#do I still hate him aemma’s death? definitely

[thesunfyre4446]

The lord who support aegon didn't do so because they hate woman, but because they see them as inferior to man. The green's propaganda was based only on misogyny (same the lord who support aegon) , and that funny cause they rely on the same system who basically destroy alicent and haelena's life. I really do not understand female who are team green, they basically based everything on the subjugation of women and their inability to govern and they rely on a system that sees them only as churning out children. Aemond said "rhaenyra may call herself queen but she has women's part", aegon's men cut off Rhaenyra's breasts to awaken Sunfyre, lord borros otto Jasper and many others spend their life claiming a son came before an older daughter (and for what reasons?), lord pike (im not sure of his name but he is one of aegon' supporter who survive the dance) was describe as "a men who fought to prevent the accession of a woman to the throne". It doesn't matter that rhaenyra have bastards cause people were plotting her usurpation wayyy before her marriage (it wouldn't matter if she were jaehaerys himself born again, rhaenyra is a woman. Otto's word on ep. 3. He admit that rhaenyra may have been the perfect princess and thos still wouldn't prevent her from usurpation). Do you really feel represented by them? Rhaenyra may not be a femminist but it's undeniable that her ascension to the throne would have been a great step forward for women and that she had all the cards in order to become a good queen. It is sufficient to see her positions the council in ep 6, how she always manages to remain calm in front of horrible circumstances (such as the driftmark petition or the black council), how she rule peaceably dragonstone for years. Obviously the war, the usurpation and the death of all her children made her lose her head (as is normal). But if that hadn’t happened she would have been a good queen, definitely better than alicent, Aegon or anyone else. And please do not say that this was the vision of the time because things can change, our society is not equal to the medieval

ohhhh i love this ask so much

ok so first of all, different lords supported the greens for different reasons. misogyny was def one of them!! @green-aeggs-and-spam made a really great post about this :

so now let's talk about the greens themselves :

otto : while i do believe that otto is a misogynist , his main reason for wanting aegon on the throne is to be the grandfather of the king = personal interests. like if he was aemma's father you know he'd be selling "equal rights for women" T-shirts lol

alicent : wants aegon on the throne because if rhaenyra will ascend the throne her children will die. the patriarchy might have ruined her life, but she also has something to gain from it - the system supports aegon as king and keeps her children safe. so as much as she hates & was hurt by the westerosi patriarchal system her family's survival is dependent upon upholding it. same with helaena , her own children will also be in danger if rhaenyra ever became queen. (i've made a post about why rhaenyra would have to kill alicent's sons when she ascends the throne : https://www.tumblr.com/thesunfyre4446/739501560667734016/ok-so-ive-been-getting-a-lot-of-rhaenyra-would?source=share)

criston : pre ep 4, he was very much team rhaenyra. he didn't seem to have a problem with her inheriting over aegon, he's dornish, so that might seem very normal to him. criston supports the greens because of his hatred towards rhaenyra & love towards alicent = he's a man driven entirely (some may say a little too much haha) by his feelings.

so of course the greens are going to try and uphold the patriarchy, because - while it also ruined alicent's life - they have everything to gain from that system being kept. their lives are dependent on it & their political power.

no, i don't feel represented by alicent. i don't need to feel represented by a character in order to love & support them. of course that I believes in equal rights & am a feminist. but i don't need the fictional characters i like to represent my values. westeros is not a real place, alicent & rhaenyra are not real people. i don't need to pick the the team who'd be better for the realm - [ though i don't think that the blacks would be better to the realm then the greens]. - i'm going to root for the characters that i find interesting & love.

my main reason for disliking rhaenyra is that i find her character boring and lacks interesting inner conflict. also, as you've said, rhaenyra is not a feminist. rhaenyra is team rhaenyra, and that's fine! she wants the throne for her own personal reasons, and when she's queen she doesn't do anything to help other women - she even refuses other firstborn daughter to be named heirs because it would destabilize the realm = rhaenyra has no intention to "break the wheel". she's not dany. so would her reign have been a step forward to all women? i honestly don't know, because a woman sitting on the throne does challenge the patriarchy, but rhaenyra herself has shown no interest in helping & advancing other women. (not to mention lowborn women).

another great post by @blackcat419.

