists?

Alicent Hightower is definitely not the most consistent character of House of the Dragon, consequently she is the most hated, but on the other side, and she is the most complex among the female ones to a point where it is often very difficult to understand her. But why is it so hard to understand her motives?

Alicent in the book

My first answer would be that it’s due to the huge differences between her characterization in the source material, Fire and Blood, and the TV series adaptation. In Fire and Blood, Alicent married Viserys at the age of 18 and likely seduced him because he was a puppet, while on the other side Rhaenyra was 8. When Alicent gave three sons to Viserys and he decided to still keep Rhaenyra as heir, her somewhat amicable relationship with Rhaenyra vanished, instead she started resenting Rhaenyra, and it never stopped. When Rhaenyra became old enough to get married Alicent proposed her first born son Aegon as it was the tradition in House Targaryen to marry brother to sister, but Viserys refused, stating that Alicent only wanted her blood on the throne. Their relationship became even sourer, to a point were Alicent demanded the eye of Lucerys Velaryon, in exchange for that of her son Aemond who lost his eye to the same Lucerys Velaryon, because he called Lucerys a bastard. In defense of her son Rhaenyra asked to torture Aemond in order to know why he called him a bastard. But in the end Viserys ordered that Rhaenyra leaves Kings Landing after that incident, and married Aegon and Heleana, his oldest children by Alicent to each other.

When Viserys died, Alicent let Viserys’s body rot for days and took an active part in the usurpation of the throne, stating that Rhaenyra’s sons were bastards, and that her son was the rightfull heir to the Iron Throne. Criston Cole found a reluctant Aegon and convinced him to usurp the throne, he crowned him, while Alicent placed her own crown on Helaena’s head. She also convinced Aegon to try to make peace with Rhaenyra instead of going to war. The most widely spread interpretation of Alicent in Fire in Blood is that she was a stereotypical evil, selfish, manipulative and self-serving stepmother, and Rhaenyra was her total victim. In the manner of Lady Tremaine and Cindrella.

Alicent in the Series

In the Show, Alicent was aged down to 14 when she married Viserys and this marriage caused her to lose her friendship with Rhaenyra who was aged up, to also be 14, because Rhaenyra was already the heir and Alicent would just bring other claimants to her throne. Alicent didn’t love the king and married him only for duty, she supported her husband who was a decaying man, had children and sex with him, even if she never wanted it. Alicent actively supported Rhaenyra as queen, until Rhaenyra lied about her virginity, and Alicent was convinced to prepare Aegon to rule by Otto otherwise her children would simply die. Years after, Rhaenyra made bastards and proposed Alicent to marry her daughter to the oldest one of them, but Alicent refused, and married Aegon to her daughter instead. Alicent and the people who supported her made Kings Landing a hell to Rhaenyra, enough for her to leave Kings Landing and hide at Dragonstone. Alicent had strained relationships with Aegon and Helaena, but everything with Aemond seemed to be fine, until he lost his eye to Lucerys Velaryon, for calling him a bastard. Rhaenyra asked to torture Aemond to learn where he heard of the bastard allegations and Alicent claimed one of Lucerys’s eyes in payment for that of Aemond. When Viserys refused, she lashed out asking if all the things that she had been doing for House Targayen for years had only been free labour, and Rhaenyra told her that she went too far, but she slashed Rhaenyra in the arm.

Years after this incident, Alicent ruled in the place of Viserys because he was sick, Aemond became a brilliant fighter, while Aegon was a sex offender, and she hid it for him by paying his victims. With her allies she tried to take Driftmark from Lucerys Velaryon, in favor of Vaemond, Corlys’s brother, this tentative was prevented only because Viserys miraculously rose up from bed to defend Rhaenyra. Later that day Alicent and Rhaenyra reconciled after Rhaenyra showed gratitude for all the years she spent taking care of Viserys, and Viserys made a speech about how he loved all of his family.

Viserys died in the same night and Alicent misinterpreted his last words and thought that he wanted Aegon to be named king. When Alicent went to the Small Council she realized that her father was planning to put Aegon on the throne without her, and wanted Rhaenyra to be dead. Alicent took control of the coup and ensured power over Aegon trying to convince him to not kill Rhaenyra and send peace terms instead.

Alicent and Cercei

Many people would say that she was only a helpless victim with no agency in the show, while blaming her for everything that happened. Looking at Alicent in the book, it is easy to assign her a personality similar to that of Cercei Lannister. She hated a young girl, and wanted to usurp a throne, she was a bitter queen consort and its pretty much everything. But the parallel between Alicent and Cercei is more subtle in the show, because they both suffered from misogyny and ended up oppressing women around them in the same way that they were themselves oppressed. Tywin made Cercei feel inferior due to her gender, and married her to a violent misogynistic man, and Cercei did the same to Sansa. Alicent on the other side married Viserys for duty, and had non-consensual sex with him, and children that she never wanted, in return Alicent did the same to her daughter Helaena by marriying her to Aegon who didn’t love her and is also a sex offender. Both ended up upholding the feudal system in the exact same way that it made them each unhappy and bitter. And in Alicent’s case it’s worse because she did it to her own daughter whom she loves.

Alicent and Sansa Stark

People still claim that she has no agency, and compare her to Sansa Stark. However, Alicent and Sansa are hated for absolutely opposite reasons, but both are for sure given the responsibility of things that are simply out of their reach. Just like Sansa Alicent was an idealist when she was younger. But unlike Sansa, Alicent was aware of the world around her and most of the time she knew the consequences of her actions. Alicent knew that if she married Viserys she would essentially betray Rhaenyra, but she did because that’s what her family wanted from her. Alicent knew the consequences of supporting Rhaenyra after the brothel affair but she decided to support her because she was her friend after all. Unlike Sansa, Alicent did got a bit of autonomy, she sat in small council for meetings, took care of Viserys and, married her children to each other, she made Rhaenyra flee King’s Landing, almost took one of Rhaenyra’s biggest allies away from her, took control of the coup from Otto. And on top of that she raised three children almost like she was a single mother. While Sansa, so far in the books is a prisoner who slowly learns about the world around her. People complain about Alicent having no agency while there are a couple of things that would have been different if it was true. Like the betrothal between Jacerys and Helaena would have made Helaena a prisoner in Rhaenyra’s side, and she is partly responsible for the way her children ended up being, considering her parenting style. I mean Aegon didn’t even want to be king. So Alicent is definitely not a silent character in the show. And her actions are definitely not without intent and consequences. I think that the readers of Fire and Blood refuse to admit that even in the book Alicent endured her marriage to Viserys like a convict endures treadmill simply because Viserys refused to name Aegon heir, putting her children and her in real danger. Thus they come up with absolute garbage think pieces as Alicent had a happy marriage with Viserys, or that Viserys loved Alicent, or that Alicent had a lot of agency despite the fact that she only wanted one thing, which was the right of every noble woman at the time but never getting it.

