hi Tumblr i made a inktober prompt lol. cringetober 2022 swag, tag me if u use!
It’s been a while since I watched season 1 - so I could be misremembering- but something I noticed at the time is that, when Rhaenyra is trying to convince Rhaenys to betroth Baela and Rhaena to Jace and Luke, she specifically says Baela’s SONS will be heirs to the iron throne while Rhaena’s children will be the heirs to Driftmark.
Only sons are heirs to the iron throne (except Rhaenyra). Driftmark could conceivably pass to a daughter just like in other noble houses if there are no living sons, hence her saying Rhaena’s children (not specifically sons) would inherit Driftmark.
Rhaenyra always viewed herself as the exception to the succession, and she never had any intention of changing the rules of inheritance.
One moment I really hope survives the transition from show to book is Rhaenyra denying Lady Rosby and Lady Stokeworth's claims to their family titles. It's the ultimate expression of "rules for thee, not for me." Wouldn't be until Season 3 anyways, but I want all these little moments of awfulness to survive intact without being Girlboss-ified.
Anonymous asked:
I read the scene as she was going to die either way but they thought there was a chance to save the baby. I didn't see it as Viserys choosing to save the baby over her.
That’s not the problem though, it’s that he had a bunch of dudes hold his wife down and literally kill her without telling her what was happening or giving her any choice in the matter.
This ^ it’s crazy to me that people justify Viserys’s choice as him “saving his baby because they were both going to die anyways”
That’s never been the point.
The point is consent. That decision belonged only to Aemma.
We see Aemma screaming NO and BEGGING Viserys to stop what’s going on. She says “please no I’m scared”. While she is held down against her will.
Aemma could have very likely chosen to save her own son as well - if given the dignity and respect to be informed of what was going and she could have had a much more peaceful death.
However that’s the point isn’t it?
She isn’t afforded any humanity because to Viserys she was just a womb carrying his son. Thus he will allow her to be butchered like an animal because her wants and her life has no real value beyond what she can provide him with.
I have seen quite often that many people consider young Alicent to be too sensitive and just an envious/jealous girl. Well...
Daemon almost killed Alicent's brother at the tourney, (he was much younger than him). Gwayne was so badly wounded that even the maester had to personally visit Otto and warn him that his son will live.
Otto and Daemon's relationship has always been tense. Daemon allows himself to insult the memory of Otto's dead wife, in front of EVERYONE at the council.. And I remind you, mother's death is the same trauma for Alicent as for everyone's beloved Rhaenyra whom everyone loves to justify her behavior with the death of her mother. But no one talks about Alicent, even tho she also lost her mother. Alicent loved her very much and she still misses her, praying every day at the sept. Do you think she doesn't know what kind of relationship her father has with Daemon? She knows what a terrible person Daemon is, what frightening violence he is capable of, but she is silent and smiles because he is a prince, he is the brother of the king, and uncle of her best friend. She always has to be silent, polite and patient, just like her father.
Imagine what Alicent felt when she found out that Rhaenyra had slept with a man like Daemon? Betrayal. No, it's not just envy that her "friend" has privileges, it'sdisappointment. To make matters worse, Rhaenyra lied to Alicent, she SWEARS BY HER MOTHER'S GRAVE AND DEATH that she IS TELLING THE TRUTH. Mother. Little Alicent values her words, she values the memory of her mother, she is still grieving, and she believes Rhaenyra.
She even refuses to believe her own father, the closest and dearest person in her life. And for what? Eventually she becomes the reason why her father is kicked out of the Red Keep in disgrace, depriving the status of the king's right hand. She defended Rhaenyra's honor, she justified her, and was left absolutely alone again. No mother, no father.
She feels the bitterness and pain of loneliness in the court, and then this feeling doubles because what she did turns out to be a huge mistake. Her best friend is a liar. From Alicent's perspective, her best friend hooked up with a man who had been at enmity with her father all her life, almost killed her brother, and after Rhaenyra smiles at her as if nothing had happened, and shamelessly scatters words, the consequence of which is the departure of her father.
