Aegon wears the crown of Aegon I. Maegor the Cruel was the last person to wear the conqueror's crown. Maegor, who murdered his nephew, the rightful heir to the throne, and usurped the throne for himself. He died a tragic death, leaving no heirs, and his line became extinct. The crown is too big, too heavy and doesn't fit his head. The crown doesn't fit him well, it's not for him.

Rhaenyra wears Jaeherys' crown. The last person to wear this crown was Rhaenyra's father, the king chosen by Jaeherys as his heir, Jaeherys who defeated the usurper and did not wear the crown worn by him, but created his own, which was to be a symbol of the return of the rightful line of succession to the throne. The crown fits perfectly on Rhaenyra's head.

TG stans: “Aegon spared Rhaenyra’s son. He was merciful.” & “The Greens would never harm children.”

The “good & kind” Alicent Hightower, and her “merciful” son, when the Blacks were coming to rescue Aegon III:

“You fed his mother to your dragon.”, she reminded her son. “The boy saw it all.”

The king turned to her desperately. “What would you have me do?”

“You have hostages.”, the Queen Dowager replied. “Cut off the boy’s ears and send it to Lord Tully. Warn them he will lose another part for every mile they advance.”

“Yes,” Aegon II said. “Good. It shall be done.” He summoned Ser Alfred Broome, who had served him so well on Dragonstone. “Go and see to it, ser.”

- Fire & Blood, page 611.

No more need be said.

is it safe to point out that alicent is the luckiest woman in westeros for marrying viserys based off the same westerosi norms and culture that greenies cling onto to declare aegon has to be king simply because he has a cock and rhaenyra doesn’t and it’s for the stability of the realm?

it’s always ‘rhaenyra did nothing to secure her ascension, she just relied on her daddy to uphold her claim’ and never ‘aegon did nothing to prove he was worthy of being named heir, let alone being king, and solely relied on his mommy and grandpa to cover for his less than stellar hobbies like his drinking issues and his raping of serving girls’ in this essay i will-

The targaryen ruled 130 years without dragons. And the most capable kings were all targaryen. After them it was a decline for the throne. Robert, joffrey, tommen, cercei were all sith ruler .

I see targ stans are investing in high quality air to fill their heads lol

But anyways. “The most capable kings were all targaryens”. You know who else were targaryens? The worst rulers of Westeros. Robert, Cersei, Joffrey, and Tommen aren’t even close to the worst kings and queen to rule. And bringing them up as evidence to show that the targaryens are good is so disingenuous.

Maegor the Cruel, Aegon the Unworthy, The Mad King Aerys, Rhaenyra (yes, I know that’s controversial), and Daenerys (yes, I know that’s even more controversial) are all far FAR worse than anyone you mentioned.

Maegor killed his wife and her entire family. He was a usurper (apparently it’s good when the targs you like do it lol), a kinslayer (also a thing only good when it’s targs you like doing it), raped and tortured many people, wiped out entire houses, killed any and everyone that he saw in any way as deserving, and created a huge war with the faith of the seven.

Aegon the unworthy was corrupt and lazy and legitimized his bastards leading to the blackfyre rebellions that led to endless bloodshed for 5 generations.

Aerys was so bad he had a rebellion staged against him that ended his family dynasty. He burned fathers and sons together. He tortured people and burned them alive. He abused and raped his wife when he would burn people alive. He wanted to kill the entire city of kings landing.

Rhaenyra (who like it or not went down in history as one of the worst rulers) known as maegor with teats taxed her people to starvation. She had daily executions. She had knights inquisitors hunt down and punish people.

Daenerys burnt down kings landing, was complicit in the rape and enslavement of hundreds, ruined city economies so badly slavery was a better option, then profited from said slavery, abandoned the people she conquered (no doubt ensuring they will be enslaved much more harshly after supporting her), raped a “free” slave that she admits still acted like a slave because that’s all she knew, oh yeah and again, SHE BURNT DOWN KINGS LANDING. And this is after the people you listed.

And this isn’t including non Targaryen rulers that ruined lives like the blackfyres. Or rulers that are bad but weirdly beloved like Aegon I who basically conquered people by threatening to kill them and everyone they loved, subjugating a country for hundreds of years.