Alicent and Margaery Tyrell

The book version of Alicent Hightower is similar to one character in the A song of Ice And Fire universe and it’s not Cercei, it’s Margaery Tyrell. Alicent and Margaery Tyrell have in common their position in the stories as girls who had to seduce kings in order to become queens and advance their positions. People in their entourage can see them as evil women who are reaching for power, like Cercei saw Margaery as an opportunist. In the show we have the point of view of Alicent, but in the book we have no idea of what she thinks of her marriage to Viserys, we only can project things into her and we know that she turned bitter once everything went wrong and committed usurpation. And we have no idea of how Margaery Tyrell feels about her situation. The book version of Alicent simply seemed to go along with everything that would have benefitted her family, as she was probably groomed to behave that way, just like probably Margaery Tyrell. But this works only for Alicent as she is presented in Fire and blood.

Alicent Hightower and Catelyn Tully

But the way Alicent treated Rhaenyrain the book, even if we don’t have precise informations about it made many people think that Alicent was a kind of diluted version of Cercei. But when it comes to cruelty and selfishness Alicent and Cercei simply don’t play in the same league. So the most likely answer is definitely Catelyn. Because Catelyn hated Jon for the same reasons Alicent started antagonizing Rhaenyra. Both Jon and Rhaenyra were threats to Catelyn and Alicent’s children claim to their father’s seats. Jon is the bastard of Catelyn's husband, and he might challenge her children’s rights to their father’s seat. On the other side Viserys named Rhaenyra heir, when Aegon, had a claim, that every Targaryen ruler up holded, in line with thousands of years of Andal customers, and the ruling of 101.

Most people don’t make the link because Jon is a boy and Rhaenyra a girl.

Both Catelyn and Alicent have serious historical events to justify their fears, mainly the Blackfire Rebellions and the succession crisis of 101.

Both Catelyn and Alicent don’t hate the children for who they are and out of pure spite, but because of the danger that they represent. Alicent had a good relationship with Rhaenyra, until she realized that Rhaenyra was becoming a threat to her children’s claim. So within a medieval context you can understand how the presence of Jon in Winterfell and keeping Rhaenyra as heir can be seen by their stepmothers as slights.

Alicent Hightower and the human heart in conflict within itself

In the show it wasn’t the same thing. Alicent was in fact the character who was confronted to dilemmas the most throughout the series. From the beginning she had to choose between her family, that was her duty and Rhaenyra who was the only friend she had, and the most beautiful thing that ever happened in her life, and she had to make the choice multiple times over the course of the season, it became even more difficult when she had children and those children, especially Aegon becomes everything she will ever achieve in her life, because they were everything feudality permitted her to be. So it’s weird to admit that Alicent in the book was that much of a great character when she’s just an ambitious woman, with understandable motivations.

Why the evil stepmother trope doesn’t work

I don’t have much struggles with the show changing this character and erasing the evil stepmother side of Alicent, because it brings nothing good to the story, and the themes of the show. The dance of the Dragon was a situation showing how a feudal system would prefer to destroy itself instead of letting a woman get power, and somehow the antagonist was another woman, the story feels like it was making Alicent responsible for all the time the Targaryen messed up with their own succession laws, and made the most misogynistic choice every time they had to choose a ruler. So by presenting Alicent as the head of the coup, the story does not only present the antithesis of what it’s trying to tell, which is that misogynistic men don’t like to be governed by women. It also presents Rhaenyra and Alicent as rivals, who were both vying for the attention of people at court. When in fact Rhaenyra had always been loved by everyone, and had an okay relationship with her, until Alicent had other viable heir for the Iron Throne. This trope also blames women for not being perfect victims, like everyone does to Alicent. She shouldn’t be criticizing the Strong boys and calling them bastards as if she was the one responsible of their existence. She shouldn’t slash Rhaenyra even though Rhaenyra asked to torture her son, she should let her daughter marry a bastard even if it would be dangerous and so on. In fact some people completely erase the real social context that inspired the series and the well presestablished lore within the story. Because it serves the demonization of Alicent.

Lastly this misogynistic trope had been used quite a few times in the A Song of Ice and Fire universe with Catelyn, Cercei, and Lysa, and it became redundant. People who miss this characterization of Alicent don’t care about Alicent as a character, because it simply offers less room for depth. They also don’t care about women’s rights, they care about Rhaenyra being Alicent’s helpless victim in the book. And it not as interesting as the friendship between Alicent and Rhaenyra.

Conclusion

Some of the readers of Fire and Blood literally erases all the cultural bias that the Westerosi society has against women, especially in relation to power in order to make Alicent more of a villain. It is not far fetched assume that given how the hierarchy of Westeros works the power of women were greatly reduced in comparison to what we see in the pages of the dance.

So people who constantly complain about Alicent were the same who hated her and never really cared about her agency in the book because she was likely no more than a very well groomed girl for the service of her family, and how realistic it looked. But only about how much pain she could bring to Rhaenyra. Complaining that she should have been a copy of Cercei, when the character in the show had simply more layers of tragedy, and is more fleshed out.

While in the book Alicent is only an ambitious woman who wanted power in the show she is a woman who tried her best to do what she considered as good thing in a system that had always been oppressive towards women. And when it didn’t work out like the system told her it would be, she turned bitter. Alicent has similarities with Cercei in the way that they uphold the system that caused them the most harm in order to survive, and just like Sansa she is taken responsible for things she doesn’t control, but she had much more agency than Sansa who was a captive while Alicent was a queen. She had similarities with Margaery because they were in a similar position as women who had to seduce kings to gain power. Lastly the bad treatment Rhaenyra received from her is a like to that of Jon by Catelyn Tully. However Alicent is different from them all because she despite perceiving herself as self-righteous and dutiful, she ended up hurting the people she loves the most, her children, and Rhaenyra, and I know that a lot of you might hate it but she is also a hypocrite, as many religious people often are. And I understand why it happened. Alicent in the show is simply better than Alicent in the book, because they showed us how women can be brainwashed by the system they live in, instead of the misogynistic tale of the woman who was overreaching for power and destroyed an entire country, in the process.

[presidenthades]

I think you've mentioned before is we really don't know how Rhaenrya would act if Daemon and her actually had a son/ Alyssa was an Aegon by either keeping Jace as heir/disinheriting her unless we get her pov. But daemon seemed to think his son would become heir, only with Jace as his wife despite the age difference if I'm remembering correctly from the handbook, or at least a situation similar to that. In this situation at least I'm pretty sure Rhaenrya would probably run into problems with her own succession if she did disinherit Jace because even if she did say "im heir because my father chose me" and that's not even mentioning how the Velaryons might react or Jace who probably doesn't want to marry her brother whose twelve years younger than her. So I would imagine the green and the blacks tension start floating again, Jace is probably still dutiful and no eloping occurs in this timeline so she's stuck in a an engagement she doesn't want and her inheritance taken from her. So do you think in this scenario Aegon says fuck it I'm becoming king so I can take Jace as my queen and give her rightful position not tied to her younger half brother, and actually makes strides to becoming a half decent ruler. Because to him he's seems Jace tear herself apart since she was seven to become the perfect heiress and suddenly his sister has a son with and uncle he hates and the power and position is rightfully Jace's is torn away and she would become merely a consort, probably an influential one like Alysanne but still a consort at the end of the day. While becoming king means Jace would probably still end up in that postion, it's okay to him because he loves her and he believes he could give her the power she rightfully deserves and she would be married to him at the end of the day. Though I suppose all of this probably means that the golds faction probably ends up forming at the end of the day again because Aegon is unwilling to be his grandfather's puppet and otto after seeing Jcae being disinherited in favor of her brother probably went back to plan B and wants to marry Aegon and Helaena again. Meanwhile Jace is probably torn in between doing her duty and at the end of the day, the resentment she might feel stirring at being passed over. ( and whose to say that viserra being born or visenya even won't become a better option as a bride for and Aegon the younger and she would end up with nothing in the end because she's not even the heir to driftmark.)

