#so maybe when aemond was yelling at him in valyrian at storm's end he just had no idea what the fuck he was saying

[navree]

i did think it was weird that once they saw aemond in the training yard, the Strong boys look at each other in surprise and then the camera cuts back to them again and jace has the most irritated look ever. like, my dude did you honestly expect that aemond wasn't gonna grow up and maybe get better at all? and then to be dismayed at him proving (once again) that he's a good fighter?? what is your problem??? what a couple of spoiled brats.

Rhaenyra really did everyone in her family a huge disservice by fucking off to Dragonstone. For one, she most crucially really screwed over herself. In the aftermath of the very public murder of her husband, as well as a scandal in full view of the court (Aemond's maiming by her son), she essentially withdraws from public life at a time when she really needs to be visible in order to preserve an element of innocence. Instead, it looks like she murdered her husband and then fled to escape scrutiny. Not to mention, it allows other rumors about her and her family to propagate in her absence. It allows rumors about the Strongs to grow, and rumors about her own personality and temperament, seeing as she's not in Westeros to refute any of the claims herself. It prevents her from doing what an heir absolutely should do, which is be involved in governance and be known to the realm. The years Rhaenyra spent on Dragonstone are the most crucial, they were the last year of her predecessor's reign, a time when she should have been spending more time showing her aptitude for ruling, making allies, letting the realm know her through progresses or visits to allies in different regions. Instead they don't know her, they just view her as an adulteress with no experience who has sequestered herself on an island, which is especially bad considering that significant time has passed since the loyalty oath and most people in charge of Westeros now haven't sworn any allegiance to her or her claim, nor is she giving them reason to. And what's worse, being at Dragonstone also leaves the realm in the hands of her opponents. Otto is the Hand, Alicent is doing most of the governance once Viserys becomes infirm and is literally on the Small Council leading it, her children are regularly seen in public and at court with other important politicians from all throughout the realm. It creates a situation where it's much easier to support the Greens than the Blacks, because the Greens are a known quantity with good reputations, and the Blacks are practically strangers who are not well regarded due to accusations of murder, bastardy, and bad behavior.

For two, she also does a disservice to her kids. Again, all the issues Rhaenyra caused for herself also apply to Jace as her own heir. He also needs to be visible and prove himself capable of governing. And given the question of his parentage, since he can't really dispute biology, he needs to visibly lean into his Targaryen side, to remind people that he's inheriting due to being Rhaenyra's son, not Laenor's. And like you said anon, it causes another problem in that the image Jace and Luke have in their heads of people like Aegon and Helaena and Aemond are outdated and inaccurate, because they all grew up and developed. So they have to very swiftly reconcile old images with new people, people who are bigger and taller and better fighters than you last remembered them as, great fighters even, and who also have very good reason to be pissed at you. And given that they're about to opponents in out-and-out conflict, that's a problem. Because the Strongs don't know their opponents. They don't know how good a fighter Aemond is, just that he's very good from what they saw in the training yard, they don't know if Aegon has a similar prowess, they don't know how powerful Sunfyre and Dreamfyre are (they might have a good idea about Vhagar based on how old she is). We know that this is a problem because we've seen it already, Luke underestimates Aemond's rage against him for what was done at Driftmark and is taken off guard by Aemond's desire for revenge, which leads to his own death. The kids suffer from the isolation at Dragonstone too.

And yeah, Jace being irritated is just dumb, if you're angsty about Aemond being a better fighter than you, go train harder and get better instead of shutting yourself up indoors and failing to learn a language your mom and uncles were already entirely fluent in by your age.

[daenysthedreamer101]

HOTD S1 Rewatch

Ep 8 - The Lord of the Tides

Jace's determination to learn Valyrian is so cute.

But also, how did they not learn it before? You're telling me Rhaenyra waited 16 years for him to start learning? 😭

Otto was sooo petty for that cold welcome

Lord Beesbury is a real one. Supporting Nyra and Luke till the end

Nyra's face when she enters her father's room... Sickening, Emma did such an amazing job

I can barely look at Viserys man. I just wanna cry whenever I see him😭

The way Daemon can barely look at Viserys ughhhhh my heart!

Dyana sweetie I am so sorry.

Instead od actually doing something about Aegon's vile behavior Alicent just yells at him and bribes the girl to be quiet, smh

Why is she so violent with him, God? 😭😭 she's always yelling and him and slapping him, wtf

'It was just harmless fun'..... This is your King? Right..

Helaena ughh poor thing 😭😭

Looove the convo between Nyra, Daemon and Alicent.

Luke my little baby!!!

Emma's acting in that scene with Viserys while there's a storm outside, ughhh they're sooo good!

Alicent's kids look sooo disinterested during the petition. Maybe Aemond. But Helaena and Aegon don't look like they wanna be there

Viserys walking down to the throne... God Paddy did such an amazing job. It's a shame he won't be there for the future seasons

I feel so bad for Luke. When Vaemond started yelling at him in open court like omg, he's just a boy, leave him alone 😭

Daemon is sooo ughhh, he's a menace for sure but every thing this man does is iconic

Aegon is so annoying!

Viserys's speech kills me every time I hear it

Not at Daemon laughing at what Helaena said lmao

The way Nyra looks at Aemond when he bangs the table I can't-