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the-daily-dreamer · 10 months

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I think the love that Rhaenys gets is kind of insane when you really look at her as a character. Because frankly she is insanely hypocritical and selfish.

Rhaenys is incredibly passive in her behaviors and essentially dedicates her life to make her husband happy. Which is totally fine and her choice…except for the fact that she insults Alicent for serving the men in her life and belittles her for it.

She willingly offers up her 12 year old child to a creepy older man to get her blood on the throne and to please her husband by getting his blood on the throne. Which is just as bad (arguably worse than) Otto offering up his 15 year old. So if you hate him, hate Rhaenys.

She kills a bunch of small folk without a care simply to show off that she’s powerful and better and can’t be chained down. And I’m sorry, if you hated Cersei for blowing up the sept (as her one and only option to survive) and the smallfolk in and around it…you can’t support Rhaenys caving the walls in on a bunch of people for no reason.

And really consider this. In the case of Otto, everyone hates him for plotting to get his daughter to marry Viserys and then get his grandchildren on the throne over Rhaenyra. But if Viserys had taken the ludicrous offer from Rhaenys to marry her 12 year old daughter…do you think she and her husband would’ve accepted Rhaenyra as heir? Obviously not. If Viserys married Laena and had sons with her, Corlys and Rhaenys would’ve been the #1 supporters of the “Rhaenyra isn’t the heir” brigade. They’d have used all their power to intimidate Viserys until he changed his mind, and if he didn’t…as soon as Viserys would die, they’d have their grandson on that iron chair faster than you can say “Rest in Peace”.

The only reason she supports Rhaenyra now is because of the marriage between the strong boys and her granddaughters. And the concept of her husbands “blood” being on the throne in name.

You can’t convince me in any way that Rhaenys is in any way a girlboss or feminist. What she is a hypocritical woman who, if the circumstances were different, would place herself and her family above Rhaenyra in a heartbeat. Lord knows she tried.

#game of thrones #house of the dragon #anti team black #anti rhaenys #anti rhaenys targaryen #anti corlys velaryon #anti corlys #anti rhaenyra targaryen #anti rhaenyra #anti viserys #anti viserys i targaryen

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2rats1gogh · 5 months

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I’m sorry but it’s literally so dumb and silly of Rhaenys to support the widow and the widower of both her dead children that died violent deaths under suspicious circumstances, especially after the two of said them got married like, the day after Laena’s funeral, and especially if they want to put THEIR OWN children on the throne.

Like there is literally no reason for her to be on Rhaenyra’s and Daemon’s side 💀💀💀💀 Why tf is she supporting Luke’s bastards’ ass claim to Driftmark when Baela is literally there?? To please her husband?? Wtf

#anti rhaenys targaryen #anti rhaenys #anti team black #anti team black stans #anti rhaenyra stans #anti rhaenyra #anti rhaenyra targaryen #anti daemyra #anti daemon x rhaenyra #anti daemon targaryen #pro team green #team green #hotd #house of the dragon #asoiaf #fire and blood

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lovl3igh · 24 days

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rhaenys really didn't give a shit that three boys will be in danger as long as driftmark would go to her / then baela didn't she? at least until viserys showed up so she changed her mind because;

1. she thought viserys gonna support rhaenyra anyway even if she'd say that corlys wanted driftmark to go to baela

2. if it was otto's decision she would be AGAIN dismissed bc she's a woman and driftmark would go to vaemond and then his sons instead of baela and with rhaenyra's offer at least rhaena would be lady of driftmark and then her line would rule for next years

3. even if she would won there's still would be daemyra against her and later rhaenyra on the throne, so people would still spread the rumours but ignore it officially so velaryon boys would still matter in the line of succesion, daemon and nyra would marry baela to luke so the driftmark would go with velaryon name thanks to luke anyway (in the matter of marriage it was daemyra's decision after all and twins were targaryen by name)

4. corlys would be pissed for ignoring his choice and also for endangering jace, luke and joffrey and there was still chance for him to come back