At least that's how I imagine a scenario like that might play out because as you've mentioned and showed that at the end of the day what Aegon ultimately wants is Jace and what is best for Jace. And if that means he has to usurp his older sister if that is the only way for him to have Jace then so be it.

You captured Daemon’s thought process in the Handbook pretty accurately. You’re right that Rhaenyra might not be completely aligned with him. In The Golds, Rhaenyra admits she would’ve made a son with Laenor her heir over Jace, but a son with Daemon wouldn’t come with as much Velaryon support. She would be conflicted.

But the kids start plotting the elopement before Alyssa/Aegon III is born. Jace gets fed up with Rhaenyra as early as the Daemyra elopement, because she feels like she has to do her duty while Rhaenyra does what she wants. If Rhaenyra can marry the man she wants, why can’t Jace do the same?

So the timeline is something like Lil Aegon is born, Jace elopes with Aegon soon after, then they all go before Viserys to sort it out. That might be where things change. At this point, Daemon has only known Jace for about 9 months, and she’s been away at Driftmark for 6 of those months. He likes Jace, but he’s not as attached to her as he is later in the Handbook. If he has a son with Rhaenyra, he might push for her to name Lil Aegon her new heir rather than keep Jace, who is now married to a grandson of Otto Hightower.

So there could be some drama where Jace is disinherited ostensibly for marrying Aegon. If she’s disinherited, then she probably stays with him and the Greens in KL rather than go home and wait for three years. Jace definitely has a lot of bitter feelings toward her mother and Daemon about this, and the Greens have renewed incentive to plot to put Aegon on the throne. And Aegon might go along with it if it’s the only way Jace gets to be queen. 🧐

[synchodai]

Live reactions of me watching Episode 5 under the cut. As you will notice, I'm easily impressed and turn into that Leo Dicaprio pointing gif every time a character I like is mentioned.

I love the "It's just meat" line from Ulf. It's great set-up for what's to come and how this whole war will hurt every Targaryen's legitimacy.

Hate the "Rhaenyra will answer for this" line from someone else. No one should be speaking treason that loudly so close to the Kingsguard.

They're peeling him! Love it.

"What would have me do?" Rhaenyra and Aegon both asking the question shows they're both puppets in the end. Neither have the strength and training to be a monarch.

YO CREGAN STARK MENTIONED! WINTER PREPPERS WE STAY WINNING!

Jace flying to Daemon makes sense. Him flying to the Twins instead because....it's too dangerous to go to Harrenhal????? Makes no sense.

YO BLACKWOOD-BRACKEN FEUD MENTIONED! RIVERCHADS WE STAY WINNING!

Daemon being like eeh, I guess you can torture our allies then. Hilarious.

Jeyne Arryn is reacting as she should.

"They betray their own smallness" is such a good line. Mizaya Suzuno is a treat every time she shows up on screen.

Rhaenyra not being taught "the difference between hilt and foible" makes no sense. If she was regular lady who had a very strict father, it would. But she had a rather permissive father who let her do pretty much as she pleased. If she wanted to, she could have learned as much as Arya or Brienne.

Baela finally having screentime? A minor miracle.

OH SO NOW THEY MENTION MELEYS IS THE FASTEST, HUH? (Again, I will keep saying that she could have and should have run away.)

Is that...Aemma??? OH NO IT'S ALYSSA.

How these scenes transition and cut seems more jarring than usual.

This "marital spat" lasting for four episodes seems unnecessary when the murder of a small child was forgotten in two.

Finally, calling out Aemond "for his lack of restraint." He should have been called out ever since he killed Luke.

Alicent makes a great point though. How can he be regent AND fight a war out there in the field???

Alicent having such strong emotions over being passed as regent.......why?

Why does Hugh get a family backstory added to his character and yet we've seen neither lick or hair of Nettles? Where is Nettles????

Costume department, please give Alicent more than two dresses.

YES FINALLY. THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE RIOTS. IT WILL BE THE SMALLFOLK THAT ULTIMATELY WIN THIS WAR AND KILL THE MOST DRAGONS

JASON LANNISTER MENTIONED! LANNATION WE STAY WINNING!

The Daemon will-he-won't-he-traitor is not fun to watch. It's been going on for too long and makes Rhaenyra's side of the war stagnant while the greens are making huge moves.

I don't remember Jace negotiating with the Freys in the book. Unlike in FaB, he was authorized by the queen to make the deals he did with Manderly, Arryn, and Stark. Here, he's completely rogue agent and any promises he makes to the Freys is....uh, questionable.

The purpose of this Frey negotiation scene perplexes me. My boy Jacaerys looks fabulous though. Keep serving, prince.

Alys saying "it's not war, it's a heinous crime" is...not my vibe. She exists in this society where they don't have the concept of humanely treating the enemy. What Daemon is doing to those who don't bend the knee is what is expected of a feudal warlord.

UUUUUUGH, Daemon going rogue agent is so self-sabotaging. This man is supposed to be a competent war veteran! He should know going alone is not the play. Aemond acting like this is believable because Aemond is a young man who's never seen war, but not Daemon.

At this point, Rhaenyra is taking as many Ls as Aegon, maybe even more. Why is everyone just standing around and talking at each other?! Your most important war asset died, where is the fire? Where is the urgency???

Why was Corlys not appointed the Hand from the very beginning?!

DID BAELA JUST REJECT HER INHERITANCE?? BULLSHIT. And she did it so casually too!!!! SHE HAS NO REASON TO DO IT. GIRL, INHERITING DRIFTMARK WOULD MAKE HER ONE THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE REALM WHAT IS GOING ON?

"I cannot send a raven for Daemon to disregard." Then why doesn't Rhaenyra go to Harrenhal????? She has a dragon, she can fly quicker than a random small councilman. What is going on with this war?

And now she just up and told a councilman who was already displeased with her and whose main reason for staying is his hatred of the Hightowers, "Oh yeah, Daemon might be raising his own faction. Anyways, you'll go to him and bring him back, won't you?" GIRL, DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DEFECT?

And the message she sends to Daemon is so feckless. Do you think that will convince anyone to come back?!

HOUR OF THE WOLF MENTIONED. WOLFERINAS WE STAY WINNING.

