William Finds Henry Mourning Over Charlotte Outside Of The Restaurant And William Is Like: OMGG!! W Who

Screaming crying throwing up this is the best thing I've seen all day

"when you called me normal... that made me so happy."

"because you're the girl that saved me that day. the worst girl in the world."

aemond, to helaena, while lying face down on his bed and regretting everything: and then i called him dad.

criston, to alicent, crying tears of joy: and then he called me dad!

This gotta be the worst character assassination I've ever seen, Alicent betraying her family because she's still obsessed with Rhaenyra after two fucking decades and four children for some reason 🤡

"She also lost the privilege of being her friend when she married her father a short while after Aemma died."

Please tell me you're not blaming a 14 year old girl for being sent by her dad against her will to spend time with Viserys. The fault for that marriage is all on the king for willingly marrying his daughter's friend and on Otto for pushing his child into a marriage she didn't want to satiate his own ambition.

My god the victim blaming is this fandom is ridiculous.

Also Nyra literally slept with Daemon the day of Laena's funeral☠️

Do you know what infuriates me the most about Rhaenyra?

No, it's not her entitlement, her spoiled princess behavior and surprisingly not even her insufferable stans.

It's her complete lack of action after she marries Daemon. She finds herself in a situation where her father's health is declining at a steady pace and is as such incapable of ruling and in need of a regency. This is her big moment right? Historically when an old king/queen needed a regent their heir always stepped up to fulfill that role, to start taking the crown and testing the waters while their parent was still alive and show the council, the nobles and the people what kind of ruler they were going to be after their mom/dad died.

But not Rhaenyra. Who loved to talk about the things she was going to do after becoming queen, who loved to remind everyone that she was still the heir in spite of Aegon's birth.

This is her occasion, her opportunity to take power and start ruling, to hold her first meeting with the small council, to begin making allies at court and establish her authority and gain respect as future queen.

But no for some reason she decides to fuck off to Dragonstone and leave all the politics, all the big decisions and royal duties to the greens.

And after that not only has the audacity to complain that Alicent and Otto are the real power behind the feeble Viserys, but to get mad after being "usurped".

Like girl you literally handed them the chance to dismiss you and crown Aegon in your place on a silver plate, you don't have the right to react like this, cause unlike you they can actually recognize an opportunity and seize it lmao.

I really don't understand why people are going after Jace/Sara because of Baela and how she would react to their relationship.

First of all we're not even sure Sara is going to be in hotd 2 in the first place, since her affair with Jacaerys is not something we are certain actually happened, yet people are hating on her as if she were 100% in the show and it's dumb.

Don't say a character doesn't exist in the story and then hate on it as if it did, you're just exposing your insecurities lmao.

Second even if they get together next season Baela and Jace are never going to get married anyway,as we all now he's going to kick the bucket before they're wed.

Had the show shown them being cute together, developing a crush on one another and talking about how they are looking forward to their wedding then I would have understood the hate and mayybe I would have agreed that adding Sara would only ruin the ship and piss off the fans.

But it doesn't happen!

They barely talk, and Jace apologizes to Baela before dancing with Helaena. Some would argue that he defended her against Aegon's shitty comments but that's something anyone with a braincell would do.

That's it.

Twitter is up in flames for this? Wow

At least Sara would add to Jace's character. He could bond with another bastard, we could get his inner thoughts regarding his mother and her affair with his dad, we could see her showing him around Winterfell while he rides his dragon!

If well made this could potentially be super interesting and finally make me care about one of Rhaenyra's kids.

His marriage with her could also represent a sort of wake up call for Rhaenyra.

Damn she would finally realise that her actions have consequences! That teaching your sons that they are inherently superior to everyone else because they are Targaryens and the rules don't apply on them has consequences!

She didn't abide by the rules cause she was daddy's little princess who could do no wrong and was almost never called out on it, now she would have to come to the realization that this affected her son, who now also thinks he can break his marriage pact and get with whoever he pleases, without getting shit for it.

Pleas HBO deliver!

Rhaenyra v Cersei: Battle of the Bastards

Lo' and behold, looks like I'm not done with bastardposting after all. For this piece, I would like to compare and contrast the two main situations that the general public has been exposed as far as the issue of illegitimate children is concerned within the ASOIAF-verse: Rhaenyra v Cersei.

The parallels are obvious. Rhaenyra has three bastard children, Cersei has three bastard children. Let's see how they handle it.

Rules

According to Westerosi law, bastards can't inherit. It doesn't matter if they're the husband's or the wife's, the King's or the Queen's. Children born out of wedlock to any spouse are explicitly excluded from the line of succession.

Only the King can legitimise bastards via a royal decree. Enough of these "Roose legitimized Ramsay" lies. It's patently untrue. Tommen legitimized Ramsay.