I'd give her points for announcing officially that jace and luke are betrohed to dragon twins so rhaenyra wouldn't back off but otherwise rhaenys was bitch right there. she does not have a prove that nyra killed laenor, the truth is it could all just daemon who after losing laena could see this as opportunity to be with rhaenyra

as far as rhaenys knows nyra was keeping laenor's secret and gave him sons he took as his own. if that was such big of a problem and rhaenyra was really so ruthless she'd killed him long time ago, before jace and then marry harwin (which now viserys would more likely agree to it, especially that harwin's status was better since his father was officially the hand and also nyra kept her part of a deal with marrying laenor and before that viserys let her choose her spouse). all rhaenys knows that laenor loved those three boys, corlys loves them and so the twins and she has a problem bc they're not directly laenor's blood. bitch. what those three boys did to you exactly to throw them under the bus dragon

rhaenys in books is so much better character, i don't like how creators made her inconsistent in the show (and looking at trailer, they keep going with that), how she switches and changes her mind to please anyone, mostly her husband, her killing people for badass moment but stopping at killing greens... if it was for kinslaying, she would take that to assure safety of baela and rhaena at very least, but it just wasn't her war to start and now we have consequences, while it was her in books who said to use dragons against greens. GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK RHAENYS

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leopard-skin-pillbox-hat-ok · 2 years

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Targaryens need to be extinct!

#kill them #it’s what they deserve #anti targ stans #anti targaryen #anti targ restoration #anti rhaenyra targaryen #anti daemyra #anti rhaenys #house of the dragon #anti dany stans #anti daenerys targaryen

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inmydrcams · 2 years

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I can’t overthink the bs speech r.haenys gave to a.licent cause the more I overthink it the more upset I get. the woman who did not fight for her own birthright, the woman who did not fight for her daughter nor her granddaughters to inherit, the woman who’d let bastards inherit what is rightfully her granddaughter’s is the one giving speeches about someone ELSE playing the patriarchy game???

#ch; a. hightower #hotd spoilers /#tbd #anti rhaenys #I hate that they ruined her too #at least a.licent's window is bigger than hers

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chrkrose · 30 days

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No, but if we stop to think about it, indeed the set up for the dance is so weak, specially when George had a better set up right then and there that he solved with the council of 101: Rhaenys vs Viserys. The daughter of the eldest son and heir vs the son of the second son. This should have been the configuration of the dance.

Then he had the second best set up: Rhaenyra vs Daemon. The daughter of the king vs the brother of the king.

He screwed over both scenarios and went with the worst one, one that would never really make much sense, especially when you consider the reasons why Rhaenyra was chosen as an heir (to avoid Daemon ascending to the throne). Not only Viserys fixed this problem by marrying again and having not only one, but three sons… Rhaenyra went to marry Daemon. Like, there’s no realistic scenario where she wouldn’t have been disinherited right then and there, or where the realm wouldn’t rally behind Aegon instead of her, especially when she fucked off to Dragonstone instead of trying to assert herself as heir and future queen in KL.

George just made really bad choices overall, that’s why the dance feels kind of weird and some plot points are very forced to fit into the narrative instead of feeling like natural consequences of what was happening.

#fire & blood #asoiaf #anti rhaenyra targaryen #dance of the dragons #house of the dragon #hotd #rhaenyra targaryen #king viserys #daemon targaryen #rhaenys targaryen #aegon ii targaryen

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phantomflower · 6 months

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pessimisticpigeonsworld · 1 month

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HOTD has made many interesting choices in their adaptation of the story of the Dance. One of their favorite excuses for many of their questionable choices is "feminism". Why did they remove Alicent's ambitions and autonomy? Feminism. Why is Rhaenyra less proactive and hesitant? Feminism. Why are Daemon and Otto the primary active agents in the lead up to the Dance? Well women can't be in the wrong or violent, so feminism.

These choices are the farthest thing from feminist; they're sexist, end of story. Every decision surrounding the women of the Dance reeks of benevolent sexism. One of the most obviously sexist decisions made is the purposeful removal of female cooperation and friendship.

Rhaenyra in F&B has many female allies and friends. Her ladies in waiting loved her so much, one of them, Lady Elinda Massey gouged out her eyes at the sight of Rhaenyra's death. Lady Jeyne Arryn, Lady Alysanne Blackwood, and Lady Sabitha Frey/Vypren are just a few examples of ladies who fought for Rhaenyra (Alysanne and Sabitha literally fought in battles). Lady Fell chose death over betraying her oath to Rhaenyra.

