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bogusavathepit · 2 years

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House of Dragon: Episode 7 “Aemond, the Half-Redeemed Menace” and Other Stuff

!!!SPOILERS!!!

AEMOND

The reason why a lot of us did not like Aemond after his confrontation with Rhaena, Baela, Jacaerys, and Lucerys is that there was a level of expectation there, a boundary that was crossed when he claimed Vhagar and it was never acknowledged, even passed over as inconsequential or nonexistent.

Yes, Aemond was bullied for not having a dragon, and I was semi-happy for him to have one finally.

The problem is that this shows how little he holds in regard for Rhaena and Baela, to a discriminatory kind. Not just because he saw an opportunity and took it. That it was Vhagar of all dragons and that it is obvious that he did it because he also wants to be a huge player (or considered to be one by his grandad/mom) in the coming conflict against the blacks. Which spells disaster to both parties as all civil wars do, and this civil war was so preventable on Viserys and Otto's parts.

GIF by daenerys-stormborn @ tumblr

Disclaimer: I do not hate Aemond, I am feeling both dread and excitement for the coming civil war and am trying to see how the show writers envisioned it happening.

An Analogy. Compare this situation to a situation where there is a family heirloom that anyone could theoretically claim after the last owner's death. On the very same day, the entire family of all branches come together to host the funeral for this person, the cousin of that dead person's children decided to take that heirloom for themselves and store it at a place only they know and there's nothing anyone can legally do about it. Meanwhile, that heirloom was seen with the dead person almost all the time, and their children grew up seeing that heirloom--let's say that it is a ring for the sake of argument. They saw that their parent valued that ring, played with it, and kissed it maybe when they were nervous or excited. They may or may not actually know that that ring was even up for grabs--because there was no will and historically, anyone can get that ring if they are a part of that family and that event has happened multiple times.

Those children would still feel like their parent's ring should be passed down to them because of that emotional attachment. That memory. That huge tie to their dead parent.

Again, that parent has just died as well, and they never even met this cousin who stole their parent's ring (since Baela and Rhaena before the funeral never met their cousins, going by what we see in the 6th episode).

We also have to consider the possibility that the girls may not fully know the situation of how to claim a dragon because they have been away from the main family most of their lives AND because we saw in the 6th episode that Laena had to tell Rhaena that if she wanted to have a dragon she would have to claim it (the one put beside her at her birth didn’t hatch).

It reveals that Rhaena and Baela very likely don’t know or understand some things about dragons even though both their parents are dragonriders.

Rhaena and Baela both grew up watching their mom ride Vhagar, and in their hearts and memories, they associate that dragon as having a special connection to their mother. These girls are also children, but even if they were teens are 40 years old, they wouldn’t like that their own cousin had decided to try to claim that almost household pet for themselves on the very day their mother was given her last goodbye. (Perhaps I should have used the analogy of a pet that the prior owner never claimed legally, but lived with for the past years and grew up with that owner's children? That would be closer to the scenario I'm trying to paint.) I can definitely see why Rhaena, another child who desperately wants a dragon to "prove" themselves, felt violated enough to want to hit him and lose control. Her mom just died and he refused to acknowledge her pain/familial tie when confronted. Not all violence is evil, even though all violence is definitely destructive.

The argument that dragons aren't total possessions and can choose their riders after their last rider's death is true, and Vhagar did choose Aemond of her own will.

However:

From a strategic angle, Aemond was clever to use the funeral and people's expectations to try to claim Vhagar, absolutely. That doesn't mean that a tactic or strategy doesn't have ethical problems or that the person doing the deed has not caused particular consequences. (In the context of the greens vs blacks conflict, there’s already feelings of jealousy and unfairness with Viserys letting Rhaenyra and her own family get away with things or recieving more favor from him.) A strategy can be logical and beneficial while also being morally corrupt, like when Otto Hightower pushed Alicent to become the new Queen: from a strategic standpoint for his personal goal, that was cunning of him. However, he also basically coerced his own daughter into having sex with a man that maybe only a little younger than himself, regardless of how she truly felt and wanted for herself. Father of the year, that one.

