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On Alicent Hightower and the concept of the “perfect victim”:

Note that I will only be talking about show!Alicent as I have yet to read Fire and Blood. I know that book!Alicent is a very different character.

I have a lot of feelings about Alicent. I think there are a lot of flaws in the way she’s been written and I wish the writers had made her embrace her spite and resentment more, but I also have a lot of sympathy for her. I read a lot of complexity into her. I don’t know if that complexity was intended to be there or if I’m seeing things between the lines that aren’t actually there. But anyway, I agree with a lot of what many Alicent critics say about her, but disagree with the notion that she represents the perfect victim.

Mostly because I disagree that the perfect victim exists. People will always, always, ALWAYS criticize female abuse victims for the way they respond to abuse. Doe-eyed helplessness is not favored over fighting back. If she doesn’t fight back, she’s criticized for doing nothing to help herself. She’s victim-blamed. If she does fight back, then whether or not the abuse even took place is called into question, often with some DARVO added in. There is no winning.

People dismiss the trauma of Alicent’s marriage to Viserys by pointing to the way she cried when he died. Did Daenerys not cry for Drogo? Did she not name one of her dragons after Viserys? I personally don’t believe she was necessarily crying out of grief. I think she cried because she knew what his death meant—a great power struggle, the day of reckoning, was coming. But even if she had cried in sorrow, it doesn’t mean she wasn’t miserable in their marriage. Some have minimized this suffering because of the great power the marriage gave her as queen. But could this not also be said of Daenerys? Her marriage to Drogo gave her a position of great power as Khaleesi. Alicent is criticizing for allowing herself to be taken advantage of by Larys (and yes that scene sucked for many reasons), because she is queen and should have the power to avoid that. Again, could the same not be said of Daenerys and Viserys? Dany protects him at every turn. She did not command his death. The most she did was to have him walk behind the khalasar as punishment so he wouldn’t be physically harmed. Daenerys is my very favorite character. I am not criticizing her here in the slightest.

My point is only that I think criticism of Alicent’s character as the role of the perfect victim don’t really hold up because other victims in the series who have engaged in similar behaviors haven’t been met with the same dismissive attitude, and more importantly, because the perfect victim does not exist. Alicent is still being criticized for the way she responded to abuse. Perhaps not by the same people who would criticize her if she fought back, or by the people who would criticize Rhaenyra’s response to suffering, but she is still being criticized.

This post is not anti anyone or anything or any character. Please do not use it to attack any other female characters for the way THEY responded to trauma and abuse, although critical analysis and discussion is encouraged.

I really wish the HotD writers had given post-time skip Rhaenyra and her children (and Laena’s children) more substance. All of team black in general aside from Daemon feels a bit… lackluster compared to team green. Especially comparing Alicent’s kids to Rhaenyra and Laena’s. I’m sure this will change next season given what I’ve heard about Fire and Blood, but right now, the two “sides” are really not on even moral playing fields. Ultimately no matter what she does, I’ll always believe Rhaenyra’s claim trumps Aegon II’s, but aren’t we supposed to be seeing both sides as morally grey?

Again aside from Daemon, team black has hardly done anything condemnable compared to team green. Daemon and Rhaenyra conspired to murder an innocent man to fake Laenor’s death, a murder that the show kind of glosses over, and Rhaenys presumably killed many when she burst into Aegon’s coronation with Melys (again, the show does not frame this as questionable). As far as I can remember, that’s kind of it for all not-Daemon team black characters. Sure Luc attacked Aemond with a knife, and Aemond has every right to be upset about it, but they were children and I’m sure Luc didn’t intend to cause as much damage as he did. We can’t put that on the same level as the hightowers planning to usurp Rhaenyra, Criston murdering a man at a wedding, Larys killing his family, etc. And I think the characters suffer intrigue-wise as a result. Is this how it’s supposed to be or do the writers except us to consider Rhaenyra having children with Harwin and marrying Daemon as acts on the same moral level as those of team green??

(Disclaimer that I am not team anything and believe that Rhaenyra deserves the throne and that the only thing really condemnable she did was conspiring to murder an innocent man to fake Laenor’s death, which pales in comparison to what other characters have done)

Team green is full of people who have done objectively worse things. However, I think it’s true that compared to Alicent’s kids, Jace, Luke, Baela, and Rhaena ARE boring. I haven’t read Fire and Blood, so it could be entirely a show issue, but the fact of the matter is that Aegon, Helaena, and Aemond have all been given more characterization than the team black kids. Jace and Luc have more or less interchangeable personalities. They’re nice, honorable boys. We know Jace has worked hard to learn about being king and Luc thinks he’s unworthy of being heir to Driftmark, and that’s basically all we can say about them. That and they hate being called bastards. Laena’s kids are even worse off. We know absolutely nothing about their feelings and motivations.