But yeah, for some stupid reason of course "she's just jealous girl" and nothing more.
Honestly one of the reasons why I love the driftmark knife scene, other than the acting ofc (emma and liv, I will get you those Emmy noms TRUST!), is that we see how good but also how bad Rhaenyra is at the game.
In my VERY personal opinion, Rhaenyra becomes a more likable character when you take into account her lack of ummm.. acumen, especially politically. She is not very bright a lot of the time when it comes to how she moves as heir lmao. And, in a way, it makes sense since the person who was supposed to teach her was 1. Too busy maritally raping her friend and ruining Rhaenyra’s claim in the process and 2. a shit poltical mind on his own accord.
The absolute best part of the ‘vile accusations’ and the ‘Aemond must be sharply questioned’ of it all is that it’s one the smartest things Rhaenyra does the whole season… but also the dumbest 😭. Which imo is so Rhaenyra as a character. Plus it falls in line with the targaryen nature of doing things too headfast simply bc you can.
It is smart bc she is showing the room, Alicent specifically, that viserys will always back her over the greens. His own guilt and stupidity will always win out over what is plainly in people’s faces. The targtowers will never have viserys’ ear like that. Despite the lengths viserys went through to get them.
But it is also the dumbest bc in Rhaenyra’s words, now the targtowers see their sister for who she is. I’ll never get the ‘alicent (alone) turned the kids against each other’ argument. Like nah I think the bullying, Aemond losing an EYE, and Rhaenyra throwing him under the bus also helped with that lol. It can be manipulative or self serving for Alicent to tell Aegon that he is the challenge, even if he doesn’t want to be king at the time, but it can also be true. The way people can call the little speech Otto gave Alicent at the beginning for ep 5 maniputive. That doesn’t make it any less true. Rhaenyra proves to all of them that it’s her or them. It also set Rhaenyra up to fail when her dad isn’t there anymore to save her by turning a blind eye to her choices.
"Alicent is a horrible mother and a rape apologist, Rhaenyra would never!" Oh but she would 😕😕
Firstly, in terms of how Alicent treated Dyana, she did more than anyone else in the show would've. She gave her moon tea, ensuring Dyana wouldn't become pregnant with her rapists baby & have to give birth. She paid her well, ensuring she could get the fuck away from her rapist. She comforted her. She then went to DISIPLINE AEGON, verbally degrading him and slapping him. She did the best she could in that situation. You all claim she should've sent Aegon away or had him killed - do you hear yourselves? Genuinley? You all would hate her MORE IF SHE DID THAT. You already hate her for not being Valyrain but killing one? Holy shit. And secondly, she couldn't do that - her father would never have let her, or the council.
Now, onto Rhaenyra. As far as we've seen, taking everything about how she parents and what she thinks of her boys - she wouldn't have even gone to see Dyana. Just had her killed. She would've found some form of excuse (she called them bastards) and used that to justify it. We've LITERALLY SEEN HER DO THIS WITH AEMOND. She would rather have her half brothers tortured for speaking truth than punish her boys for one, ganging up on another boy, and two, permanently mutilating him. She does not believe her boys can do any wrong. She doesn't. She is a VALYRAIN PRINCESS, she automatically thinks she's above everyone- I wonder how much of an ego boost nearly passing off three bastards for that many years gave her?
And we know she doesn't care for highborns either. She let Daemon murder Vaemond. That was breaking the law, the kings word that you all care about so much, and Daemon should have been executed for that. Do you really think she'd care about a random servant girl? You people get dumber by the fucking minute.
Do not sit there and try and act like Rhaenyra has any moral or even intellectual high ground on Alicent.
I'd also like to add that blaming a woman (Alicent) for a full grown man's actions (Aegon being a rapist) is WEIRD and misogynistic.
“Luke was such a sweet and innocent boy!”