Now, we haven't had any opportunity to meet most of these women I listed in the show. Lady Fell was portrayed as she was written in the book, a very minor character who simply foreshadowed how most of the realm would choose Rhaenyra over Aegon. Elinda Massey, however was reduced to an unnamed servant, not even a lady in waiting. Her treatment is an echo of one of my biggest issues with HOTD, the treatment of Laena and Rhaenys.

Laena was Rhaenyra's dearest friend in the book, in fact it's implied that they had a romantic relationship. Whether you believe that telling or not, it's undeniable that she and Laena were extremely close. They chose to betroth their children while they were infants, Rhaenyra flew to Laena's bedside during her final labor, and she stood vigil with Daemon over Laena's body.

All of that closeness and intimacy was removed in the show to make room for Alicent. So let's break that down: they removed a long and healthy relationship between two women and replaced it with a short-lived (in terms of screen time) friendship that quickly fell apart and turned into an intense rivalry. Reinforcing an old stereotype of female friendship: that it is entrenched in rivalry and toxicity and can quickly be turned to enmity. Alicent was so quickly and easily turned against Rhaenyra and it's even implied that she was jealous of Rhaenyra long before they became enemies.

Rhaenys in the book was an ardent supporter of Rhaenyra. She happily claimed Jace, Luke, and Joff as her grandsons, advised Rhaenyra to go to war, and gladly flew against Aegon and Aemond.

Meanwhile, in the show, Rhaenys was turned into one of Rhaenyra's rivals. She constantly challenged Rhaenyra's ideas, dismissed her as a naive child, disliked her children, and even considered backing the Greens. On top of that, they turned her into yet another "peaceful" woman. She advises against the war, and seems to continue to do so in season two. Rhaenys is virtually unrecognizable in the show. They chose to take a woman who tried to prevent a younger woman being wronged by the patriarchy the same way she was and turned her into a bitter woman who resents Rhaenyra (for most of the show).

HOTD claimed to have wanted to tell a story about how the patriarchy pits women against each other. That's all very well and good, but that's not what they actually did. They took a story where a woman is wrongfully usurped because of her gender and is supported by many other women and turned it into another tired female rivalry story.

Rhaenyra has no female friends aside from Alicent. Laena was turned from her dearest friend/lover into simply a rival for Daemon's affection. Rhaenys was turned from a supportive mentor and defender to someone who took out her resentment for the system on a fourteen year old who only starts to support her when she's proven "peaceful".

HOTD chose to perpetuate a harmful stereotype about women: that we constantly view each other as threats/rivals and can't have truly healthy relationships with other women. Rhaenyra had women who supported and cared for her in the book, in the show all she has is Alicent. A woman who abused and undermined her for ten years, raised her children to hate her, and usurped her. Every change HOTD made in the name of "feminism" solidified just how sexist it really is.

#rhaenyra targaryen #canon rhaenyra targaryen #laena velaryon #rhaenys targaryen #rhaenys the queen who never was #anti hotd #anti ryan condal #anti sarah hess #asoiaf #house of the dragon #team black #anti team green #anti alicent hightower

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drakaripykiros130ac · 17 days

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“The whole point of the story is that both Rhaenyra and Aegon were unfit to rule.”

Wrong.

The point of the story is that in a patriarchal society, women would get usurped regardless what they do, and what kind of people they are.

Rhaena (firstborn child of King Aenys)

Rhaenys (only child of Prince Aemon, eldest son and heir of King Jaehaerys I)

Rhaenyra (firstborn child of King Viserys I)

The Dance of the Dragons is about how Rhaenyra Targaryen was usurped by her evil and greedy stepmother in favor of her own son (the story was originally called “The Princess and the Queen”).

This is an absolute monarchy. More than half of the monarchs who sat that throne, were unfit to rule. Nobody cares about that.

It’s about who is the rightful ruler.

The rightful ruler was Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (just like Empress Matilda had been the rightful Queen of England).

And as a plus, out of all of King Viserys’ children, Rhaenyra is obviously the most qualified/most competent to sit the Iron Throne. There is no question about that.

