#fire and blood analysis

[sarcasticsweetlara]

Rhaegel Targaryen as Crown Prince

Consider that even if Rhaegel was considered one of the Mad Targaryens, he was the only one deemed good enough to be a just king.

The Council of Succession in 233 AC passed over his grandson Maegor (the son of his youngest child:Daenora) because he was the son of Rhaegel's cruel and sadistic nephew Aerion "Bright flame", this can tells us that in the scenario of Aerion surviving he would have been passed over as well and sent to the Wall or exiled once again.

Whereas with Rhaegel we see that his daughter Aelora was declared heir after her twin brother-husband Aelor's death; which means the realm deemed Aelora capable of being a ruling queen, something that sadly they denied her sister Daenora.

All of this could give us the idea that Rhaegel was a good prince, popular with both the smallfolk and the nobles and he would have been a good king.

#house targaryen #awoiaf #asoiaf #a world of ice and fire #a song of ice and fire #old valyria #fire made flesh #westeros #fire and blood #fire and blood analysis #rhaegel targaryen #aelora targaryen #aelor targaryen #daenora targaryen #maegor targaryen (son of aerion)

[cruciomee]

I cannot wait to see this beadwork in high definition!

The design on Aegon II’s outfit in season two has two gold dragons facing each other, to make the head of one dragon! I feel like there is symbolism in this!

The House of the Dragon costume department is upgrading their game fiercely

#house of the dragon #hotd #aegon ii targaryen #aegon ii #hotd aegon #fire and blood #costume design analysis #king aegon ii targaryen #team green

[fadingstudentbananacookie]

Aegon II Targaryen & Maegor Targaryen - Parallels

House of the Dragon, Fire & Blood / George R.R. Martin, HotDS1Script provided by @darksvster

#aegon ii targaryen #alicent hightower #visenya targaryen #maegor targaryen #meleys #sunfyre #balerion #fire and blood #hotd #house of the dragon #hotd season 2 #parallels #analysis #team green #Aegon II is one of my fav complex characters of all time #web weaving

[mejcinta]

"In the world, we must defend our own."

When it comes to his family's welfare, Aegon stands on business. 😤

#house of the dragon #aegon analysis #aegon ii targaryen #targtower siblings #aemond targaryen #helaena targaryen #alicent hightower #the greens #fire and blood

[lavenoon]

He finds himself reaching for a different kind of flame, nowadays

hey hey @naffeclipse, would you like some bloodstain fool in this trying time?

og detective au by sunnys-aesthetic

also bonus Eclipse-less version under the cut

#post let luce #dcamv #bloodstain fool #my art #ough i had so much fun with this one #playing with the colors of the buildings #vigilante as a shooting star reaching higher and higher #the high rise as their stepping stone and showing how far they've climbed already #sun and moon as steadying presences #intertwined but distinct; a pair #and Eclipse!! he faces towards them! not away! #he still stands in blood #and fire and smoke are still a part of him #but he wants something else #he reaches higher; rather than sinking further down #okay yes analysis moment over hfjdks I just. hope its not too obscure oop

[2rats1gogh]

although i REALLY like the cast of HotD I can’t help but criticize the fact that they all are a little off for their canonical ages.

And it creates A LOT of problems.

Whenever I look at Olivia as Alicent my brain just cannot comprehend the fact that she is supposed to be the mother of Aegon, Aemond and Helaena. She looks like their older sister. I get that they were trying to go for the effect that “she was too young when she had her children” which is valid but still, she looks five years older than them at best. She is supposed to be almost 20 YEARS older than Aemond, yet in some shots of them together he looks like he’s older than her. It just makes it not really believable.

Rhaenyra is also supposed to be much much older than her siblings, yet they all also look just like three years apart. They don’t look like a woman in her mid to late thirties fighting with a man in his early twenties which is what it should’ve been. It takes away the drama and puts them on the same level.