Girl, he literally mutilated another child *for life* by fucking cutting his eye out at the age of 7 and didn’t even feel remorse when he grew up. He never apologized. He never felt bad. And fucking stop using his age as an excuse. Never in my life, not even at 7 years old I thought that cutting someone’s eye was a good idea. Especially because it wasn’t really in self defense, the Strong boys just got angry at Aemond cause he called them bastards (and was right). And may I remind you; he never felt remorse. Not for a single moment he felt bad about bullying Aemond and mutilating him for life. After all those years he was still gagging about it. How tf is that “sweet innocent boy” behavior?
I would’ve felt sorry about him dying if he showed just a little remorse. If only he apologized to Aemond. But he didn’t. And i don’t care about him dying. He was a violent bully since childhood and never grew out of it. What is there to feel sorry for?
“He was just a child!” So was Aemond. Stop pretending like he lost his eye in his 20s or something. Him being a couple years older than Luke doesn’t change the fact that he was a child as well when he got mutilated in such a horrible way.
I have come across so many people saying that Rhaenyra is justified in her to decision to make Luke as heir to Driftmark because it’s what Corlys would have wanted… I’m not kidding.
Corlys doesn’t make sense as a character at all in the show, because he and his whole family only exist to be white Queen Rhaenyra’s cheerleading squad so it’s kind of difficult to argue for his character because he and his wife aren’t given enough brain cells to rub together but please, for the love of God please just think what would have happened if Corlys would have decided to not make his first born “grandson” the heir to driftmark as was custom for thousands of years??? Do you honestly think that that wouldn’t have been perceived as an insult to Viserys chosen heir and her children? He might as well just yelled that they are bastards which as we have seen with Veamond would have put his life in jeopardy.
Some of you just think that he could have just done that without consequences. Yes, I know he and Rhaenys had that pointless conversation where she suggested that he name Leana’s daughters heirs to Driftmark and while Corlys was incredibly dismissive of her (as he is in every other scene) I think out of the two of them he was the one who understood that doing that would have had serious consequences because there is no way of denying Luke Driftmark without outing him as a bastard and receiving the wrath of the crown.
Arguing for his character is very very difficult, because the writers have put zero effort into giving him believable motivations that would explain his nonsensical actions. The best hope we have is that he is supporting Rhaenyra to rule through her and get revenge on her for everything she and Daemon have put their family through (you know, like stealing their house seat, killing his brother, allegedly murdering Leanor, disrespecting Leana and her daughters after her death) Rhaenys however is beyond redemption because she legit turned down Alicent’s offer of returning Driftmark to her family and it’s rightful heirs Beala and Rhaena.
I want to share my thoughts about Otto's and Alicent relationship, probably controversial because I haven't seen anything about them.
yes, he is ambitious, yes, he is an intriguer. yes, he even manipulated Alicent, but still, Otto loves her.
this is noticeable by the way he tries in every possible way to comfort her, hugging her tightly and soothing her. Otto is literally Alicent's only support besides her children, she herself says this in a conversation with Larys, complaining that if her father were with her, he would support her. at times when she feels lonely in the whole court, father is the first person she thinks about.
when she says that Otto used her as a pawn, Otto replies that he made her a queen. that is, he means that first of all he tried to improve her status and his family as a whole.
Rhys Ifans (Ottos actor) himself confirms this, saying that Otto cares about his daughter, but he doesn't always know how to express this love, instead preferring actions — a successful position in society. Otto believes that this is the best thing he can do for her, to give her absolute power and strength in all Seven Kingdoms.
when he was kicked out of the capital, he didn't lie to Alicent. think for yourself, wouldn't you have the thought that you are in danger when there is a person like DAEMON and RHAENYRA TARGARYEN around?
even if Rhaenyra had not tried to kill Alicent's kids, Daemon would have done it, and as we see in the last episode where he's not particularly eager to obey his wife, he would definitely have acted against her will. and the situation with the eye where Rhaenyra demanded the torture of the child, and then "Blood and cheese" only proves it. and people then think that Otto's words about the threat to the life of Alicent and her family were manipulation? he was only telling the truth. and thank god Alicent believed him. many of Otto's actions are driven by the idea that he is only seeking the best for his family, even though in the end it led them all to death. he's still terrible father tho... but anyways, I LOVE OUR GREEN GRANDPA.