#team black #pro team black #rhaenyra targaryen #princess rhaenys targaryen #rhaena the black bride #rhaenys targaryen #canon asoiaf #asoiaf #anti team green #asoiaf meta #the dance of the dragons #fire and blood #anti aegon ii targaryen #anti alicent hightower #house of the dragon #hotd #a song of ice and fire

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thesunfyre4446 · 18 days

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i need to talk about laenor for a minute

"he was happy!" "ha wanted to leave his family!"

mmmm are you sure?

because in ep 6 he wants to leave KL, yeah, but he def does not want to disappear. he wants to join his family in the stepstones. he's tired, he's done. he has "played his part". was he really that happy with his modern family in KL? because it sure didn't sound like it when rhaenyra has to command him to stay by her side because she needs him to keep covering up for her.

when rhaenyra and daemon had that convo in ep 6 when rhaenyra wanted to have laenor killed and daemon convinced her to give him a choice.

the choice was go away or we'll kill you.

they actually went to laenor on his sister's funeral, when his family needed him the most and made him leave. laenor wanted to leave KL to join his family in the stepstones. he never wanted his family to think he's dead, especially not when they've just lost laena.

and that plot makes 0 sense because if laenor ever comes back rhaenyra and daemon will be branded as liars and traitors & their children will be declared as illegitimate. not to mention, if rhaenys and corlys ever find out about what they did their alliance is over. like rhaenys will literally burn them. the fact that they knew how much corlys and rhaenys suffered and still chose not to tell them about laenor is so messed up.

#laenor valeryon #laena velaryon #corlys valeryon #rhaenys velaryon #anti rhaenyra targaryen #anti daemon targaryen #hotd #house of the dragon

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the-loststone · 3 months

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HotD Team Green Defense

The amount of people who fail to grasp Team Green's perspective is honestly staggering to me. So many people are Team Black, maybe out of some (misplaced) belief that they are being feminists and advocating for female power, or something like that, and choose to ignore the very legitimate worries and motivations of Team Green. Admittedly, the show has gone out of it's way to villainize Team Green as much as possible, while victimizing Team Black, and deviating from the source material for this narrative. (I would tell them to be suspicious when showrunners do that because they did the same thing to Daenerys in GoT and everyone was surprised when she turned around and burned a city down in a rushed ending because the show never properly developed her arc.) Nevertheless, despite their efforts to make Team Green the less appealing side, if I had to compare motivations, Team Black is the more villainous.

So many people dismiss the fact that for Rhaenyra to secure her throne, she would have to kill her siblings. They write it off as paranoia of Alicent, or ambitions of her and Otto, that they are making excuses for Aegon to be made king instead of Rhaenyra. But that's just not true. These are very real likelihoods. Even if Aegon did not seek the throne, or he and his brothers decided to gracefully allow the succession to pass to Rhaenyra, it would never be peaceful. Just look at Rhaenys and how Corlys is still bitter and Viserys has been worried that they may come after him since she has a right to the throne. That's one of the main benefits in having Rhaenyra marry Ser Laenor was to join their claims. Or look at how worried everyone was of Daemon, and how he may seize power after Viserys. The only thing keeping him alive was his brother's love for him, the fact that their house was dwindling, and no one was fighting on his behalf over Viserys. So if there is every another claimant, it would be a great worry that the side in power may be kicked off by another claimant. And Aegon and his brothers are men, and just by virtue of having dicks, they have a better claim to the throne. All laws, precedent, and cultures in Westeros have male heirs before female heirs. The king's word does not change that. And note that the King only made Rhaenyra his heir over his brother. So technically, the King said "all my children first, including my daughter, then my brother." (Something already controversial because if it was accepted before, Rhaenys would be Queen and he would be nothing). But he never again made a statement for the lords after his sons births. He never reinforced Rhaenyra's succession as his heir outside the privacy of their own quarters. Alicent even said, let the lords come and decide, and make vows, and he and Rhaenyra reject it because they worried the Lords would choose Aegon.

Rhaenyra knows, to inherit without rebellions every few years from lords who are unhappy with her and want to supplant her with her brothers, she would have to kill her brothers and make sure there are no people who can contest her right to inherit.

And this is just Rhaenyra's succession. Now add in the fact that she's claiming illegitimate children as her heirs. Very obvious illegitimate children. Even if Rhaenyra managed to successfully inherit with no push back from anyone, and no one wanted to supplant her with her brothers so she didn't have to kill them then... well guess what, she'll have to kill them to secure her son's ascension to the throne. (And if she won't then Daemon certainly would). And then, even if she does kill all the Greens, then there's the issue of her legitimate children vs. her illegitimate children. Even if the kids grew up to love each other, someone may say, well the first three shouldn't inherit, let's put the legitimate ones on the throne. And then you have a completely different succession crisis.