"Works of barbarity." YOU'RE ALL FEUDAL WARLORDS. YOU ALL BURN FIELDS AND SACK CHURCHES. WTF IS THIS GENEVA CONVENTION BS

"I have seen a share of their fights—" Then you should know the Brackens and Blackwoods do this to each other all the time! They burn each other's sacred places and kill their children. This isn't new! That's why the Riverlands is so poor despite its lands being so rich—because the lords keep sacking and tearing at each other's lands!!!! ARGH THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING

Oh thank god, please let it be a dream. It's a dream. Because lords and ladies saying this and coming in the middle of the night make no sense.

Helaena's one line this episode goes hard.

"Well, it was a long time ago." You tell her, Jace.

"And yet, I must wait here." ...you don't have to. This is such a manufactured conflict, especially when Rhaenyra already showed she can come and go to King's Landing unharmed.

"I'm proud of you" she tell her son who made a deal behind her back and disobeyed her orders. And she wonders why people circumvent her authority? Girl, WIELD YOUR AUTHORITY DAMN.

VERMITHOR AND SILVERWING MENTIONED.

"Valyrian histories, written to gild us in glory." YOU TELL HER, JACE.

Jace should be going, "Look at me mother, do I look like a Valyrian dragonlord to you?" Bham! Much more impactful and goes back to his main character conflict.

ugh, this was such a slow and frustrating episode. Worst of the season so far. High points are more Jace screentime (I just like looking at the actor stand in his costume — so beautiful and princely), the Jeyne Arryn appearance, and setting up the eventual riots. Low points are everything else.

[romerona]

War Of Hearts

⇢ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ ʜᴇʟᴘ ʙᴜᴛ ʙᴇ ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ. ᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ’ᴍ ᴏᴠᴇʀᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴡᴀʀ ᴏꜰ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ

Selene Maltheon never thought of herself to be a puppet, she thought she'll live her life free and happy, there was no denying that she was a big dreamer and hopelessly naive. Selene thought she'll grow up to live one of those happily ever after lives like the ones from the books she reads so much... however, the inevitable happened, she grew up and came to the realization she was yet just another pawn in the big game.

Jacaerys Velaryon x Oc // Aemond Targaryen x Oc.

A/N: A bit of an AU. Rhaenyra and her sons are still in Kingslanding but they (The greens and The blacks) still hate each other.

[UNCHARACTERISTICALLY HIM]

Masterlist

1 - 2 -

Prince Jacaerys isn't someone to flush easily, not out of something as mundane as seeing a beautiful girl. He sees pretty ladies every day, the court is full of them after all and some are also rather salacious whenever he speaks to them but the point still stands, Jace is constantly around them and accustomed to them. He was actually rather a 'smooth talker' as Daemon likes to tell him when it comes to women, whoever they are, ladies, maids, common women, whores, Jace was never one to flush at the sight of even the prettiest of them, so, he couldn't for the life of him understand why he always freezes at the sight of Selene Maltheon.

Selene was the only lady of House Maltheon, the most powerful house in New Valyria. She, her father, Lord Alexios and older brother, Lord Crater arrived a couple of months ago at the call of his grandfather, King Viserys. The King was appointing Lord Alexios as his new hand --Jace doesn't know the details as to why Lord Otto Hightower is no longer his hand but honestly, he didn't care, he, his daughter, Queen Alicent and her sons, Aegon and Aemond always look for a moment to strike action against his family-- And since the Lord of House Maltheon and his family arrived to Red Keep, Jacaerys found himself smitten by the Lord's daughter.

Anyone with working eyes could see just how beautiful the girl was, it was the type of beauty you could never find anywhere in the realm, not even if you go knocking door by door, woman-to-woman would you ever come across such beauty in all of the seven kingdoms and sure, her beauty was the first thing he noticed about her but he's been observing her -- because he does that instead of having a normal conversation -- and Jacaerys has noticed that the beauty outside reflects the beauty within. Lady Selene is quite generous to everyone around her, maids, guards, children, lords and ladies, no matter how disdainful some tend to be, hell, even the common folks in her short time of residing in Kings Landing know about her kind nature. Jacaerys is also aware Lady Selene must have a rather brilliant mind for when she is not charming the realm with her smile, she is often found sitting somewhere with her nose stuck in a book... just like right now.

She was sitting on a bench in the garden, the sun of the late afternoon shining over her, she was surrounded by hundreds of flowers, some still flourishing others at the peak of their beauty, she looked like a living painting.

"Are going to keep staring like a madman or are you going to speak to her, Jace?" Baela's voice snapped him out of whatever trance Selene usually puts him on.

Jacaerys turns his head to her, Baela had a borderline teasing smile on her face while leaning against a long pillar, he clears his throat and shrugs. "I do not know what you speak of,"

"Of course, you don't," Baela's teasing smile become more evident, her eyes were glimmering with amusement. "Anyways, I was here because your mother ask me to remind you about your Valyrian studies with the Maester."

"Ah yes, of course, I haven't forgotten, thank you Bae-"

"But that can wait, today is quite a lovely day, isn't it? How you fancy a stroll through the gardens, huh?" Baela put her arm around his and started to make her way down the stairs towards the rich greens and blooming flowers but before she could go any further into it, Jace holds into his ground.

"Wait, Baela" Jacaerys pulls her back, he sends a quick glance to where Selene is sitting, still very much into her book. "I don't feel like going for a walk at the moment,"

"Oh, pray tell? Baela questions tilting her head, her hand clasped in front of her giving her a look of innocence, but Jace knew better than to fall for it, the glint in her eyes told him as much.

Jacaerys narrows his eyes at his cousin, she was always delighted to tease him in any way she could, "I don't think it's wise for me to miss my studies... my high valyrian is rather terrible if you hadn't noticed."

"Oh, we all have, Jace," Baela smirks ignoring Jacaerys sending her a glare, she fakes a sigh "But since when have you ever cared about missing your studies? Today seems like a wonderful day to be out in the sun, I don't really see a reason for you not to want to go for a quick walk... Unless there's something keeping you from it or someone?"

Jacaerys huffs, rolling his eyes, "This is not amusing, Baela."

"Oh, I think it rather is," She took hold of his arm again, and pull him with her, "Is not every day a lady manages to capture Prince Jacaerys Velaryon's attention."

Jace kept silent, he knew better than to lie to her or evade the subject with her, not to mention Baela’s words are true, he was infatuated with lady Selene and there was no denying it. "So, what? Half of Red Keep is taken with her as well."

"But you aren't like half the castle, are you?" Baela told him, stopping to pull a lilie out of the ground. She sniffed it and handed it to Jace."You are a prince, Rhaenyra's son and future heir to the throne"

Jace took it and also sniffed it, the sweet scent evolving him. "Sure but that's until my mother passes and that won't happen for a long while"

"You still a prince, are you not?" Baela rolls her eyes at his temporary incompetence. "Put that Velaryon courage to work and talk to her, for the seven's sake. Seriously, I have never seen you act shy before, it is unsettling."

"Baela..." Jacaerys sighed, he tried to come up with a plausible reason as to why he hasn't spoken with her other than his uncharacteristically fear of performance, for lack of better words but came up with nothing.

