#fucked up wtf’ which is the correct answer but ned at least would simply take himself out of that situation bc he hates stress and grief.

[thewingedwolf]

rewatching hotd & i wonder just a bit - i never made the connection that viserys may have let them attempt to save Aemma if she hadn’t said that she didn’t want to have anymore kids. i think that moment, the moment he realized that his final chance at a boy may die and his wife will refuse to have another, is the moment she becomes disposable to him.

and of course - it’s not worth it. the theoretical boy will never be worth the life of the living, breathing partner he has who loves and trusts him enough to clearly state that she is tired of mourning her babies. even if little baelor had lived, he would have been just as fucked as Aegon II was; raised by a father who resents his very existence because it is a reminder of the ways in which he failed as a husband to Aemma and a father to Rhaenyra. Aemma’s life was a precious thing that was not worth being traded for a boy that only existed in theory; she knew it, Rhaenyra knew it, shit even Daemon seemed to understand to a certain point that making the decision to murder a wife on the off chance it will save a son is a cruel decision for a husband to make, and that the decision should rest in the hands of the mother carrying the child (rip Rhea Royce tho, but that’s a different convo). But Viserys is so stuck in his dreams, so convinced that only a son will unite the realm that he sacrifices Aemma and the gods give him jack shit in return because Aemma’s life was worth more than what her womb was capable of conceiving, and Viserys only realized this after he had her ripped open.

And interestingly enough, because he still refuses to act decisively enough, still stuck with his head in his Dreams, he is sort of right and brings about the fall of the dragons through his continued inaction; because he doesn’t smooth things over with the sons he resents for not being Aemma’s, or pave the way properly for Rhaenyra to inherit, his death rips apart the realm. But all of that, all of it starts with poor Aemma - Aemma who decides she has had enough of her body being a graveyard and Aemma who is promptly murdered for it.

#she makes me sad #aemma targaryen #viserys i targaryen #anti viserys i targaryen #i find him utterly fascinating as a character but he is a coward who is terrified of making waves and helps destroy his own family #in the process of trying too hard to stand still. i compared otto to tywin in having all of his ambition and none of his intellengence #but viserys is similar to ned in many ways. but he has all of ned’s faults and none of ned’s fierce loyalty tk the women in his life #for all that ned refuses to learn from lyanna’s death and makes the same mistakes with arya and sansa. if lyanna or either of his daughters #had come to him begging not to wed a *specific* person i do not believe ned would have forced them to the altar. if given the choice between #catelyn and rickon as the boy was being born i think ned would have refused to make the decision. which isn’t the same as saying ‘that’s #fucked up wtf’ which is the correct answer but ned at least would simply take himself out of that situation bc he hates stress and grief. #rani attempts meta #house of the dragon #rani liveblogs game of thrones