(BOOK ONLY) Since some stupid people have come into this fandom, everything you hear makes you think whether they are just stupid or pretending to be stupid.
"Alicent did everything for 20 years while Rhaenyra was vacationing on Dragonstone"
The princess of Dragonstone living in dragonstone!??? Oh the misery😱😮 Are you hearing yourself? Like be serious right now.
It is the seat of the heir, the Prince/Princess of DRAGONSTONE. Dragonstone is her seat, where she rules. Until she becomes Queen where the seat will pass on to her hair and the next after that. As Prince of Dragonstone Rhaegar along with his family lived on Dragonstone.
She ruled on Dragonstone. After being heir and cupbearer before her marriage for years. And no she wasn't simply sitting on her ass and having sex and fun and vacationing as some of you put it. She had duties to be done, holding courts, hosting guests and visitors. It wasn't just some small island with no island either, it was an overlord to, House Velaryon, House Celtigar, House Bar Emmon, and House Sunglass(what a name). And she had to host those who were guests coming to pay respects and hear their problems and what not. And none of these mean that she was simply gone from Kingslanding either, it takes an hour? on dragon back to get there. We do know she was there present in some ways, the rivalry between her sons and Alicent's, her and Maester Gerardys coming to heal Viserys.
"And in these 20 years, Aegon bettered himself to rule."
Girl where? We know nothing of him from ages 6-12?. Afterwards, all we know of this time is he was fondling maids, fucking servantmaids and whore, getting drunk and spending his time in the streets of silk and that he was having bastards even after being married to a princess and having children. They literally found him in a brothel with a whore, while bringing him news of his father's death.
Alicent is a political mastermind whether you like her or not. Her keeping the peace after visits died is why Rhaenyra lived as long as she did
Lol, which part of her character screams political mastermind to you? The part where she was having petty grudges against a pre-teen? Or the part where she spread unnecessary rumours abt the said 12/13 year old? Or the part where she publicly hated the same child? Or the last where she wanted a 5 year old's eye to be put out? Or the part where her 19 and 15 year old sons remained unwed, instead of creating an allegiance?
She is smart and cunning and ambitious but not in the most political way.
Her marriage was the utmost political move on her part. Through this marriage, she became queen, one of the most powerful titles, had four princelings and three to follow after them.
I do think the Rhaenyra & Alicent mostly animosity mostly began after Otto was sent away(109)/Aemond was born(110), which would put Alicent(21/22) displaying public dislike towards Rhaenyra(12/13). Everyone and their mothers in the court knew abt their 'animosity' towards each other even before the tourney of 111 AC, blacks and greens were formed. Alicent was 23 and Rhaenyra was 14.
“Ser Criston protects the princess from her enemies, but who protects the princess from Ser Criston?” Queen Alicent asked one day at court. Such a political movie on Alicent's part🤦♀️
Taking in Lord Commander of the Kingsgaurd Criston, was a power gaining move on her past however. But then again, a man she alleged of being a pedo when she had a silver haired daughter herself. So, again, who knows.
Aegon and Helaena marriage was arranged by Viserys, so it would calm down Aegon a bit (from whoring and drinking). She as a mother did not stop Aegon from whoring or excessive drinking, even though she wanted him to be king. She did not prepare him to rule or have someone do it, just let him sire bastards and destroy his reputation. Just because he was a son, he was the better choice, even with nothing to back it.
Queen Alicent demanded that one of Lucerys Velaryon’s eyes should be put out, for the eye he had cost Aemond. Luke was FIVE when this happened, Alicent was a grown 32 year old woman, a mother to 4 children. Though this can easily be passed as her mother's grief talking. So moving on.
Aemond(19) and Daeron(15) remained unwed. Marriage is the best way of allegiance (ex. Rhaenyra and Velaryons). Aemond could've been easily married by then, maybe to Cassandra Baratheon, where he could've been her consort (ex. Daemon and Rhea). Daeron could've been married too, but even a Betrothal would've been fine, maybe to some Tyrell. Yet it didn't happen.
By (visits=Viserys?) 'Rhaenyra living as long as she did', I think you mean the peace treaty? Even an idiot knows you offer a peace treaty at the beginning of a war, so you can be seen as peaceful and better than the other. It wasn't even just her either, Otto and Helaena both pushed for it. The offer was also a hostageship for Rhaenyra and her whole family.