Baela stops, she turns to him and places both hands on his shoulders, to make him look at him, "You are a prince, you have a dragon, and you will be sitting on the iron throne one day, what are you so frightened about?"

"Nothing," Jace scoffs, his jaw set with light annoyance at the thought his cousin thought he was scared of talking to a girl, he wasn't he is simply... Not ready yet.

"Well, good, because you are about to talk to her right now,"

Jacaerys frowns in confusion and wariness, he glances to the side, finally noticing Baela took him on an alternative route but with the same destiny. He quickly turn to his cousin who unsurprisingly was grinning like mad. "Baela, don't you dare-"

Baela pushed him in Lady Selena's direction.

Jacaerys froze again, she hadn't noticed him yet but the fact that she was just a few paces away was enough to make him cease any movement. His heart beats fast and hard as it usually does when he's anxious, it is a miracle she hasn't heard it.

Jace turns to leave but catches Baela's eyes, she mouthed "Go on"

Jacaerys clutches his jaw but sighs before turning. Baela was right, of what he was so afraid of? She was just another lady, how different can it be? And honesty, all that freezing and gazing was getting a little pathetic.

Jacaerys took a few steps forward, hoping by then she finally gave him her attention so he can casually start a conversation but much to his dismay, she never look up from her book.

He awkwardly clears his throat but not even then she looks up, Jacaerys stands awkwardly for a second or two before clearing his throat a bit louder. "Lady Selene, I presume?"

Selene finally looks up at him, she seems startled at his sudden appearance, which actually wasn't sudden at all but to her, it might have been. Her eyes widen for a second when she took notice of who was speaking to her. She instantly stood up.

"Oh, Prince Jacaerys, you gave me a fright." Selene softly chuckles, trying to bring lightness into the situation.

He smiles at her, ignoring his beating heart. "I apologize, I didn't mean to. And please, just call me Jace."

"Oh, no I could never--

"Please, my lady, the prince thing is just for show in front of older nobles." Jace was quick to assure her. He thought it sounded way too formal from her. Way too polite.

"Vey well," Selene nods, and she sends him a smile. "However, I believe it's only fair that if I get to call you only by name you ought to call me just Selene."

Jacaerys felt the muscles of his cheek had already moved the way he wanted them to before even realizing it. "Selene, then."

There was a second of uncomfortable silence. Jacaerys noticed it was his fault after she looked away from him. He hadn't stopped smiling (and staring) Jace clears his throat "Anyways, I noticed you reading earlier, and you look like you wanted to be alone, so, I figured I'll come and ruin it." Jace jokes, hoping to get rid of the small tension and if he's lucky, to get a smile out of her as well. Even from afar, he had enjoyed watching her eyes when she laughed. The way her eyes widen, the way her smile looks on her face... It was absolutely captivating.

"Oh, nonsense, I was just hoping to avoid my brother. He's a dread to be around." Selene chuckles, looking down at the book she was holding, a finger in between pages to keep her from losing the page. "And uhm, it's just a silly book about two lovers from the north."

"Ah," Jacaerys nods with amused acknowledgement, he grins at her, once again struck by how beautiful she was as the late afternoon light reflects off of her green eyes. They look like emeralds. "I'm assuming it's a tragic love tale? The north is not very well known for a warm heart after all."

Jace was not much of a reader if he was honest, but when he did read he usually enjoys more historical Westorian tales and the wars people ack then face rather than romance.

Selene sighs and nods looking down at the book. 'The Lover and the Road' "Sadly, the main character's lover was forced to marry another and couldn't take the pain of losing her, tragic really."

Jacaerys frowns a little when he notices the slight change in her poise. He wanted her to look at him but she continues to stare at the book. "Are you all right? You seem a bit doleful."

"Oh, yes, of course," Selene snaps her eyes back at Jacaerys, however, they were not as bright as he would have hoped.

"What is it?"

Selene purses her lips as if she was hesitant to talk to him, much to Jace's dismay. It took her a second and a nod of encouragement from Jace for her to speak. "It's just that... that kind of situation tends to happen more often than not in real life, wouldn't you say?"

Jace sighs, "Indeed, it does. Sometimes I wish everyone could marry for love. But that's nothing more than a childish hope, I suppose." He shrugs and smiles at her.

"It's not childish to hope for love, Jace, It's in our human nature to desire to love and be loved." Selene smiles warmly at him and Jace felt his face heat up. He looked away to keep her from noticing it, and he quickly clears his throat. "Tell me, Selene, if you weren't constrained by duty, what would you be doing?"

Selene's hair was with the light breeze, she had to move it out of her face, "I would be..." she thought for a moment before letting out a chuckle, shaking her head. "I would like to travel to the citadel and learn with the Maesters, but that's just a feeble dream, a woman in this society can only do so much, you know?" Selene sounded slightly sour at that last comment, and if it hadden for how close they were standing, Jacaerys would have missed the light sneer on her lips.

He hums and nods, his eyes still fixed on her. "What would you study at the citadel? I'd assume history, but perhaps theology? Or even some old text they have there?" Jace smiles, thinking about how much more she would be allowed if her gender wasn't a limitation. "There might be a way you could study, even as a woman. You do seem to have a rather clever mind."

"I would love to become a healer. Make people feel better." Selene sighs, she walks to a nearby railing where the view of the city and its citizens could be admired and lean on it. "And yes, I suppose there could be a way for me to study but it still wouldn't change the fact that people would look down on me for trying to be something they don't deem as ladylike. My father certainly would... "She lightly rolls her eyes, looking at the city below. "He believes there's no room for cleverness in a woman, that we ought to sit there, keep silent, look pretty and make babies."

Jacaerys listens intently, his eyebrows furrowing as Selene speaks, feeling apologetic for her. He already knows how much his mother has to deal with it and Jace could tell from the little they have talked about that she was such a bright person and for her to have to suffer through such nonsense because she was a woman was unacceptable to him.

"What if there was a way to get around that?" Jacaerys takes the view in with her as he speaks carefully." There certainly are people that would take to teaching you. It might not change the fact that your father disagrees, but you wouldn't be alone." He turns to her, with sincere eyes "There are many that wouldn't be so quick to judge solely because you are a woman."

Selene chuckles and turns to him with a fond smile, one he hadn't seen on her. "You have a good heart, Jace. If only more people thought like that... what a dream that would be."

Jace smiles back, looking away from her and back to the city hoping she hadn't noticed the blush that he was sure covered most of his face. "Do you think it is impossible to archive? To have those in power think more like myself? To make a world where anyone can be anything, no matter what they were born as?" He looks into her green eyes with determination, as if he was making a promise to not only Selene but himself too. "Because if it is, then I'm going to work my damndest to make it possible."

Selene tilts her head, a smile of admiration painting her face but it didn't reach her eyes. "As admirable as your intentions are, Jace, one cannot build a new world alongside men who are loyal to the old one."

Jacaerys expression sours, his smile fading from his face. "What do you think the best course of action is? Surely there must be some path forward, no? I can't stand for them telling you that you are a lesser person because you are a woman. It's absurd and I won't let it stand."