There’s just more substance to Aegon, Helaena, and Aemond. Aegon is a vile little slime but his actors blew it out of the water and gives us a lot to think about. He likes to have power (obviously, he’s a rapist and pays to watch children fight to the death), but mostly ignores his wife and is terrified of the crown to the point of literally running and hiding when Viserys dies. The coronation scene itself is absolutely astoundingly acted. He feels his parents don’t care about him. He has an antagonistic relationship with Aemond. This is a lot to work with and analyze. Helaena clearly has prophetic visions, has an unusual fascination with insects, resents her husband, and is, in my opinion, autistic coded. Aemond is bitter, resentful, and simultaneously is insecure and has a sense of superiority and entitlement. He’s always got something to prove. He’s probably the most complex of the three, so it’s not surprising that he’s favored.

This is also why Daemon is the most popular team black character. He’s the most complex. His relationships to other characters are interesting and dynamic and give us a lot of fodder for speculation. These things can not be said of the team black kids. Their relationships to other characters are either exactly what you’d expect or non-existent. Oh, they love their mother. Duh. Oh, they hate being called bastards, duh. Oh, they’re brothers and they reminisce together. There’s a lot of ROOM to speculate, but no FODDER. Nothing to work from and wonder “why?” or “what did that mean?” How do they feel about their wives and vice versa? How do the boys feel about Daemon? How do the girls feel about Rhaenyra? How did the boys feel about Laenor’s “death”? About Harwin’s? The show even cut out the one scene we had of Daemon showing affection to his daughters, which would have added SOMETHING to the two of them and even more to Daemon.

I think another part of the problem is that many of the morally ambiguous actions of team black aren’t really framed as such, aside from Daemon. Killing a man to fake Laenor’s death is glossed over. Rhaenys presumably killing civilians when she bursts through the ground with Melys is glossed over. What other questionable things have members of team black done in season 1, aside from Daemon? The kids fought with Aemond and he lost his eye, but I can’t really count that because they were children and I can’t imagine Luc intended to maim him. I genuinely cannot think of anything else unless you count Rhaenyra’s affair with Harwin, because I don’t count that at all. I think Rhaenyra should be LESS dutiful, MORE rebellious, and I look forward to seeing what she does in season 2.

Right now, team green is unambiguously the bad guy team. I am no team green stan, but I do think that the material that has been presented to us for team green IS more interesting. There’s just more to be discussed and analyzed. The only team black characters I could really dig into and speculate about at this point are Daemon and Rhaenyra, Daemon much more so. Which isn’t a criticism of team black or team black fans and isn’t any excuse for team green fans to be sexist towards Rhaenyra. It’s just that I think the writing team out a whole lot more effort into team green

This needs to be said but, Alicent being a holier than thou hypocrite, Criston Cole being a “nice guy” who still hasn’t gotten over Rhaenyra not giving up being heir to the throne so she could be his wife even after 16 years, Larys Strong being a kin slayer who has a creepy foot fetish, and Aegon being a rapist who watches starving children (some of which are his own bastard children) fight to the death doesn’t mean that Team Green has the interesting and complex characters.

The absolute fury I feel upon finding out that Baela and Rhaena have personalities in the book. We were ROBBED!! Just the blurb on Baela’s AWOIAF page is more interesting than what we got on the show. Baela is a “tomboy” who keeps her hair cut short, has a quick temper, occasionally starts shit on purpose, loves dragon riding, and has a pet monkey. Why didn’t we get ANY of that?? We got: young woman who stands by Rhaenys. We have enough screen time to see Aegon rub one out in the window but Baela and Rhaena get benched? Come on now

Normally Daemon fans generally align with me in my views on HoTD but the misogyny really jumps out in some of them when it comes to Rhaenyra. I’ve seen them on Reddit shitttalking her for……. Aging and gaining weight and treating her like this miserable burden he has to bear and how they can’t wait until he ditches her for his “true love” Nettles. Now I’m honestly not a fan of Daemyra myself for various reasons but I find it far preferable to him having a relationship with Nettles (that’s a 16yo and 48yo) and the sexism flung at Rhaenyra in the process of touting Nettles as his true love is just deplorable. Do better, Daemon fans.

Not my anon but I’m curious; what makes you say Aegon II’s claim is more valid than Rhaenyra’s? Just because that’s how things have always been done in Westeros?

You’ll have to correct me if I’m wrong about anything, because I haven’t read Fire and Blood yet (although I generally know what happens and don’t care about spoilers) but Rhaenyra didn’t appoint herself as queen; Viserys did. Why is it so important that the custom of the king’s firstborn living son being heir is upheld?

Aegon did have a choice. He didn’t have to wage war. He could’ve respected that Viserys chose her as heir. Viserys was a shit father for sure but it’s not like he never considered changing his mind about his heir. He thought about it and decided it would be Rhaenyra.