[presidenthades]

What would be the fatal flaw of the main characters in your stories please include the parents and grandparents as well

*puts on my “humanities major analysis” hat*

Viserys, like Rhaegar down the line, is obsessed with the idea that he has a divine purpose in helping produce the Prince That Was Promised. His pursuit of the son he dreamed about kills Aemma, and he rambles about the prophecy when he’s delirious on his deathbed. Why did he never tell the prophecy to Daemon, who was his default heir for years? Because Viserys was convinced he would one day have a son who would supplant Daemon, and maybe also because Daemon is a non-believer. After Aemma dies, Viserys transfers his hope of fulfilling the prophecy to Rhaenyra. At the end of The Golds, we see how his obsession with prophecy screws over his family yet again.

Corlys and Otto are more similar than they admit (what an unholy alliance this would be). They’re both determined to cement a legacy on the Iron Throne, but their ambition is their own undoing. If Otto was less pushy about Aegon’s claim, I think he could’ve been more successful in the long run: less antagonism with Rhaenyra, less likely to be fired, more time to persuade Viserys (this is the route I explore in Lavender). Meanwhile, Corlys’s ambition arguably leads to his children’s death. It’s uncertain if Laena would’ve survived if she married someone else, but Rhaenys blames Daemon for keeping Laena from home. In canon, Laenor’s “death” is attributed to Rhaenyra and Daemon, although I’ve left it a mystery in my fics…

Rhaenys claims she doesn’t care anymore about being passed over for the throne, but she really is still upset about it. She’s judgmental about how Viserys rules (she’s right, he sucks), and she seems bitter during her conversation with young Rhaenyra (she should be bitter, it’s hypocritical). I think this chip on her shoulder makes her want to cement her own legacy too, so all the humiliation she suffered means something in the end. In my fics, she sees the greatest potential for this legacy in Jace, who is also her favorite grandkid.

I’ll include Laena and Laenor because I love them, though their lesser screen time requires some extrapolation. Laena is a headstrong girl and beloved daughter who grows up in a stable nuclear family, and her role (noble lady who will marry to her house’s advantage) is never in question. This gives Laena much self-confidence, which emboldens her to pursue the Rogue Prince. Later in life, however, she realizes she wasn’t his first choice. 😞

Laenor grows up in the same setting but he suffers from a lot more self-doubt. Laenor unfairly blames his sexuality for his failure to meet expectations (“I hate the gods for making me this way”), but TBH I think Corlys is one of those parents with super-high, impossible expectations for his kids, especially with his only son and heir. When Laenor tries, it’s never good enough, so he gives up and blames a factor he can’t control (and he definitely has unresolved trauma from watching Joffrey die violently at his wedding). In my fics, Laenor has biological kids, which gives him a sense of “Hey, I did something right! I met one of the expectations of a Westerosi lord/heir!” But he still shies away from responsibility because he expects to fail.

Daemon has…many flaws. If I had to pick one, it’s his belief that he’s the only one willing to do what’s necessary. So far in my fics, his actions are less ugly than in canon, but it’s this belief which leads him to do things like spy on the girls’ mail and send The Letter to Aemond. By the end of the Handbook, he no longer believes it’s necessary to sabotage the girls’ relationships with the Targbros, but there are other schemes he can get into in the future.

Rhaenyra sees a lot of herself in all her daughters. She realizes she’s made big mistakes in the past, and she wants to prevent her daughters from making the same mistakes. But her actions are based on what she would do in their stead, when her daughters are very different people from herself. So they don’t appreciate her efforts, because it’s not what they want, and sometimes that drives them further away from her.

