#what if rhaenyra actually wanted power because its been hers since she was 14 and she wasn't pussying out of war

[ponypickle]

I will never not be sad by the de-fangification of our female characters on hotd. we could've had all of them serving cunt and warfare/bloodthirstiness but instead they are all 'peaceful' and everything is the men's fault 🙄🥲.

a cersei-esque alicent dead set on having her kids on the throne at all costs because she believes it's their gods given right, ready to slay everyone who gets in her way

rhaenyra asking her feral husband to eliminate anyone and anything that offends her, like vaemond, a son for a son, etc. stopping at nothing to get HER throne because SHE wants it, not stopping at anything to achieve her goals

rhaenys ready to ride into war for her queen to slay all her enemies instead of feeling bitter as she came across in the show a lot of the time

baela truly being the embodiment of her father in female form, being feral and ready to eliminate everything at once, etc.

oh, the show we could've had if they just weren't scared of the audiences reactions to powerful decisive women that aren't apologetic about their claims to power and what they believe is their's.

[horizon-verizon]

I found Kid!Aemond to be an inconsistent character like his mother at one point. In Driftmark, he was literally talking treason to Aegon, saying that Helaena is his future queen, which means he’s on board to usurp his other sister Rhaenyra. Then a few moments later, he walks up to Jace and smiles at him like he wants to comfort him but then decides against it because he knows comforting him for his real father’s death means admitting that he knows he’s a bastard.

Why would Aemond, who agrees with the plot to usurp Rhaenyra, be smiling at his nephew, the child of Rhaenyra and future king? Aemond is clever for a kid. He must know that usurping Rhaenyra would likely mean killing her and all her kids to secure Aegon’s rule. So why did he try to be nice to Jace? Am I overthinking this?

No, you are not overthinking, anon. I actually had to go back to watch the episode again to see what you meant.

At the mark 10:30, Jacaerys is standing in the far left of the screen while Aemond approaches him and attempts to smile/speak to him. Jacaerys is unreceptive and Aemond turns away as if he did want to comfort Jacaerys. This is all a silent exchange and happens after Jace comforts Daemon’s daughters and Rhaenys hugs them.

Yet in the same episode, Aemond and Aegon say not long before Aemond goes to Jacaerys:

Aegon: We have nothing in common.

Aemond: She’s our sister.

Aegon: You marry her, then.

Aemond: I would perform my duty, if mother had only betrothed us.

Aegon: If only.

Aemond: It would strengthen the family. Keep our Valyrian blood pure.

Aegon: She’s an idiot.

Aemond: She’s your future queen.

They talk as if Aegon will become king, which means that Rhaenyra will not become queen. Which can only happen if they usurp her. 

And in the event they usurp her--by real history, how transfers of power happen in real ASoIaF Westeros (Robert Baratheon, Maegor I)--there is both a real and high chance that they would have to kill her if they pursue the throne for themselves since she has had Viserys’ command to be the heir and the oaths other lords took to protect her rights.

Who has told them Aegon would become king despite Viserys’ ruling? Or where did they even get this confidence? Alicent and Otto. Ever since Alicent turned against Rhaenyra 10 years ago. 

Aegon would be 14-16 in this episode, Helaena a year younger. That means Aemond is 12-13 right now. Alicent, back in episode 6, grabbed Aegon’s face and yelled at him that “you [Aegon] are the challenge, just by living and breathing”. 

The show admitted/told us that Alicent has been telling her kids-- practically since birth-- that they had to usurp Rhaenyra both to survive and because Alicent/Otto/"custom” believes she herself is unfit. And the other ideas being she’s a whore who gave birth to bastard children.

And because they are bastards who do not deserve pity or respect (the Faith of the Seven rules bastards inherently evil and untrustworthy). Which is blood purity.

This show’s writing and its overall story and its characterizations make no sense. 

If Aemond, as you said, has learned this AND has accepted the scenario of usurping/killing Rhaenyra plus her son’s deaths...then why does he still try to approach Jacaerys as if he genuinely wants to be close or friendly?!

If a person does this and thinks what I described in real life, we’d say this person is delusional (as Pearl form the movie Pearl who couldn’t keep her lies straight) and/or totally unaware of their own contradictoriness. And we can't pass it off as "imaginary writing and fantasy" because this sort of contradiction is self-erasing. It's as if you had had a continuous forgetting of who you are and what you value. As if you became a different person entirely in ten seconds, then switched back.