#chelonuniverse

[atopvisenyashill]

If a sane/politically adept blonde Joffrey won a Great Council against Stannis and Renly and convinces the realm he’s legitimate, what would happen afterwards? Would Stannis and Renly give up or keep trying for the throne? What could they do after having lost stare decisis before the whole realm?

this really depends on HOW he convinces everyone and how renly/stannis plan to usurp him in this scenario. the thing is that jon arryn & stannis start digging into the whole affair because-

joffrey is clearly unstable

cersei is not well liked

robert isn't particularly useful

two of those things have to not be factors in order for joffrey to turn out stable. either cersei needs to be a less destructive mother or robert needs to be a less negligent husband & father but either way, if joffrey is being taught and molded more by a cersei that has not alienated herself or a robert that hasn't spent most of his days drinking and whoring and beating the shit out of his family (because NOTE when robert has that tantrum in Winterfell, renly steps forward to calm him - for all that renly is an idiot, part of his refusal to accept joffrey as king is that he's had to cover for robert frequently and has gotten it into his mind that being king must be easy).

but idk. okay let's say that after the cat incident joffrey gets sent to foster elsewheres. maybe on dragonstone, maybe in the vale, maybe in the north (probably in the north, although the vale is a strong contender). beyond the reach of his parents, building friendships with other people, making a name for himself as a squire, learning to redirect his anger into more constructive avenues....varys & littlefinger are going to make sure someone finds out (and that's not even speaking to renly's own spy network) but like....how? who believes them? sure stannis will feel duty bound when he finds out but the context of him finding out is essentially "littlefinger said" and no one likes or trusts littlefinger. does renly even believe it? and if renly knows joffrey is liked, is he really going to rebel or is he going to orchestrate a margaery-joffrey himself?

um anyways, maybe this isn't the answer you're looking for, but in a world where joffrey is more stable, i don't know that jon arryn or stannis would believe any sort of rumor about his paternity, and renly would likely be more willing to look past it and get margaery married to joffrey earlier. and a joffrey that is more politically adept will get renly on his side - that's just common sense. but the same way that rhaenyra gets the velaryons on her side with marriages, a politically adept joffrey is likely to a) figure out he's a bastard earlier & take steps to combat rumors and b) probably look to get shireen a handsome match to get her and selyse and probably stannis on his side as well. so a politically adept joffrey just isn't going to have the same issues as open rebellion from his uncles even with poking and prodding from littlefinger because the reason the rumor gains traction is because joffrey sucks ass as an heir.

but also lol, lmao, varys is NAWT about to let robert have a politically adept heir nor would he ever allow for something as measured as a great council deciding the succession crisis. if joffrey visits home after jon arryn has died and varys sees he's straightened out and has started movin and shakin, he may very well just out and out kill joffrey and frame someone else for the murder, which leaves tommen as crown prince and creates a new issue depending on who he frames (like stannis, or renly). even IF everything goes exactly how it does in canon - i just can't see either baratheon brother agreeing to a great council even if everything goes exactly the way it does in canon when robert dies minus joffrey being a tyrant. renly knows damn well he doesn't have a claim and stannis is too proud. there's no way he'd get them to agree to it - imo a great council pretty much has to be called by the old king or the old king's council because by the time the king is dead, it's too late.