Ewan Mitchell is amazing as Aemond but he looks so so much older than the actor who plays Luke. During Storm’s End, like many people have said, it actually looks like a grown ass man chasing a small kid, when the characters are supposed to be like four to five years apart. Where Luke is believable as a 14 year old, Aemond absolutely does NOT look 19.

Rhaenyra and Daemon also look fairly the same age because obviously there was no Daemon recast. They did a good job to make Paddy (Viserys) age throughout the years, but they kinda forgot to make Daemon age as well. And therefore Matt Smith looks the exact same in ep 1 and in ep 10, even tho these two episodes are like AT LEAST 20 years apart?? Matt Smith was in his early forties when they were filming, but by the end of season 1 Daemon is literally supposed to be in his mid to late fifties. The fact that Emma and Matt look around the same age, maybe having a 5 year age gap max, makes many people forget that they are two fully different generations of people, being around 20 years apart in the show, and hypothetically could’ve been father and daughter.

And obviously Laena. Other people have already talked about this, but I also find it super weird that the show tried to convince us that Laena went from (1) to (2) in like, i don’t know, two years maybe? And then after a timeskip of only like one decade, she suddenly looks like she aged 20 years? The actress is literally older than Emma, and Laena is supposed to be younger than Rhaenyra.

It just doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t really have a problem with changing some of the characters’ ages, but you have to consider casting the right actors as well. They did a fairly good job when adapting Game of Thrones, because they kinda aged up everyone and kept the same actors without having any timeskips. The only exceptions are probably characters like Brienne, because although I LOVE Gwendoline Christie, Brienne should’ve been a literal teenager.

#house of the dragon #hotd #team green #pro team green #anti team black #anti team black stans #hotd analysis #hotd critical #asoiaf #fire and blood #house targaryen

[vinnianlovesdinosaurs]

House of The Dragon Hot Take #11

House Targaryen is an allegory for colonization. From the very start of their line they have taken things that aren't theirs. Whether it be people, land, kingdoms, and lives. Until Aegon I, Visenya, and Rhaenys came around and waged war against everyone in Old Valyria and the neighboring kingdoms, House Targaryen really wasn't all that important. They weren't even the most powerful house in the kingdom because it wasn't their kingdom until they tore it away from the rulers and killed the people who disagreed. Same with what they did with Dorne for years. House Targaryen is full of colonizers, blood purists, and terrorists of all kinds. While this is not me saying I hate every Targaryen character, I am saying that it's important to know that they are a realistic representation of colonization because:

They came in > They stole the land and the throne > They killed the people that disagreed or tried to defend themselves > Their families took over until their house finally died out.

#house of the dragon #hotd #team women #team green #team black #house targaryen #fire and blood #asoiaf #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon targaryen #viserys targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #aegon the conqueror #visenya the conqueror #rhaenys the conqueror #maegor targaryen #visenya targaryen #colonialism #character analysis #book analysis #symbolism #allegory #anti targaryen #I don't hate the characters #they're interesting #but #they're colonizers #and horrible people

[mishapen-dear]

I think we overlooked the fucked up polycule dynamic potential of team bolas x the dog that hunts them

they gave him a house. he paid rent. he hunted them, picked them off one by one, but when they sought to hunt him he ran. the tormented and the tormented. the hunters and the hunter. them huddling around a fire, burning themselves as he lurks in the dark to devour any that stray too far from the light. when they gather their rocks and throw them as one he flees, tail between his legs as he hunts for his own safety

is there not familiarity in that? is there not love in the violence? let me kill you, i will return your greatest treasure. let me kill you, you’ve already destroyed me and mine. there is loneliness to the dark and hate in the bloodshed. what is hate if not the other side of love. what if obsession if not love driven too far. all of them bathed in the blood of the others, baptized by sin after sin after sin. mothers carry their litters in their mouths- when do the teeth at your throat start to feel gentle? bad once said about cellbit, “it was like throwing a ball, and saying fetch.” that went wrong for him. cellbit once said about bad, “you’ve gone soft.” that went wrong for him, too.

do you remember the slime kills? slime was bad’s first blood, his first taste of oncoming violence. bad was slime’s last kill, an end to the desperation that was sparked with the first base raid. do you remember that first day? bad on the water, slime on the shore, calling him in like a siren. ‘look at me, look how killable i am’ says the bait, desperately trying to build a trap even as the prey fears the untied-noose wrapping around its throat. do you remember the tension? do you remember how the sun punished them both?