In order to be legitimised, the children in question first have to be declared bastards. You cannot legitimize trueborn children. You cannot secretly legitimise bastards. "Viserys claimed Rhaenyra's children were trueborn, ergo he implicitly legitimised them." No, he didn't. He never admitted they were bastards.

Why does this matter? Because it is unclear where legitimised bastards fall in the line of succession. If they maintain their place by birth order or if they are relegated to the back of the line, behind any and all other trueborn claimants.

There are no genetic tests available in Westeros. People have to prove adultery or rely on common sense.

1. Cersei has a distinct advantage over Rhaenyra, since her children look like her. She can very easily argue that they favour her, as their mother, and this is exactly what everyone believes for years, including Robert. Since Jaime is the male version of Cersei, Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella can look like no else. Catelyn's kids look like Catelyn and no one bats an eye. Only Arya and (to Catelyn's irritation) Jon look like Ned. However, Ned doesn't ever doubt his children are not his.

Rhaenyra's kids look nothing like Rhaenyra and nothing like Laenor. They, instead, share distinct physical traits with her sworn shield, a man seen very often in her presence. People are not idiots. There is no plausible deniability here. You can bet your bottom dollar that if Cersei's kids were, say, Dornish-looking, people would be calling her out for her bullshit.

There is a way you can reasonably get away with passing over your bastards as someone else's, but that is 100% not Rhaenyra's way. This is why Cersei is chilling in the Red Keep, living her best bad bitch life, while Rhaenyra is running away to Dragonstone when the rumours are nipping at her heels. They are not the same. There are no paternity rumours to quell Cersei's girlboss vibes. She is sly enough that even Robert is convinced he inseminated her (gross).

2. I'm not going to get into the intricacies of Ned Stark's Scooby-Doo, Hercule Poirot mystery plot of unraveling Cersei's misdeeds. Ned has his own beef with the Lannisters and is convinced they are up to no good. He investigates them like the meddling kid he is and comes away with a suspicion. He knows nothing (heh) for certain until Cersei verbally confirms it for him. yOuR bRoThEr Or YoUr lOvEr. boo!

Had Ned not been on the Lannister trail from the very beginning, a fair assumption can be made that he never even would have suspected anything untoward. He never questions the children's paternity when they visit in Winterfell.

Again, this is distinctly different from Rhaenyra's situation. No one believes Cersei's children are bastards,* whereas no one believes Rhaenyra's children are trueborn. Pretending otherwise is very, very strange.

*at the beginning of AGOT, at least

3. Robert claimed Joffrey all his life and specifically named him his son and heir in his will, under dictation, to Ned. In turn, Ned deliberately changed Robert's words and wrote them down as "my rightful heir".

This is a parallel to show!Alicent, who misunderstands Viserys' dying words and him naming his son Aegon as heir. If Alicent didn't have the right to muddle the King's meaning, then neither did Ned. However, no one in their right minds is arguing that Ned is a traitor to the Crown. I wonder why is that?

I have already pointed out the circular logic in arguing that Robert only said that because he didn't know the children weren't his.

4. So what does this mean? Can anyone just accuse anyone they don't like of being a bastard and, thus, endanger that person's entire social status?

No, of course not. But, unfortunately for Cersei, Ned and Stannis aren't just some randos in a tavern. Ned is the Hand of the King. Stannis is Lord of Dragonstone and on the Small Council. These two men have a stalwart reputation and are renowned for their obsession with justice, duty and, in Ned's case, honour.

If Ned Stark stands in front of the Iron Throne and proclaims Joffrey a bastard, risks his daughters' lives and literally ends up losing his head as a result of this,

if Stannis Baratheon sends letters throughout the realm claiming Cersei's children are illegitimate,

the people of Westeros are going to pay attention.

These two very important men using their public platform to denounce Joffrey and starting wars over this? Say what you will about them, but they are not oathbreakers and they are not liars. No, they don't come with DNA tests, but for a lot of Westerosi, this is enough. They believe it.

Is this foolproof? No, of course not! But it convinces enough people that they are willing to band together to support rival claimants to the throne, thus igniting the War of the Five Kings. Speaking of political headaches, this is a huge one!

That being said, while Cersei is playing in the Champions League, Rhaenyra is fighting for her life in the relegation zone. She doesn't even need a Ned or a Stannis to cast doubt on her because no one believes her kids are not bastards.

Moreover, Vaemond obviously parallels Ned in this story. He tells the truth in open court and loses his head for it. In the show, Daemon and Viserys play the same role as Joffrey. In the texts, Rhaenyra and Daemon are stand-ins for Joffrey. This is not meant to be a triumphant moment of girlbossery. This is an abuse of power and an act of terror.