Alicent is caught in the belief that there should be divine/karmic justice. People who act virtuously are rewarded, people who do wrong are punished. But that isn’t how the world works, and her view of right and wrong isn’t necessarily what everyone else thinks. This helps explain her attitude toward her potential daughters-in-law. She likes Jace because, like Alicent, she is “good” and does the right thing. She has complicated feelings about Luce in large part because of Aemond’s eye and how Luce wronged him in that regard (we’ll see more of Alicent’s reaction in the next chapter of Compromised). Alicent is weirded out by Joff, but Joff hasn’t really done anything (to Alicent’s knowledge) to make Alicent truly dislike her. Yet.

And finally, the children.

Aegon is led by emotion/instinct. He’s rabid for anything that makes him feel good, and he runs from anything uncomfortable. This usually works out well when he’s around Jace, but if he’s left to his own devices, he starts doing reckless shit like fighting crime and buying brothels without thinking of the danger/consequences. Also it’s obvious that his weak spot is Jace. The Tyroshi took advantage of that, and other people will also try in the future. In a world where he loses Jace, he would be 1000% wrecked.

Jace is obsessed with appearing like the ideal heir, which leads to her perfectionist tendencies and attempts to take on A L L the work/responsibilities. She’s keenly aware that a second ruling queen in a row is unappealing to many people, but whereas Rhaenyra tries to minimize her femininity, Jace goes the other way and tries to be a paragon of womanhood: fashion, conduct, reputation, etc. It makes her very prone to burnout, and sometimes she hesitates because she worries about appearing too harsh.

Aemond is pride all the way. All his other qualities can be traced back to pride: determination to be the best, competitiveness with Aegon, difficulty apologizing, not asking for help. He’s just as emotional/instinctive as Aegon, but he tries to keep super tight control over himself. When he inevitably puts too much tension on himself, he snaps. Sometimes this leads him to lash out at people who don’t deserve it, like what happened at Driftmark, and then he doubles down instead of de-escalating.

Luce starts with childish optimism. She believes that all knights are gallant, her family is happy and perfect, and it’s totally OK to climb out the window with a sheet rope. Then life curb-stomps her a lot, and she gets more cynical as she grows up. But she still clings to those childish dreams, so she has a lot of inner conflict between idealism and pragmatism. She ends up with strong ideas of what she wants (e.g. marry Aemond) but hesitates over the potential drawbacks (e.g. constant fighting, king’s disapproval). Might cause her some relationship trouble down the line. 👀

Daeron also possesses childish optimism, but it’ll be a while before he grows out of it. He still believes the best in people, even Daemon. 😇 But I think one day there will be a big triggering event, and Daeron will go berserk.

There is a very good chance that Joff’s interest in magic/sorcery is going to be her doom one day. It’s already come back to bite her, like with Elenar’s birth. But she sees it as her duty and birthright to keep the more occult Valyrian traditions alive…and that’s all I’ll say about it for now.

I debated writing Helaena, Baela, and Rhaena, but this post is already really long and I’m tired so I’ll stop now. ✌🏼

[gulnarsultan]

Yandere platonic Rhaenyra walks towards Modern Reader’s chambers to see her and to make sure she has a proper sleep. Once Yandere Rhaenyra gets inside she sees Modern Reader sitting on the chair, holding glass of water with tears in her eyes (nightmare of Aemma’s death).

Modern Reader notices Rhaenyra and gives her a smile: Hello Rhaenyra.

Yandere Rhaenyra: Y/N, are you okay?

Modern Reader wanted to say that she’s all right (she isn’t) but doesn’t want to lie to Rhaenyra, so she stayed silent.

Yandere Rhaenyra: Would it be okay, if I sleep with you tonight? I don’t want you to have nightmares, if that’s okay.