‘look at me, look how killable i am,’ says the poisoned frog to the wolf. the bird to the dog. do you remember the kindness? the killing and the killing and the killing, and the laughter. the killing the killing the killing, and the earnest offer to help? remember how jaiden fed herself to the dog. remember how the dog listened. ‘where is your stuff? i’ll take you to your body.’ thousands of blocks away. then more blood, no screaming, just laughter.

do you see? do you see? they built him a dog house, and he paid them rent. hunters snd hunters. he killed them to bring back their children and he failed and they brought back his instead. how can he ever repay that? their blood coats him. his blood coats them. all of them animals. all of them desperate. remember the familiarity of teeth and the taste of your own death. when its all said and done what will they miss the most- being the hunters? or being the hunted?

and then they all make out and take turns getting beaten to death by jaiden. shes part of the group murder but not the romance of death. instead she gets to go to the club (the Spawn Rave)

#qsmp shipping #i didnt get enough sleep and thus im excused from all the things i say today #roier obsessed with killing bad and bad not even knowinf #philza in despair despite the dog running at just the sight of him #baghera spared. Just for a moment #i got tired so i didnt include those but i think we can all get weirder about whatever the fuck is up with these dynamics #while writing this i did forget i was trying to ship them but whats gayer than blood #too many of my post have been tagged analysis lately lets get sillayy #something something cold dog something something warm fire #something something defanged but still gnawing. something something sitting together in a snow storm just to avoid freezing to death

[pterodactylterrace]

Saera Targaryen was a certified badass. There, I said it.

After her world came crashing down and her doting father disowned her, did she meekly accept her fate? Fuck no!

She planned an escape, disguises and all, and almost succeeded. She was caught trying to claim a dragon without the king’s leave. She was caught and returned to the keep. Two weeks later she was sent away to train to become a silent sister. The female equivalent of joining the night’s watch.

Homegirl waited a year and a half for her chance to escape again. This time, there were no dragon keepers to prevent her escape. She took a ship across the narrow sea and prospered doing what she loved. Having sex.

Saera was cunning and patient. I believe she would have made for a wonderful mistress of whispers or even hand of the king. She showed she knows how to plan, and she is willing to play the long game until her opportunity arises. Had she been culled in her wild ways and taught to use her mind for the good of the realm, she would have been amazing. The only reason she got caught in the first place was because her mother was able to get the truth from her friends.

At sixteen Saera was able to escape the keep and make it to the dragon pit before being caught. Shortly after turning nineteen, she managed to escape Oldtown and made it all the way to Lys. She was misguided in her actions, but her mind was sharp and she wasn’t afraid to act. She wasn’t afraid to be who she wanted to be. She left a life of luxury at the keep, threw away any hope of reconciliation and just started a new life for herself with no one telling her what to do.

Legendary.

#saera targaryen #hotd critical #hotd #fire and blood spoilers #fire and blood #fire and blood critical #character analysis

[visenyaism]

i think butterfly has a post on here somewhere explaining why little miss daenaera velaryon is 6 years old and it's bc viserys ii was originally aegon iii's son not his brother so somehow for the timelines to work, little miss had to be 6 years old at her marriage instead of like a normal age (also why viserys has kids at 13). still do not understand the allure of child bride pageant tho george...

ok so i went over to the wiki and did some math and that just does not make sense to me because given the current age she is when she gets married (SIX!!!) she had her LAST child Elaena at 23? she could literally have been 10 to 20 years older and had that timeline still make complete and total sense. GRRM seems to just not at all understand that having children at age 16 is literally actively way more medically dangerous to you in a way than having children at 26 or 36 or even 46 all of which are things people are biologically capable of doing