Viserys' actions may seem to the viewers as promoting girl power and feminism, but that's not what's happening. He's being an abusive, neglectful shit. He's deliberately putting the rest of his children's lives in jeopardy, and even the Strong grandchildren he claims to love, because by keeping them in the succession despite their obvious illegitimacy invites people to contest that. And that's not to say he couldn't have taken steps to remedy this. He could have changed the rules so that succession passes to the eldest child, regardless of gender. But he didn't. He could have acknowledged that his grandchildren were illegitimate and forgiven it and legitimized them as Targaryens, but he didn't (conveniently usurping Valeryons - and people may argue that Baela/ Rhaena can still rule being married to Jace/Luke, but that's not the same as being able to rule in your own right, otherwise, why not take the offer for Rhaenyra to marry Aegon).

But since he didn't do any of these things, the only way to stop the Dance would have been for him to make Aegon his successor. Something that everyone would have been relieved by because it would have prevented war. But he didn't. And so, Alicent has to fight to keep her kids alive. The Greens have to push their claim to survive. Whereas, had Rhaenyra graciously backed off her claim, saying that yes, she had 3 brothers, and while they were younger, the laws and precedent are in their corner to inherit, then she would have lived. People wouldn't have fought for her claim if she hadn't pushed it. Nor would they fight for an illegitimate heir.

But some may say... Well Rhaenyra has more supporters. She does. She has the Velaryons and countless other houses backing her. So do the Greens. (the Greens have the wealthiest houses). But once it becomes a fight to throne, it's less about who has the right, and more about who can offer you the most. Notice the Starks and the Baratheons agree to fight because they'll get a wedding out of it (and the Starks because they'll have somewhere to send people during their current famine). The Vale because of the blood ties. The Lannisters because of past insults. Once it's decided to be a fight, it's never about who actually has a right to the throne, it becomes about who can give you the most so you can help them win it.

And this is what it really comes down to. Rhaenyra had a choice. She can back off, and her family can survive. Her brothers can live. Her sons will live. Or she can inherit, and her brothers can die. And she is perfectly willing for her brothers to die. And some may say that that's a very jaded view to take on Rhaenyra and she would never kill her family if she could help it... but it would be out of her hands. It would be necessary to protect her son's right to inherit and to keep away possible rebellions.

And you know, fine, that's okay. She wants to fight for the throne, more power to her. She can go after the throne and kill her brothers. But I don't think it's right that people say that she's the aggrieved party. She's not. She's the aggressor.

And that is why I'm team Green. Because Alicent is right. Just by living and breathing, Aegon and his brothers are threats to Rhaenyra. And this would have happened no matter who Viserys married. Sure people can be upset that Alicent married her bffs dad (something that only happens in the show because in the books, Alicent is 10 years older than Rhaenyra and they weren't close), but that doesn't mean her children should die because Rhaenyra is the preferred child. That doesn't mean the realm should be thrown into war because Alicent 'seduced' a widow. (And I say that with heavy sarcasm because Viserys is a grown ass man.)

And then there's the argument of who's the better house because of blood purity. It's a ridiculous argument and I'm honestly annoyed by people who are Targaryen purists and believe in the whole, dragon supremacy. Hightower is badass house. A lot of people don't realize that they've been around since The Wall and Winterfell were built (Bran the Builder built Hightower, commissioned by the Lord / King of Hightower). They've been around since before Targaryen's rode dragons. So spare me the ridiculous arguments of who's got the most Targaryen blood. If anything, Team Green is more Westerosi, you know, the country they are trying to rule.

In the end, the show will do what it does best, and disappoint you. Either they'll continue pushing this narrative of girl-boss queen and fail to show the complexity of the political situation that result from Rhaenyra's decisions. Or they might stick to the book and have a complex issue actually displayed and show both Aegon and Rhaenyra's descent into madness.

There are more issues one could delve into. Like the fact that Rhaenyra married Daemon. That either Corlys Velaryon has so much unhinged ambition that he's ignored deaths in his house to side with those who have literally murdered his family (cough cough Vaemond and Laenor) (and the whole Laenor excuse in the show makes no sense because no way in hell are Rhaenyra and Daemon risking that he's ever found and that their kids are declared bastards; it is much cleaner for them to do it like they did in the books and kill him) or there will be serious repercussions from the deaths of Velaryons and continued discussion of the succession of Driftmark/High Tide.