Modern Reader nods and let her stay tonight at her chambers. So, they both went to sleep, (they slept on one bed). While they were sleeping Yandere Rhaenyra heard Modern Readers cries and mumbles of apologies to her mother, calling out her name “I’m sorry…no…don’t hurt her…mother…” and that breaks her heart. Yandere Rhaenyra hugs Modern Reader and holds her close, whispering “Y/N, it’s okay. It’s not your fault, sh-sh it’s okay.” -Yandere Rhaenyra didn’t want to wake Reader up, so she continues to hold her close, and whispering soothing words to calm her down. And that works, Modern Reader stops crying and continues to sleep. Rhaenyra can’t help but feel sorry for Reader, yes she heard the news of her mother, she was grieving and she was hurt, but she didn’t see how her mother died. But Modern Reader saw it, she witnessed Aemma’s death and tried to save her, and yet she failed and she feels so much worse than her.

The next morning, Yandere Rhaenyra wakes up and glances at Modern Reader, who is still sleeping. Yandere Rhaenyra let’s Reader sleep more, everything else can wait. Yandere Rhaenyra (and everyone) wanted Reader to sleep normally, because Modern Reader can’t without crying and it’s noticeable when Reader didn’t have a proper sleep.

This scenario is sad and sweet. Poor Yandere platonic Targaryens, Velaryons and Hightowers, they just want to help Modern Reader. And I have a feeling that Yandere Velaryons, Rhaenyra, Daemon, Alicent and Otto would blame Viserys for this. As for Yandere platonic Viserys, he’s already blaming himself for letting Aemma die and for Reader get traumatised. He knows he won’t get forgiveness, but still apologies to Reader, who explains him, she needs some time. And also Modern Reader would tell Viserys that she doesn’t hate him or angry anymore (because she can’t, even if she wanted, she can’t, because she doesn’t have power to do that and because of the crying), but she would tell him what he did was unforgivable and she can’t forget that horrible scene, especially when she was holding Aemma’s lifeless body, covered in blood.

My, hearing Modern Reader holding Aemma’s dead body covered in blood, would be shocking and that would worry everyone. Imagine their reactions😨😱😱😰😥

So what do you think about it? I’d like to hear it from you👀 Also can you write reactions from Yandere Rhaenyra, Daemon, Alicent, Otto, Corlys and Rhaenys hearing what Modern Reader said? Not only Modern Reader witnessed Aemma’s death, and failed to save her (which wasn’t Reader’s fault), but also to hear that Modern Reader held Aemma’s dead body covered in blood, would definitely be shocking for them and would worry them even more for Reader’s health and mental health.

Everyone is sad and worried for the reader. They will do their best to improve the reader. Rhaenys will take your reader under her wing. She will take on the role of the reader's mother. Rhaenyra feels very sorry for the reader. It will most likely stay with the reader for many nights. Laena will now stay with the reader at night. Corlys, Otto, and Daemon will bring to the Court the best masters and healers for the reader. Alicent helps the reader fit in by reading stories.

[nrilliree]

https://www.tumblr.com/lady-phasma/751954243043442688/this-is-the-most-diplomatic-way-i-have-seen-this?source=share

Do people struggle with the concept of CONTEXT ?! No ?

How would Rhea be an equivalent to Rhaenyra ? Demon hated Rhea. Just because he killed her, doesn't mean he'll hit Rhaenyra in the future. To say yes, under the pretext that both were married to him is only a SUPERFICIAL comparison ! Daemon wouldn't even consider this woman as his wife. And of the consensual relationships that we saw him have with women, he was never violent with them. There's a distinct difference between Rhea and the other women in Daemon's life. It's grasping at straws to say that the strangling scene is consistent because Daemon killed his first wife. Once again, this is a superficial comparison on the grounds that Rhea and Rhaenyra were both married to Daemon. News flash, people generally don't behave the same with those they love and those they hate.

And once again, people are complaining about the strangling scene, especially because it's yet another demonization of the character Daemon who was never reported to have been physically abusive with Rhaenyra in Fire and Blood, and didn't even kill his first wife. So yeah, the original Daemon probably wouldn't have hit Rhaenyra.