The best rulers I admit were Targaryens. But that’s because they were the only rulers save for 4 people. Of those four, two were bad and two were incompetent. Not nearly the sadistic “mad” people I described above. And funnily enough, as soon as a Targaryen came back to power…things got worse again. Funny how that is.

Oh and by the way. Going with the histories of Westeros. Guess who is among the best rulers according to small folk Aegon II and Alicent. Seethe :)

Imagine being Helaena Targaryen (show version)

You are raised mostly by governesses and maids and sometimes your mother comes spent time with you and sits by your side. You don't get her, she stresses you and her presence makes you feel uncomfortable. It's not her fault that you feel like that, but she always has that energy around her that makes you feel on edge. So you back away when she tries to touch you, afraid she may pass that energy on to you.

You like bugs and insects, your mother says it's not proper so she forces you to leave them behind and focus on prayer and sewing. You hate it.

You have three brothers, but you aren't particularly close to them. Your older brother is bad, he too makes you uncomfortable, but he doesn't like you either so you stay away from each other. Your younger brother is obsessed with dragons, so much so that he tries to bond with your own dragon and take her from you. You know his obsession will only bring bad things. Your youngest brother is away, he has been away forever, by now you only know his name. You have an elder sister, she is the heir, you are happy for her, but you never talk her. The one time you tried your mother yelled at you, it hurt your ears, your head. So you don't try anymore, but sometimes she smiles at you.

You have two nephews, Rhaenyra's sons, they are just a little bit younger than you and they are kind. Your older brother often plays with them and uses them as weapons against your younger brother. It won't end well, Aemond is not the forgiving type nor the reflective type.

Your mother is mean, she is in pain so she wants everyone to be in pain too, it makes you sad. Your sister leaves the Red Keep and it somehow becomes a colder place.

Your aunt dies away in Essos so you and your family go to Driftmark for the funeral. The uncle you don't remember laughs at the eulogy for his wife. It wasn't really for his wife, it was for your nephews and your sister. You know high valyrian, you learned some from the maesters and most from your father. Your brothers aren't very good at it so they don't catch it.

When night falls everything changes. As you predicted, the obsession your brother had with dragons leads to nowhere good. He went to claim the dragon of your dead aunt without permission, he got into a fight with your nephews and cousins, his eye is gone.

He called your nephews bastards and even without an eye he laughs at the memory. You know that the word is bad and that your mother keeps saying it over and over again. You don't understand, Ser Laenor says they are his sons, so why does she insist they aren't? It's stupid and you want to say how stupid it is, but you won't because your mother will yell at you of slap you as she does Aegon. Your older brother says everyone can see it, but it's not true because you can't. It stresses you.

Your mother grabbs a dagger and charges to kill your nephew, everyone screams and you cover your ears. It feels as if they are bleeding. Rhaenyra stops your mother and ultimately nothing happens.

Your grandfather is Hand again. It's bad, you can tell by Lord Beesbury's face. And you know is bad, because he wants you to marry Aegon. Your father falls ill, he barely moves from the bed. There are whispers that say your uncle may kill your grandfather if he returns to the Keep. You pray for him to do so, but he doesn't.

Rhaenyra marries your uncle far away in Dragonstone and you are happy for them, you want to write to them and congratulate them. Your mother yells at you when she sees your letter and burns it. You want to scratch her eyes, but you don't because she will yell and hit you.

When you first bleed your mother marries you to your older brother. You are thirteen and in that same year you fall pregnant with twins. You want to write to Rhaenyra and ask her what to do. You ask your mother and she only says things about duty and sacrifice. You think you are dutiful enough and that you have sacrificed enough. Your mother doesn't, your grandfather doesn't.

You have two children and you love them, but you can handle them. They are too loud, so loud. But you love them, or so you think. Because if you don't you should throw yourself out off the window. Why don't you?

Your sister returns to the Keep with her children and husband. Your mother yells, she hates them. She yells so much you are surprised you can still hear anything. It doesn't hurt any less than it did before. Your uncle kills a man in the throne room, you cover your ears because the noise is unbearable. But it's not worse than anything else you have gone through.

There is a last dinner, your father is coherent and your mother makes an odd toast. Aemond mades a stupid one and it ends up in a fight that ruins the good day. The night ends like that, but at least you danced with someone kind. You wish you would be married to him instead.