#some of butterfly’s thoughts on this WERE cogent to me i like their analysis a lot don’t get me wrong #even in the medieval times most people waited longer.? #see ASOIAF is at least surface level critical of this sometimes but fire and blood is really just like well child brides are cool

[graveyardcuddles]

I'm sure this has probably already been pointed out, but it's interesting to think about the historically significant Targaryens who had the same name or a similar name to Daenerys.

Daenys the Dreamer - Saved all of House Targaryen from the Doom with her prophetic vision. A woman whose dreams came true. Could be argued is the very foundation of House Targaryen even more so than Aegon I because Aegon could have never conquered the Seven Kingdom if his ancestors were wiped out by the Doom.

Princess Daenerys Targaryen I - Firstborn daughter of Queen Alysanne and King Jaehaerys. Early walker, talker, and reader. A lively, laughing child, often mud-spattered and grass-stained. She died young, but Alysanne fought for her to become Jaehaerys' heir over her younger brother Aemon and to rule as Queen in her own right.

Princess Daenerys Targaryen II - Daughter of King Aegon the Unworthy and Queen Naerys. The Daenerys that our Dany is named after. Born 19 years after her older brother. Mother was trapped in an abusive, unloving marriage. Said to have loved Daemon Blackfyre but set aside her personal desires for duty to marry Maron Martell to further solidify peace with Dorne. Began the tradition of opening the Water Gardens to the common children of the palace. And was remembered mainly for her compassion.

You can say that this naming convention is just a little easter egg that was included by George simply to create literary parallels to our Dany and that's probably true. But it feels like George is subtly hinting that Dany has been this figure whose birth has been heralded for centuries.

You can see little echos of her story in other Danys throughout history. And now, in THIS incarnation as Daenerys Stormborn, she is all those Danys and more. She is the wide-eyed, clever, grass-stained young girl learning to become a Queen in the Dorthraki Sea. She is the Dany who was born from an abusive loveless marriage but still became a compassionate leader even though it meant making personal sacrifices (including entering a politically advantage marriage) of her own. A woman whose dreams come true and who rules in her own right. Daenys the Dreamer and Aegon I.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #asoiaf analysis #house targaryen #awoiaf #a world of ice and fire #fire and blood #daenerys targaryen #daenerys meta #daenerys targaryen meta #a song of ice and fire

[sarcasticsweetlara]

Why Corlys' children have dragons

I have read in many stories complains and questions about why is it that Laena and Laenor Velaryon have dragons when they are Velaryons.

And it's for these reasons:

1. Rhaenys Targaryen is Laena and Laenor's mother, daughter of the deceased Crown Prince Aemon and his half aunt-wife Jocelyn Baratheon (who had Targaryen blood on her father's side and her mother was a Velaryon).

2. It's not all the Velaryons who have the trust of the Targaryens to have dragons, it's only the branch of Rhaenys and Corlys due to them having the most Targaryen blood. Corlys is the grandson of Daemon Velaryon -Alyssa Velaryon's brother- who was said to have Targaryen blood on his mother's side, Lady Alarra Massey.

I know Alarra is a Massey and that the original plan of Martin was her being a Targaryen, but in Fire and Blood she's still described as a distant relative of Aenys, we can assume that is because Alarra's mother was a Targaryen and that as well both Aethan Velaryon and Daemon Velaryon I had Targaryen mothers, hence that's why they have Targaryen blood.

Corlys' great-great-grandfather Daemon Velaryon (the friend of the Conquerors) could have had a Targaryen mother.

It may not be as much as the Dragonrider blood the Targaryens have, but considering that Benn Plumm, a descendant of Elaena Targaryen - daughter of Aegon III Targaryen - was liked by Daenerys' dragons, and that Quentyn Martell, a descendant of Princess Daenerys of Dorne - the only legitimate daughter of Aegon IV and Naerys Targaryen, the children of Viserys II Targaryen - had at the beginning a good reaction from them, it's completely possible.