Not only all that, but it adds gratuitous physical marital violence to a female character who is already experiencing various canonical violence ! Why add domestic violence in Daemyra ?! But it's the same with all the other characters. Aemma who dies during childbirth ? Not hard enough, we have to cut her belly open while she's still conscientious. Laena who dies after giving birth to a stillborn baby and trying to join Vaghar for one last flight but dies suggesting they go join her dragon ? No, not dramatic and horrible enough, let's make her choose to burn herself alive with her baby still inside her! Alicent is not the victim of “marital rape” in the book ? Let's change that to make the main villain, before Aegon II, a victim !

But people refuse to understand these basic things !

And I hate this type of thinking even more :

“Do they also think that the history books of the time would simply say that Daemon murdered his wife or that Criston literally beat up Joff Lonmouth in the middle of a party?”

Well YES actually ! Completely !

Fire and Blood does not hesitate to accuse Daemon of other murders that he is not proven to have committed ! So, believe me that if he had been also suspected of having killed his first wife whom he hated publicly, so something that everyone knew, it would definitely have been proposed by the maesters telling the story, mostly pro greens and who hated Daemon. Daemon who was AT WAR when Rhea Royce died, and who was in agony for 9 days before that ! It's that simple !

So in addition, yes, if GRRM who never hesitated to show the various violence suffered by women, including domestic violence, he would not have forgotten to suggest that Daemon was perhaps violent with Rhaenyra if that had been the case. And so, if he had wanted us to understand that, in the Fire and Blood universe, there is no way that the pro green maesters hating Daemon would not have reported this rumor if it had existed.

We must stop only under the pretext that Fire and Blood is a historical text, that we can invent our own fanfiction even if it means saying everything and its opposite.

And I'm not even going to touch on Criston's case because we know very well how Joffrey died in Fire and Blood. During a tournament, where accidents like Joffrey's case were common (even if Criston Cole probably let off steam during this fight). A much more logical death, because it is in fact impossible that, according to the laws of Westeros / the GRRM universe, that Criston in HOTD can keep his position and on top of that have a promotion in the future, just because the queen / Alicent covers him ! It just doesn't work, because going against guest rights is probably one of the worst crimes in Westeros, right up there with killing a family member. This is a complete inconsistency in the GRRM universe, but it was done, just to have sensational gratuitous violence in HOTD.

This kind of comment is basically simply saying that since we don't know absolute reality we can invent absolutely anything we like, even if it means throwing coherence and the laws of the universe out the window, and the original characteristics of the characters ! This is disturbingly stupid. And I am NOT sorry to say that. These kind of people think they are smart but they are just stupid again. They like what they see, so they inevitably think it's good and will go against anything that indicates otherwise.

I will add that a lot of people still seem to be unaware of this, but HOTD is not a retelling of the events of Fire and Blood. They may have originally claimed that, but their rhetoric changed when fans pointed out all the inconsistencies compared to Fire and Blood. HOTD is clearly a fanfiction inspired by Fire and Blood. The show and the book have their own separate canon.

Anyway, I'm tired of these people who claim that yes, all the horrible things that the writers make Daemon do without any coherence in HOTD show himself must have also happened in Fire and Blood. This is unspeakable bullshit.

And again, sorry to repeat myself, but the fact that Daemon killed Rhea Royce in HOTD (horrible thing that I'm not nor justifying) is not proof or a foreshadowing of Daemon physically harming Rhaenyra. For that he should have been shown doing it with the women he chose to have relationships with as well, not just one with a woman he hated. That Rhea Royce and Rhaenyra were both married to Daemon has nothing to do with the strangling scene. For the last time, this is a SUPERFICIAL order comparison.