Dragon choosing their riders or accepting being claimed is true. However, A Song of Ice and Fire’s lore specifically states that Valyrians were the only ones so far to obtain some sort of control and assert a level of dominance over dragons enough to make dragons even accept them as riders. So dragons are actually still technically domesticated creatures (even if semi-so) that the Targaryens and the old Valyrian dragonriders owned and directed. They were still able to use dragons for their human ends, therefore, dragons are domesticated. Just differently so. We don’t really understand how a dragon comes to accept their new rider, what that looks like psychologically, and the book Fire and Blood has many moments where Gyldayn ponders over why a certain dragon did a certain thing (but he’s not Vlayrian, of Valyrian descent, nor a Targaryen with access to that knowledge, so...proceed with caution). At the same time, dragons are owned, bred, and largely open to be chosen by a person who would ride them, even if they may reject them--but that is in the case of claiming dragons. There’s another way people can get a dragon. By Viserys’ time, dragons also largely weren’t given the choice to choose riders because the main practice was to put a dragon egg in the cradle of a Valyrian-born so that it hatches alongside the baby and bonds with that baby from the moment of its own hatching. This practice began with Queen Consort/Queen Rhaena Targaryen (daughter of Aenys I and rider of Dreamfyre, now Helaena’s dragon). Since this is the case, this is also another explanation as to why Rhaena would feel some entitlement to Vhagar--dragons are already considered Targaryen property before Rhaenys married Corlys. Rhaena most likely felt that Vhagar belonged to her "more" than she did Aemond. It was a misunderstanding that isn't farfetched, especially when the person misunderstanding is a child who father hasn't seemed to teach her anything about dragons and has emotionally neglected her, who is a child, and a child still freshly mourning their burnt mother.

Therefore, let’s consider how the other layers as to why she would feel as she feels instead of only thinking about only one side’s background. Everyone’s background in the higher contexts of their environment and socio-political history (in this case Valyrian dragonriding and domestication and conquest of other peoples through that), as well as all the characters more immediate experiences shapes them and must be taken into account to understand the stakes here.

That’s what makes a real, complex and well-thought out narrative. Layers.

Vhagar and Syrax both definitely showed how emotionally attached they were to Laena and Rhaenyra respectively. However, they also still took orders as if they were those person’s subordinates, as if those dragons (despite being hundred times bigger and more powerful then them) recognized that they had authority over them.

Since this is the case, this is also another reason why Rhaena would feel some entitlement to Vhagar--dragons are already considered Targaryen/Velayron/Valyrian property, and she felt that Vhagar belonged to her "more" than she did Aemond, even though the claiming event has the dragon displaying more will from the animal than your average horse. And don’t forget about the cradle-hatching kind of bonding either, which shows no will on part of the dragon.

Back to Aemond. That Aemond even thought to do this, knowing that his cousins will be very upset shows how little he thought of their deserving to at least "fairly" compete for the dragon.

His dismissive attitude in using outright deception against those who share his blood comes from Alicent/Otto's constant teachings that Rhaenyra and anyone close to her (or seemingly close) are inherently unworthy individuals and unworthy for the throne because they don't follow the ethical rules of Westeros concerning composure and sex and obedience. As he fights the boys, it's clear he was ready to kill them and rubs their alleged father's death in.

Having illegitimate kids is frowned on in Westeros, but it is not a grevious error in the practical sense. It is for the Faith of the Seven, yet noblemen generally are allowed to father as many illegitimate children as they can and they do not get reprimanded or publicly punished for it. And many illegitimate children live to actually make their mark in history, whether actively or passively.

One of those illegitimate children of a nobleman was rumored to be Orys Baratheon, the brother of Aegon the Conqueror and progenitor of House Baratheon. It was never proven, and neither is Jaecaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey's parentage.

More famous illegitimate children:

Ser Benedict the Bold--formerly Benedict Rivers--was born from a Blackwood and a Bracken affair before the Targaryens conquered Westeros

Jon Snow (was believed and treated as such)

Daemon Blackfyre, Shiera Seastar, Aegon Rivers and Brynden Rivers/Bloodraven are just a few of the illegitimate children Aegon IV had (Byrnden Rivers, after being legitimized, fights for his king and manages to force his other brother, Aegon Rivers out of Westeros AND much, much later he becomes the Hand of the new king but was eventually banished since Aegon V was too disgusted with Brynden killing a Blackfyre descendant trying to claim for the throne)

Robert Baratheon's many, many, many illegitimate children; one of them Gendry

Alyn and Addam Velaryon are illegitimate children that Corlys had legitimized

Alys Rivers, who Aemond (yes the very same Aemond of HotD) impregnates with a illegitimate child before he dies

Ellaria Sand was a illegitimate daughter of an Uller man and became Oberyn’s paramour, giving birth to all their illegitimate daughters and some of his (below)

the Sand Snakes, Oberyn’s illegitimate daughters by other women: Obera, Tyene, and Nymeria

So many players in Westerosi history were illegitimate, but were allowed to start their own houses, become part of their father's house after being legitimized, allowed to live in the same space as legitimate children, etc. specifically for political and emotional reasons on part of the father, and even actively particpated and contributed to their parents’ politicking, well being, or their parents’ house

The rules and system that Alicent, Otto, and Aemond all treasure so much allows this to happen even before any of them existed, has continued outside of the ruling family, and will continue into the future.

