#they should have had Aemond grab rhaenas hand like baela grabbed jaces making the kid fight more tragic

[princesssszzzz]

The wingless dragons Aemond & Rhaena.

Second Son. Second Daughter.

Both clinging to their mothers. Both neglected by their fathers.

Both excluded with feelings of worthlessness.

Both living with guilt and regret after the incident in Driftmark as it leads to more violence.

Rhaena lost a mother and Aemond gained a dragon. They started in the same place and moved in opposite directions.

My Targaryen children have suffered more than Jesus. If the writers for this show had any creative vision or balls this is Greek tragedy/Shakespeare level shit right here.

[mylifeisjustafeverdream]

The Driftmark Incident

Lately the discourse around what happened between Jace, Luke, Baela, Rhaena, and Aemond at Driftmark has gotten out of hand. Both sides are pointing fingers left and right and are so quick to blame the other for the situation. But it just shows how severe the unnecessary debates have gotten. No one on either sides is willingly to show any compassion or nuance towards the situation. So let me make the following points clear:

Rhaena and Baela were grieving little girls that didn't understand how dragon bonds work.

Aemond had every right to bond with Vaghar.

Jace brought a blade because he was a little boy who thought he was going to face off against an unknown theif.

Aemond and Rhaena instigated the fight. Aemond was disrespectful of the loss the girls were going through. Rhaena was accusatory and defensive. Aemond should not have insulted her unprompted. Rhaena should not have tried to shoved him. Aemond should not have thrown Rhaena into the wall.

Baela escalated the fight by punching Aemond, and while it is understandable why she did so she should not have.

Aemond punching her back, while also understandable, was wrong. However, he escalated the situation by threatening Baela.

Jace and Luke were not apart of the argument, nor were they lining up for their turn in the fight. They even waited after Baela was punched. It wasn't until Aemond explicitly threatened to kill Baela that Jace got involved.

Aemond was clearly stronger and more skilled than his cousins and had the upper hand during that fight. It was not an ambush on an unskilled victim.

Luke did not get involved until Jace was on the ground. Luke should not have come at Aemond. Aemond should not have grabbed him and punched the 7 year old in the face.

It was wrong of Jace, Baela, and Rhaena to gang up on Aemond. That was an unfair fight, but it was a response to Aemond causing each of them physical harm.

Luke should not have tried to come at Aemond after he knocked over the other 3.

Aemond grabbing Luke to stop his attack should have been where that fight ended. Aemond once again escalated the situation by grabbing a rock and threatening to kill Luke. He also was baiting Luke and Jace by calling them bastards.

Jace should NOT have pulled his knife.

Aemond should NOT have struck him with the rock.

It is understandable that the children believed he was actually going to kill Jace. He had threatened to do so. He was holding the rock in the air like he was going to. He took pleasure in seeing how they were frightened in that situation *please watch the scene and take note of how he looks to observe the girl's reaction to him*.

Luke was a 7 year old who had just been attacked, threatened, and watched his brother and cousins experience the same. He was scared and irrational. That does NOT justify taking out Aemond's eye.

The adults severely mishandled the aftermath of the incident.

Alicent was justified in her anger over the injury to her son.

There was nothing Luke or Rhaenyra could have said or done in amends that Alicent would have accepted.

There was absolutely zero accountability from either side in what happened.

No one was in the right during the Driftmark incident.

There was no justification for anything that happened that evening. It was one escalation after another. The purpose of the situation was not to show how evil one side was or who the "bad guys" are. This was an incident involving literal CHILDREN. The youngest was only 7 years old and the oldest no more than 12. They were children who should have never been in the situations they were in. That's the entire point. The animosity and infighting of the adults around them had spread like a disease and now infected the children. Every adult could have prevented it from happening but they failed their kids.

Alicent should have never have told her kids about her doubts about the Velaryon Boy's legitimacy. She should not have been so blatantly hateful towards Rhaenyra and her family, and allowed those attitudes to grow. She should not have been poisoning her kids with the notion Rhaenyra was planning to kill them. She should have known where her kids were that night.

Rhaenyra should have addressed the accusations about her sons LONG before she did. She should have dispelled the rumors before they were old enough to know about them. She also should have removed her kids from that environment much sooner so they did not develop the complex they did. She should have known where her kids were that night.

Daemon should have spent less time trying to bang his niece and more time paying attention to his grieving daughters. He should have been helping them work through their loss. He should have known where his kids were that night.

Laenor should not have been so absent in his role as the boy's father. He, like Rhaenyra, should have put a stop to the rumors long before. He should have known where his kids were that night.

Viserys, as the KING, should have put a stop to Alicent's behavior. He should have addressed the rumors well before he did. He should have payed enough attention to his wife and kids to recognize the increasingly dangerous animosity in his house. He should have known where his kids were that night.

If a single adult had been mindful of the kids it wouldn't have happened.

[thattargboy]

What’s your perspective on the fight at Driftmark?