In the following days your father dies, your mother commits treason and you do nothing. You think about going to Rhaenyra, to tell her, but it feels useless and your mother never allows you to go anywhere alone, it's been ages since you last visited Dreamfyre. There is a dragon in front of you, but it doesn't burn you, any of you. Disappointing.

Is there any reason you still live?

notice that when blacks talk about alicent's children it's "rapist" "murderer" "child slaver" "kinslayer" etc but the thing is when greens try to insult nyra's boys they say "strongs" or "bastards" like they really have nothing on them, it's hilarious

“Alicent had to usurp the throne to protect her children!!!” Yeah that worked out really fucking well for her. It’s almost as though having your kids fight a civil war against a bunch of fucking dragons is more dangerous than just having them bend the knee to their sister who has never expressed any intention to harm them.

I don’t care what anyone says B&C was necessary. Aegon threw a party celebrating Luke's death. He needed that reality check that child loss isn’t as funny when it’s yours. I also find it funny how people say Rhaenyra is a bad mother and should be disinherited because she had bastards, but in the meantime they support Aegon, who also has bastards then which he later abandons at child death pits. TG stans are so fucking stupid but wbk.

On the "Choose a Side" Discourse

With HBO leaning veryyyy heavily into "pick a side" for their promos, the "no team" people are crawling out of the woodwork. I want to preface this post by saying that I'm not saying people shouldn't have favorite characters who aren't mine, nor that people should just be totally invested in fandom discourse.

I already made a post about the issues with the arguments of the "no team" people, so I'll just summarize my thoughts from that real quick. A majority of their arguments and metas are thinly veiled anti Rhaenyra thoughts. That's still true of this new wave of this group.

Now, one thing I will agree with them on is: GRRM did not write this story to be one of choose a side. However, that is not because the Blacks and the Greens are equally bad or the Targaryens are all evil. No, it's because the Greens were always in the wrong and GRRM makes this abundantly clear to us in F&B.

Let's look at some facts from the Dance. While male primogeniture is tradition, it's not the law; the king's word is law, something ASOIAF has established time and again. The Greens took the throne through underhanded ways. They left Viserys' body to rot for days while they prepared for Aegon's coronation to prevent Rhaenyra from learning and coming to KL. They forced the smallfolk to attend and most didn't cheer for Aegon, with some even calling for Rhaenyra while most were confused and angry.

Aemond drew first blood by killing the unarmed thirteen year old envoy, Lucerys Velaryon. A majority of the realm declared for Rhaenyra; 53 houses supported her, while only 28 supported Aegon. The Greens committed the greatest atrocities of the Dance: Aemond burning the Riverlands and Daeron massacring Tumbleton. They also committed the greater number of atrocities.

The Greens also lost the war. The Blacks weren't just fighting for Rhaenyra, they fought for her heirs as well. This is why they swore to her and Jacaerys; later for Aegon III after the deaths of his older brothers. The Black forces continued to fight after Rhaenyra's murder and took KL. Aegon was murdered by his own men when the Blacks were marching on KL; in other words, the Greens knew they were beat, so they killed Aegon in an attempt to save themselves. Since Aegon left no heirs aside from Jaehaera, Aegon III was crowned and married to Jaehaera. The Blacks won the war.

Aegon the Usurper's bloodline is destroyed with the deaths of Jaehaera and Gaemon Palehair. This is the final affirmation of the Greens being in the wrong. GRRM's books punish usurpers by wiping out their bloodlines; Maegor and Robert Baratheon being the most obvious examples. Aegon and all the Greens have no descendants, their bloodline is dead.

Rhaenyra's bloodline, on the other hand, continues all the way through to the main series. Daenerys Targaryen, the most powerful character in the series, is her descendant, as is Jon Snow (unconfirmed as of now in the books) who is another of the key five. Rhaenyra may have died, but her faction won the war and her bloodline will save the world through her two greatest descendants (alongside the rest of the key five).

The Dance of the Dragons is, ultimately, a story of the damage the patriarchy does and how misogyny is destructive to the world. The Dance caused the death of the dragons and a great loss of power for women in the realm. Queen consorts after Rhaenyra had markedly less power and there was a drop in female leaders of the great houses. The loss of the dragons caused the weakening of magic in the world as a whole.