All in all, I'm sorry to say, but Cersei wins this hands down. She is savvy enough in her choice of sperm donor and can maintain plausible deniability without looking like a goddamn clown and the entire circus to boot. She holds the capital and has access to all the emblems of state after Robert dies. In contrast, Rhaenyra is floundering across the Blackwater Bay, yelling at the dragon gargoyles that her children are trueborn.

Why is this issue important in the story?

a). No one has a problem with Jace being King.

If people had a problem with Joffrey being King, enough to go to war over it, it would be narratively inconsistent for them to just accept an obvious bastard as King. It would contradict the internal logic of the fictional world we're talking about. That's quite some level of suspension of disbelief just because some fans like Jace. This isn't about him being amiable or a good kid.

b). They're still Rhaenyra's sons / it's a Targaryen internal matter and concerns no one else / the concept of Jace being King doesn't personally affect anyone else, so why does anyone care?

Because it's the freaking law! The name of the crime Rhaenyra commits is high treason! Punishable by exile or death!

No, the crime is not adultery, it's not having bastard children, it's specifically putting said bastard children in line to the throne. In that, Rhaenyra is as guilty as Cersei is.

It absolutely does affect others, since Rhaenyra actively steals the inheritance of House Velaryon for Luke. How is that not a crime? I would even go so far as to say that Laenor and Corlys are complicit in it and should be punished as well.

Contrary to bafflingly-popular erroneous beliefs, the monarch can't just do whatever they want. Even in absolutist monarchies, the sovereign serves the vital social role of upholding the law and the rights of their subjects. Rhaenyra breaks said law by committing theft, murder, high treason and destabilizing the entire system of inheritance.

c) Rhaenyra breaks the social contract

Jock Locke argues for the "right of revolution" in the Second Treatise of Government. He writes that when the government acts against the interests of its citizens, then said citizens gain the right to overthrow it and replace it with an authority that will protect their interests.

I am not trying to impose 'progressive' understandings of the political process anachronistically, in a medieval fantasy; my thesis-statement is that we have already seen this concept at play within the world of ASOIAF: the Faith Militant uprising against Aenys I and Maegor due to their practices of incest and polygamy and Robert's Rebellion, caused by Rhaegar kidnapping a noble lady and Aerys II carrying out executions without due process. The people of Westeros are not unfamiliar with opposing monarchs who don't abide by the law.

The question of Rhaenyra having bastards is framed in a lot of commentary through the lens of her right as a woman to have extra-marital sex and not be demonised for it and to find fulfilling love within the constraints imposed on her by her station. While debating the personal individual freedom of women in a patriarchal feudal society is not to be side-lined, her fundamental fault is that she is demanding rights and exemptions for herself, while the rest of the country have to abide by an entirely different set of rules.

The laws of inheritance, as unjust as they may appear to our modern eyes, are in place to prevent crises of succession, violent conflicts or even large-scale wars from starting every time someone's estates are passed on. Illegitimate children suddenly gaining access to inheritances threatens the political and economical calculations that predicate many Westerosi marriages.

Imagine paying a handsome dowry for your daughter, just so her husband's bastard birthed by some high-born mistress to make use of his maternal family's resources and cheat your legitimate grandchildren out of theirs.

Imagine being married to some lord and now his random bastards threaten the inheritance of your lawful children. Because, hey, the Queen acts like this is fine! This is Catelyn Stark's worst nightmare.

You think you can just sue your husband? What a silly notion. You think you can sue the bastard claimants after your husband is dead? Tough luck, your liege lord may rule in their favour by taking a leaf out of Queen Rhaenyra's book. You think you can appeal to Queen Rhaenyra? How are you going to travel all the way to King's Landing? Good luck with that, maybe you're built different and don't die during this dangerous and expensive journey.

Is this fair for the illegitimate children? Hell no, but Rhaenyra and Viserys are not planning on reforming family law in any meaningful way, because they know what a hassle it would be and how much opposition it would meet!

It reeks of rights for me, but not for thee and I, for the life of me, don't understand the stronghold she has on the liberated feminist brigade.

and finally

d). The Green Coup is not dependent on the legitimacy of Rhaenyra's children.

No. But her committing high treason earns her an automatic disqualification from her right to rule, rendering her claim null and void.

Why is alicent this composed? Isn't this supposed to be AFTER b&c? Like girl they literally had your grandson's head chopped off and you are still defending Rhaenyra?

FUCK DIGNITY. I WANT REVENGE.

a Jeyne of your choice with a baby?

Thank you for the prompt!

I feel like I should probably apologise to you for this one…

Jeyne curled around her baby.

The soft red curls on his head, the blue of his eyes, the blood in his veins, all of it made her son a target.

Edwyn would never know his father, nor his grandparents, nor even his aunts and uncles. He might not even know his mother, if the Lannisters had their way.

“Mama loves you so, so much.” Jeyne whispered, pressing a kiss to the down on his head, “Mama loves you more than the moon and the stars and the sun.”