Short answer: I don’t blame Aemond (or. I blame him a little because disrespect, but the kid lost an eye so he gets sympathy points), I especially don’t blame Rhaena or Baela, they did nothing wrong 🥰. I kinda blame Luke and Jace because they were the ones with the knife, but mostly their parents because why was no one watching these kids???? Should there not have been a guard outside their rooms or something????

Very long and repetitive answer: I understand that as soon as Laena died Vhagar was a free dragon, and “technically” Rhaena had no claim over her. That doesn’t change the fact that she was an eight year old girl who has just lost her mother (who had ordered that dragon to kill her and that definitely factors in), so I understand why she felt entitled to try to claim her and why she hadn’t attempted it yet.

So yeah needless to say, claiming Vhagar during the night of the funeral was very disrespectful on Aemond’s part. Does it make sense why he did it? Absolutely. He was like 10 (?12?) being bullied by his big brother and his nephews and he wanted to prove himself by claiming the oldest and biggest dragon in the world because It Be Like That, and yeah he was technically right in like that Rhaena “should have” tried to claim Vhagar. But like I said. Eight year old girl at her mom’s funeral. And also Rhaena understands what it feels like to feel inadequate over lacking a dragon so really Aemond what’s your play?

Also we have no idea that Vhagar would have even accepted Rhaena if she did try to claim her, but honestly I think she would have. No real reason there other than vibes so feel free to disagree.

Ultimately, Baela, Rhaena, Luke and Jace should have gone to guards or their parents if they thought something was going on with Vhagar but then again they were kids so I don’t blame for not doing so, and I think we all have taken something into our own hands when we kids that we should have went to adults for (I do however blame their parents for not having anyone watching them and instead banging on the beach at his wife’s funeral). But like. They weren’t being watched and they took things into their own hands, like kids do, and they reacted very emotionally and got into a fight (and no, 4v1 is not fair, but also they are all like 12 and under. I know y’all have seen playground fights like that in your youth. If they were older I’d be like oh yeah fuck all four of them), like kids do.

And honestly if Aemond didn’t lose an eye I probably would just be like “haha little shit got what he deserves,” because like. Not to sound like Bobby B here cuz fuck that guy but. Kids fight. It’s a thing they do because like emotional regulation is undeveloped and all over the place. It’s over. (Thinking about it because that scene was an obvious parallel to the one in GoT, making that comparison with Cersei and Alicent is both genius and fills me with rage)

But to get back on track, Aemond did lose an eye, and y’know permanent mutilation and a scuffle between cousins (and uncle/nephews) are two very different things.

Jace never should have brought the knife and honestly for once I can’t really see the kid logic there. I guess I can compare it to like being a kid and thinking you hear a burglar and instead of waking up your parents you grab a bat (okay now I’m seeing the kid logic, Jace you’re free to go. Still why did he even have a dagger in the first place kid’s like 9???)

And then there’s Luke, who I’m giving some leniency because he’s the youngest, but again even a 7 year old knows better then to cut a boy’s eye out.

Like yeah from his perspective Aemond was about to brain his brother with a rock so yeah I kinda get it. But us as viewers are not 7 year olds in the middle of a fight, and we could see that Aemond was not moving, and really Luke should have been able to see that too but also, need I say it again? A kid in the middle of a fight. I honestly kinda thought it looked like Aemond was gonna put it down but no one else seems to think that so I’m just gonna assume I’m wrong

Ultimately what I think the problem was no one was punished. Back to sounding like Bobby B because obviously none of the kids should have tortured (or sharply questioned) or lost an eye as compensation (really girlie, charging with his knife is iconic but very stupid). But to bring it back to the playground thing, if that was fight in an elementary school all of those kids would have been getting in trouble.

Instead Viserys threatened his wife and children over the truth. So. Yeah. Fuck all the adults in that situation.

(Also I do understand and sympathize with both Alicent and Rhaenyra in that scene. Alicent’s son has been made permanently disabled and no one is on her side not even the child’s father, it makes sense that she kinda snapped, and yes even though it is the truth, calling her children bastards puts their lives and their inheritance in danger, of course they’re both going to try and protect their children it’s what mothers do. Understandable and sympathetic, and even justifiable doesn’t mean they were exactly in the right however.)

Westeros needs some sort of man price, at the very least Luke should have been made to apologize (and then apologize again when he’s older and actually means it instead of laughing at the pig) and in a world where we got more episodes and they emphasized that this is a family we’re watching tear itself apart I would have liked to seen Aemond at least try to put water under the bridge with Rhaena and only Rhaena (and maybe Baela but she wasn’t really involved) when they’re older.

(Like maybe if we got to see Aegon and Helaena’s wedding, and Rhaenyra’s family was invited. That could’ve been cool.)

All that said (and sorry for saying so much), the way everything played out makes sense and I wouldn’t change it except like I said with like older Aemond and Rhaena attempting to make amends before shit hits the fan.