#rhaenyra targaryen is the rightful ruler

[lovl3igh]

"tb's only argument is that rhaenyra was named the rightful heir" no, it's not, but you're really bitter we have that point don't you

#rhaenyra targaryen is the rightful ruler #like it or not #but that's a fact #and she's the better one #rhaenyra #house of the dragon #hotd #rhaenyra targaryen #fire and blood #the rightful queen #pro rhaenyra targaryen

[pookiebearsnookumsalicent]

I want to stay optimistic, but I don't have much faith that the HOTD writers will go through with any of the messages in the Dance aside from misogyny. Obviously, misogyny plays a big role in the Dance because it is the means to and end for the Greens, but the way the show focuses on this to favor Rhaenyra's claim and rule and this sort of diminishes the complexity of the story. By making it so that one side rightful, righteous, chosen by some divine powers, etc., etc. and one side that is perverse and corrupted and only there for greed, it takes away from one of the most important lessons in the Dance: Targaryens are not a divine superior race that should be exempt from the rage of common men that suffer at the cost of them.

(Also, ik ambition was a major motivator for the Greens in the books, but the books didn't try to frame Rhaenyra's right to the throne as God-given)

You might have already guessed, but the part of the dance I anticipated the most was Targaryens who perceive themselves to be divine and superior take the realm to shit fighting over a throne that neither of them actually deserve. They fight at the cost of everything and lose everything for a throne that neither of them keep for long because they are both inadequate rulers that rely heavily on their respective councils. When they make decisions on their own, their nearly equal incompetence shows because Aegon's choices are emotional and stupid and Rhaenyra's are paranoid and stupid. These are the people that cause the death of the dragons.

It feels like the show is trying to appeal to those stans that bend over backwards to defend their fave tyrants and believe the throne is a rightful possession of the Targaryens.

#this is not me dismissing misogyny #i acknowledge that its important #i just think making rhaenyra a divinely chosen ruler that was unfairly usurped doesnt do the narrative any favors #this is one of those posts where you can tell which characters i favor😭 #alicent hightower #anti targaryen #team green #pro team green #most pro team green post ive made actually #aegon ii targaryen #targtowers #also aegon chose to usurp the throne for his and his familys life in the books #whereas he ran away in the show #and aegon was introduced to the story as a child rapist as per mushrooms tales?? #thats another post tho #i dont claim to be morally right btw #greens are my guilty pleasure😞 #especially my glorious emerald jade adamite malachite nephrite queen and pookie bear snookums

[gojuo]

The audience manipulation is almost hilariously pro-Black in every way. Otto sends his daughter to the king: ‘wear your mother’s dress’. Corlys does the same thing: no scene where he coaches Laena on what to say. The divine right to rule white hart. The fact that the show seemingly doesn’t realize they wrote a rape scene between Rhaenyra and Criston. The quick gloss over the ‘questioned sharply’ line so that people would have no idea she meant torture. Aemond ‘stealing’ a dragon and threatening murder to justify Jace and Luc. The total and utter absence of the political context which makes it crystal clear that Aegon has the superior claim and Rhaenyra’s bastards aren’t eligible for anything. The murder of an redshirt framed as LGBT allyship. Meanwhile Alicent gets implicated in the murder of fave fave Strongs despite having nothing to do with it and waves a dagger in Rhaenyra’s face while screaming about how jealous she is. And what they’ve done with Alicent is actually insulting because if you’re going to make a character ‘nuanced’ by giving her a backstory of forced child marriage and rape, you cannot then turn around and frame her as the primary oppressor of a far more privileged character.

I was actually planning on writing a post on how the show's framing absolutely sucks ass and tacitly never punishes Rhaenyra's side in the same way they do to Alicent's, but you literally said it all right here 💀💀💀

#LOOORDDDD DONT REMIND ME OF THAT WHITE HART. THAT SHIT HAD ME IN STITCHES!!!!! RHAENYRA ???!?! MISS MAEGOR WITH TEATS THE RIGHTFUL RULER??? #DONT MAKE ME LAUGH SAPOCHNIK OR WHOEVER WROTE THAT GARBAGE EPISODE! #anti rhaenyra #anti rhaenyra targaryen #anti hotd #hotd #alicent #anonymous #answered

[inthegloomglow]

The Greens: Start a war because they can’t accept a woman on the throne and want to elevate themselves, constantly went after this woman’s reputation and did everything they could to make her life hell before usurping her, kill her young son while he’s on a peace mission, kill civilians to hide the king’s death. The Blacks: Respond to this. The fandom, somehow: Both sides are bad! No point arguing morality! They’re all war criminals!!!