The strangest comments are the ones where such people insist that Daemon was 100% exactly the same in the book… even though there was absolutely no indication of that. Daemon did not show any aggressive tendencies towards anyone there, and all his relationships were with adult, mature women from various social groups. Daemon hated his first wife (and this is also interesting: Alicent in the series, as a 16-year-old girl, was forced to marry a man she did not love, and she is THE victim, but 16-year-old Daemon in the book, forced to marry a woman he did not love, cannot be victim…), she didn't really like him either, so they lived separately. And she died. And that's it. He had absolutely nothing to do with it, and in the meantime he was in a relationship with Mysaria, whom he wanted to marry and with whom he wanted to raise a child. It was Viserys who actually harmed Mysaria, not Daemon. Then Daemon married 23-year-old Laena, with whom he had a healthy relationship… And there were no signs of violence either. And if there was even the slightest hint of violence towards her in his relationship with Rhaenyra, the maesters would blow it up so much to show that Rhaenyra is a "weak woman who cannot control her husband, let alone a kingdom." ". (I don't think so, I'm saying what they could write.)

Plus - yes, HotD definitely has a weird fetish for depicting female harm that was in no way present in the source material. Aemma's death, Alicent's "sacrifice", Laena's death, Aegon's victims, violence towards Rhaenyra - there was nothing like that in the book. Scenes of violence against women appear much more numerous and frequently, much more often outside the source material, than those against men. Does anyone really have a sick fetish there?

[sarana174]

Honestly, I am glad that the dinner doesn’t go south until Viserys left because at least the last memory of his family together is a happy one

[moonlitgleek]

I would love to hear your thoughts about Fire and Blood when you finish it! (Or not even when you finish it, just whenever, cuz you're amazing!) 💕

I have the best friends in the world! Love and hugs, lady.

I am halfway through and I intend to go back and reread each chapter once I finish since I keep blowing through pages because I want to know all the things, which is not very good for proper processing. But a few of the things that jumped at me so far:

(spoilers for Fire and Blood volume 1 under the cut)

1. Gyldayn seems more rambly and prone to ponder sexual scandals than Yandel. He spent waaaay too much time talking about that, and while sexuality is at the heart of some conflicts, the way he went on about the story of Coryanne Wylde and the sordid details of how she was “examined” really undermines his position as a historian and makes me overly iffy on him. Also, there are private conversations between Jaehaerys and Alysanne that I’d really like to know his source on.

2. Speaking of authors, what the actual fuck George? You’d think that in a book that goes so into detail about unconfirmed scandals he’d have the room to expand on someone like, idk, Argella Durrandon? He had the chance to make her story a bit better but he not only did he uphold her forceful loss of voice being the last we hear of her, he compounded the matter by also having Marla Sunderland’s tongue removed before she was packed off to the Silent Sisters. Literal stripping of women’s voices for defiance, by their own men no less, when it’s so unnecessary and so singular in its gendered use in the plot infuriates me. There is a lot of overlap between gender and silencing of voice in this (Argella, Marla, Ceryse Hightower, Rhaena Targaryen). UGH.

3. On the topic of women, Torrhen Stark’s daughter not only does not have a name, she is completely unmentioned in Jonos Arryn’s rebellion, nor by her nephew (?) Alaric with either Alysanne or Jaehaerys. Looks a bit peculiar since Alaric obviously brooded on the consequences of Targaryen decision for his family in the case of Jaehaerys and those he sent to the Wall, so is there any particular reason Torrhen’s daughter goes completely unmentioned even when the topic of marriage was raised and southern matches brought up, George?

4. Aegon, Visenya and Rhaenys are outright referred to as the three heads of the dragon. It’s no longer symbolic or understood but an explicit connection. That’s way too obvious for me to buy that Rhaegar’s Aegon and Rhaenys don’t point straight to a recreation of the Conquest Trio.

5. The war of escalating atrocities between Dorne and the Targaryens is terrible but I feel like there is a conscious effort to make the Targaryens seem better somewhat? The mention of them trying to negotiate at this point before actually utilizing dragonflame is weird because it is not consistent with anything in the Conquest. I don’t know what to do with that part.