I want to share my thoughts about Otto's and Alicent relationship, probably controversial because I haven't seen anything about them.
yes, he is ambitious, yes, he is an intriguer. yes, he even manipulated Alicent, but still, Otto loves her.
this is noticeable by the way he tries in every possible way to comfort her, hugging her tightly and soothing her. Otto is literally Alicent's only support besides her children, she herself says this in a conversation with Larys, complaining that if her father were with her, he would support her. at times when she feels lonely in the whole court, father is the first person she thinks about.
when she says that Otto used her as a pawn, Otto replies that he made her a queen. that is, he means that first of all he tried to improve her status and his family as a whole.
Rhys Ifans (Ottos actor) himself confirms this, saying that Otto cares about his daughter, but he doesn't always know how to express this love, instead preferring actions — a successful position in society. Otto believes that this is the best thing he can do for her, to give her absolute power and strength in all Seven Kingdoms.
when he was kicked out of the capital, he didn't lie to Alicent. think for yourself, wouldn't you have the thought that you are in danger when there is a person like DAEMON and RHAENYRA TARGARYEN around?
even if Rhaenyra had not tried to kill Alicent's kids, Daemon would have done it, and as we see in the last episode where he's not particularly eager to obey his wife, he would definitely have acted against her will. and the situation with the eye where Rhaenyra demanded the torture of the child, and then "Blood and cheese" only proves it. and people then think that Otto's words about the threat to the life of Alicent and her family were manipulation? he was only telling the truth. and thank god Alicent believed him. many of Otto's actions are driven by the idea that he is only seeking the best for his family, even though in the end it led them all to death. he's still terrible father tho... but anyways, I LOVE OUR GREEN GRANDPA.
Reasons why I do not like team black, and I do not appreciate being threatened with being raped, or killed and saying I’m racist.
1. Desecrating septs which are by law safe havens, yet the Blackwoods are ok with burning and raping the small folk, their lands and hurting innocent people.
2. Being pleased at killing an innocent six year old and also wanting Helaena to be raped, which I think is disgusting.
3. Daemon is a sexual predator, and he groomed Rhaenyra since she was a child and also did the same to Nettles. In all honesty, Daemon would’ve killed Rhaenyra’s bastards, just to ensure his pure-blood Valyrian children got the throne. Plus, what he did to Helaena is just evil and not justice in the slightest, Lucerys was 14 and in medieval terms, that makes him an adult.
4. Rhaenyra was a bad ruler, end of. She showed no understanding of ruling and also taxed the small folk, which caused her downfall. Plus the small folk hated her and Daemon for what they did to Helaena and her children.
5. Everyone was ok with the greens being punished, but Alysanne Blackwood faced no punishment for desecrating the septs, attacking Bracken lands and hurting innocent villagers.
6. Not punishing Lucerys, Jacaerys, Baela and Rhaena for trying to kill Aemond who did not steal Vhagar. I mean for god’s sake, Aemond was trying to defend himself and as a victim of bullying, I understand Aemond’s rage and bitterness.
7. Finally, Rhaenyra is not a feminist icon. In the book and show, she makes it clear that she will not make sure women get rights of inheritance. If anything, Rhaenyra is just thinking about herself.
some people genuinely think the war would have been avoided if viserys married laena. as if it would have solved much of anything at all.
you think corlys velaryon is seriously going to be okay with his grandson getting overlooked for rhaenyra, any more than otto was? this is a man for whom legacy is everything. he definitely wouldn't have gone the same route as otto, but he wouldnt have just taken that lying down.
you think daemon wouldnt have still tried to trap rhaenyra in marriage? and perhaps succeeded this time with no otto around to bother being all up in their business
and then if that happens you've got the issue of daemon being the future king consort and how the lords thought that was bad enough even when rhaenyra was an adult woman with heirs from a previous marriage. let alone her being a 19 yr old girl instead in this scenario. they encouraged viserys to name her in the first place because they didnt want daemon anywhere near the throne. literally no one but viserys and rhaenyra likes or trusts daemon. you think corlys wouldnt have seen him as an even more genuine threat to laena and her children than otto did alicent and hers... with daemons child set to be rhaenyras heir?
the war was set in stone from the moment viserys decided to remarry at all. literally all anyone else did was shape the way it happened.