They are literally fighting for a flawed and unfair system that they tout as above board the sex they do not condone, and Otto at least does so specifically because it stops his own line from becoming the origin to the future king of Westeros.

So Aemond doesn't even regard these girls as family--just rivals. Because:

of the ideology he's been spoonfed

his father Viserys not following that ideology by naming his daughter instead of Aegon heir

his father largely ignoring his green kids and favoring Rhaneyra more

his frustration with not being respected by those he has been taught to not respect AND his own older brother Aegon

Which may seem fair, but again, he’s fighting not for honor or fairness but for himself. And he’s not reluctant to act cruelly towards even those his own family.

Aemond suffers from loveless-ness & "2nd son" syndrome, a thing that runs through this show with Daemon and even Corlys:

In the face of a whole society granting privileges to a person you also are told or already love and/or respect, passing over you, how do you show that you are also a mighty, glorious man on your own when you’ve consistently been denied positions of authority you’ve also been told you have a sort of claim to (or were very close to claiming)?

This, I think, coupled with all that stuff about Alicent and Otto teaching him and his siblings their "rights", pushes Aemond to consider his female cousins "unworthy" enough for their feelings to not even be considered. Meanwhile, these girls are not even illegitimate and they have "Targaryen" as their surnames, the same as him.

Alicent definitely loves him, but her tying his and Aegon’s being to how wronged they were and that they are owed things based on sexist principles also creates an extreme sense of entitlement and turns them into less empathetic people. If all you think about is how you should be something, you also always have to prove that you are enough.

I think that people might also feel that he should have at least, going by how much these people who preach "honor" and "house honor" (Alicent literally said the last episode that Rhaenyra insulted House Targaryen by having 3 illegitimate children), that he would have considered the concept of chivalric "fairness" by allowing Rhaena and any other claimants to have a go at Vhagar.

He perpetuates that “someone must be on top” ideology so much he disregards how he himself was in that position in order to occupy a higher one.

Chivalric honor is a real thing that people know and model their behavior after in the Westerosi nobility, and a Knight's honor is a huge part of the honor that Alicent said she was about.

If you know anything about chivalry and its code, you'd know that there are dues where combatants go against each other for a few formal reasons to "prove" themselves and win some sort of right or prize. Aemond denied his own blood that right. Why? Because he saw an opportunity and took it.

This is ironic because he is canonically known in the history the masters wrote about him to be a very good knight in terms of his fighting ability. (In Fire and Blood, he’s actually not painted very well in terms of behavior.) This means that knights do not necessarily have to be good people, just good fighters and willing to be "fair".....but Aemond didn't even do that.

To the possible argument that this is a fictional world and not the real medieval ages, yes you (whoever you are) are correct that this is a fictional world in House of Dragon or A Song of Ice and Fire.

It is also a fictional world whose author uses the European medieval feudal system, which was defined by a chivalric honor code.

This ethical code is then the social honor code for George R.R. Marten’s characters’ feudal world.

It is reasonable to assume that the Westeros’s Andal/Faith of the Seven honor system mirrors and follow many of the rules of chivalry. and if you go back to Septon Barth, King Jaehearys and Queen Alysanne’s debate over the right of the first night, you will see this point proven when Barton mentions how the right of the first night contradicts the Seven principle of fidelity as well as the chivalric principle of protecting those deemed weaker than men and knights.

Plus, Alicent and Cristin Cole both espouse “honor” and “duty” several times....it’s obviously a chivalric code, this code of honor that they say they support.

Plus, the chivalric code is rife with philosophically and psychologically damaging ideas that establish human self-worth to public perception and according to what body parts you have.

If Aemond can’t even follow that flawed code, he is not acting ethically in any way.

Aemond perpetuated the treatment his cousins and older sibling, Aegon, performed against him.

He's feeling high from his success and ability to show up to everyone who doubted him, and it manifested into the bullied becoming the bully. That won't endear him to a sense of compassion.

Yes, he comes form a loveless house. Doesn’t mean that his all of his actions suddenly become good or “not bad” or not serious.

And again, it shows he holds no compassion for anyone he considers the enemy or "lower" in the hierarchy that his authority figures taught him.

Even from a standpoint of Aemond not feeling close to these girls because they never met before, he doesn't recognize their worth as Targaryens because he sees them as the enemy.

His motivations are not pure and are definitely not as simple as they might seem (due to the element of his arc where he shows up to his bullies) specifically because he acts as if he is on the moral high ground when there is ample evidence to the contrary.