The Dance isn't about who your favorite war criminal is, nor is it about the evil of the Targaryens. It's about misogyny; something HOTD seems to have forgotten. Even before they started pushing TB vs TG so hard, they still missed the point.

It doesn't matter that Rhaenyra isn't a perfect, or even a good, person. It doesn't matter that Rhaenyra is non-conforming, plays the political game, and exploits her father's favor. Rhaenyra could have been as pious and well-behaved as Naerys and the Greens still would have usurped her. Rhaenyra could have had children with Laenor, and still the Greens would have usurped her. HOTD tries to paint the usurpation as partially being on Rhaenyra and her choices, but nothing Rhaenyra could have done would have been good enough.

The Blacks are the protagonists of the Dance. Are they perfect? No. Are they heroes? No. GRRM loves his gray characters, the Blacks are no exception. If you people want a story with black and white morality and perfect protagonists, go read another book. Just because people aren't perfect and don't operate exclusively in what's right according to our modern standards doesn't mean they aren't the protagonists.

In conclusion: there isn't a TB vs TG discourse in the Dance because the Greens are the antagonists and completely in the wrong. The point of the Dance is that the misogyny of the Greens damaged the realm. Rhaenyra is the rightful queen, there is no actual argument for Aegon or any of his allies.

Rhaenyra is the rightful queen to Westeros, go cry to George if you don't like it.

GRRM basically spelling out how the Greens lost the war & how the Velaryons were never TG:

King Aegon II would soon stand naked before his enemies, all of the king’s men knew. Bloody Ben Blackwood, Kermit Tully, Sabitha Frey, and their brothers-in-victory were preparing to resume their advance upon the city, and only a few days behind them came Lord Cregan Stark and his northmen. The Braavosi fleet carrying the Arryn host had departed Gulltown and was sailing toward the Gullet, where only young Alyn Velaryon stood in its way…and the loyalty of Driftmark could not be relied upon.

“Your Grace”, the Sea Snake said, when the rump of the once proud green council had assembled, “you must surrender. The city cannot endure another sack. Save your people and save yourself. If you abdicate in favor of Prince Aegon, he will allow you to take the black and live out your life with honor on the Wall.”

- Fire & Blood, page 611

The Blacks had full control of the Realm and they obliterated the Green forces.

You are no king when you have no control over your kingdom and no army to defend you. Aegon the Usurper was forced to abdicate, but ended up murdered (just like Aerys II).

I find it incredible how even in death, Rhaenyra Targaryen inspired her forces to fight for her cause, and they won. Yet, no one fought for Alicent or her son in their time of need. On the contrary, their “allies” became turncloaks.

alicent is a “childbride at 15” and suddenly her growth is stunted forever and she can’t be held accountable for her actions but luke was “nearly a man” when he died at 13 so therefore he deserved to die and has to answer for the “sin” of taking his uncles eye out? mkay.

i think the biggest problem i have with the whole team discourse in f&b + hotd is that it isn’t just about which characters you like more/who you want to sit on the throne at that end; it’s that each side is fighting for completely different ideologies, regardless of one members personal beliefs. grrm could not have made it anymore clear.

team black isn’t just fighting for rhaenyra to be queen, they’re fighting for the monarch’s right to choose an heir, for the oaths they swore years before, for the complete opposite of precedent/tradition: the king’s word is law. team green isn’t just fighting for aegon to be king, they’re fighting for tradition, that no matter the words of a king being law sons will always come before daughters, that oaths are fickle and don’t matter. each side is in some way fighting back against what’s already been established for the kingdom, but the end goal is completely different.

we’re not given as much insight into why most of the houses initially sided with rhaenyra, but we do have an inkling into how the green council felt and acted, however. jaehaerys choosing baelon over rhaenys (against andal tradition, the king can choose his heir) is one point. the great council of 101 is another. alicent, despite being the leader of the council, is removed from the equation and shoved off to the side when it comes to swearing oaths of loyalty between the members on account of her womanhood. daemon being a second coming of ‘maegor’ (despite what we know would be a better suited title for aemond, but i digress) is also used. when discussing who would side with them the vale is automatically disqualified from the list, due to them presently being ruled by a woman, jeyne arryn. she doesn’t choose to fight for rhaenyra for the sole reason of them being kin, but because her own right to rule can and will be put into question if aegon steps over rhaenyra. because she is a woman. she does so in spite of her dislike for daemon (and his supposed maegor-ness) too.