“Daemon cheated on her” is a pretty terrible point to make against Rhaenyra and upholds the idea that men’s unfaithfulness is due to some failing on his partner’s end, that it reflects badly upon the woman. That’s a criticism of Daemon, not Rhaenyra.

I honestly don’t really care who would’ve been the best ruler and can’t say much about it since I haven’t read the book yet. But I genuinely don’t really understand why people actually believe Aegon II’s claim should be supported over Rhaenyra’s. I am asking 100% in good faith and hopefully you haven’t read any hostility in my tone, because I don’t intend for it to be there: why is it so important to uphold the traditional order of succession?

I think that so far in the show, the green kids and Daemon have had by far the best writing and directing and characterization. I am more intrigued by Daemon (although I think team black fans tend to lend him more grace than what he actually deserves), Aemond, and Helaena (and even Aegon II even though I think he’s a slime, the actor’s performance has been awesome and he’s an interesting character to speculate about) than I am by Emma D’Arcy’s portrayal of Rhaenyra. But I still believe Rhaenyra’s claim is best and deserves to be upheld.

If I had to pick between Rhaenyra and Aegon II as the next King or Queen, I would pick Rhaenyra too 🤷‍♀️ Aegon doesn't want to be king and he suffers in canon from burns and fatal inuries it leaves him an invalid. His kids are murdered. Helaena kills herself from grief and his son Maelor is killed by a mob. He only holds onto the position from sheer pride. He's remembered as one of the least popular kings in history as well one of the worst 🤷‍♀️

Spoilers

Yes... Aegon's reign is damning and short-lived and ends with tragedy BECAUSE of Rhaenyra. It's not entirely accurate to say that he doesn't want to be King, he actually does, he literally fights to the end to be King or he would gladly consign the position to Aemond, or hell Rhaenyra. EVERYTHING that happens to Aegon and Aemond is BECAUSE of Rhaenyra. Her stubborn refusal to admit that she is NOT next in the line of succession, not in the book and not in the show, is what causes several deaths, including her own. Pride? Aegon II is the correct next in line to be King. Pride has nothing to do with it. It's RHAENYRA who is willfully clutching the position of Queen because of Viserys. What kind of logic is this? Aegon had NO choice but to wage war with team black.

FYI. Rhaenyra as self-appointed "Queen"? Since you seem to think her self-appointed "rule" was so peaceful? Heads rolled even more; the treasury vault was quickly empty; taxes increased; and the small folk named her "King Maegor with teats". Do you know who Maegor is? "The term Maegor's Teats became a common curse in King's Landing for a hundred years thereafter". Rhaenyra grew paranoid, that remind you of anyone? The Mad King perhaps? Rumors spread of Daemon cheating on her ass. She dies btw, Aegon II feeds her to his dragon Sunfyre.

Who are you defending? King Maegor with teats? Or Aegon II? Aegon had no choice but to go to war.

Either way if I had to choose between them, I would choose Aemond. He may not be perfect as King or entirely stable but he's not Rhaenyra.

Frankly I don't care; stan Rhaenyra if you want. I'm excited for S2 and for Dance to begin. It will be brilliant. I know Tom will have tons to bring to the screen, and EM too. For anyone who hasn't read the books I suggest you do it now. The show will most likely continue to retcon team black as the protagonists and it really does you a favor to know what is contained in the book.

Why don’t you like Daemyra?

Just not my thing. I don’t hate it. I like Daemon and Rhaenyra both but I just can’t bring myself to be invested in incest ships. Note that I do not count Jonerys because they did not grow up with a family relationship and had no idea they were related. By the time they found out, their brains recognized each other as mates. Our brains don’t know intrinsically who we’re related to—they infer it based on context. Two unrelated children raised as siblings will recognize each other as siblings and their brains will react to each other as such. Daemon and Rhaenyra did spend a lot of time apart so it doesn’t unsettle me as much as it would if Daemon had been around all the time, but it’s enough to make me uncomfortable. That and the age gap and the fact that he knew her as a child. I’m fine with age gaps as long as the characters met and grew close when they were both at an age where the gap didn’t matter, in which case their brains would recognize each other as peers. Whereas when you meet and grow close to someone when that age gap IS significant, that will forever impact how you view them for most people.

Of course, this doesn’t make me like the Targaryens any less. I just don’t care for the romantic aspect of most of their lives. If I were to be a biologist about it, I’d guess that Valyrians lost the gene that causes humans to reject our blood relatives (or those who code to us as blood relatives) as mates. With a lot of reproductive isolation, and positive selective pressure for mating with blood relatives, I could imagine that’s possible. So I can’t judge them for things I’d judge people in the real world for, but since I AM in the real world, it does touch upon my morals in a way that makes me uncomfortable.

No hate to anyone who likes the ship, of course. Most people who share my overall opinions on HotD/ASoIaF like it. It’s presented romantically in a way that’s intriguing and appealing to many. Naturally there will be people who can separate their fictional morals from their real world ones better than I can.