By the time he was done, Jacaerys felt his shackles rising. Mad at society in itself, at the old kings, at the people in power...

"Perhaps... Once your mother becomes queen? She can certainly create a new order of things, I mean her being the queen of the seven kingdoms is already incredible in itself, that alone changes many things." A hopeful smile made its way to Selene's face. "I have faith your mother, Jace, would be a brilliant queen,"

Jacaerys smiled back, glad to see that Selene believes in his mother as the future queen of Westeros, despite all the opposition. "My mother would be a great queen, yes, but she'd still be constrained by all the rules put upon those of us with the blood of the dragon." He notices the way her smile faded and quickly added. "There must be something we can do, there has got to be some way to change it." Jace takes a deep breath, thinking, and then he suddenly gets an idea. He snaps his head towards her with a large smile which causes Selene to mirror it. "Maybe we can write a book, as an argument of why things should change. It's certainly worth a shot, I'd say."

"A book?" Selene giggles, just as she was about to give her opinion on said book another voice cut through the conversation.

"Selene, here you are." Both, Jacaerys and Selene, turn to face the person who interrupted their chat. It was Lord Crater, Selene's older brother. Lord Crater was a tall, bulky man, similar to what an elite knight was supposed to look, his features were assuredly similar to Lords Alexios however the only thing he resembled of Selene was his eyes. Crater's gaze turns to Jacaerys, he was surprised for a moment to see him there but quickly recovered. He did a small polite courtesy. "Prince Jacaerys, what a surprise to see you here."

Jacaerys couldn't help but sigh inwardly, realizing that he'd gotten so caught up with Selene and their conversation that he had stopped watching his surroundings. He straightens up, his royal prince mantel on. "Lord Maltheon, the feeling is mutual. May I ask what brings you to seek your sister out?" He flashes Selene a smile, hoping that she can still see the sincerity in his eyes before turning back to her brother. "Perhaps you could join us? I find your sister to be a particularly engaging conversationalist."

Selene threw him a shy smile, chuckling a little.

"You say that now, your highness, but then you won't get her to shut up." Crater chuckles, there was a patronizing tone in his laugh. Selene purses her lips and settles her gaze downward, clearly not enjoying the subtle insult towards her.

Jacaerys could recognize the slander behind the 'joke' towards Selene and felt a twinge in his chest. Though, in the position he is in, all Jace could do was smile, and fake a chuckle alongside Crater. He only hopes Selene doesn't takes it to heart. "That seems only to make her more appealing to me, my lord, to be so talkative." His eyes glance towards Selene, making sure she knows the lightness of the situation.

However, Selene had a cold look in her eyes as she looks away, from him and back to the floor. She evidently didn't enjoy the exchange between the Prince and her brother.

Jace's heart drops as he takes in her demeanour and knows that he messed up.

Lord Crater laughs again with the same condescending chuckle. "Well, you'll be a saint for it then, my dearest sister is nothing but a bother most of the time."

Jacaerys tries to lighten the situation by making a joke. "Well, I am the prince of Dragonstone, I am not as pure as some may think." He chuckles slightly awkwardly, hoping that it isn't as noticeable as he continues. "And if I have to be a saint, so be it, for a woman as kind and as brilliant as Selene."

"Brilliant?" Crater chuckles. He looks back at Selene, his eyes shining with amusement, "What lies have you been feeding the Prince, Selne?" He shakes his head before his eyes widen as he remembered something "Oh, Father is summoning you, sister, he needs to speak about some important matters to you."

Selene spares Jacaerys a glance, she purses her lips before turning to her older brother. "Where is father?"

The Prince watches as Selene exchanges words with Lord Crater, his heart sinking further at the tension in the voice and face. He tries his best to stay relaxed but it doesn't seem to help as he feels the guilt in his stomach reach his chest. He sighs, knowing that his attempts to make the situation lighter have been failing and speaks up. "Is this matter important? I wouldn't want you to have to leave if it isn't absolutely necessary." Jace tried his best to sound convincing, wanting nothing more than have Selene stay, to make sure he can make things right. Things were going so well until her brother interrupted.

"Unfortunately, my prince, it does seem to be a rather important issue my father wishes to discuss with Selene." It was Crater who answer his question, Selene only turned in Jacaerys direction ever so slightly but did not meet his eyes.

He sighs, trying not to let his disappointment show. "Very well, I understand. Then I wish you a good day, Selene. I hope your father doesn't keep you long and perhaps we will get to converse again soon?" Jace bows his head to his lady, he was asking in hopes she accepts his request.

Selene finally raises her green eyes to meet his, she did a courtesy "It was an honour to speak with you, your highness but I must take my leave now." When Selene said his title it made Jacaerys stomach turn inside out.

He sighs as he hears the formality in her voice, knowing that he has failed. His eyes linger on her, trying to make up for what he did. His heart breaks as he watches her walk away. He gives one final bow, then makes his way up to his room... He sits alone for a few minutes, trying to calm himself down before he gets a knock on his door. He opens it, and there stood his mother, her face looking angry...

Part 2????

[horizon-verizon]

It’s mind-blowingly obvious that Young Griff isn’t Rhaegar’s son, at that point, Daenerys’s haters are operating on pure bias.

Daenerys has a vision in the House of the Undying where she sees a “cloth dragon swayed on poles amid a cheering crowd”. The cloth dragon is “swaying” on poles amidst that cheering crowd. It’s unsteady, just as Young Griff himself is nothing more than a prop for JonCon, Illyrio and Varys. That’s what a cloth dragon is: a prop for actors. A mere “cloth dragon” will never get real support in Westeros. The cheering crowd is simply a reference to the Golden Company glorifying Young Griff when he calls himself a dragon and accepting his idea to sail West to fight for him.

Quaithe, a mysterious “shadowbinder”, warns Daenerys to watch out for the “mummer’s dragon”, the very same dragon she sees in her vision. Not only does this confirm that there’s a false dragon out there, it also seems to work as a double reference by pointing to Varys (who was a mummer in his childhood). Who is Varys backing ? Young Griff. In other words, Young Griff is a puppet whose strings are being pulled by Varys and Ilyrio.

Everyone around Young Griff is a mummer of sorts. JonCon who is pretending to be a mere sellsword, Septa Lemore a fake septa, and Haldon a fake maester.

Brienne is on the Quiet Isle and learns about a dragon sign that washed up there. The dragon sign was originally black (the Blackfyre sigil) and thrown into the river. By the time it washed up on the Quiet Isle, it had rusted such that it looked red (the Targaryn sigil). A black dragon (Blackfyre) washes up disguised as a red one (Targaryen). Once you get what the symbolism is, you can’t unsee it and it’s so obvious that it’s deliberate foreshadowing.

The Golden Company, originally founded by supporters of House Blackfyre, are famous for having never once broken a contract, but they broke one for Young Griff. “Some contracts are writ in ink, and some in blood.” - ADWD, Tyrion II. Myles Toyne specifically was the one who plotted with Varys and Illyrio and put his name to the contract. It’s worth mentioning him specifically because House Toyne is historically completely at odds with House Targaryen. Myles’s ancestor, Terrence Toyne, was caught in bed with Aegon IV’s mistress, Bethany Bracken, and Aegon IV had them executed. His brothers tried to avenge his death by attempting to assassinate Aegon IV, only to be slain by Aemon the Dragonknight. House Toyne never recovered from this. It’s entirely possible that Myles knew and fought for Maelys and Daemon Blackfyre before they died.