But that's the main summary of my thoughts. 👍

If you made it to the end of my rant. Thank you.

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the-daily-dreamer · 2 years

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Ok so Rhaenys gets on Alicent’s case about being “in service to men” and perpetuating male power.

But that entire scene was so hypocritical. Rhaenys lost her chance at having the iron throne and simply accepted it. She didn’t fight for her claim or anything. Instead she flew off to driftmark and lived her life.

Even worse, Rhaenys tried to bring Alicent down for essentially perpetuating the patriarchy by placing her son on the throne. But in the episode prior she perpetuated the patriarchy tenfold by deciding that the boy who is completely unrelated her or her son should take the throne over the daughter of her daughter. A true born heir. If you choose a bastard boy who you know is not related to your marital Velaryon family in any way (and therefore has zero claim to the lands of that family) simply because he is the assumed son of your son, over the daughter of your daughter whom you know for a fact is related to the family who owns the lands…that’s not feminism.

Say what you will about bastardy or whatever. But you can’t claim you’re a girlboss feminist when you pick an unrelated bastard boy to rule over his true born cousin who is a girl. That is perpetuating the patriarchy. That is showing that any man is better than a woman to rule according to you.

The hypocrisy of that scene was astounding. Alicent places her son on the throne over Rhaenyra (for their family’s own safety), and suddenly she’s a victim of patriarchal society (not when she was a child bride being raped tho). But Rhaenys will claim she is rocking the boat by *checks notes* accepting her title of “The Queen Who Never Was” and putting a bastard boy on the seat over her true born granddaughter simply because he is the “son” of her son.

#team black’s feminism is insanity #to be a feminist on team black you need to earn an Olympic gold medal in gymnastic #the reaches and jumps they go through: astounding #house of the dragon #game of thrones #anti targaryen #anti targ stans #anti Rhaenys Targaryen #anti Rhaenys #alicent hightower #pro alicent hightower #alicent hightower defense squad #team alicent #team green #anti team black

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2rats1gogh · 1 month

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I’ve never really seen anyone talking about this, but I noticed that one of the main reasons why I am team green is because team green feels like an actual team that is in this whole thing together.

Team Green feels connected, united, like a family.

Team Black on the other hand is… meh.

And let me explain why:

Rhaenyra being delusional and thinking that Daemon is actually in love with her when he literally just groomed her since she was a child because he has always been after her title and now wants to be her king consort. They have one of the most toxic, creepy and problematic relationships in the entire fucking show.

Then there is the very awkward and uncomfortable moment of Rhaenyra and Daemon having sex on Laena’s funeral, while Rhaenys, Corlys, Baela, Rhaena and Laenor are mourning the loss of their daughter, mother and sister. How fucking disrespectful is this. And then the fact that they have Laenor “killed” just so they can get married and have their own perfectly blonde targaryen babies.

And Rhaenyra lying about Jace, Luke and Joff to everyone in her very own “team”, trying to gaslight not only Corlys, and Rhaenys but also her own sons into thinking they are trueborn, when even Jace himself. as a child, starts asking questions.

Then there are obviously Rhaenys and Corlys, who for some fucking reason neglected their trueborn granddaughters in favor of some dark haired white bastards their daughter-in-law is trying to pass off as their son’s children. Rhaenys is trying sooo hard to please her misogynistic husband because he so desperately wants his name to go down in history. Then the disrespectful betrothal of Jace and Luke to Baela and Rhaena. Rhaenyra is literally robbing these poor girls of their rightful claim to Driftmark and usurping them. And now, with Luke being dead, Rhaena’s claim dies with him.

Baela and Rhaena losing their mother, and now their father suddenly remarries, and has two blonde boys. Rhaenys losing BOTH her children and then seeing her son-in-law and daughter-in-law getting married soon after that.

Everyone in team black is after their own ambitions. They lie to each other, they don’t trust each other, they suspect each other in different things, they cheat on each other (with each other) and lie about it, they give each other forced ultimatums, and yada yada. All their scenes feel forced, tense, awkward and uncomfortable. They look so miserable with each other.

