#oh my gosh somehow the rhaenicent brainrot crept in

[rosewaffles]

THIS. THIS. THIS. THIS. i would've loved seeing conversations between them?? like it would've fleshed out their relationship even more instead of us viewers having to fill in the blanks......

but on the other hand, maybe the lack of interaction between these two characters could serve to highlight the inherent tragedy of the dance of the dragons - a family torn apart by their greed for power, by the cruel world they live in. rhaenyra and aegon ii are siblings in name only, but they're practically strangers to each other in their own home, they don't talk, and what love they could have had for each other is twisted and destroyed beyond repair by the fucked up targaryen incest (the targs fascinate me so much in how they cannibalize themselves to maintain their hold on power) and the medieval hell that is westeros. it makes me so sad thinking about them because they're so doomed from the start. there is no happy ending here. rhaenyra somehow choosing to love her siblings would mean her fully forgiving alicent for betraying her and marrying her father, and for attempting to replace her mother in her eyes, but she can't. from rhaenyra's perspective, aegon ii and all his siblings are the scar that alicent left behind. this scar, this love that she once had with alicent cannot heal, it will only fester and rot, and spread to her other siblings. aegon ii was supposed to be alicent and otto's perfect heir, their golden dragon, but he becomes so bitter and angry and cruel, and in the end rhaenyra becomes no better either. it's all about that intergenerational trauma, that wizened tree that sickens with age and gives them rotten fruit to feed their children because this poison is all they have ever known, all they have ever been allowed to want.

HOWEVER. the decreased episode count kinda worries me because what will happen to the other character relationships?? i fear that we'll get essentially dot-points of their character dynamics when we could be digging deeper into the brains. these characters have me in a chokehold, i want to study their brains like a bug. hopefully we do get to see more of their relationships develop, but i feel like at some point there should be some form of rhaenyra and aegon ii interacting?? like at least one?? i haven't read fire and blood so please correct me if i'm wrong (since i just skimmed the asoiaf wiki), but isn't the last and only interaction in the future between aegon ii and rhaenyra is when rhaenyra meets her death by sunfyre's flames by aegon ii's orders? if that is the case then rhaenyra growing up in the red keep with aegon ii would have been prime time for developing their relationship - even if it was just her attempting to straight up avoid him when he's a toddler and he just wants to play with his big sister and is too young to understand why she takes every opportunity to avoid him? ahh the more i write on this post the more sad i feel that they never got to experience a normal sibling relationship.

I’m sure what I’m about to say has been reiterated many times before, but the fact that there is not one interaction between Rhaenyra (Heir to the Iron Throne, the Kings firstborn, and head of Team Black) and Aegon (the Kings firstborn son, the other legitimate claimant to the throne, and the head of Team Green) is genuinely INSANE to me, and from a writing and narrative perspective…just plain BAFFLING.

Like, what do you MEAN that the two main figures of the ENTIRE Dance (Aegon being the literal reason there’s an inter-house war in the first place) don’t even interact BEFORE it begins?

What do you MEAN they’ve been in close proximity for YEARS and somehow not a SINGLE conversation has occurred for the viewer to listen too and say to themselves:

“oh so those two characters are going to be the MAIN figureheads for the fast approaching civil war that tears apart the realm and begins the demise of an entire house. gotcha.”

But what is worse is that there are literal episodes, literal SCENES, where this could have be done easily and without seeming like an afterthought or a weird insertion.

In episode 6, both teams are in the Red Keep the entire time, and yet, Rhaenyra and Aegon do not meet even once; Rhaenyra could have encountered him as she was making her way to Laenor, for example.

In episode 7, literally the entire family is at Laena’s funeral, Rhaenyra and Aegon could’ve, at any point, crossed paths. She could’ve said something about him being “in his cups” and he could say something about “needing a few more to get through this utterly depressing funeral” or something.

(+ bonus points if Rhaenyra gets upset because that’s her friend who just died “you drunk imbecile”).

In episode 8, the crème de la crème of episodes concerning crazy Targ+Hightower relations, how EASY would it be for hungover Aegon to say something petty and/or derogatory to Rhaenyra just before both families entered the throne room:

“Sister, what a surprise to see you here!”

“It shouldn’t be a surprise as it is a matter concerning my son inheritance-”

“I did not think you concerned yourself with any matters at all, but I’m glad you’ve returned, court has been lacking without its ‘delight’ to brighten up these gloomy halls.“

AND THE DINNER?! DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE LACK OF INTERACTION, THEY WERE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE TABLE AND NOT EVEN A SINGLE WORD WAS EXCHANGED?!

LIKE WHY!