The baby-swap story doesn’t make any sense. It involves “Arbor gold”, used repeatedly in the series as a symbol for lies. The baby swap could only work if Aegon’s face was destroyed, something Varys couldn’t have known at the time. There’s also no reason they even had to do a swap; they could have easily just smuggled out both children and been done with it (which has historical precedent with Larys Strong smuggling out both Maelor and Jaehaera during the Dance of the Dragons).

“Black or red, a dragon is still a dragon. When Maelys the Monstrous died upon the Stepstones, it was the end of the male line of House Blackfyre.” - ADWD, Tyrion II. The emphasis is on the Blackfyres being extinct in the male line. Not extinct, period, but in the male line. This is what led to the theory that Illyrio’s wife Serra, from Lys (and Varys is also from Lys), was a Blackfyre princess and Aegon’s mother. Aegon is a female-line Blackfyre.

This is one of those ask-posts where I don't really have anything to add. but has to be posted for its observations and stating the ignored-obvious-that-nevertheless-needs-pointing-out-bc-stupid-people-exist.

[scaly-freaks]

I love love love dark stories. I don’t know why but they just itch my brain perfectly. Your stories I swear are thoughts I’ve had (let’s not get into that) and written out in a way I couldn’t fully conceive.

I’ve been practicing some writing just as a hobby and I think for me to write dark stories it feels like I need to fully cross a wall of some sort to out those thoughts on paper. Not sure how to overcome it but I’m trying.

But yeah idk why but the sadder and more brutal a story is the better and I think it’s because on an emotional level I can just connect with it if that makes sense?

Anyways this is just a long winded way of me saying that I love your work and appreciate the effort you put into fleshing out characters and having us connect with them in that way. (I also love sappy moments too but idk with dark stories they feel earned in a way like we worked for it and achieved a short lived reprieve)

Also just a quick little question, how would an interaction between Daemon and Amara go? This is gonna sound terrible but when you mentioned the stepdad au my mind went to him before our Egg boy.

No because...same. I write dark stories and revel in them the way people revel in comfort media. I understand them, and the necessity of finding light amidst the darkness is something I've lived with all my life so familiarity breeds comfort in me. Sometimes I get a little startled because someone will read what I wrote and be like wtf how does this happen? How is it ever allowed to happen? And I'm like yeah...why did that happen to me? Why was it allowed to happen? But then I turn off the switch and dive back into fiction to cope (as I think many people who create art out of trauma will profess to - it's a way of distancing yourself but acknowledging it).

That wall (I know what you mean) will be crossed eventually I think. Just stay aware that it's not a wall you want to cross often or live beyond all the time. It's somewhere to retreat to, but always remember to climb over it and return to the other side otherwise it can get too much.

Thank you so much for this ask though, it makes me feel so seen and appreciated. I often worry that I'm upsetting people with how abjectly miserable my work can get, and force myself to lighten it up so it'll be more palatable. But the AU idea I posted yesterday named 'fuck puppet' is mostly what I write well and consistently (Amara does kill him in the end, so there's no romanticisation there, it's just pure victim vs abuser, beast vs human, and she wins).

And HMMM okay, so if you asked me about Daemon and Amara two years ago, I'd be like ew no. He really irritated me as a character when everyone was defending him, but the defence of him as stopped being as cloying and the writers have dug into the pathetic aspects of his nature more so I'm open to exploring him.

Plus, ironically whenever he interacted with Amara in my fics even when I hated him, there were readers who pointed out that there was sexual tension there (which I didn't even intend!) So clearly, there'd be something there, what with her daddy issues and his ability to appear put together and intelligent in front of a much younger woman.

I think where it takes Aegon longer to identify Amara's childishness and immaturity (because his own outshines hers a lot of the time), Daemon would snap at it in an instant. Eventually, Aegon gets there and is like okay, my turn to take care of you but Daemon reaches the destination immediately and does softer things to figure out whether she sees him in a remotely romantic/sexual way. So maybe a gentle hand on her waist to move her aside, resting it on the small of her back to comfort her (but only for a second) or giving her that odd little smile when she's yapping that has a twinkle of endearment in it. I think she'd fall for it pretty fast, and get a kick out of all her friends being disgusted by the idea of her having sex with an 'old man' (because obviously to them he is). She doesn't see it as exploitation, and she doesn't have to. When she's in his bed for entire weekends and he's using every trick in his extensive book of sexual tricks on her, she barely has time to think never mind wonder if this is right. I think he probably would need Viagra though bc canon Daemon strikes me as the type to wear out pretty fast, but Amara would be the insatiable party and well...there we go.

Anyway, over time, she is a little flighty, and her friends' constant judgement does weigh on her, along with the fact that Daemon's immaturity isn't like her immaturity. He's still ahead of her in experience. He can gaslight her into believing his pettiness is actually adult wisdom. So if he doesn't like her hanging out with boys her own age, he'll cut at her intelligence and make her feel diminished and stupid for thinking those boys could possibly want her for anything more than sex. And she'd fully believe him. She'd probably be reduced to tears after screaming at him for being a dickhead, and then accept his palm caressing her face telling her it's fine, and that he didn't mean it, and has she seen herself? She's so beautiful, anyone would want her. He just loves her and is worried someone will take advantage. And then that of course leads to sex and her feeling relieved Daemon cares so much and giving him everything she's got to make sure he feels the pleasure in return. Thus, the whole cycle starts again.

I can't believe I'm saying this but...Aegon might just have to be the rescuer in this situation LMAO. Daemon would not let her go easily.

[iris-sistibly]

The Targ Talk: House of the Dragon S2

Episode 7 commentary

Contains major spoilers from the book but y'all probably already know this.

I absolutely love the scene where Seasmoke and Syrax was like conversing. Seasmoke be like, "Look what I found..a new dragon rider!" Then Syrax would be like, "Good for you, he's cute." Also the detail where Seasmoke was like bowing to Rhaenyra while showing her his new rider is really good.

There's something about the scene of Alicent in Kingswood that's hauntingly beautiful. I like that they made the audience think as to whether or not Alicent was there to end herself, or was she just there to clear her thoughts or think of what she's going to do next. The reason why Alicent was written to be some sort of a puppet to her dad was because it will explain why her mental health deteriorated towards the end. Still not much of a fan of how they've written Alicent in the show and I don't know if I'm ever gonna see that side of her that came from the book.

I like Oscar Tully. He knew his vassals would not take him seriously because he is a boy. "Insulting" Daemon, punishing Willem Blackwood and making Daemon "ride along" by killing the latter in exchange of House Tully's loyalty [and army] had benefited the both of them. Daemon gets his army, and Oscar earns the respect of the Riverlords as the new lord paramount.