Team Green in this sense is the exact opposite.

Although their dynamic is far from perfect, obviously, you cannot deny that they care about each other very very deeply.

Alicent loves all of her children, and even while acknowledging their flaws, she still loves them.

Aemond might’ve been a little envious of Aegon, but he would never turn his back on him. He would never betray his brother, be would never try to take his crown from him.

Aegon was far from being a perfect man and king, but, as we know, it was his love for his family, and the fear of them getting hurt that made him a more responsible person and a more protective father, husband and brother. Sure, he is a cheater, but at least he’s honest about it and doesn’t lie to his wife. He is not a hypocrite.

Criston is working for Alicent not for ambition or for self-gain, but because he genuinely loves her, whether it’s romantic or platonic, doesn’t matter.

Helaena would never betray her family, her brothers, her mother. They are all she has. She would never switch sides even if given an opportunity.

And even Otto, arguably one of the main villains of the whole show, still loves his family. Sure, he is ambitious, but he would never become Corlys level of ambitious.

Team Green feels like they are fighting against the enemy all together, they have the same goals, they feel united and you can feel their devotion to each other. Especially after blood and cheese, when they become closer than ever. They’re in this together and only if they stick to each other, they can make it. It feels genuine and honest. They don’t hide anything from each other, they always have their loved ones’ best interests at heart, they would never in a million years betray each other. Yes, they are all doomed from the start, but their dedication and love to each other is truly something else.

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wishesofeternity · 1 year

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“You toil still in service to men. Your father, your husband, your son. You desire not to be free, but to make a window in the wall of your prison. Have you never imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?”

A couple of things:

1) Alicent is a queen consort and is a Hightower by birth, so no, she cannot imagine herself on the Iron Throne, because Targaryen succession does not work like that. This is basic knowledge that 5-year-olds would presumably be expected to know, and I am astounded and embarrassed that Rhaenys, with her age and experience, lacks this fundamental bit of common sense.

2) Alicent has been the functional regent of Westeros for the past six years. In the previous episode, we see her actively governing the realm and overseeing all royal matters (while Rhaenyra sits on her ass with her loser husband in Dragonstone). We also literally hear Vaemond tell Rhaenys “It’s not a king who sits the Iron Throne these days, good sister. It’s the queen”, so I can assure you, Rhaenys, that Alicent has physically sat on the Iron Throne just fine. She lacks authority, obviously, as she is the consort and not the king, but she certainly did not and does not lack power, to say nothing about influence. This ridiculous show, however, does not seem to be able to differentiate these terms.

3) Does this show not understand that Alicent installing her son as King is not just beneficial to him (which the show acknowledges) but also directly beneficial to her? This is a patriarchal and patrimony-inclined world; Alicent’s son being King would not only mean immense prestige for her family; it would also mean the ultimate peak of power and influence for her (which we see her unapologetically wield in the books). In Westeros, we see Visenya Targaryen supporting her brother and her son’s kingship rather than angling for the throne in her own right, and wielding absolute power and authority in their reigns. Historically, Empress Matilda (the female claimant to the throne in the Anarchy, the war this story is based off) relinquished her claim in favor of her son, Henry II, presumably because she recognized he stood a better chance at gaining the throne (which he did) and continuing her legacy. Joanna of Flanders, who literally wore armor and led troops into battle, did it to support the cause of her husband in direct opposition to the claim of his niece. Yet according to this show’s logic, every single woman who has fought for their fathers and brothers and husbands and sons subscribes to internalized misogyny rather than, idk, supporting their families and gaining power, security and status in the process. Not to mention, Alicent relinquishing her children’s claim and stepping aside would not only be utterly humiliating and degrading for her from a political and personal standpoint, but also legitimately life-threatening for her children and her family. More competent writers would understand that she did not have much of a choice.