With this argument, we could say Addam and Alyn got their dragonrider blood from their greatx4-grandmother and greatx3-grandmother who were Targaryens, and their great-great-grandmother Alarra Massey who had Targaryen blood through her own mother's side.

3. Laena and Laenor having dragons is a key point in the story. When Laenor's dragon Seasmoke hatched from an egg his parents were fighting for Rhaenys' claim for the Iron Throne, sadly Laena -who was actually the oldest- was passed over for being a woman but Laenor having a dragon represented he was a Dragonrider, someone worthy of being King.

Later, Laena claiming Vhagar was a point of contention between the Targaryens and Velaryons, by which the Velaryons demonstrated that even if they didn't have the throne they were a Proud House with an impeachable Valyrian heritage that was stronger than the Celtigars and more steadfast (as they weren't mad) than the Targaryens.

4. As Corlys lost like half of his crew and his first love in a voyage, maybe that counted as a Blood sacrifice and considering that Velaryons as well have magic blood (just look at their history, it's obvious they also have a magic background) that let Corlys' future descendants have a chance with claiming dragons.

Picture credit to @riotarttherite

#house velaryon #fire and blood #westeros #alarra massey #corlys velaryon #rhaenys targaryen (daughter of aemon) #rhaenys the queen who should have been #laena velaryon #laenor velaryon #seasmoke #aemon targaryen #aemon targaryen (son of jaehaerys and alysanne) #jocelyn baratheon #valyrianscrolls #rhaenys the queen who never was #hotd analysis #fire and blood analysis #Laena Velaryon (daughter of Corlys and Rhaenys) #the sacrifice of Corlys' crew and his first love gave his descendants the power to claim dragons #corlys the sea snake #Corlys' nine voyages

[madou-dilou]

Me (lying to myself): "Of course this isn't just a pointless Twin Peaks reference for the sake of reference, this element has to have an in-universe meaning. This part of the dream is about Viren's wildest desires for control, things Viren himself knows are delusional and foolish. The curtains and the lights are red, symbolising violence or desire. So either Viren fantasies about Opeli stroking his wood or they did have an affair and she had an abortion regardless of Viren's wishes, and he helped her in it, performing the spell himself, because this way would be painless for her and he knew it was best for everyone, but it's still a memory that stays with them both. The writers have obviously thought this through."

#viren #tdp #opeli #viren s5 #viren dark magic dream #tdp analysis #tdp headcanons #I just hate pointless references. It excludes those who don't know about it and breaks immersion for those who do know. Many of them in TDP #For example #Callum's boomerang #or all the Sailor Moon ones #or the Hand of the King one #they can be relevant #like Viren mosesing lava #since he views himself as moses #but is just bringing fire and blood upon the innocent #or Callum doing a Frodo #struggling to throw Satan's power trincket into the lava downstairs #because he is tempted and attracted by power even if he rationally knows it is morally wrong #anyway yeah Viren and Opeli absolutely had a thing #lord Viren #maybe this is part of why Lissa left #that or she thought Viren was Callum's dad #anyway just rambling #bye-bye #and of course there are many things the writers of this show dont think through

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Looks like Nettles is getting cut...

#fuckthemwritersistg

Spoilers and speculation for House of The Dragon season two, and beyond, lies ahead.

Oh I expected this. This is what they do. The World of Ice and Fire is complicated with tons of characters and story lines, so the show writers will always simply whenever they can, and even if they really shouldn't. Who remembers Jeyne Poole? Y'know, the girl who was actually married to Ramsay? If they hadn't already announced Addam's casting, I would predict that Laenor was going back to be one of The Dragonseeds and reclaim Seasmoke. That they would mere the two characters together. Because that seems to be what they do.