It's character assassination for a character who has *checks notes* beat his first wife to death with a rock because she sassed him, violently killed the literal messenger because he was pissed at his brother, mocked his dead wives' grieving relatives, literally spent most of the first episode beating people to a pulp, said a long list of misogynistic things regarding his first wife, sister-in-law, lover etc, and been absolutely obsessed with how much better he believes himself, his family and his bloodline are to everyone else because they're "pure" Targaryen, to react violently towards his wife who was given the family secret he wasn't deemed worthy enough to know... Yeah I don't think it's the show runners who misunderstood Daemon here. Y'all made him your TikTok boyfriend and didn't see him as he is, a problematic flawed character. Don't get mad that he can't and could never reach the pedestal y'all set for him 🤷♀️.
Y'all didn't care about the inconsistent characterization regarding Alicent, Rhaenys, Rhaenyra and other female characters or Laena and Rhea being reduced to literal plot devices but the minute Daemon reacts in a way fitting his characterization, all hell breaks loose. But let's be real y'all didn't care about the misogyny coming out of his mouth until it effected the woman you ship him with.
Can we talk about how the Targaryen’s raise their children with idea that one day those two siblings will be married. Like they instantly just look at a brother and sister and say, “Yep, that’s your future spouse.” And not only that but it leads this never ending cycle of abuse, because their sons think their entitled to Targaryen daughters.
What they did to the Velaryons in general doesn’t sit well with me at all. Specially that they are the family they chose to make black and then turned them into motivationless, spine- brainless pushovers to smile and stand by Rhaenyra’s side for no reason.
None of them makes sense as characters; the way he is characterized Corlys ( who is supposed to be an ambitious man, sure of himself, and a force to be reckoned with ) never would have excepted Rhaenyra selling Luke off as the true heir and definitely would’ve had something to say about Deamon slighting their families honor by killing his brother . 
Rheanys is completely ruined as a character, honestly, she’s worse than Rhaenyra when it comes to hypocrisy. The scene between her and Alicent is so stupid It’s out of this world. She’s supposed to be this bad ass person, but she again is such a terrible push over, for Corlys, Rhaenyra and literally everyone. There’s not a single moment where she stands up for herself, and what she thinks is right ( her daughter is being robbed from their inheritance would’ve been a perfect moment ). And don’t even get me started on that brainless terrorist attack that she did.
And also when it comes to Rheana and Beala, I can’t fathom how people do not see  how traumatizing Deamon and Rhaenyra’s actions must’ve been for them. ( I mean, having Deamon as a parent is trauma enough ) After the death of their mother they are given absolutely no emotional support from their father, and are dumped on their grandparents like used goods while their father tries to find the way to fuck his niece at her funeral. And then Deamon and Rhaenyra make Leanor, the only family that they have left from their mothers side fake his death. Like, are you good???
And then they marry each other like the next day ( by the way, the faces of the children during the seen were so genuinely disgusted ) and chose to SEPARATE the two of them.
( and again, in relation to the Velaryons as a whole, that must’ve been such a slap in the face)
And then years later they are back together again and see their father kill another member of their family and denounce their rights and inheritance and they’re like… yay
And honestly the “ chemistry” they try to force between them and the strong boys was so  unconvincing. It very much gave “ when your mom forces you to hang out with the weird neighbors kid “ vibes. And honestly it’s such a shitty deal, why should they be happy? 
And their supposed admiration for Rhaenyra makes me want to rip my hair out. This woman turned their lives into hell and showed them their fathers true colors. 
They turn this whole badass family in a bunch of nonsensical whims that have zero motivation or self respect. It’s so frustrating.