And at this point, it isn't totally his fault because he was raised that way just as Otto did to Alicent, but it does make him a future menace. He believes too much in the social hierarchy's moral purity at such a young age and it will carry into his adulthood, where he will have more physical power and social authority.

OTTO and ALICENT

I despise Otto even more now. It is very easy to hate him and fear his influence.

When he goes to see Alicent after she attacked Rhaenyra and the boys, we see how Alicent anticipated all of his usual words and had been standing in anxiety all this time. Plus, his grandson has just lost an eye and was nearly killed trying to claim a dragon. Yet Otto expresses eagerness at Alicent's loss of self-control, stating that she displayed "determination" in her ruthlessness.

But here's the thing. Ruthlessness can't logically be praised when it comes from a no self-control or emotionally desperate place, because that ruthlessness was not utilized with aim and careful attention. It is actually the antithesis of real strategy, which requires calm. If you don't have that calm in your ruthlessness, you're not strategic and you are actually more vulnerable to both outside forces and the unpredictability of your own emotions. Generally and in critical situations, this is a hindrance not a help.

So truly, why is Otto so "proud" and pleased?

Alicent is now more likely to depend more on Otto and not resist his assertions and pressures or dismissals of her. By doing the very thing that she’s been told all her life not to do--rebel against her husband/male “peer” in a way that casts her as “crazy”--she will look at herself as the blockage to what “needs to be done” without really looking at how her need to make her suffering justified nstead of how bad Rhaenyra is. She will not likely question Otto’s actions because she will perceive them as “just” ways of supporting her. When really they just support him.

I believe that in Otto's eyes, Alicent has finally done what he wanted from her--total agreement with him that Rhaenyra is not fit because her womanhood. Alicen appears, to him, to have broken completely away from her hesitance she showed all those years ago when she stood up for Rhaenyra over Otto. She is now completely acting beneficially for his self-serving agenda. We already know that he doesn't perceive her as a whole person so much as a chess piece and is very willing to have Aemond risk his life for a possible win.

She's more "committed" because now that she has shown witnesses how merciless she is. She has to continue that path since no one would consider her to be either sane or honest if she did try to reconcile with Rhaenyra publicly.

It is the sunk-cost fallacy--her image is lost, so she might as well continue to use Larys (even though he showed himself to be "honor"-less in killing his family), and continue to convince Aegon he should be on the throne and continue to be jealous of Rhaenyra when she has been more the antagonizer.

She's even more trapped than she ever was before, and she doesn't seem to consciously realize it. And the beauty of it is that it is both not her fault and is her fault, but she doesn’t see where her fault lies.

It doesn’t mean the Otto necessarily intended and aimed for Alicent��s spirit to be broken so that he can control her better or decide things for her without her putting up a fight. What I mean is that Alicent’s attack and her inability to see how she adopted a false mindset made it so that a reconciliation with Rhaenyra is now impossible and that the blacks became more united and stronger.

Finally, Alicent decides to punish Lucerys similarly to how Aemond tried to punish his nephews--no chance of explanation, just more violence. And it’s less about Aemond and more about how she is frustrated with how her body has been sold and yet Rhaneyra is getting all the privileges and benefits (in her limited perspective).

RHAENYRA and DAEMON

There was an interesting element that Emma D'Arcy told viewers in the small interview shown after this episode in HBO. They mention that Rhaenyra confronted a wound from all that abandonment she experienced, from the death of her mother, Alicent marrying the king and becoming her technical superior and acting like her superior when she needed a friend more, Viserys for marrying her only friend, Daemon both leaving her after trying to seduce her and then leaving with another woman, Laenor not fully committing to being her and the kids' protector despite agreeing and going through their deal.....The actor for Rhaenyra basically said that Rhaenyra has not only become stronger due to her marriage to Daemon but also more emotionally stronger because she has "lanced" that wound and has been able to get Alicent to show her "true colors". The lines are drawn and now the bloodshed will be less "tainted" by the hypocrisy and hidden hurts..at least for now.

I also noticed that some people doubted Daemon's feelings for Rhaenyra, or at least that they matched hers for him. I find Daemon to not be very expressive in the face, or his expressions are not expressive except for the body and his actions. He seems to be a little repressed and also more of a believer in actions than words. We see him not speak a word in episode 3 when he fought in that battle and won and from the very first episode, we see him actually give Rhaenyra a lot more attention and favor than we would expect from someone who was called emotionless. I think that Daemon tries to be very careful how he emotes and tries to focus more on what's going on around him before he actually does something. In that case with his daughters and not hugging them, I actually felt that tracked with how the show portrayed him thus far. He didn’t really know what to do there because he’s never truly tried emotional nurturing and stops his own to the point where he reacts just before it is too unforgiveable.

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