In honor of the the return of the absolutely illogical mess that is HotD, here are some quick reminders as to why the Dance was doomed to happen:
Yes, Viserys was an idiot to remarry. No, it didnât matter if he had married LaenaâCorlysâ greed made Otto look like a saint. Unlike the book, Rhaenyra was old enough to be married off and have children of her own; remarrying with enough children to populate a new house was Viserysâ own greed and pride. Blame Viserys for Rhaenyraâs inevitable downfall
Yes, naming Aegon heir wouldâve solved a lot of issues. Namely, the fact that literally no one would have contested that claim. Not even Rhaenyra, who spent her entire life up Aemmaâs death as conveniently not-the-heir.
No, naming Rhaenyra queen and abdicating while he was alive would not have stopped the Dance, merely pushed it down a generation. Yâall seem to keep forgetting that Jace and Co are very obvious bastards; if not Aegon v Rhaenyra, it would be Aegon v Jace or Jace v Aegon the Younger v Jaehaerys
No, Jaceâs reign was not secured or safe. Again â> very obviously a bastard, surrounded by whatâs going to be dozens of white-haired sons and daughters. Ntm, I doubt the many lords would let him rest easy for it. A very harmful precedent there
No, Jace and Helaena would not have been enough. The claim to contest are Aegon and his brothersâ, which still exist even if Helaena married Jace. Aegon and Baela wouldâve been the better option, but that would only work if Baela were to inherit Driftmarkâand we all know Rhaenyra would never allow it.
No, it really doesnât matter that Aegon was a mediocre-to-bad king. Viserys was a shit king, Rhaenyra was a shit queen, Daemon wouldâve been terribleâthey all sucked. The Council matters way more than the king does, and the Black Council as it stands are all fucking morons. Jace has the most sense there and heâs 16; thatâs how bad it is
Rhaenyraâs not exactly the pinnacle of genius. Girlieâs also stupid as fuck, because for someone who does want to rule and knows that her rule is constantly contested on, she decides to run away and do nothing for close to seven years. Might as well hangup the claim and the crown, for all the effort she placed into securing it. Which was basically none. Maybe start by not having such obvious bastards, or marrying the man you were named heir to keep away from the crown and producing even more bastards.
No, Aegon being Aemondâs main childhood bully does not and will never negate his ill-feelings towards the Strong Boys. Aemond in s2 could bully and humiliate Aegon back publicly, even after he got Jaehaerys killed. Hell, he threw Aegon under the bus at Driiftmark too. Meanwhile, dumbfuck in a bowlcut 1 and 2 were smirking over memories of bullying the kid they maimed for life and never once apologized to. Pretty sure the former is typical Daemon-like greed and ambitions, and the other was from valid hurt. It is Aemondâs nature to spend his life thinking heâll be better than his brother (like Daemon). Unfortunately for both, they also suck and wouldâve been terrible kings too. Not that theyâll ever realize it.
ellievsbear
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
romaincrisis
amandla