Tbh… and it could be bc I watched the show before reading the book, frankly find the book bad (i don’t understand how the so called book purist wanted a ‘direct’ adaptation of whatever that mess is). The Velaryons as a whole seemed kind of… not bright 😭. And that could be bc the person at the time who ran the house, corlys, is a subpar poltical mind.
In the book rhaena and baela get betrothed to luke and jace at the age of two. They genuinely never stood a chance in either scenario imo. And at every turn it sort seems like the people who are supposed to care for them undermine their happiness.
I think throwing their support in for Rhaenyra in general was a dumb idea started by yeah you guessed it Corlys. He makes wrong moves in the book and the show, and his house essentially falters because of it.
Corlys isn’t a family man, and frankly I don’t think he cares all that much about anything as long as him/his blood are in power. Like most men during that time. He could’ve passed the line through Baela. He says no bc he knows that would call into question Luke’s parentage. Then in turn jace’s parentage, and in turn question Rhaenyra’s actions. Meaning laenor being king consort was a mute point. He doesn’t care about his family’s safety. He proved that multiple times over.
He has another chance to have either Baela or rhaena take over, and instead his bastards (who if we go by the book he has with a literal teenager) get legitimized and take over. Like he quite literally petitioned to Rhaenyra so addam and alyn could be heirs to driftmark.
They are written like pushovers bc frankly that is what they are. Rhaenyra’s cheerleaders and fleet till she, in a state of paranoia, kicks them to the curb. What is the point of being ambitious if you are also foolish 🤷🏽♀️
What they did to the Velaryons in general doesn’t sit well with me at all. Specially that they are the family they chose to make black and then turned them into motivationless, spine- brainless pushovers to smile and stand by Rhaenyra’s side for no reason.
None of them makes sense as characters; the way he is characterized Corlys ( who is supposed to be an ambitious man, sure of himself, and a force to be reckoned with ) never would have excepted Rhaenyra selling Luke off as the true heir and definitely would’ve had something to say about Deamon slighting their families honor by killing his brother . 
Rheanys is completely ruined as a character, honestly, she’s worse than Rhaenyra when it comes to hypocrisy. The scene between her and Alicent is so stupid It’s out of this world. She’s supposed to be this bad ass person, but she again is such a terrible push over, for Corlys, Rhaenyra and literally everyone. There’s not a single moment where she stands up for herself, and what she thinks is right ( her daughter is being robbed from their inheritance would’ve been a perfect moment ). And don’t even get me started on that brainless terrorist attack that she did.
And also when it comes to Rheana and Beala, I can’t fathom how people do not see  how traumatizing Deamon and Rhaenyra’s actions must’ve been for them. ( I mean, having Deamon as a parent is trauma enough ) After the death of their mother they are given absolutely no emotional support from their father, and are dumped on their grandparents like used goods while their father tries to find the way to fuck his niece at her funeral. And then Deamon and Rhaenyra make Leanor, the only family that they have left from their mothers side fake his death. Like, are you good???
And then they marry each other like the next day ( by the way, the faces of the children during the seen were so genuinely disgusted ) and chose to SEPARATE the two of them.
( and again, in relation to the Velaryons as a whole, that must’ve been such a slap in the face)
And then years later they are back together again and see their father kill another member of their family and denounce their rights and inheritance and they’re like… yay
And honestly the “ chemistry” they try to force between them and the strong boys was so  unconvincing. It very much gave “ when your mom forces you to hang out with the weird neighbors kid “ vibes. And honestly it’s such a shitty deal, why should they be happy? 
And their supposed admiration for Rhaenyra makes me want to rip my hair out. This woman turned their lives into hell and showed them their fathers true colors. 
They turn this whole badass family in a bunch of nonsensical whims that have zero motivation or self respect. It’s so frustrating.

Tbh… and it could be bc I watched the show before reading the book, frankly find the book bad (i don’t understand how the so called book purist wanted a ‘direct’ adaptation of whatever that mess is). The Velaryons as a whole seemed kind of… not bright 😭. And that could be bc the person at the time who ran the house, corlys, is a subpar poltical mind.