#the blacks #team black #hotd #house of the dragon #anti greens #rhaenyra targaryen #I AM SICK OF HEARING ABOUT BLOOD AND CHEESE I DON'T CARE #HELAENA AND HER KIDS WERE INNOCENT AND IT'S HORRIBLE THAT HAPPENED #BUT YOU CANNOT START A WAR WHILE USURPING THE RIGHTFUL RULER #THE STRESS CAUSING HER TO GO INTO PREMATURE LABOR WHICH KILLS HER BABY #THEN KILL HER YOUNG SON WHO WAS THERE AS A PEACE ENVOY BECAUSE YOU - AN ADULT MAN - CANNOT GET OVER YOUR INJURY #THAT HE INFLICTING BECAUSE YOU WERE THREATENING HIM AND HIS BROTHER WITH A ROCK AND DRAGON FIRE #AND EXPECT YOU GOT TO JUST GO ON AND LIVE YOUR LIFE AND NOTHING WOULD EVER HAPPEN #THERE'S A DIFFERENCE IN PROVOKING SOMEONE REPEATEDLY UNTIL THEY RESPOND #AND THEM JUST HURTING YOU FOR NO REASON #*inflicted #*get

[visenyaism]

feastdance dashboard simulator

💋queen-cersei-defense-squad Follow

it’s so sick that people keep criticizing queen cersei as if she’s not the first female ruler of westeros??? literally elevating bastards and women to her small council is super fucking progressive as is creating the precedent of dismissing unfit kingsguard??

🪨dragonstoner Follow

aren’t all of her children literally bastards born of incest

💋 queen-cersei-defense-squad Follow

oh so now you’re going to listen to stannis baratheon, known misogynist, kinslayer, fornicator, team green supporter, and homophobe, huh.

🦑pykedyke

okay guys i know there’s no “perfect candidate” but you have to vote in the kingsmoot anyways not voting is how someone like e****n g*****y wins and literally anyone is better than him. suck it up and row to the polls

🦈reaveherihardlyknowher

ohhhh not this “vote your crew no matter who” “blue lips man bad” bullshit again. fuck off idgaf which godless man sits the seastone chair i’m not voting for asha shes literally a neoliberal

🦷 lastoftheegiants

first i had to give up my rights and then i had to give up my gods just to not get killed by fucking wights but i literally cannot believe the nights watch made me give up my strap as part of the treasure ransom. shit was expensive it was IVORY. i hate southerners so much i hope the lord commander dies

🌪️kinslayerr

DO NOT COME TO THE RIVERLANDS

🍓silverspurs Follow

why

🌪️kinslayerr

there’s riverlands here

🧜‍♂️theythemderly

freys

🌾maidencool

my cousin got eaten by rats in harrenhal

🐎brackennation Follow

dumb cunts wearing raven feather cloaks strutting around who think they’re better than you but they’re not better than you

🌟sevenstar

i saw a guy get killed and then just stand back up and start fighting again because his friend kissed him on the mouth down here once

🦌whitehart

giant feral pack of 60 wolves running around

🍓silverspurs Follow

ok understandable have a nice day

🫧bastardwaters

i hate the fucking sparrows can we be normal for five minutes or can we just not have shit in the crownlands

☠️real-stormlands-patriot Follow

ITS LORD COMMANDOVER #RIPBOZO

🐦‍⬛mormonts-raven-bot Follow

CORN! DEATH! CORN!

(CAW! I follow members of the Night's Watch to remind them of their oaths!)

🦷 lastoftheegiants

????

🍋floriansjonquil

Loras Tyrell x Queen of Love and Beauty!Reader Imagines

Keep Reading

🪻maidens-smile Follow

girl this is notttttt the time he literally just fucking died at dragonstone?

💎oathkeeper

should’ve stanned jaime #LORASFELLOFF

💐flowerknight

one kill yourself jaime lannister is an honorless kingslaying turncloak two i heard loras tyrell was literally fine?