At the end of the day, we just have to take the show as a separate canon from the books. A lot is different. The show also tends to take various characters and rewrite them into better people. Game of Thrones did this with Sandor, Jorah, and Tyrion. House of The Dragon has done it with Rhaenyra, Alicent, and Aemond. The show already established that Rhaena is the girl who no one expects to get a dragon, and she obviously has a paternal connection to Daemon, so the writers said "close enough!" and substituted her in for Nettles. (That is, assuming this rumor is true, it may not be.)

But yeah, it's not the same, and Nettles was an important character in the story. Her absence would genuinely make the World of Ice and Fire smaller. Because she broke the rules. She was able to claim a dragon despite no apparent Valyrian ancestry. That's huge, and it's something Rhaena obviously can't replicate. Additionally, the bond between Daemon and Nettles worked because it was ambiguous. Was it paternal, or romantic? We can't be sure. But with Rhaena, that's gone too. We know for a fact that Daemon's her father, and Rhaenyra knows it as well. So her getting jealous is just going to make her look like she's out of her mind.

The mystery surrounding Nettles and the implications for dragon claiming as a whole were what made her character interesting. She wasn't a Princess of the Targaryen line. She was a common girl. And, not for nothing, but she was conventionally unattractive, too. It's unfortunate to lose that. Also, what does this mean for Morning? And Rhaena's story post-Dance? How are these two characters meant to be merged in the long term? If Rhaena can claim a dragon as fierce as Sheepstealer, that means maybe she could have claimed Vhagar, given the opportunity, when I think we were previously meant to assume that Vhagar wouldn't have chosen her anyway. Not sure what to make of that.

I'm sure it will be compelling when depicted onscreen and that Rhaena's ugly duckling story line will be fulfilling to watch, (the same way Sansa's arc was well crafted in the show) but still. This is a strange choice.

#Fire and Blood #House of The Dragon #Rhaena Targaryen #Nettles ASOIAF #Netty #Sheepstealer #The Dance of Dragons #Daemon Targaryen #ASOIAF Analysis #Fiction Analysis #Fire & Blood #Rhaena of Pentos #Vhagar #HoTD #HoTD Spoilers #Fire and Blood Spoilers

[mejcinta]

Only when Ser Criston convinced him that the princess must surely execute him and his brothers should she don the crown did Aegon waver. It was this, and only this, that persuaded Aegon to accept the Crown.

Aegon's protectiveness for his family is one of his few good qualities.

#aegon analysis #house of the dragon #hotd season 2 #fire and blood #aegon ii targaryen #targtower siblings #targtower bros #helaena targaryen #aemond targaryen #helaegon

[rhaenin-time]

This is your reminder that ambiguity in a (competently written) story functions to force the reader or viewer to engage on a thematic level, rather than a literal plot level. In other words, you don't "answer" ambiguity with conspiracy-grade theories born and "proven" through easter egg hunts and counting breadcrumbs. The thematic answer, the message of the ambiguous part of the story, should fit regardless of whichever of the likely possible "answers" is the "true answer." Because in cases of ambiguity, the thematic answer is the "true answer."

Do with that what you will.

#literary analysis #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #fantasy is probably the most metaphorical genre in general people #asoiaf #fire and blood #hotd critical #hotd #asoiaf fandom #hotd sexism #rhaenyra targaryen #amethyst empress #velaryon boys #strong boys #Did you know that Rhaenyra's story is about MiSoGyNy? #And how in the absence of codified law enforced by a higher power that it's the UNDERSTANDINGS between us that keep society together? #And that weaponizing misogyny and other forms of bigotry to justify severing those understandings for opportunism's sake #is how you end up DESTROYING the social order? #And that even in a “bad” system that's still a “bad” thing to do? #Because you're not abolishing the “bad” system you're simply destabilizing it and seeding the ground for MORE opportunism? #Where FORCE is valued above all else? #In this world in this era we MIGHT call that “fascism.” #And we most certainly wouldn't call it “liberation.”