Thoughts from an evolutionary biologist: Genetics is also like… slightly more complicated than that. The amount of DNA you share with a relative, aside from your parents, is variable. We can guarantee we share 50% (by direct descent) of our DNA with our parents, and we max out at 50% for any aunt or uncle (if I’m doing the math right, I’m not fully awake yet…although it’s extraordinarily unlikely that you’ll be that related to them, statistics-wise, average is gonna be 25%), and at 25% for each of our grandparents and cousins. It just depends on which copies of genes each person inherits. You’re likely more related to one of your grandparents than the others. You may share more DNA with your siblings than you do with either parent, or you might share less.

Of course, this is talking about similarity by direct descent. Your DNA might be even MORE similar to your relatives depending on the rate of homozygosity (for anyone who doesn’t do genetics: there are variations in the code at given locations in the genome. We each have two copies of each gene, with the exception of mitochondrial DNA, which comes only from our mothers, and sex chromosomes for men since they only have one X and one Y and the two chromosome carry different genes. There are typically two or more possibilities of variation in these specific locations. If you have two of the same, you are homozygous for that locus. If you have two different copies, you are heterozygous). Small populations that experience little migration (or simply populations that do not allow for interbreeding with other populations) will accrue higher rates of homozygosity over time and individuals will end up more related to each other based on identical sequences even if there isn’t any mating between direct relatives. So if your family consists of all people with blonde hair, blue eyes, attached earlobes, no dimples, no widows peak, no cleft chin, including the ones who married into the family (I used these examples because they guarantee homozygosity at their associated loci because they are recessive and require homozygosity to be expressed. You might be homozygous if you have brown eyes, but we can’t guarantee that because brown eyes are dominant and don’t require homozygosity for expression) your DNA will be more identical to all of your relatives because you all have the same copies of genes. This is how populations become “inbred.” To say a population is inbred doesn’t mean that the individuals are all reproducing with direct relatives. It just means that, due to a lack of migration, genetic variation has been lost and the rate of homozygosity has gone up. Valyrians in Westeros, because they try to only reproduce with Valyrians, are going to be a highly inbred group of people regardless of which Valyrian they reproduce with. It’s really here nor there for them genetics wise whether or not they reproduce with a sibling or a cousin or a Valyrian even less “related” (by direct descent) because so much of their DNA is already going to be identical either way.

But in modern times, this isn’t why incest is taboo. Our avoidance of incest *is* an evolutionary mechanism to avoid inbreeding. But we develop our rejection of relatives as mates based on lived experience. We can’t see each other’s DNA. Our brains don’t know who our relatives our. We infer this. When adults raise a child, their brain recognizes them as offspring whether or not there’s any relation. When you’re raised as siblings, your brain infers this relationship. That’s why it’s rather uncommon for very close childhood friends to develop romance later in life. When you spend so much time with someone as a child, you brain will assume you must be relatives. Because of the way our brains usually reject relatives as mates, most examples of incest involve abuse and coercion, especially since most involve age differences and the associated power dynamics, especially when there’s a whole generation separating the individuals. If it was really about avoiding inbreeding, we’d be having the same moral reaction to small isolated populations on islands and we’d judge people who’s partners look fairly similar to them (which happens often because we’re drawn to familiarity. For this reason, siblings separated at birth often feel attracted to eachother without knowing they’re siblings. Their features are familiar but they didn’t have the lived experience required for their brains to recognize eachother as relatives). But… we don’t. To give a personal example, this is why Jonrya isn’t my cup of tea (don’t hate it though, just personal preference, no judgement here) but I love Jonerys. The former would likely recognize each other as relatives due to their upbringing, but the latter never knew each other growing up. Would it be possible in real life after years of separation for people raised as siblings to fall in love? Probably. Is it possible in Westeros? Of course. Like I said, no judgement there.

Based on canon, we can assume that Valyrians have lost via evolution this mechanism that rejects their relatives as mates. There would be evolutionary incentive for this to happen. It isn’t impossible for selection to favor inbreeding and it’d be plausible for them. If we assume it’s true that a certain % Valyrian blood is required for dragon riding, they directly benefit from the effects of inbreeding. The fitness advantage conferred by bonding with a dragon outweighs any negative effects of the inbreeding, so individuals who are not repulsed by mating with relatives are going to be more “fit.” The smaller the reproducing population, the faster evolution occurs. This is all just my headcanon as an evolutionary biologist, but it would make perfect sense in-universe for the Valyrian lineage to have simply lost the instinct that makes them repulsed by incest.