👊fleabottomtop

lord davos seaworth, the class traitor from the stannis baratheon administration, is a nasty little thottie and just died from making it clap in white harbor

🌅girlheir

this tower fucking sucks.

🌅girlheir

i’m just like rhaenyra targaryen for real

🌅girlheir

🐀ratcook5000 Follow

people meat tastes good asf when you don’t have a wench in your ear saying it violates guest right

🐺threeeyedwolf

🍒ladylance

need that targ girl in mereen to get those lizards over here and liberate this website by any means necessary cause what the fuck is going on

#asoiaf #affc #adwd #its been so long since i did one of these. missed it #valyrianscrolls

[fragileheartbeats]

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.

Excuse me what?😂 Are you fr? If yes can you please give me a reason why she's the most suitable to sit on Iron throne? Because she's rightful heir? I'm sorry but that's not good enough. We have many Targaryen rulers and they were rightful heir, but you know... they fucked up, so it's not a convincing reason.

Actually she was the only one who wasn't suitable to sit on iron throne. Like we literally saw that, she fucked up so bad in half of a year that even her sons didn't denied what she did and literally there's no Rhaenyra after her, she was a disgrace for her future generations, that's says alot.

She was so bad that she was kicked out, people were tired of her. And then Aegon come and gets everything under his control in like a week while he was physical dead.

The funniest part is that all of green kids actually have something that make them more suitable than Rhaenyra.

First we got Aegon, he's brave, resilient, determined, he's smarter than Rhaenyra, he's protective and he's mentally the strongest and unbreakable. He survived the worst things and still continue. He was literally unbreakable, even towards the end of his life he gained the strength to walk, hardly but yes.

Then we have Helaena. She was a lovely and kind woman, she claimed one of the most badass dragons in the history when she was a kid, she was so loved that people literally gone mad after her death, that's say a lot about the difference between Rhaenyra and Helaena.

Next is Aemond. Smart, brave, a dangerous fighter and he have the biggest fucking dragon that he claimed when he was a kid. Do I need to say more?

And finally Daeron. Oh lord, this guy was smart as fuck and he was the most dangerous even though he was the youngest, he's also brave and loyal to his family. And people actually liked him. He was a fairly kind, clever, and humble guy. Definitely the best among Viserys’ sons.

Now what does Rhaenyra have that makes her comparable to them? What does she have that make her better?

Her age? The fact that she's first born?

Well that's just another reason why she don't deserve to sit on the throne, because she was heir since she was 8 yet she never fit into her position as one in so many years (25 years).

On the other hand Aegon never was heir so he never tried to fit but we see how in a short time (2 years or shorter) he grows and fit his position as king, we see how he live up to his title.

I'm sorry but even the fact that she's first born make her more pathetic.

This amount of delusional is not normal. I'm telling y'all.

#house of the dragon #house targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #house of dragons #hotd #aemond targaryen #aegon ii targaryen x reader #aegon x reader #hotd x reader #a song of ice and fire #king aegon #aegon the second #aegon ii #aegon targaryen #aegon targaryen x reader #anti rhaenyra targaryen #anti team black #pro team green #team green #helaena the dreamer #queen helaena #helaena targaryen #hotd aemond #aemond one eye #aemond targaryen x reader #daeron the daring #daeron targaryen #asoiaf #dance of the dragons #anti rhaenyra stans

[drakaripykiros130ac]

Only non-book readers (which are mostly TG stans, go figure) would claim that Rhaenyra “ran” to Dragonstone.

You do realize that Dragonstone, aside from being the Targaryen ancestral seat, represents a trial-run for the heir to the throne?

You can’t just take over the Seven Kingdoms without actual preparation (well, you can but you risk becoming a terrible ruler).

Rhaenyra didn’t “run” to Dragonstone. She was expected to rule there until the time came for her to ascend the throne. She was the Princess of Dragonstone. Get the picture?

In actual canon, Rhaenyra moved to Dragonstone right after she married Laenor (when she was only 16) and learned to govern, as was expected of her.

The showrunners decided to keep her longer in King’s Landing for the sake of “Court drama”, which (like most things on that show) makes no sense. But eventually, she did come to the realization that she should have left years ago (and told Laenor just that). Yes, she should have.