I REALLY HOPE THAT THIS WOULD BE THE LAST EPISODE OF THE HAUNTING OF HARRENHAL. I know the final episode got leaked on the internet, and I actually saw a scene about Helaena confronting Aemond. Ngl, I love that scene but bitch it ruined the excitement for me. So whoever leaked the episode, fuck you.

Rhaena never had any other dragon aside from Morning, but if she for real is going to claim Sheepstealer then...there wouldn't be Nettles anymore?

I know a lot of people are kinda upset with Jace right now, but I get his point. Yes, it was his idea to find dragonriders for the other dragons but he never really thought that a lowborn with a Targaryen blood (and a bastard of Corlys that no one knows about as of the moment) would be chosen by a dragon, and it's not really Addam's fault. The thing is, if bastards could be dragonriders then they certainly would think that they could claim the throne as well. If Rhaenyra passes, then another war might start (actually, it was pure chaos after Aegon II's death but we'll get to that later on). It's also bad enough that he and his brothers have been the talk of the town since they were born. Despite having the potential of being a good king, he would always be questioned, opposed, and like Jace said he will always have to fight for his position. It would have been easier had he been born looking like his mother, but his dad's genes are Strong unfortunately, and having a dragon is the only thing that proves of his Targaryen heritage--the reason why people respect him. So having bastards for dragonriders is not only a huge slap on his face, but it could also lead to another dance of the dragons.

If Rhaenyra wants to secure Jace's claim to the throne, the only way is to legitimize him. I don't know if it's already a thing in this timeline, but it's the only way to protect him. It's already an unspoken truth anyway. Problem is that, she's just gonna end up like Aegon II whom no one takes seriously. Even if she does her best to be a good mother and queen, people will not look past the fact that she had kids with another man that wasn't her (first) husband. And Daemon being Daemon? Oh, we are sure as hell that he would want his own son to rule in the future hence, another potential war.

Actually, we shouldn't be thinking too much about Jace's ascension to the throne because it will never happen. And Daemon didn't have to fight for his son's claim since he was already gone by the time Aegon III succeeded his uncle (and married Jaehaera).

But let's just pretend that we don't know that for the sake of discussion...unless you haven't read Fire & Blood.

Going back, if Rhaenyra wants peace and stability in her court and amongst her people, then she'd have to name Aegon the Younger her heir since her two youngest sons have always had stronger claim to the throne since birth, but this will destroy Rhaenyra and Jace's relationship.

Aside from his recovery, I wonder if Aegon is also conspiring with Larys already to eliminate Aemond? Or is he letting Larys do everything? But if you think about it, without Aemond and Vhagar the greens will be at a huge disadvantage. Tessarion and Dreamfyre wouldn't suffice unless Aegon pretends to bend the knee and devices a scheme to kill Rhaenyra and her family later on, but that would take so much time, and Aegon doesn't have the patience for that...So Ulf and Hugh betraying Rhaenyra it is then to get Vermithor and Silverwing to their side.

Dragonkeepers doing a mass resignation after Rhaenyra recruited dragonseeds because basically, dragons are sacred blah, blah, blah. These people were born/direct descendants of the Targaryens, therefore magic is in their blood. We all know now that dragons and riders form a bond by either:

Hatching the dragon

The rider successfully claiming the dragon

The dragon chooses its rider

The others who were deemed unworthy ended up being Vermithor's snack. The process of choosing a rider for Vermithor was indeed horrible, but it's only a matter of time before Aemond defeats Rhaenyra so she has to act quickly. But in doing so, she has to make sacrifices. On the other hand it's common knowledge that dragons shouldn't be fucked with, but the reason why the dragonseeds answered the call was because they thought that by claiming a dragon, their lives will change for the better. They were abandoned as children, lived a horrible life, and with the current situation, anyone would jump at any opportunity no matter how risky just to get out of that situation.

Though I wonder what show Rhaenyra would do to make sure none of the dragonriders would betray her, surely there will come a time when they would ask for a reward for their contribution to the war, and it's going to be more than just money.

Emma D'Arcy speaking in High Valyrian is just 🤌🤌🤌🤌 the scene where Rhaenyra was calming Vermithor, and as if they were having some sort of conversation through the mind, and when she opened her eyes, there was power--gods I kept on replaying it. Even the dragon knows who the real queen is. Such a badass scene!

The final cut where Aemond found out that Rhaenyra have 3 more dragonriders now was actually quite funny. The latter looking at her little brother as if saying, "Come at me now motherfucker," is such a big sister thing. But I felt like the dragons were only calling out to meemaw Vhagar as if they were just having some sort of mini reunion 🥺🥺.

[allyriadayne]

Why do you think Larys gravitated towards Alicent and not say Rhaenyra? Did he think Alicent was easier to manipulate and more vulnerable or did he just think the greens were a safer bet?

it's half and half. i don't think larys is doing all that because he particularly believes in the traditional male inheritance and is ideologically aligned with the greens, nor that he thinks they are the safest bet (if he believed in this he would not have murdered his family lol). we don't actually know what are his grand plans in the books or in the show but while i don't believe it has to do exactly with personal power, it has to do with getting him into a position of considerable influence over the realm's affairs.

after saying this we can say that targeting alicent makes more sense than rhaenyra. why? for the same reason otto decides it's better to make alicent visit viserys to eventually trap him into marrying her rather than try to guide rhaenyra from zero. alicent is more pliable, more naive, and more willing to follow than to lead, even if she doesn't realize it that moment as the mother of the possible future king she has a lot of influence in court and council; larys has been watching her since she became queen (notice how he inserted himself in the women's circle during the hunt) and found her to be in the right position AND disposition. it was no accident that he finds her just after saying goodbye to otto in the godswood: she's finally free from her biggest influence, has no support system, and in such a vulnerable state that when larys does his tricks she falls really easily and believes all his words (the-green-dress-ramin-djawadi.mp3) because he empathizes with her ("when one is not invited to speak..."), speaks her fears out loud (rhaenyra, her lack of allies) and offers her his support when all she had was through otto.

as for larys, i like to think that he saw some parts of himself in her (outsiders, under strict parents, intelligent and overlooked), esp during those ten years of dinners where the friendly facade (or was it?!?!) was firmly in place (rip alicent you are never getting away) and that's why he doubles down in his punishments when she denies him. in any case, this would not had happened with rhaenyra at all. larys needs an entry and the only moment rhaenyra is vulnerable is when daemon leaves her pants down in the brothel, she's much more guarded and knows how to wield her privileges. poor larys would've been kicked out immediately plus after rhaenyra started seeing harwin there was NO WAY larys was going for the same route, that his brother liked her was already a mark against.

i think at this point when aegon was a baby many people were just waiting for viserys to change his mind, he doesn't really do much for rhaenyra so for them it was a matter of time. i think this is true for larys and because he's practically put all his eggs in alicent's basket he's throwing himself to be the best pet spy in the realm and not lose the foothold he has in the queen until the moment she or the cause is not useful to his goals anymore (let's remember he installed one of the puppet kings, did nothing when daemon took harrenhal, when alys did the same, and well, he did poison aegon lol).