But more importantly: it’s fiction. My headcanon aside, GRRM has not given us reason to think that Targaryen incest is abusive the way real life incest is. Some Targaryen marriages are miserable (i.e., Helaena and Aegon II) but not because they’re incestuous. Our morals may dictate what we personally like (Daemyra isn’t a ship I love, but I feel very neutral about it, no hate or judgement, and I do like to think that Daemon loved Rhaenyra to the end because I love Rhaenyra and want her to be happy) but we can’t use our morals to decide what’s moral in-universe. We have to look for evidence GRRM has given us and he has not given us evidence that the Targaryens are repulsed by incest and thus must be abused and coerced into these relationships.

Regular viewers: Daemon and Rhaenyra are uncle/niece. It is better than sibling marriage. Me, a medical student studying genetics... They are also cousins once removed by Aemma and twice C1R by Baelon/Alyssa (Viserys is sibling/cousin to Daemon), so it adds another roughly 18% of shared DNA between them to regular 25%.

And considering their parents and grandparents were hella inbred, they tranferred more genes to their children. Hm. From a purely genetical POV, Daemon and Rhaenyra are closer to reg. siblings. But shhh. Let's not tell this to all incestphobes in this fandom.

Ah nonnie is this about my Aegon-Helaena shippers call-out post? If it is, let me clarify that I have zero problems with fictional incest between siblings, I literally shipped the Borgia siblings who on top of that were real people 😇 I have a problem with Aegon and Helaena specifically because Helaena was a 13 yo child forced to marry a canon rapist who despised her (and everybody else) and their shippers are crackheads as a whole, as you saw in my post. And the reason I ship Daemyra is not because they are not that incestuous, I ship them because they are hot AF.

But thank you for your info.

The fact that Aegon loving his children it’s even book canon. TGC is describing Aegon’s personality as it is hinted in the book and yet people is mad.

Tom literally acknowledges he is not a good parent but he loves his children.It makes total sense that he would have a complicated relationship with fatherhood based on how his father treated him. Or that in his mind, he wants to be better than Viserys.

Thank you anon! You're exactly right, we've always known from the book that he loved his children. Adding onto that is that we have barely seen 20 minutes of Aegon until now, if the early reviews are true we'll get 15 minutes of Aegon in the first episode ALONE. Of course we find out much more about the character, we barely know anything about him!

This made me wonder; what do we know about Aegon?

We meet Aegon for the first time in episode 3 of season 1. He is just a two year-old who plays with a wooden dragon toy and yet the older characters around him only see him as a threat, a pawn or, by his father, as a replacement— watching the episode it's clear to me that Viserys wanted Baelon, Aegon cannot be Baelon. It's pretty telling that the only positive on-screen interactions Aegon has with his father are in this episode. He is a little kid still, Viserys can project his wishes and fantasies about Baelon onto him, something he isn't able to do once his son is grown up.

I think it's pretty crucial to understand this part of Aegon's and Viserys' relationship— the perfect ideal of Baelon (he killed the only woman he ever loved for the perfect son; you cannot come back from that) stands between them, like a shadow Aegon could never escape and a standard he could never meet.

We don't really see Aegon again until episode 6— he is a teenager now and thus a completely different person. The little baby from episode 3 has been shaped by years of neglect, unfulfilled expectations, and the toxic dynamics within the family. What has he become? He is a 15 year old with problematic relationship to alcohol that is used as the punching bag of the family. He jacks off from windows (welcome back Roman Roy!), leers at maids and bullies his younger brother.

Teen Aegon is perceived as a disappointment by his grandfather, who sees him just as a weakling and a pawn to be controlled (a belief he still holds at the start of season 2 apparently). His mother projects her own ambitions, resentments and fears onto him.

These behaviors are all very troubling and someone should've done something to prevent these habits from festering within him; no one did. I honestly feel like no one really cares about him that much.

And yet, there is also so much postitive to be said about this iteration of him too, glimpses of Aegon's potential for goodness and his capacity for loyalty. You might call it naivety, but Aegon seems to believe in the good in people— he trusted Rhaenyra not to hurt him or his brothers if she was to become queen (something I agree with). He also seems to treat his nephews well enough, he doesn't seem to care about the bastard-allegations -> he also seems to be friends with bastards as an adult! Eddard Waters belongs to his entourage, this informs his character— yes he is an entitled prince, but there's also an element to him that is endearingly down-to-earth.

Another notable example is in episode 7, he decided to protect his mother after Aemond blamed him for spreading rumors about his nephews' legitimacy . He never cared about the rumors, yet he stood his ground and shielded his mother when faced with his father's wrath.

Ty Tennant does such a great job here. The scene highlights his complexity— he is not simply a drunken disappointment, a villain or a victim, but a young man trapped in a situation he doesn't seem to be able to get out of.

When we next see Aegon, he is in his early twenties, and the toll his upbringing took on him is evident. His introduction in episode 8 is a hefty one. He is shown sleeping off a hangover, his drinking habit from his youth has fully established itself in him. His mother yells at him, tries to get him to understand the consequences of his behavior— he has raped a maid, something that, disturbingly, is not new for him. This moment speaks volumes about the man the little boy from episode 3 has become: flawed, morally compromised, and numbed by his vices.