6. The First Dornish War makes Daeron I’s folly in the conquest more obvious. Dornish terrain is as much an element to conquer as Dornish people and it costs a lot to manage it. Keeping conquered Dornish ground is bloody hard even with dragons. Daeron even leaves a Tyrell in charge just like Aegon.

7. Is it just me or does the Targaryen succession look weird in early days? Jaehaerys is referred to as the rightful heir by all rights then a few pages later it’s nope, Aerea is then suddenly we’re talking about Rhaena’s claim even though every reference to Targaryen succession before that points to a male-preference primogeniture. Alysanne takes issue with Jaehaerys treating Aemon as his heir over Daenerys even though Jaehaerys’ accession is tarnished based on that principle. There is a distinct vibe of seeing the son of Rhaenys the Queen Who Never Was as the expected heir of Aemon rather than Rhaenys herself (though this could partly because Princess Rhaenys and Lord Corlys wanted to put forward a potential male heir to offset Baelon being seen as the natural successor - since when was Baelon seen as the natural successor though? That apparently wasn’t only Jaehaerys’ sentiment so was that a popular view while Aemon lived or a reaction to Baelon avenging Aemon? Was Aemon aware and that’s why he made a comment to Rhaenys about liking a grandson, or was that regular era preference of male heirs?). Main takeaway though is that Jaehaerys passing over Rhaenys had nothing with extant competing claims but was about regarding Baelon as a natural successor for his gender, age and prowess. Jaehaerys pretty much didn’t even consider Rhaenys. Headdesk. You’re killing me, man.

8. I feel like the characters of Rhaena Targaryen and Alyssa Velaryon are being walked back. The point where apparently Septon Barth comments that Alyssa undoubtedly wanted to do the right thing but didn’t know what that was flies in the face of her previously established actions. I don’t like how she was taken down from an active and conscious political player, to a confused and almost secondary player next to Rogar (much preferred him when he was Robar, both the name and the person) till their final tiff, to  a womb and another casualty of childbirth with the emphasis being on her children. Rhaena may have called out the latter but the whole thing feels like a punishment for Alyssa for first opposing Jaehaerys and Alysanne then opposing Rogar. As for Rhaena, she swings between political sacrifice for the greater good to treating Jaehaerys and Alysanne with contempt for it. Resentment is perfectly normal and understandable but Rhaena surpasses that. She is purposely cast in an unfavorable light and her sexuality is strongly used to frame it.

9. There is a bit of exoneration after the fact to Jaehaerys sentencing most of Maegor’s Kingsguard to the Wall on contradicting arguments. I get his point about oathbreaking but punishing those who deserted Maegor because they didn’t uphold their vows to protect hum while also punishing those who didn’t desert him for defending and enabling a murderous usurper is extremely contradictory. That the two knights who deserted Maegor then deserted the Night’s Watch and a caused a conflict that claimed the life of Walton Stark neatly brushes this quandary off because it demonstrates that Jaehaerys was right.

10. I love how Septon Barth and Alysanne often work as a team in pushing Jaehaerys towards one policy or another. On more than one occasion, one of them makes the argument and the other comes with the definitive final strike. I love the women’s court and Alysanne’s Laws though I think there is a certain vagueness in the way Jaehaerys codified inheritance in the Widow’s Law. I’m still midway through Viserys I’s tenure though so I don’t know if this will be raised in any sort of legal argument for the Dance but it’s a non-issue so far.

11. I hate how Daella Targaryen was written. I hate how we keep adding names to the “death by childbirth” list. I hate how the child brides keep getting ignored. This is too conspicuous in the case of Daella and her daughter Aemma Arryn. Queen Alysanne held herself and especially Jaehaerys to blame for Daella’s death because she felt that, at 16-17, they wed her too early and that contributed to her death in childbed. But it’s treated like a non-issue that Aemma married Viserys at 11 and was bedded at 13.

12. I’m indescribably charmed by how Baelon the Brave got his epithet by booping a dragon on the nose. Also, the relationship between Aemon and Baelon, and Baelon and Alyssa. Too bad we can’t have nice things.