In the book rhaena and baela get betrothed to luke and jace at the age of two. They genuinely never stood a chance in either scenario imo. And at every turn it sort seems like the people who are supposed to care for them undermine their happiness.
I think throwing their support in for Rhaenyra in general was a dumb idea started by yeah you guessed it Corlys. He makes wrong moves in the book and the show, and his house essentially falters because of it.
Corlys isn’t a family man, and frankly I don’t think he cares all that much about anything as long as him/his blood are in power. Like most men during that time. He could’ve passed the line through Baela. He says no bc he knows that would call into question Luke’s parentage. Then in turn jace’s parentage, and in turn question Rhaenyra’s actions. Meaning laenor being king consort was a mute point. He doesn’t care about his family’s safety. He proved that multiple times over.
He has another chance to have either Baela or rhaena take over, and instead his bastards (who if we go by the book he has with a literal teenager) get legitimized and take over. Like he quite literally petitioned to Rhaenyra so addam and alyn could be heirs to driftmark.
They are written like pushovers bc frankly that is what they are. Rhaenyra’s cheerleaders and fleet till she, in a state of paranoia, kicks them to the curb. What is the point of being ambitious if you are also foolish 🤷🏽♀️
“behold, the work of Rhaenyra the cruel”
“the traitor dragon meleys slain at rooks rest by the king”
1. This show never fails to make me laugh. Everyone is going to burn in hell but I’ll laugh at the s2 antics for sure
2. This is just sooo genius from team green. Having a public funeral for the unjust death of a young boy, the new king and queen’s first born son. Not only that but also positioning Rhaenyra as the aggressor, even if she has nothing to with b&c (we don’t know what route they will go in the show. Knowing how she’s been painted in the show, she’ll probably have no idea 🙄) is A+ pr work. Bc at the end of the day, Rhaenyra either knew, and will be seen as cruel bc it is her faction - Far too emotional to rule. Or she will be painted as too ‘docile and weak’ to rule - Can’t even stop something happening right under her own nose. Both misogynistic tropes that often get placed on female leaders. Also it just perfectly describes how Daemon has done nothing but undermine her claim, rather than solidify it like she hoped. How men in this story undermine the women around them. He commits the atrocity, but much like in the feudalistic world they live in, the buck will stop with the woman. Also they just have more of a reason to disenfranchise Rhaenyra bc she’s the figurehead of team black
And as for traitor meleys thing. This is the greens positioning themselves against someone/something who I am assuming all the smallfolk remember. Rhaenys and Meleys killed/injured hundreds, maybe thousands of smallfolk during Aegon’s coronation. Positioning Aegon as a proactive king who takes out threats to his people, including other dragons/dragon riders
This coupled with if they go with the idea, in the book, of both Helaena and Alicent being seen as sympathetic and beloved, makes these pr move make so much sense. I’m honestly of the belief team green even ‘survived’ as long as they did with significantly less allies than team black bc of said moves. They simply understood politics and the importance of public perception far more than team black 🤷🏽♀️
tbh u can hate me all u like for this but meleys and rhaenys deserved to die at Rooks Rest. idc if u think “meleys would have killed sunfyre if not for vhagar” and?? they still died lmao. vhagar ate. (more like crushed) idgaf abt either team really but it’s a win on behalf of the smallfolk at the very least.
