rhaenyra does still threaten aemond with torture after he's maimed. she says that aemond must be "sharply questioned to learn where he heard such slanders". even emma d'arcy themself has admitted that rhaenyra knew she was in the wrong and was just weaponizing the word treason to save her skin
I think GRRM tries to point out in this world that the "chosen ones", are never the most competent or suited for the leadership that's handed down to them. The smartest characters in the universe are those who've had to work, train and survive their way up the ladder.
Fromsoftware does something similar in which instead of there being a chosen one there are many chosen ones, so while whoever ends winning and becoming the hero is still chosen they still had to put in the effort and didn't have destiny open the path for them.
For anyone who thinks that she’ll be a good ruler, (Spoilers) when she gets on the iron throne the people quickly turn against her. And not because she’s a woman, in fact most of the people of Kingslanding initially love her more than Aegon. It’s because she squeezes every ounce of taxes out of the common people and takes their businesses without a second thought.
To people like Rhaenyra, everyone is either a toy or a tool. Something to play with or use up until she's found something better. Can't have Criston Cole? Move on to Harwin Strong. Harwin Strong dies? Move on to Daemon without shedding so much as a tear. She didn't care to be there for her father's sickbed, because what good would he do for her? She was already the heir, she had her sons, her castle, her husband/uncle. She only came back to arrange Lucerys' heirloom of the Velaryons.
Do you think Blood and Cheese will affect the audience as much as predicted? These are children that no one has gotten to know and their father isn't winning any popularity contest. Helenana is liked, but she hasn't been shown much so far. Luc was shown enough to develop some fan love. I know the deaths of kids is horrible on most shows, but the same fans watched Tommen commit suicide, Myrcella get poisoned, Lyanna Mormont crushed by a giant, and Shireen Baratheon burned alive. (And the Baratheon bastards including a baby all got murdered) All of these were well-known young characters, and after the shock wore off and many blogs and vlogs condemning the show for killing kids, people shrugged and got over it quickly. I just feel like the GOT/HotD fans are desensitized and jaded enough that Blood and Cheese won't be the shock that people are expecting. People went into a tailspin over Damon choking Rhaenyra to be out of character when he had just killed his first wife 4 episodes before.
I agree, which is why I put "not developing Helaena's character (that much)" as one of the top three or five mistakes in the show. Their kids are way too young for most people to really get attached, but Helaena is mostly a blank slate in the books, so developing her character more would have been the best way to drive up the emotional impact.
tbh the fandoms reaction will just be a big headache. as someone who casually checks in on hotd twitter (worst place on the internet) i think the aftermath of blood and cheese will mostly be team black defending daemon (because hel wasn't developed for the characters to care about and the fandoms bias against aegon) and team green arguing back. back and forth and back and forth. essentially i just see the fandom reacting similarly to a food fight in a school cafeteria. will people actually care about the the actual death? who knows. but we know for a fact that conversions about blood and cheese will target every and any other character
Great video. I honestly think the writers were kinda brilliant in highlighting the subtle ways in which Rhaenyra is stupid and awful at politics, and actively expecting to enjoy the things that bad male kings and royals have. It's fascinating how they've highlighted how sexism is very much what she's fighting against and the audience stans it (myself included), but she is also actively being not a great decision maker, which gives enough fuel for the audience to actually have a reason for possibly supporting the other side of the war, or at least understanding the greens better.
She is not fighting against sexism bro, she literally says to Rhaenys when she offers the marriage pact that her sons' sons are going to inherit, not their firstborn.
And also interesting to see, how even women throw shit when they think, they are safe enough to do so. To not to think about their own shit, they can get together.
It would be so cool if you could elaborate on why Rhaenys wouldn't have been a good queen. Like so many people say: "The Queen who should have been" but idk to me she's just less dumb than the other Targs lol
Hey! Great video, just a little piece of constructive feedback: You need a lil foam cover thingy on your mic my brother, because your impressive beard makes very small white noise as it brushes up against the microphone’s conductive wires, and that makes it harder to focus on what you’re actually saying! You have a great voice to begin with, just maybe spend $10 on a foam mic cover for better sound quality. It will dampen any other extra sounds like harsh consonants or spit hitting the mic etc.; in general it’s a good next step up from getting a decent microphone that works well for you. Nobody needs a soundproofed room to do casual uploads; however, a decent handheld mic setup, if you’re going to go handheld, is important, especially if you have a beard. 👍🏽keep up the good work, I really liked the content in general, just trying to leave some constructive feedback!
THANK YOU! Rhaenyra sucks at playing the game! Lays no groundwork whatsoever. She's not taking the fact that she's the first female heir seriously, she needed to be winning heart and minds, kissing babies. Rhaenys not cooking them when she had the chance was so dumb! Could've dealt with whatever consequences later but that puts an end to a major threat.
Your comment about Kissing babies reminds me of a scene from It's always sunny in Philadelphia. Also, Rhaenys could've ended it all 100%. Shame they made that choice for her.
George R. R. Martin loves creating characters that break convention and set themselves up for drama down the road. I personally dislike Rhaenyra as a character on the show simply because she does make stupid decisions like having children with Harwin Strong, and having children that are clearly not fathered by her husband.
Yes. If the own ego is only small enough, you gotta throw shit on those ones, who at least do something. So you basically say, that you would prefer a ruler like Aegon with all that comes with it. Perhaps Nyra should have really left Aegon to rule. At least Viserys burdened her with a story someone told him and put her on the from line to basically wipe the shit away he left. She should have broken the promise she gave. But interesting: Still the same crap today: men see themselves as kings when in reality they are still children. BTW: history shows that women were equal to men on social, military and reigning level. Women started to lose their standing because way back in line a boy was not raised properly by his mother and heard way too less a “No, you can’t do it”. Or his mother was too jalous of any women but her in “her” boys life, so she started lying to him. Either way: still the same crap today.