even if one were to look at each characters personal feelings about the succession the fact of the matter is that rhaenyra is usurped because she is a woman. it’s stated almost blatantly multiple times before and during the war. the greens use scapegoats and smokescreens in attempts justify it (her ‘bastards’ chief among them, but legally her sons live and die as the trueborn children between her and laenor, with the reminder that septon eustace refutes this claim to begin with). even when she is killed grrm has her breast pricked to arouse a dragon that doesn’t want to kill her (and why is that?). aegon ‘wins’ against her and is king, but then why is jaehaera, as his last living remaining child not named his heir? why is aegon iii put ahead of her, despite being the enemies son? these are rhetorical questions. aegon had no plans to ever consider her his heir, he made it clear with how excited he was to marry cassandra baratheon and produce more ‘strong’ sons. his dragon (who had fought and bled for him the entire war) wasn’t mourned properly, he couldn’t wait to hatch a ‘new dragon, prouder and fiercer than the last.’ yet he wasn’t even capable of doing that in the six months before he too was killed.

it’s also safe to mention that grrm created an entire separate lore story, one that would seem to have no bearing on the original story unless you’re capable of understanding symbolism. the amethyst empress is usurped by her younger brother the bloodstone emperor, and the first long night ensues from this decision. rhaenyra (amethyst = arryn blue + targaryen red) is usurped by her younger brother aegon ii (bloodstone = hightower green + targaryen red) and the dying of the dragons, the very creatures needed to stop the next long night, are eradicated, along with the magic needed to hatch them and keep them alive (until). the war is the blacks (power, death, grief, rebellion, restraint) versus the greens (ambition, greed, jealousy, anger, wealth). the amethyst empress is important to the main story in the same way that rhaenyra is important, that snubbing the women (an integral aspect to the power the targaryens held) of house targaryen can lead only to disaster. daenerys is the key, the one to break the cycle and fix the wrongdoings caused by her ancestors obsession with power. mother of dragons, mhysa, breaker of chains, slayer of lies, daughter of death, the dragon queen, azor ahai come again, the prince that was promised will bring the dawn.

you can argue for technicalities sake all day, but there is a meaning to this story beyond the scope of rightful heirs. and it shouldn’t be shoved off to the side just so you can praise your favorites and hate those who go against them. it makes for a poor consuming of the actual story. fire and blood was created as a history book to expand on daenerys as a character. her family, what and where she’s come from, and how she relates to them. she’s the antithesis to every targaryen that’s come before her, a hero in her own right. the only targaryen’s we can say are radically important to dany’s story are the conquerors (aegon the conqueror with teats) and rhaenyra (the amethyst empress). i don’t know, just some food for thought.

The level of delusion in the TG trailer is astonishing!

"Viserys knew the Realm would never accept a Queen." - Yet, 3/4 of the Realm sided with her... Right.

"Rhaenyra's supporters will believe what they wish, but Viserys wanted Aegon to succeed him." - sure, honey, just keeping telling yourself that.

"They wish now not for the good of the realm, but for the satisfaction of vengeance." - yes you old fool, obviously. You took her throne, her birthright. You killed her son, you caused her miscarriage. Of course they want vengeance. And don't give me the whole "good of the realm" thing. Like you care for the realm. No, all you want is your blood on the Throne.

"I'm as fearsome as any of them." ...sure, Jan. Sure.

"My uncle is a challenge I welcome, if he dares face me." - now listen here boo. I like you, but let's not be delusional. Daemon is like what, in his forties, is a very skilled warrior, has Dark Sister. And you're like what, 18? What actual skill do you have? Did you fight in a war? Don't think so. Pls Aemond, bffr.

"Good. To war then." - he is such an idiot, Jesus. 😭😭 but i love the way Tom delivers that line.

TG be like:

Rhaenyra could literally be described as the most entitled, boring, victim complex having, spoiled brat, in all of Westeros. (She’s not… but TG foams out the mouth while thinking it)

But you want to know what she’s not?

A rapist.

I rest my case.

All hail Queen Rhaenyra, First of Her Name!