Because unlike Alicent Hightower and her spawns (who lie around and do nothing - even when they supposedly plan a coup in their heads), Rhaenyra was set to rule the Seven Kingdoms one day and needed to be well prepared for it.

And choosing to go to a place where she was expected to be since coming of age in order to learn to govern, instead of staying at Court and taking shit from a stepmother who has nothing even remotely useful to do with her time (aside from her feet sessions with Larys) is not called “running away”. It’s called being smart.

#rhaenyra targaryen #canon rhaenyra targaryen #team black #pro team black #anti team green #anti team green stans #queen rhaenyra #the dragon queen #canon asoiaf #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #fire and blood #the dance of the dragons #anti hotd #anti house of the dragon #anti greens #anti alicent hightower #anti alicent stans

[a0random0gal]

I'm thinking of the incredibly vital role Rhaenyra was given after her mother died, becoming the first ever female heir to the iron throne.

How revolutionary this was, and what an opportunity it presented for all women in Westeros (outside of Dorne).

How the sexist society she lived in was less than pleased of this title and how happy it would have been to strip her of it. And how easy Rhaenyra made it for them to do so.

She knew the importance of the title she bore, she knew that every noble man in the continent would look for anything to discredit her because of mysogyny, she knew that how she behaved would determine whether or not women would ever be considered capable of taking the weight of the crown and rule.

And she completely fumbled the bag by:

Being extremely rude and bratty to all of her suitors, refusing her arranged marriage, obviously cheating of her husband and claiming her bastards were true born, murdering said husband so she could marry her uncle (who has a terrible reputation) days after his own wife's death.

What was she thinking?

Didn't she even bother to wonder what the realm would think of her unlawful actions?

She literally proved the sexist society right, by being the most scandalous princess she could be, and that only solidified in the minds of everyone in Westeros that if you put a woman in a position of power she's gonna abuse it to do whatever she wants.

The girlboss black queen is the reason why no other Targaryen woman ever sat the iron throne after her, as her scandals and treachery turned the population against the mere though of a female ruler, in fear of having a new "Maegor with teats".

#house of the dragon #hotd #anti team black #anti rhaenyra targaryen #One of the reasons Deana the defiant never got the throne was because of the stigma surrounding a queen regnant #Because of Rhaenyra's awful 6 months reign #And the bloody war that anticipated it #No shit all of Westeros said “better not risk it” #dance of the dragons #daena the defiant #pro team green #team green

[lovl3igh]

so am i right saying that men in the realm were opposite the idea to put woman on the throne - not because it was against the law because it was stated many times in books that they may have stronger claims than their male relatives - and that's why visenya, rhaena, aerea, daenerys, rhaenys and laena didn't get their chance, that's why the men were weird the fck out when viserys called rhaenyra his heir disinheriting daemon but y'all say that after aegon's birth he was the rightfull heir cause of some law you state does exist (also some calling the law "son before daughter, daughter before brother" as if that wouldn’t mean that rhaenyra was the heir since her birth all along before daemon)

and you - and the westerosi "historians" - call rhaenyra the usurper or pretender for sitting on the throne acknowledging at the same time that she was supported by many houses - the whole north, arryn, velaryon, beesburry, caswell, fell etc - mostly leaded by men

so y'all really try to say that rhaenyra targaryen was a woman AND a usurper in the realm who refused the crown to female heirs for years even though she was supported by the very same men that freaked out hearing she's the heir of viserys, how the fck a woman in westeros had any chance to usurp the throne if she wasn't acknowledged publicly by most (ekhem every ehkem ekhem) of the houses as truthful heir? how?? who would support a pretender woman against male heir in westeros? it was a male pretender against female rightful ruler all the way

#make it make sense #woman pretender in westeros sounds like bad joke #if they at least had anything to buy their support #but she married from her house #her children were betrohed to valyrian blood and family #she had no money that hightowers had #but she had their oaths and her father will and support until his death #even if it wasn't stated clear enough in the show or books #and it was #then how would that work #bffr #queen rhaenyra #rhaenyra targaryen #house of the dragon #targaryen #hotd #fire and blood #rhaenyra targaryen is the rightful ruler #team black #the black queen #the dragon queen #westeros

[lovedreamer11]

I often see the criticism that Rhaenyra sat on Dragonstone the whole time and did nothing to strengthen her claim to the throne, while Otto and Alicent plotted the usurpation and ruled in Viserys' place. But excuse me, what did they do that was so important besides looking forward to the death of Viserys?