Further even, Aegon engages in activities that reflect a deep-seated cruelty and a disconnection from others— watching toddlers rip each other apart in brutal fights shows his general desensitization and apathy to everything. These behaviors are obviously unacceptable, but this is a fictional character we are talking about and you know what these behaviors tell me about him? These are just manifestation of the dehumanizing effects of his upbringing.

He is desperate to be loved but destined to be hated — Tom Glynn Carney

Because characters can be multi-faceted and complex, Aegon fights off insecurities and still yearns for love and acceptance from those around him. Him acting out like this can be read as misguided attempts to drown out the background noise, to try to assert control in a world where he feels constantly undermined and unloved. However, his actions only serve to alienate him further from the people he wants to be accepted by.

Aegon's aversion to the throne and his rejection of the responsibilities that come with it are just other manifestations of his deep-seated apathy. He despises the very idea of kingship and what it represents. He doesn't want to take up responsibility become a pawn, he yearns to run away but he himself knows that he will never be able to run.

The carriage ride to the sept and the coronation are gifts that keep on giving. It's all so horribly tragic. He never wanted this. Crowning him will kill him, he knows this is his end deep down!

He is so preoccupied with what his father wanted, Baelon is absolutely still haunting the narrative— his father's desire for him to embody virtues he never possessed or could aspire to (BAELON) are still at the forefront of his thoughts.

As he walks to receive the crown, he is literally crying, this single moment encapsulates it all so well. He is man who, despite his privileged position, is trapped by the very power and responsibility he was born into but never desired for.

But then, at the very end of episode 9, we see a shift in Aegon— something else to him that will be at the forefront of his character in season 2. He finally gets the adoration and the purpose he always sought after with the crown. The moment he realizes that the smallfolk is cheering for him is the moment the apathy that defined him up until now begins to lose its grip, replaced by newfound determination.

This change in Aegon will be furthered by the death of Jaehaerys, a source of pride and a reminder for him that he is capable to create and care for something precious and pure (thank you TGC) -> I won't go into this deeper, let's wait until the season airs.

In conclusion, a wise woman once said that apathy is death. For so much of his life Aegon embodied apathy, only for the very thing he feared most (kingship) to make him rethink everything. Aegon will be driven by his determination, but this path will lead to his destruction, consuming him until there is barely anything left of him. It will ultimately tear him apart; he is both redeemed and ruined by the weight of a crown he never wanted.

Aemma Arryn: the Real Victim

I'm back on my soapbox about book vs show characterization, this time about Aemma Arryn. Aemma is obviously a tragic character, her mother died soon after she was born, she had many miscarriages with only one child surviving infancy, and she ultimately was killed to try to save her son who died anyway. However, the show tried again and again to romanticize her and her relationship with Viserys and trying to make it seem like she got a better deal in life than fucking Alicent (yes it all circles back to her, how she was written is my villain origin story, I fucking swear).

The show decides to either gloss over or completely remove the fact that Aemma was herself a child bride. She was thirteen when she was forced to marry Viserys (16) and was immediately forced to start having kids. This is a plot point they decided to instead give to Alicent (because of fucking course they did). Not only that, but they aged both her and Viserys up so, when she dies, Aemma looks to be around her 30s rather than the 23 she is in the book.

Another thing the show swapped between Aemma and Alicent is who Viserys "loved most". In the show, Viserys pines after Aemma for the rest of his life, even calling Alicent Aemma in episode 7. However, in the books, Viserys and Aemma are an arranged marriage by Queen Alysanne. And while he obviously loves Rhaenyra, his relationship with Aemma is kept vague. But after her death, he chooses not only to remarry (which was unnecessary since he had named Rhaenyra as his heir). Not only that but he chooses a woman (because yes Alicent was an adult by our standards when she married him) who gives no political gain and in doing so spurns many much more powerful houses (like the Velaryons). The book literally says he married her for love, Alicent not Aemma. But in the show, Viserys clearly loved Aemma more, which fed into his favoritism of Rhaenyra (which I'm not denying, but in the books there is no evidence that Viserys was as absent as they paint him to be in the show). Not only that, they take her story and make it into a sick romance while the true victimization is given almost completely to Alicent.

Now I'd like to touch on Aemma's views on honor and duty. She tells Rhaenyra in episode 1 that the birthing bed is their battlefield, a line which mirrors Alysanne and Daela's conversation before Aemma's birth (a decision by the Condal & Hess I actually like lol). She has given her all her teenage years and eventually her fucking life to fulfill her duties as a wife, desperately trying to give Viserys a male heir. Her entire life is full of the consequences of the patriarchy and the dehumanization of women. From her mother's death to Rhaenys being passed over as heir to Aemma's own death even to Rhaenyra being usurped.