4) “You desire not to be free but make a window in the wall of your prison” is the MOST SICKENING PIECE OF VICTIM-BLAMING BULLSHIT I have ever heard in a long, long time. Alicent was a teenager when she had to marry the much-older King (her best friend’s own father) because of his desire for her. He repeatedly raped her and forced at least four pregnancies on her that she did not want. She was utterly isolated at court after her marriage, lacking comfort and friends (including Rhaenyra, who abandoned Alicent for three years after learning that she was being made to marry her father and, based on the comments she made, did not even stop to consider the awfulness of Alicent’s predicament). She had to endure the humiliation of her father being fired and made to leave court, leaving her even more alone than she previously was. She had to endure her husband constantly favoring his firstborn and his grandchildren by his firstborn rather than Alicent’s children who were a direct result of her rape by him. Her son was maimed and bleeding and her husband chose to defend his firstborn’s moronic decisions rather than bring him justice. She is not a Targaryen, she does not and cannot ride a dragon. WHAT WAS ALICENT SUPPOSED TO EXCEPT TRY AND SURVIVE? HOW ON EARTH IS SHE BEING JUDGED FOR IT?

(And this ridiculously condescending comment is coming from Rhaenys of all people, lmao. A dragon-riding Targaryen who was an actual claimant to the Iron Throne, unlike Alicent. So, what was stopping HER from seizing power, pray tell? After all, she even has the Velaryon forces to back her claim. Instead, in her own words, she made peace with her sidelining. She constantly disagreed with her husband’s ambition regarding her claim and her family’s power. She volunteered her 12-year-old daughter as a child bride for her own aging cousin. The hypocrisy and double standards here is pathetic, and the lack of self-awareness on the part of the show is even worse)

Alicent was legitimately terrified for her children and her family’s lives, and she was entirely justified in doing so: if Rhaenyra ascended the throne, Alicent’s children would inevitably become threats to her whether or not they directly opposed her. This is unavoidable. Look up any historical usurpation, and that’s the inescapable result - and that’s not even going into the fact that Rhaenyra and Daemon are people who are reckless, cruel and indifferent to violence, and would not hesitate to kill any opposition to their reign. The show’s so-called claim that Alicent is upholding the patriarchy falls apart when you consider the fact that this is the only solution that guarantees the security of her children and herself. How is Alicent’s perfectly understandable motivation written as internalized misogyny?

And moreover, from a writing perspective ... why give her this arc at all? Fire & Blood was badly written, but it doesn’t change the fact that they looked at an ambitious woman who wanted to enhance her power and improve her family’s standing, who directly defied her husband’s wishes in terms of succession in favor of her own, and rewrote this choice into one borne from internalized misogyny. They wrote her as a child bride, a rape victim, an abuse victim and a teen mother and then used this backstory to say that she was conditioned to become the so-called agent of patriarchy (which they do not support with believable evidence) who opposes their so-called feminist protagonist (whose primary enabler is Alicent’s rapist and abuser, btw, not that his abuse is acknowledged nearly enough by the narrative considering how heavily he was romanticized in the last few episodes) It’s a heinous, disrespectful, absolutely terrible writing choice, and I cannot emphasize this nearly enough.

(Oh, and speaking of Rhaenyra, let’s talk about how her queenship solidifies Viserys’s claim over Rhaenys’s. Let’s talk about if she truly cared about women inheriting the Iron Throne - as opposed to just herself - she would have considered this. Let’s talk about how she disregarded the claims of Baela and Rhaena in favour of her son when it came to Driftmark. Rhaenyra is not challenging the patriarchy, her ascension to the Iron Throne will not change anything for anyone except for herself, do not make me laugh by claiming otherwise)

ON TOP OF THIS, the show can’t even decide on a consistent motivation or characterization for Alicent. They repeatedly show us her visceral and justified fear for her children’s lives, which is somehow forgotten in episode eight in favor of her saying that Rhaenyra will be a good queen. Her desire to see her son crowned and thus ensure her children’s safety is disregarded in favor of her actually wanting to fulfil Viserys’s half-baked wishes on his deathbed. They have her say that everyone knows Aegon will be king, and then act surprised when the Green council plots to install him as King. They do not care about Alicent’s personhood and individual character; what they care about is her position as a foil and antagonist to Rhaenyra.

In conclusion: this show sucks. It shows absolutely no understanding regarding the politics of its own world and our medieval history and is a parody and a travesty of respectful storytelling. It has inconsistent and baffling character motivations and downright misogynistic writing, and this is not acknowledged nearly enough by the fandom.

#hotd #anti hotd #alicent hightower #team green #anti rhaenys targaryen #anti rhaenyra targaryen #not really but kinda #hotd critical #anti viserys i targaryen #does anyone even care about that shitshow anymore? idk and idc. i've wanted to rant about this for a long long time #mine

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