I get the impression that after these two surrounded themselves with oathbreakers, liars and misogynists, they firmly believed that no one would recognize Rhaenyra as queen, while most of Westeros fought for the rightful queen. But what have the Greens done over all these years?

Why didn't the Greens form alliances with the powerful houses of Westeros in advance? Aemond was nineteen. He could have been married to Borros Baratheon's eldest daughter for three years and possibly have a son with her.

Okay, Daeron wasn't married, but he wasn't even engaged. Why wasn't Daeron betrothed to someone from the Reach? After all, almost half of the Reach did not support the Hightowers! Or perhaps Daeron could be betrothed to someone from the Riverlands, where Rhaenyra was popular. There is also the numerous Manderley House. Lord Manderly certainly had nothing against the marriage of his daughter or granddaughter to the king's third son.

In this regard, Rhaenyra was smarter when she betrothed her eldest sons to the twins in advance and strengthened the Velaryon's loyalty.

Why didn't Otto and Alicent at least raise Aegon as a worthy ruler and a formidable warrior? They didn’t even care about the reputation of their supposed king, because in the capital where Aegon lived all his life, he was not popular. Aegon was one of the last to learn that he would usurp his elder sister!

Why did Alicent let Aemond grow up to be a mentally unstable and stupid idiot? This woman deliberately entrusted the upbringing of her son to a man whom she had previously suspected of pedophilia and prone to outbursts of aggression.

Even Aegon's marriage to Helaena, which strengthened his claim to the throne and made his children Targaryens from both parents, was orchestrated by Viserys.

#team black #anti team green #i mean only the book #not hotd #asoiaf #fire and blood

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

Rhaenyra's Victory

The "nobody won the Dance" argument is so ridiculous and just flat out wrong. Certain fans (read TG stans), constantly argue that, because Rhaenyra and Aegon both died, the Dance had no victor. GRRM clearly disputes this in both F&B and ASOIAF.

In F&B, the end of the Dance is clearly in favor of the Blacks, despite Rhaenyra's murder. Cregan Stark and the rest of the Black forces took KL, forced the last of the Green supporters to surrender, and placed Aegon III (Rhaenyra's oldest surviving child) on the throne. After that, the last of Aegon II's line died with Jaehaera, leaving Rhaenyra's as the only legitimate and surviving royal line. That means, in simple terms, Rhaenyra's family won the war. They were the survivors of the war and ruled for the rest of the Targaryen Dynasty.

Speaking of the rest of the dynasty, there's a second way GRRM makes Rhaenyra's victory clear, and that's through Daenerys Targaryen. Despite the Blacks winning the final conflict of the Dance, male primogeniture was accepted and reinforced throughout the following kings' reigns. Baela and Rhaena were passed over as options to be Aegon III's heirs before his marriage to Daenaera. Daena and her sisters were passed over in favor of Viserys II and his children. Vaella was dismissed in favor of Aegon V. The first woman to be named heir to the IT since Rhaenyra was Dany, something done purely because she was Viserys III's final surviving relative (no, the relatives in other houses don't count).

No matter the reason Dany was named as heir, she eventually succeeded her brother as the head of House Targaryen and the rightful ruler of Westeros. After becoming the head of the house, she awoke dragons from stone and became Khaleesi of her own Khalasar. Dany then began a conquest across Slaver's Bay and eventually conquered Meereen and became its queen. Thus she became a conqueror and queen in her own right.

Despite House Targaryen embracing the sexist Andal traditions about succession, the future of the house now rests on the shoulders of a woman. Dany is the final ruler belonging to the house, a queen regnant who overcame every man who stood in her way. Not only that, but she awakened dragons from stone, thus beginning to heal the damage done by the Dance and the greens' misogyny.

Dany, a woman, is the savior of House Targaryen and arguably one of its most powerful rulers to date. She not only is continuing its legacy, but is bettering it. Rhaenyra's legacy is her female descendant who will save not only the house but the whole goddamn world. Dany enacts radical social change in Essos, rules her city well (as much as she can with the slavers' interference), and brought dragons, the key to defeating the Others, back into the world. Daenerys is Rhaenyra's final victory over the greens' misogyny and treason.

