hod ep 3 thought on rhaenyra v corlys💭
this is just my take please be nice if you disagree but corlys saying jace lived and died as a bastard is taken a lil out of context. its harsh yes and somewhat offshoot for corlys but what i feel he meant is jace was never officially legitimized, his bastardy was a taboo subject though nearly everyone knew it was rarely openly addressed. we know jace was also conscious of this fact after the dragonseeds were recruited. corlys does not want the same fate for his bastards so to say. unlike jace and luke, alyn and addam are openly declared bastards, him advocating to the queen now that she holds the throne to officially legitimize them through a formal decree is what he wants, more so after losing nearly everything at the battle of the gullet. he does not want his sons to live and die as bastards like rhaenyra sons unfortunately did.
yes he should have stated his grievance in a kinder way and perhaps in a more secluded place but his anger is justified in his mind after the losses he had suffered in this war, he wants a recompense of some sort. i do think he should have offered driftmark to rhaena as well after baela rejected it and if she too did not want it, then he should have advocated for the hull boys. but its also wrong to say this proves he did not love jace and luke, its obvious he did but perhaps like most of the westerosi society, he also prefers his own blood over somebody else.
i also liked how this scene tried to show us rhaenyra pov. she may have looked ahypocritical because her own heir is a bastard »and both addam alyn have proved their loyalty« but whats to be noted is that she did not deny corlys request, just asked to defer it because of her own precarious position which is but unfortunately corlys is equally desperate after the gullet and loss of high tide treasures. the war is not over yet and addam may die anytime looking for vhagar and sheepstealer. likewise for alyn who is commanding the navy so corlys does not want to waste time. the boys lived as bastards he does not want them to die as bastards too.
ultimately in a way corlys and otto are two sides of the same coin. they both want(ed) whats best for themselves and their legacy. if viserys had married laena and had legitimate sons, corlys like otto would have probably supported his grandsons for the throne over any of rhaenyra kids, bastards or not. otto is dead now and corlys is on the verge of losing everything so he is clutching at the last straws of velaryon legacy through alyn and addam.