She let herself place another kiss to his head, savouring the memory of him. It was a memory she would surely need in the dark of her cell.

Edwyn smiled at her, his gums poking through the curve of his perfect little lips. He waved one chubby fist in the air, and as Jeyne caught it she couldn’t he’ll but marvel over every single one of his tiny, perfect fingernails.

Her baby was perfect and she wished she could see him grow.

Carefully she dressed him in a gown made from one of Robb’s shirts. Carefully she swaddled him in a blanket made from her marriage cloak. She tucked her jewels into the swaddle, hiding them in the folds of the cloth.

It was all she could give him. All she had that would prove who he was.

A plain blanket and swaddling bands went over the top. He had to stay warm, had to stay safe, and blending in was his best chance for that.

“Mama loves you.” She said once more, pressing a single drop of sweetsleep onto his gums. A single drop should not hurt him, and it would be safer than him awaking and making a noise the Lannisters could track.

His eyes blinked shut, and Jeyne mourned for the loss of their sweet blue. She cradled him close to her chest and stole from her rooms. Better her family did not know what she was about to do. Better no one but she knew of her plan.

The castle was dark, but Jeyne knew it almost as well as her childhood home. Months under siege would do that.

The river was her destination, the small patch of bank only accessible through a door hidden by the reeds. It would be visible to the shore on any other night but for the lack of moon in the sky.

“You are sure of this?” Ser Brynden asked as he stood from his crouched position among the reeds, his voice low and kind.

“I am.” Jeyne straightened her shoulders and passed her precious son to his great uncle.

Set Brynden took Edwyn as though he was the most fragile glass, and tucked him securely into an oilskin sling against his front. So too did he take the bag that Jeyne passed him, packed with some of what he might need to keep her son safe and well.

She should have been sending him off with a grand entourage. Should have been keeping him with her in the keep.

But Lord Edmure had been spotted within the Lannister camp and they all knew it was only a matter of time before he was used to make the castle surrender.

A single swimmer would have the best chance at evading the Lannisters, and Ser Brynden had the best chance of being believed as he championed her son’s identity.

“Keep him safe, my lord. Restore him to his home.”

Ser Brynden looked down at her, his face solemn. “I swear, my queen. King Edwyn will see Winterfell, will sit upon the throne of the North as his father did before him.”

Jeyne stepped back, the tears in her eyes finally trailing down her cheeks. “I know you will. Now go! We will buy you whatever time we can. Go! Before the Lannisters wake. Go!”

Ser Brynden smiled, he tucked Edwyn closer to his chest within his oilskin sling, and he slipped into the dark of the water.

And Jeyne waited on the bank until the last of the ripples had died away and her son was truly gone.

I really don't understand the writer's reasoning for race swapping the Velaryon's, when every Velaryon is mistreated or cast aside by the all white Targaryen's. Literally everyone of them.

• Corlys - Is apparently so selfish he's willing to disregard all of his blood related family to put a white boy that is no relation to him on his ancestral seat just because he carries his last name? Even though there's plenty of other actual Velaryon's that carry the Velaryon name.

• Vaemond - Gets murdered for telling the truth, and not wanting Driftmark to go to someone who isn't a true Velaryon. I think they only added him calling Rhaenyra a whore after calling her son's bastards to try and make his death justifiable, as if calling someone a bad name = off with his head.

• Laena - Is married to Daemon but knows that she isn't his first choice, and if he had his way he'd be with his (white) niece. Is stuck by his side in Pentos even though he knows she wants to return home. Supposedly dies a *badass* dragon rider death, but I just saw a pregnant black woman dying in agony. Like that doesn't already happen in real life when black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth.

• Laenor - The cuckold of all cuckolds. In almost every scene of adult Laenor he's completely miserable. And apparently he too is willing to disregard all his trueborn family to put a white boy that isn't his on the Driftmark throne. And I don't find Rhaenyra to be some great LGBTQ ally by "letting" Laenor run away and permanently leave his home and family behind so he can be with his partner and she can remarry.

• Baela and Rhaena - Have actual Velaryon blood through their mother, get passed over so another white boy can get something he has no entitlement too. Baela would have had a slim chance of ending up queen because even if Rhaenyra became queen, the lords of Westeros would have been very unlikely to accept an illegitimate son as her heir. Rhaena could become lady of Driftmark but only as a consort through Luke, meaning if he died her claim to Driftmark would die with him.

I'm all for diversity and representation, but was the family who consistently gets walked all over the best choice to make POC?

I think they were aiming for liberal and inclusive, but that doesn't really work when your white characters use and exploit the black characters you've purposely made black.

Helaena is going to point towards jahaerys, not even made to choose just point which one is the boy, and then dip without even fighting them 😭😭😭 they had to be bound and gagged and here she's will leave her kid in the hands of a murderer? Omg!!