Also Rhaenyra is the one who kept Alicent alive not the other way around. “for the sake of our father, who loved you once.”
I genuinely do not understand how people think Rhaenyra wasn't usurped because she was a woman.
What quality does Aegon have that Rhaenyra doesn't aside from being a son?
Rhaenyra is older, and therefore more experienced. Has been the Princess of Dragonstone since she was EIGHT. Took hold and started ruling since SIXTEEN. She knows more about governing than the rest of her four half siblings combined. She has been her father, the King's cupbearer since before being named heir. Has followed her father almost everywhere since he became king. Attended meeting and counsels and all of the things relating to governorship.
Aegon had a princely tutorship, but what else? This man spent his adult(and teen) life in the streets of silk. Aside from his basic education as a prince, what else does he know? Viserys wasn't going to bother, since Aegon isn't even the second in line to the throne, it is Jace, has been since Aegon was 7. Otto wasn't even present till Aegon was atleast 13. Alicent wasn't an active ruler or decision maker like Alysanne was, so obviously not her either.
It wasn't for the lack of supporters either. Out of the six great houses of Westeros, Stark, Arryn, Tully, Lannister, Baratheon, Tyrell, THREE supported her. TWO supported Aegon. ONE, the Tyrells remained neutral, simply because most of their bannermen supported the greens. She was more loved and known throughout the realm.
And the thing is, it us not that Viserys didn't love his children from Alicent either. Viserys did love his children very much. Just simply not as much as Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra came after and before many miscarriages and stillbirths. She was his only child, the only child his father and grandparents met. She was his only child for nearly 15 years. She became motherless at a very young age, therefore he focused on her more. So many things why Viserys favoured Rhaenyra.
But in the end the green stans will say, Viserys didn't love Aegon (even tho he did), hence he deserves the throne better than Rhaenyra who was loved.
I'm tired of reading posts that say that Aegon and Aemond became terrible people because they had "rough childhoods." What kind of nonsense is this?
Yes, Viserys did not love his sons very much, but he was not a monster. He did not insult or beat his sons. These boys are part of the ruling dynasty, they lived in luxury and comfort, had a good education, they got everything they wanted (except for the title of heir), they were forgiven almost everything, they had a mother next to them who loved them. How many boys in Westeros have this?
Aegon has nothing to complain about at all. The boy was a spoiled hedonist who got everything he wanted. His wife was his sister, the Targaryen princess and dragon rider, whom he knew well and he did not have to leave his home (Daemon, who at the age of sixteen was forced to leave the home in which he grew up and live with a strange woman, was not so lucky). And even if Aegon was not satisfied with Helaena as a wife, then since he was born a man, the prince could afford promiscuity with any woman he wanted. And it doesn't seem like anyone at court would be bothered by this. Re-read the book. All of Aegon's problems began from the moment he usurped his sister's throne.
The only thing Aemond could complain about was the loss of his eye. After all, even if Viserys had made Aegon his heir, Aemond would still not be very high in the line of succession, since Aegon had two sons by the age of twenty, and in the future there could be even more. As for losing an eye, yes, it's bad. But still, many things happen in life. I mean, in real life, injuries happen during children's games or fights.
At the same time, Rhaenyra lost her mother when she was a child, and after some time she was replaced by an embittered and full of hatred and envy woman, because of which she had to leave the house in which she grew up, and after her own father forbade her to leave Dragonstone, to protect the “beloved” daughter and wife from new conflicts.
I've written before about what I think of Viserys as a father and my opinion hasn't changed. Viserys's love brought Rhaenyra more harm than good. Viserys was a terrible father to all of his children, but at least his children from his second marriage had a mother. No matter how much I hated Alicent, she was there for her children and loved them in her own way. Rhaenyra has been alone since she was a child.
Rhaenyra was also forced to marry against her will to a man who would never love her as a woman. And when she allowed herself a relationship with someone else, she was certainly condemned and humiliated.
Every time I see posts about the "difficult childhood" of Alicent's children, I want to laugh. Rhaenyra grew up without a mother, her stepmother was an evil witch, and her father was a useless idiot. But of course, according to the greens, Rhaenyra was born evil in the flesh and her suffering does not matter and she deserves it.