#daenerys targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #anti team green #team black #asoiaf #anti team green stans #anti rhaenyra antis #anti dany antis #house of the dragon

[dayneston]

House of the Dragon: Rhaenyra Targaryen and The Politics of Having Illegitimate Heirs

I don’t think people understand why Alicent was so bothered by Rhaenyra having illegitimate children as much as she was. Yes, part of it was coming from a place of frustration at Rhaenyra for scoffing at tradition and not honouring her marriage vows, but Alicent’s primary focus was on the politics - and how it put her own children in mortal danger.

Painting: The Execution of Lady Jane Grey

You see, if Rhaenyra had legitimate children with Ser Laenor, then the Greens would have no reason whatsoever to try and replace Rhaenyra as heir to the throne with Aegon. They, in truth, would’ve been usurpers. But as we know, Rhaenyra having bastards not only weakened her own claim to the throne but by it, she has given her enemies a legitimate reason to support Aegon instead of her. Just think about it - nearly every lord in the realm has a bastard of his own. If Rhaenyra puts her own bastards on the throne, it sets a precedent - that bastards can have a claim to a title just as much as legitimate children can. This of course presents a HUGE crisis to the lords who probably have multiple bastards running around, now all potential heirs to his house. Some lords might even have older bastard brothers, brothers who would potentially be better rulers than them if they were trueborn. Brothers who would follow Rhaenyra’s suit and place themselves in positions of great power and usurp their trueborn sibling’s claims. No doubt, this would lead to violence, in-fighting, bloodshed and the potential extinction of houses and bloodlines that go back thousands of years.

So naturally, any lord who would be fearful of this playing out would naturally ally themselves with the trueborn children of House Targaryen - Alicent’s children. Whether the Greens want it or not, Aegon, Helaena, Aemond and Daeron would become unwilling figureheads for rebellions against Rhaenyra. These rebels would rally themselves around Alicent’s children, demand them to be crowned instead of Rhaenyra, and of course, Rhaenyra would have absolutely no choice but to execute her half-siblings, to save herself and her children. Whether Alicent’s children want it or not, they are living, breathing, constant challenges to Rhaenyra’s throne.

It’s the exact predicament Mary I of England faced - a Catholic queen who had just deposed her Protestant cousin, the Lady Jane Grey, Mary had no choice but to order 16 year old Jane’s execution in 1554. Despite having Jane imprisoned, rebels kept on popping up around England, all marching on London to dethrone Mary in Jane’s name, even though Jane herself was oblivious to what was happening because she was behind bars and had already relinquished her crown and declared for Mary. Mary was hoping to restore Catholicism to England and was planning to marry a foreign prince so she could provide England with a Catholic heir - but she knew so long as Jane lived, Mary, her future children and England would never know peace. So she reluctantly signed Jane’s death warrant, causing the death of one of England’s most tragic figures.

This would be the fate of Alicent’s children if Rhaenyra ever ascended the throne. No matter how good willed Queen Rhaenyra would be to her siblings, it wouldn’t last. The minute the first lord lit the beacon of rebellion and openly called Rhaenyra’s sons illegitimate usurpers of Alicent’s trueborn children with no right to the throne, Alicent’s children would’ve been executed. There’s absolutely no way Rhaenyra would ever chose Aegon, Helaena, Aemond and Daeron’s lives over her own living children - what mother would?

#house of the dragon #alicent hightower #rhaenyra targaryen #mine #analysis

[dragondream-ing]

If someone defends Rhaenyra’s usurpation because of tRaDiTiOn, they better be waving a Maegor banner proudly.

I’m being serious.

So many people in this fandom care about the tradition of Westerosi inheritance and act like yelling about it justifies team green’s actions. They never seem to take into consideration what it means.

This post is inspired by my allergy to inconsistency and hypocrisy. Here we go.

The only consistent tradition of Targaryen succession is the ruler choosing their own heir. Sometimes that aligned with Westerosi tradition, often it did not. And it started with the very first heir. So either you admit Maegor was the rightful heir over Aenys, or you admit he wasn’t because Aegon the Conqueror said so.