Aemma embodies everything Alicent stans claim to defend and everything they make Alicent out to be. She is a child bride, she gave up her teenage years for giving birth to/raising children, she has almost no agency, and her daughter shares in her suffering. Alicent (in the books) has none of these things, except for the fact that Helaena is suffering, but that is something Alicent fucking orchestrated. Basically, if Alicent's stans actually believed what they claimed, they'd love Aemma not Alicent. Thanks for reading, long live Queen Rhaenyra and Team Black.

"The closest relationship she had is probably with aemond, but she’s watching him grow up into an absolute killer, which is terrifying for her."— Olivia Cooke

There's something so funny to my about this quote. Like, it paints Alicent as being just a passive observer in Aemond's life, not his, you know, fucking mother. Alicent was the most active parent in Aemond's life (show canon), if anyone would have had influence in his development, it would've been her.

This is something we see play out in the show. Alicent allows Aegon to bully Aemond, as long as it's not in public. She does nothing to actually help Aemond by dealing with her other son. Instead, she nurtures Aemond's resentment of his nephews and allows the divide between him and his brother to grow worse. This leaves him completely without a support system other than her, an emotionally unstable woman who uses her son as her anchor, a very unhealthy situation for Aemond to grow up in.

Now I'm not saying it's all Alicent's fault that Aemond is a psychopathic kinslayer, he's responsible for his own choices. I'm just saying she definitely majorly contributed to his fucked up view of the world and his family. She raised him to be an elitist blood purist who barely saw his nephews as people, had no issue beating up and insulting Baela and Rhaena, and has a major Madonna-Whore complex regarding Alicent/Helaena and Rhaenyra. She taught him to hate his family and view himself as better than them. She isn't a passive observer, she is Aemond's greatest influence.

HOTD finale leaks, Daenerys and TPtwP, retcon?

Okay. So this is something that is just irritating as hell right now. Currently some Jon fans (and I am one myself too--to some extent-- so this is not coming from a Jon hater) are really unhappy that the leaks show that Daemon already saw centuries ago that Dany will be the The Prince that was Promised. They are alleging that this is somehow a retcon of the original. To them, here is my question: Original what? Show or Book?

In the show, there is no clear Prince that was Promised. The last time the Prophecy is mentioned is in 7x02 when it is clarified that it is nuetral with respect to gender. It never shows up in season 8. Nor do the events of season 8 give us any further clue on the prophecy. Every plan made by Jon and Dany failed to stop the Night King in 8x03. By the end of the episode both Jon and Dany are in hopeless situations. Only the surprise attack by Arya (of all people) defeated the Night King after he had, by all rights, won. Arya, of course, if we follow the show's narrative was prepared by the Lord of Light (and knew nothing about any of this) and had nothing to do with Jon and Dany. Not even the show claimed that Arya was the Prince that was promised.

In the books, there is no case for claiming that this is a retcon in any way. In fact, by the end of Book 5 (the last one so far released), Dany is the most obvious candidate for the position. We have the red priests proclaiming it (btw they are also proclaiming it in the show, recall Kinvara). Maester Aemon, who seems to have spent his whole life looking for the fulfilment of the prophecy and is an expert on it also identifies Dany. The signs are all there ('dragons from stone' etc.). Born amidst 'salt and smoke' (Dragonstone), 'bleeding star' (red comet) and so on.

So what gives?

I should also point something out that is essentially stated again and again as if it were established canon:

That Jon IS THE SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, becasue he is THE SON OF ICE (Stark) AND FIRE (Targaryen). It seems that the ones who make this argument think that repeating it often enough and loudly, along with derisive dismissals of those who do not agree with them is sufficient to make it a canonical fact. However, none of this changes the fact that THIS IS AN UNCONFIRMED FAN THEORY.

I will be the last to deny that there is evidence poiting towards Jon as well. However, as of ADwD, Jon and Dany are the only plausible characters who can be TPtwP. To make either fit, some parts of the prophecy need to be interpreted metaphorically (with there being canonical support for such metaphorical interpretations, no less) while the others fit literally (for example, 'sword' has to be given a metaphorical interpretation for Dany, while she fulfils the part about awakening dragons from stone literally). If one of them is the one, it can hardly be called retcon.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BOOK!DAENERYS’ AND SHOW!RHAENYRA’S VIEWS ON QUEENSHIP 

(none of the Dany quotes above were included on Game of Thrones)

Marc Simonetti:  On the ADWD cover for Brazil, I put Daenerys at the top of the stairs of the Meereenese pyramid. I had undoubtedly been, unconsciously, influenced by the series. And George [R. R. Martin] told me that Daenerys wants equality for everyone, she wants to be at the same level as her people, so I had her climb down to keep it consistent.

~

GRRM:  By Season 5 and 6, and certainly 7 and 8, I was pretty much out of the loop.

~

GRRM: So I think what you’re going to find is, when “Winds of Winter” and then, hopefully, “Dream of Spring” come out, that my ending will be very different.