13. I already lost my shit over this in DMs with you but still, Aerea Targaryen! Aerea Targaryen! Oh my god. I was equally horrified and fascinated. A speculated trip to Valyria that resulted in the princess’ body being inhabited by “worms with faces” or “snakes with hands” made of fire and heat that cooked her body from the inside. This surpasses Valyria being a thin place or geophysically unstable. This means there is a Lovecraftian horror capable of using human bodies (and non-human bodies, Balerion was wounded as well but dragons are fire made flesh so that probably protected him) as vessels to… spread? Take over? Turn people into dragonic/fire abominations? Also, also, is that take over possible for anyone or is whatever is dormant in Targaryen DNA that tends to emerge with the use of magic in the form of babies with dragon-like qualities (though it appeared in non-magical cases) makes them more susceptible?

COMPARE TO THE OTHERS. A Lovecraftian horror made of ice and another made of fire. Blood magic probably behind the creation (calling?) of both. We still don’t know how the Others came to be and there has been legitimate rebuttals to the show’s version of their creations BUT I think what could be taken from the show is the suggestion that this is blood magic gone wrong.Both take over human bodies though differently (is this linked to living bodies being warm and dead ones growing cold? Is that why the fire-based monstrosity manifests in living creatures while the Others trades in dead bodies? The things beneath Aerea’s skin burst out either when they felt the cold of the ice bath the maesters put her in or when she suffered cardiac arrest and died. Either way it’s connected to cold)  The cosmic balance between ice and fire has deeper roots….. now I’m really curious as to the nature of the magic of the Wall that keeps ice and fire firmly separated.

14. We are slowly building a succession history for the Starks: Torrhen Stark -> son (?) Brandon -> son Walton -> brother Alaric -> grandson Edric -> Ellard of undetermined relation. That’s how as far as I got in the book but that’s too far from the Benjen Stark that starts the Stark family tree in TWOIAF. Cregan Stark was already Lord of Winterfell by 129 so that’s a period of 28 years between that and the Great Council that also fits the aforementioned Benjen and his son Rickon, Cregan’s father and grandfather.

15. I’m so not a fan of the art in this book. It ranges from blatantly inaccurate (Aemond and Luke during the Dance, SIGH), to exaggerated (Elinor Costayne is weird in that art with Maegor. Also, did she wait to react till she climbed the entire Iron Throne? And Jaehaerys was cool and measured in his response to Maegor’s supporters after landing in the Red Keep. WHY does he look like he is yelling in the art?) to weird (Which of the Black Brides is dressed like a septa and why? Why does Jaehaerys look like all of 8 at his coronation when he was actually 14?). Perhaps that’s a bit nitpicky but I’m not impressed tbh.

16. GRRM overdid it with Jaehaerys’ reign imo. There is writing conflict because peace and prosperity is dull to write, and there is cramming every possible conflict under the sun in the story. Was there anything missing? I count family drama, political intrigues, succession questions, plague, policy changes, financial crisis, winter, and mini-rebellions. He reigned for a long time so I get it but at one point it was one conflict after another that I’m having trouble reconciling what I read with previous descriptions of Jaehaerys’ reign.

17. There is a lot to talk about with Jaehaerys and Alysanne but I want to get the timeline straight and give it some more thought. But I will say that as delighted as I am with all the women in Alysanne’s story and with Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s relationship reflected in policy, it’s monumentally disappointing to read about his relationship with his daughters. There was an underlining gentleness in how he treated his mother Alyssa and Rhaena that was sorely missing with some of his daughters. I came out of this part feeling really off and unsettled. And sad. So very sad. WTF, Jaehaerys. Just WTF.

That’s my preliminary thoughts on the first half of the book. It’s mostly feelings with a side of unsubstantiated and unresearched spiraling. Politics, worldbuilding and themes tend to appear on later reads.

(Edit: part two is here)