#the consequences of Rhaenyra raising the taxes/the fallout of the dragons

[dulcewrites]

I know I said the fruits would be more in the vein of book Aemond, or at least working in elements of that interpretation of him, but I’m sorry I’m simply going to have to make him smarter post becoming Prince regent. Same with literally… everyone else lmao

Like aemond will still be relatively unhinged but I need him to think just for a second when it comes to war.

Idk if it bc I am not someone who naturally gravitates towards reading things that involve battle strategy or war. But imo much of the dance, the actual dance, half the time feels like grrm posturing to get to certain beats. The riverlands storyline just feels like Aemond and Daemon circling each other, their minds elsewhere, to give the fall of kl enough time to happen and then lead up to their battle (which is some of the wildest most Gary Stu stuff I’ve ever read I’m sorry dkenrkek). But this could also be my bias against f&b showing

#there’s a couple of good war moments that stand out… tyland moving the gold #some of the kids being moved for their safety #the consequences of Rhaenyra raising the taxes/the fallout of the dragons #but other than that?? it’s kind of a mess #I feel like battle is pretty well done in the other books so 🤷🏽‍♀️ #anyway tangent but I’m curious to see how they handle the riverlands and Aemond #it’s clear he’s a favorite in the writers room and a fan favorite now #while maybe just maybe I could see book Aemond pulling the stuff he did (and despite the comments he seemed loyal to his family) #it’s just hard to see show Aemond acting the same #I think rashness shows up in both iterations but show Aemond shows clear remorse for wrong doing/a level of empathy that f&b!Aemond didn’t #he also showed more care for Alicent and Helaena in the show #I can’t imagine him not wanting to go save them #and I said this as a staunch alysmond girlie btw

[gojuo]

Rhaenyra wanting peace????????? Same rhaenyra who wanted Aemond to be tortured for calling her bastards bastards???? Fuck that shit. It tracks with them calling alicent a woman for Trump.

It's crazy to me how people call Alicent a "woman for Trump" when Alicent's issue regarding the inheritance has never been about Rhaenyra being a woman. The issue is and has always been Rhaenyra and Viserys usurping her own child's lawful inheritance and what that usurping meant for her and her children. Because by all means, it should have been Aegon on that throne. The GC101, Jaehaerys, and Viserys making Rhaenyra the exception to the law instead of actually changing the law all make that extremely clear.

Rhaenyra's indifference to the laws governing the realm which she is claiming as hers right as she's usurping Aegon's rightful place, Rhaenyra’s belief of her own supreme power which she thinks allows her unprecedented privilege above everyone else, her willingness to break the law and jeopardize the integrity of the line of succession for the sake of her own pleasure, trying to pass off obvious bastards as trueborns which is high treason, her disregard of the law as something that didn’t apply to her, her gross mockery of justice, Rhaenyra PROLONGING the war for her own personal vengeance instead of listening to and following her advisors' peace making efforts... Because, by all means, Rhaenyra was queen. She really was. She had the Iron Throne. And she chose to continue executing POWs for siding with Aegon, unlike Aegon who granted his POWs leniency, all but making sure that no one on the Greens’ side would bend the knee to her because it would mean death either way. Practically ensuring the Greens would stay loyal to Aegon until the bitter end. Unlike Rhaenyra Aegon actually fought for his crown with his own body. Hell, do we forget Rhaenyra's people on Dragonstone fucking welcomed Aegon with open arms because they were sick and tired of her brutality and cruelty and godawful leadership?

I'm rambling here but what I mean to say is Rhaenyra's dismissal of the law was an issue long before Viserys died and Alicent and the Greens crowned Aegon and started the war. THEEEE biggest issue ever was not only her committing high treason by trying to pass her bastards off as trueborns and trying to make them her heirs (and gaslighting the entire realm and threatening everyone with physical violence if they ever raised the issue of this treachery), it was also Rhaenyra marrying Daemon, the entire reason why Viserys had named her heir for in the first place! Because he wanted Daemon far, far away from the throne. Yet she marries him still. Had Daemon never been in the picture, Rhaenyra never would've been chosen as heir to begin with! And the show is just going to timeskip that entire fallout! Absolve her of the consequences of her own actions to the audience ... again! Her marrying Daemon was a huge, huge, deal. It was another act that showcased to Westeros how she put more importance on her own pleasures and her own desires, rather than the actual stability of the realm.

Rhaenyra never wanted peace or stability or the wellness of the realm. Her fucking tax plan during her reign in KL is testament of that and the culmination of her worst personality traits which she has always showcased to the entire world long before the Dance even started. Rhaenyra only wanted the throne as an instrument for her to use to satisfy her own conceit and caprices rather than performing her duties and responsibilities as the protector of the realm, the protector of the people she was monarch of.

The biggest example of this is when Rhaenyra murdered Vaemond. She illegally seized a noble from a house she was married into, may I remind you, because he said her sons have no damn right to the Driftmark inheritance (which they didn't). She orders Daemon to behead him with no due process, no fair trial, and then she feeds his desecrated body to her dragon. That is a gross mockery of law and justice and an act she totally and completely got away with. She murdered her in-law, publicly and on a whim, grossly violating the rights enjoyed by nobles, the right of insurance that the monarchy would not randomly kill them whenever they liked, showing how she cared not a whit for the law and she never suffered any consequences, was never punished for it. This was all pre-Viserys dying and the Greens declaring war.

Alicent had no issue with Rhaenyra's gender, she had an issue with the way she broke the law left and right, was a cruel and dishonorable and vindictive personality with no respect to law or social taboos or the rights of the nobility, never had to pay for any of her transgressions, and because kinslaying Maegor was only a few years ago and still in the backs of people’s minds, especially the nobility. Especially the Hightowers. Maegor who killed the king's heir and other possible heirs so he could seat his own self on the throne. Maegor, who Rhaenyra is named after.

Rhaenyra's claim was already shaky. Aegon's claim comes from both First Men-Andal laws Westeros had been practicing for millennia and the iron precedent of the GC101, whereas her claim comes from the GC101's choice of royal prerogative. Yet that royal prerogative was in technicality also another argument to add to Aegon's already strong claim because of what it did concerning the succession.

Because indeed, Aegon's claim was much stronger than hers, and Alicent had every single right to fear Rhaenyra would do anything to make sure it was she, and not the one with the bigger and stronger claim, was on that throne. Just like how Maegor did. Just like how Rhaenyra already showed all of Westeros she would absolutely unlawfully murder nobility for the grand crime of talking back. Just like how Rhaenyra showed Westeros she was siding with Daemon, the one man no one wanted to see on the throne. Just like how she showed she would absolutely break the law and jeopardize the integrity of the line of succession by committing high treason and trying to pass off obvious bastards as trueborns. She did all of this long before any war broke out.

Claiming Alicent would side with Trump because she doesn’t want to see a woman on the throne is an absolute affront to the political situation GRRM painstakingly created for all of these characters and the legal battle they were fighting for (Greens' legalism vs. Blacks' absolutism) and the reality of the situation Alicent and her children were in and what type of character Rhaenyra was. D&D-level understanding of the Dance.

#anti rhaenyra #anti rhaenyra targaryen #alicent hightower #aegon targaryen #anti hotd #hotd #asoiaf #hotd spoilers #alicent #aegon ii #rhaenyra #anonymous #answered