Why i support the Green ( a cookie fueled mini essay)
Good day my friend (or night as it is here) , i wanted to present my reasons to why i support the green faction (as it as been shown ) and hopefully get a discussion going , let's begin .
P.s. Forgive my grammar im italian and i kinda suck at writing in english and some of this point are carbon copy of other opinion that convinced me to side with the Green
-The King should not had mantain Rhaenyra as it's heir from a somewhat legal and philosofical point of view :
In the show our Rhaenyra had been made heir after everyone and theyr mother's concurred in don't wanting Daemon as future king (because the ..... implication) Viserys in my mind had actually choose well , Andal succession law (as it's shown in ASOIAF ) state that a daughter come before an uncle (but there are exepction since succession laws as stated by Martin are pretty muddled), Visery choosing is daughter was from a legal standpoint unattacable but after the birth of his sons his position of manteining Rhaenyra as heir go against the traditional Andal and First men succession dynamic that as been going on for a good 8000 years .
But Luca097 didn't the Targaryen never officially specify succession (because they were completely idiot)?
Your almost right strange voice in my head , while there is technically no official law about royal succession the precedent (King Jaehaerys took the throne over his older sisters. he consistently named males over females for his heirs. the great council at Harrenhal once again chose a male heir over a the son of a female heir. And the targaryen on Dragonstone always choose male primogeniture from what i know) had enstablish Male superiority in regard of succession , with the council of Harrenhall if not making it de-facto law at least showing a strong preference by the nobility.
Ok , but didn't Viserys as king as the right to change the law?
Now that's a good question , the Targaryen (being a bunch of idiots) it seems that they didn't specify how much power the king posses on matter of succession (see Harrenhal as an example were the king had to "ask" the nobility ) and in general how much power a Targ king posses in the legal sense(they seems to be Absolute monarch but they lack everything an absolute monarch need
Well the seven kingdom aren't an absoulute monarchy : Nobility as entreched rights , they mantein vast military forces , the lord paramount ARE the de-facto law in theyr domain and they can choose what to do as long as they pay taxes , there is no vast burocracy to permit to the king to centralize is power etc etc .), so i choose to see it under a more "philosofical" sense . Should the king have to power to change at will the Law no matter how ancient ? I sincerely answer NO , while in the ASOIAF universe the social contract seems to almost not existing , with for example the so called smallfolk having almost no rights (in medieval western europe the vast majority of paesant were free and had many rights , it happened more regulary that is seems that a village would bring the lord/signore/knight to trial for a miriad of things) the king is still subject at least a bit to the law , if the Targaryen monarch can change the law at will it will devolve in a Tyranny and this is something i can't accept for my personal belief.
- Alicent is rightfully scared for her children
This is more easy to explain , if Alicent dropped dead tomorrow and Rhaenyra somehow ascended the throne uncontested despite her own staggering ability to self-sabotage; the Strong Boys illegitimacy is going to mean that her reign is ultimately the same dynastic limbo Jaehaerys and Viserys turned out to be; dragonriders or notAegon, Helaena and Aemond; and any children of theirs would have a better claim to the Throne, as would Daemon's daughters. Fuck, the only people the Strong boys are ahead of in succession if called out are Saera's descendants . At best, it'll require yet another Great Council that Rhaenyra's preferred claimants will almost certainly loose (the Great Houses have no choice but to tolerate the Targaryens' eccentricities, but not when it's disruptions set a bad example for their succession) in favor of one of her brothers' or their kids; or it's Maegor vs Aegon all over again , for Rhaenys to even hope to secure her children claim she will had to kill Alicent children , if not they will become a lighting rod for anyone that would rightfully not accept Bastards on the throne .
But Rhaenyra offered Alicent to marry Haelena to Jaerys
True but Rhaenyra offering to marry Helaena to Jacaerys wasn't compromise, it was an act of desperation where only she benefits, as she realized that no one is buying the lie that her sons are Laenor's. Alicent's sons would be in the same amount of risk as before, while Helaena would serve to add legitimacy to the line of Jacaerys (and at worst even add incentive to get rid of Alicent's sons ASAP). Making Jace's uncles his brothers-in-law adds exactly nothing to the incentives to not harm them.
-Rhaenyra is a dumbass , a loveable one at first , but a dumbass
This is easy enough , Rhaeneyra might have been able to ascend the throne if she had done her duty ,but instead she decide to fathered bastards and than claim they are legit and everyone bloody knows it , this is like the stupidest think she could had done .
Who cares they still are her children
The nobility cares , and yes they are her children but they are not legitimate , succession law exist to make the transition of power from Noble A to Noble B as smoth as possible to avoid conflict , if you start to violate something as big as children legitimacy that stability is gonna go to hell
This is almost all i just want to finish with a bit of defence of Alicent , i try to watch the show not only with my morale but trying to understand how the character must thinking and many people it seems doesn't understand that she is a woman of her time with morales of her time because from a westerosi prospective she is great : she's a dutyfull wife , she gave her husband children (only 3 but it seems that in westeros child mortality is at modern day level) she very pious (And it was fucking important in the Middle ages) .
She lived a very priviledge life and she did the duty her station expect of her , a medieval society was about that , privilege and duty , both the paesant as the king had duties to perform and it sucked for everyone , women were married off and boys were sent to the battlefield (im actually from a cadet branch of the Ieta Noble family and with the number of men dying in some battlefield for the venetian republic every generation it's a miracle that im alive) , this is how the world worked in similar times and it was necessary to follow this order to try to mantain order .
This is why i love Alicent and this is why i don't particulary like Rhaenyra , they both lived a life of absolute luxury (compared to everyone else) but that kind of life came with a horrible cost (in this case at least sire a couple of legitimate childred) and Rhaenyra don't want to pay it , this lead to instability and war , and in war the vast majority of death aren't the nobles one .