Do you think Luke would have gone on like Saera? I think that if he hadn't been reunited with his family and his memories had returned him to his 18 years, he would have chosen to go it alone. It might have been difficult for him, but I'm confident he would have managed to pull through, although I think he would have left Westeros. After all, it doesn't seem like a place where he could thrive, given the way society treats people not born into privilege.
Oh 100%, and itās the crappy cards heās been dealt in this life that center his decision in remaining alone.
Luke is someone whoās been kicked down, thrown from pillow to post-stamp experiencing the worst parts of humanity society has to offer. After everything heās managed to survive had the fight between him and Sidney never taken place; ergo he never meets Alicent and eventually moves on to somewhere like Lys, Luke wouldnāt think twice about staying as is even after recovering his memories. Depending on his quality of life Luke would do everything he could to shovel the memories back in since they serve no purpose.
Lucerys Velaryon just doesnāt exist anymore, point blank period. Luke actually considers him dead despite having his face and memories. Thereās too much trauma heās trying to heal from and twice as many physical reminders across his body to think about seeking out those from his past, let alone actually contacting them. Would it hurt? Absolutely, but heād push through it.
To make solidarity his choices, Westeros as a whole is much too judgmental as you mentioned. The culture, the peopleā¦its not great. It may be the 21st century, however the only things thatāve actually improved is modern medicine and clear laws. Otherwise misogyny still runs rampant, gay rights are highkey kinda flimsy, the justice system exists but is extremely corrupt, noble houses and the power they hold remains intact despite the government supposedly being more a republic, and bastard is still a social status that most look down on. Essos isnāt perfect, but itās free. Luke wouldnāt go back to Westeros if you paid him. He simply canāt deal with the headache.
On top of that he sees no purpose in looking for the others. Itās not like they can be this big happy family that happily pretends they never committed atrocities against each other, so whats the point?
Modern day Saera and Luke share so many parallels now that Iām thinking about it. I can actually see him fostering an older child or two (later on adopting) who he ends up telling the truth only for them to do some research, go contact Rhaenyra and be like āSoā¦youāre our grandma šā
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