Let me explain.

Visenya was Aegon’s first wife. In Westerosi tradition, Rhaenys would be considered at best a mistress and her children out of the succession or, at the least, behind Visenya’s children. The lords accepted the validity of Aegon’s plural marriage because they didn’t have the power to oppose the Conquerors, simple as. Tradition didn’t matter in the face of dragons. It is not a genuine argument and hasn’t been since the creation of the Crown itself. House Targaryen’s exceptionalism went beyond incest and dragons from the start, and accepting Aenys as king shows the nobles accepted this when it was convenient.

So I’d like team green to be consistent. Is the king’s word law, a la Aegon choosing Aenys as his heir? Or is this a break from tradition that was only corrected when Maegor killed his nephew and took the throne?

It gets messy from here. Maegor, as we know, didn’t have a child, so he chose his great-niece, Aerea as his heir. Jaehaerys was still alive, he could’ve chosen him. Heck, that might’ve eased like a drop of the tension between him, Jaehaerys and Alyssa Velaryon. So if you’re a tradition truther, Maegor was the proper king but then chose an untraditional heir. Hmm.

Then we get to Jaehaerys, and a tradition truther might think YES, THAT’S OUR GUY. But he’s really not.

Yes, he stopped considering his eldest living child, Daenerys, as his heir after Aemon was born. But then Aemon died.

Aemon did, however, die with an heir. Her name was Rhaenys. In Westerosi tradition, she’d inherit after him, because a daughter inherits before a brother. Now, I know the lords do all sorts of things to circumvent this (see Alys Karstark), but that *is* Westerosi tradition.

Did Jaehaerys follow tradition? Nope. He picked his second oldest son, Baelon.

Some might say there are logical reasons for this. Baelon was a warrior, older, and had grown sons. Rhaenys was like 18, married to an ambitious lord not named Targaryen, and at risk of dying in childbirth (Baelon was named heir in 92, Rhaenys had her first child in 92). HOWEVER, we see with Jeyne Arryn becoming Lady of the Vale while still a *toddler* that Westerosi tradition doesn’t set aside claims merely because such concerns exist. In fact, in ASOIAF, some Lannister married an f-ing BABY to lay claim to her lands because *she* is the acknowledged inheritor.

You could argue that it matters more when it’s the Crown, and I’ll concede that while pointing out you’ve made my argument for me: isn’t that a good reason for the Crown to do what it wants instead of following traditions that hamstring it?

If you’re a tradition truther, however, you should be in a rage and insisting Rhaenys inherit, and you should be outraged by what was done to her at the Council of 101 after Baelon dies. Her claim wasn’t even considered, Laenor’s was—ya know, her toddler son who got his claim *through* her.

So then Viserys takes the throne and continues the Targaryen custom of choosing his heir. And the tradition truthers of the fandom rise up and boo, and they cry “duty and sacrifice! What about tradition!?”

Just admit that the lords of Westeros, Alicent, her merry band of greens, and the fans that make excuses for them didn’t and don’t care about tradition unless it suits them, and they only become vocal about it when a woman stands a good chance of inheriting over a man.

Viserys never wavered in his choice, the realm knew it and so did the greens. This is precisely why Rhaenyra had far more support than her brother, and why the argument that the realm wouldn’t accept her is bs. The realm DID accept her. Because they understood something many in this fandom struggle to

There was only one consistent tradition of royal succession between the Conquest and the Dance: the ruler chooses their heir.

#anti team green #anti alicent stans #say tradition one more time I dare you #the Targaryens answer to neither gods nor men hello #is the king’s word law or not #one time I asked a team green stan this on Twitter and got blocked so fast lmao #team black forever #Rhaenyra is the true queen deal with it

[pterodactylterrace]

Heeeeeeey! Sliding in just to mess up everyone’s day with another crack pot theory!

Every Targaryen after Aenys descended from a bastard.

Aegon the conqueror had two wives. Rhaenys and Visenya. Rhaenys having paramours was no secret. There were rumors of Aenys being the son of a singer or one of her other lovers. He was also noted to have a lovely singing voice and not take much after Aegon at all.