don’t get me wrong i love her character as a concept and parallel to nyra and ali but getting rid of the woman and her pet lizard who killed innocents undeservingly if only for a cool scene (she could have ended the conflict right then and there yet she didn’t for some dumb fucking reason -like dany burning kl was absolutely terrible and wrong bc it had millions of innocent civilian casualties, but at least she killed cersei whilst doing it-) i feel is something that can kinda be seen as a good thing (or at least twisted to be) especially when considering her hypocrisy. e.g. when she had been serving men around her all her life then critiquing other women (e.g. alicent) for doing the same?? make it make sense. (also when her claim to the throne wasn’t really for her, it was more so campaigning for Laenor to be heir, and herself to be his regent, for the throne to pass through her bloodline to him, so not much to let a girlboss win)
another example in case u still disagree: when rhaenys literally stood by and let her piece of shit husband try and marry their 12yo daughter to a wheezing, ulcer ridden man 37 years her senior just for the crown on his head and in favour of raising corlys’ own station, then did nothing to try and enstate baela or rhaena as heir to driftmark (ik corlys said no once, but she could have done so on one of his multi-year voyages, bc what could he do? come back and change it back? and make it look like his wife undermined him? no way), nor is it hinted at that she even campaigned for laena to be heir, bc if nyra got to inherit before aegon by her right as his elder sister, then shouldn’t other valyrian houses get to do the same (also doing her gay son a big favour at the same time by not forcing him to conform to the heteronormative expectation of society) no, instead she enforced the same system that denied her what was arguably her birthright? not quite as feminist girlboss now, huh? (tbh if laena did marry viserys i am certain the velaryons would be doing the exact same shit (if not worse) than the hightowers if it would get laena’s children on the throne (bc then rhaenyra wouldn’t have to marry laenor to heal the relationship between their houses)
in conclusion, rhaenys + meleys needed to move past first wave feminist takes. also rhaenys always seemed a little pretentious and i thought meleys was kinda ugly. she looked too much like dragon from shrek;
hence granny vhagar and pretty boy sunny stay 🔛🔝
Rhaenys after committing a massive terrorist attack that killed hundreds of innocent civilians and accomplished nothing apart from making the small folk hate the blacks:
“This war is not mine to start ”
🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
I honestly don’t know why the writers seem so set on butchering this character by making her the dumbest person that ever lived, don’t even get me started about the brain dead laughable fake feminist speech she gave to Alicent. Like, girl, who are YOU to talk?!
I hate the juxtaposition the writers try to make by painting Alicent as the sexually repressed patriarchy abiding woman and then try to show RHAENYRA as the sexually liberated one.
Are you… are you being serious? Rhaenyra who was groomed and manipulated by her UNCLE her whole life is supposed to be somehow more sexually liberated than Alicent who is stuck in an arranged marriage to a way older man? That’s the dream of sexual liberation? Being groomed by a close relative?
I mean at least Alicent and Viserys aren’t related. But apart from that their marriage is every bit as problematic as Rhaenyra’s relationship with her groomer.
The age gap between Rhaenyra and Daemon can’t be more than a couple years smaller than that of Alicent and Viserys. And the fact that he is her relative that took advantage of her vulnerability after the death of her mother to coerce her into sexual acts to ruin her reputation in order to gain political advantage is vomit inducing.
The thing that baffles me is how many people actually look at the scene where we we’re simultaneously shown Viserys maritally raping Alicent and Daemon coercing his niece to sexual acts in the brothel and don’t see this scene as the clear parallel it is.
People who don’t realize that remind me of Colleen Hoover fans that are only able to recognize abusive relationships when the abuse is explicitly shoved in their face in the form of physical violence and cannot recognize it when it is shown in a more subtle form like grooming, manipulation, dubious consent, and deception.
We could clearly see throughout the show how much Daemon’s grooming has had a long lasting effect on Rhaenyra’s life and personality. She isn’t able to build profound romantic relationships with anyone other than her uncle (remember how she forgot Harwin cough the father of her children cough even existed the moment Daemon showed up?) and we see her regress to an uncertain teenage girl at the moment he returns to her life ( she spills all her secrets to him the minute they’re alone without even thinking of possible consequences )
In Emma D’Arcy’s words:
"This is essentially a grooming scenario. The idea that a teenage girl is in any way able to consent to that sexual interaction is a mess. There is no way that power can be equally distributed in that relationship."
- Emma D’Arcy
( And please, do not come screaming in the comments about how things were different the books. I’m talking about THE SHOW and basing this on what we saw in the show, such as for example Daemon admitting that Rhaenyra was a child when he left to go into exile, and what the actors have to say about this relationship. I can understand why it can be frustrating that some things were adapted differently but using the book as an argument doesn’t hold any weight because there have been many notable changes in the adaptation.)