~

GRRM: As I write these last two books, I’ll be moving towards the endings that I’ve known since 1991. | GRRM in the 1993 outline: Five central characters will make it through all three volumes. […] The five key players are Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and three of the children of Winterfell, Arya, Bran, and the bastard Jon Snow. | GRRM: Not all of the characters who survived until the end of GAME OF THRONES will survive until the end of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE, and not all of the characters who died on GAME OF THRONES will die in A SONG OF ICE & FIRE.

~

GRRM: Well of course the two outlying ones, the things that are going on north of the Wall and Daenerys Targaryen on the other continent with her dragons are of course the Ice and Fire of the title, the Song of Ice and Fire. | HOTD (Aegon’s prophecy reveal came from GRRM):  And if the world of men is to survive, a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne. A king or queen strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and the dark. Aegon called his dream ‘The Song of Ice and  Fire’. | GRRM: Fire is love, fire is passion, fire is sexual ardor and all of these things. Ice is betrayal, ice is revenge, ice is… you know, that kind of cold inhumanity and all that stuff is being played out in the books.

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN’S STATEMENTS AND HOUSE OF THE DRAGON INDICATING THAT DAENERYS TARGARYEN IS THE PROPHESIED HERO OF A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE

George R. R. Martin: *associates Daenerys with the founder of the Targaryen dynasty who intended to unite Westeros in preparation for the War for the Dawn - she’s literally called “Aegon the Conqueror with teats”*

*has Daenerys dream about burning white walkers with dragonfire* 

*makes it clear that Daenerys is Azor Ahai/Princess That Was Promised* (“Azor Ahai shall […] wake dragons out of stone”/“No one ever looked for a girl. […] Daenerys is the one. […] The dragons prove it.”)

*confirms that Daenerys and her dragons are the Fire - which, according to his own description, symbolizes “love”, “passion” and “sexual ardor” in contrast to Ice representing “betrayal”, “revenge” and “cold inhumanity” - of A Song of Ice and Fire*

House of the Dragon (note that GRRM had more influence on that show than on Game of Thrones): *plays a song called “The Prince That Was Promised” - which was inspired by Daenerys’ theme songs - during the reveal of Aegon I’s prophetic dream (which came from GRRM himself)*

*has Aegon I name his dream ‘the song of ice and fire’ - which, as the GRRM himself already confirmed, refers to the Others and Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons*

*reveals that Aegon I’s dream (aka the song of ice and fire) is about a Targaryen king or queen - most likely Daenerys Targaryen - uniting humanity against the Others*

*has Daemon see the red comet (aka the herald of Azor Ahai) before it cuts to Daenerys (aka Aegon the Conqueror with teats, Azor Ahai Returned/Prince That Was Promised, the Fire of ASOIAF) and her dragons (aka Lightbringer) in his prophetic dream*

I want to talk about the specific Dany’s theme that plays while Viserys I reveals to Rhaenyra about Aegon’s dream. For those who might be wondering which exactly of Dany’s themes it is, it’s “Breaker of Chains”. Here are the two videos for comparison. The “Breaker of Chains” theme starts playing at the exact moment Viserys starts to talk about Aegon’s dream (from 2:29 to 3:56). Listen to the Breaker of Chains theme from 1:40 to 3:00:

As you can see, it’s pretty much the same theme. Dany’s theme even intensifies in the exact moment that Viserys says that a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne if the world is to survive, a king or queen (notice how the show makes sure to not forget to mention that it can be a queen) strong enough to unite the realm, and that Aegon called his dream “the song of ice and fire”.

So, to sum up what we’ve learned:

Aegon called his dream “the song of ice and fire” and “the song of ice and fire” is exactly the name of the prophecy Dany learns about in the House of the Undying (and Dany is the only character to ever hear about the song of ice and fire), and of course, “A Song of Ice and Fire” is the title of the books;

The theme that plays during the scene that Viserys tells this secret to Rhaenyra is called “The Prince That Was Promised”, once again confirming the idea that Aegon’s dream, which he called “the song of ice and fire”, is about the prophecy we’ve been hearing about in the books, the Prince That Was Promised/Azor Ahai prophecy (yes, they ARE the same);

The part of “The Prince that was promised” theme that plays during the moment in which Viserys talks about the song of ice and fire and the prince that was promised is DANY’S THEME, “Breaker of Chains”;

GRRM is way more involved in House of the Dragon than he ever was in Game of Thrones, and he already said in interview that he was the one who told the showrunners about Aegon’s dream. So all of this came from GRRM, meaning it’s no coincidence that Dany’s theme is there at that exact moment.

To me, this CONFIRMS, without a shadow of doubt, that DANY is the princess that was promised/Azor Ahai, and that HERS is the song of ice and fire (and it also confirms that the Game of Thrones ending is bullshit, and Dany is actually destined to save the world).