After Rhaenys’s death in Dorne, there was only one heir. Visenya was thought to be barren, and was more advanced in age. She also dabbled in sorcery, though. Which is likely how she conceived Maegor. All through the conquest and even before, no children. Only after the heavy lifting was done and Rhaenys was surrounded by other men did she have Aenys. Visenya had to resort to magic. It makes more sense for Aegon to be sterile and for Rhaenys to have had a child by someone else and for Visenya to resort to magic to conceive, than for both his wives to only have one child each, despite laying with them often.

The thing is, Aenys had the traditional Targaryen looks. No one could prove that he was not the son of Aegon just by looking at them. So no one dared to question it, as they could prove nothing.

Rhaenyra wasn’t the first Targaryen woman to pass off a bastard as trueborn. She is the first one to do it poorly. Jace was born with Harwin’s looks. Anyone with half a functioning brain wouldn’t risk anymore children by him. She didn’t need to have one in the first place. Before the time jump, she is against having children. Next thing we know, in the very next episode, she has 3. She had two heirs before Jace was even born. Aegon and Aemond. Just like Daemon was heir before Viserys named Rhaenyra to prevent Daemon from becoming king. It would have prevented the entire dance, but for some reason, even after she realized that Jace looks like Harwin and that people are talking, she decided to have two more children. With Harwin.

Also, Laenor doesn’t gladly accept them as his own. He plays his part. He even scoffs when Rhaenyra refers to them as ‘their’ children. He is willing to play his part, but he doesn’t accept them as his. He is just compliant. We see what Rhaenyra does when Laenor tries to do something she doesn’t want. She uses her station to command him. Him agreeing that the children are his in public isn’t the legal standing ground you think it is. It’s Laenor being coerced into agreeing when Rhaenyra says they are his. Not him ‘accepting them as his’. He does his best to play the role and love them as his, but he never accepts them as his children. Playing along isn’t the same thing as legally declaring them your trueborn sons.

She is also horrible to Luke. She is literally forcing him to take an inheritance HE DOES NOT WANT and furthermore HAS NO RIGHT TO because if he doesn’t, it will expose her treason. She could have had the grace to allow Vaemond to inherit Driftmark, but she was too busy ignoring her son telling her he doesn’t want it. He is 14. He’s not a young child like he was when he first told Corlys he didn’t want to inherit Driftmark. All these years, his mind never wavered. But his mother decided to traumatize everyone in the room and end a man’s life rather than just listen to him.

“I would like to thank the court for its time. I have been in council with my second born son, Lucerys Velaryon, and he has made it known that he does not wish to inherit the Driftwood Throne. He wishes for it to instead pass to Corlys’s brother, Vaemond Velaryon. We will not waste any more of the court’s time.”

Problem solved. Why is she making him take an inheritance he doesn’t want? Because of her own pride, if I had to venture a guess. Why show any ounce of diplomacy and, I don’t know, LISTEN TO YOUR CHILDREN, when you can have a man killed for fighting for what is rightfully his? She could have made many allies and shown herself a smart, cunning, caring ruler. Instead, she showed herself to be a greedy tyrant. Don’t worry, though. She doesn’t get any better later on. Maegor with teats. Except Maegor’s cruelty and madness was caused by magic and severe brain trauma, but that’s another post.

#anti rhaenyra targaryen #hotd #spoilers #pro team green #anti team black #house of the dragon

[drakaripykiros130ac]

“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

[visenyaism]

Could you elaborate on what you mean by the Rhaenyra and Mandate of Heaven thing?

well the show establishes that she is like divinely sanctioned by the gods to be king when 1)the white hart appears to her and not her 2 year-old brother on his birthday hunt and 2)the prophecy on the dagger reveals that the realm needs a strong targaryen ruler to unite the realm against the white walkers and everyone tells rhaenyra it is her.

i think this makes her a much weaker character because she’s not allowed to want power for power’s sake or because she thinks she would be a good ruler in her own right or even wants to accomplish any specific political goals. no she wants power because the gods have said it thusly and she has to save the world. it takes so much of the complexity and agency out of her character and pulls most of the narrative’s thematic punches. how do you tell a story about the devastating consequences of dynastic infighting and civil war in an oppressive monarchical state if one of the claimants has to be unequivocally divinely correct? not well.

#asoiaf #hotd #they want to make her more like daenerys. she is not daenerys. there is a reason this all works with daenerys and not rhaenyra