Rhaenyra Targaryen - Bad at Politics (Character Analysis)

[@ely_sky]

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

[@ely_sky]

lol love the "that's my queen" for alicent cause same. literally her defense attorney lmao

[@rakshithanand8262]

Yeah, and Alicent wants an eye taken out. Neither of them are thinking rationally, both are desperate to get rid of what they see as a threat (the other). Of course Rhaenyra would feel she is wrong afterwards, she has a functioning moral compass. Look, I'm not saying Rhaenyra would have made a great queen, but let's not hold her lowest moments against her like they are her whole personality.

[@alexandrostheodorou8387]

Aemond was beating the shit out everyone and was about to finish one of kids off with a rock. And that kid was in line for the Iron Throne. Aemond was a jealous prick raised with hate from his mother and grandfather.

[@Trissogynist]

And Alicent demands an eye for an eye and went at the kid with a knife (in the book she demands the eye first before Rhaenyra mentions the sharp questions). So how is that any better? 😂

[@ely_sky]

@Trissogynist i never said alicent didn't do bad things. i was merely commenting on how he seemed to be ignoring these things in the video. i love rhaenyra, but she is a flawed individual who *also* does bad things and also has screwed herself over in certain circumstances. if you're ignoring these things so that you can't paint your own versions of the characters in order to fit your own vision, then you don't really like the characters at all.

[@thefriendlessnorseman5282]

Otto is competent basically ran the realm for the entirety of Viserys reign, despite his ambitions. Tyland is an epic name (comment is for algo)

[@DolphineAchonga-gn6kn]

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.

[@guerreiroazul3230]

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.

[@lady_knightnday]

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.

[@BYS.23]

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.

[@alexandrostheodorou8387]

@@BYS.23 If Rhaenys burns everyone, Rhaenyra could throw Rhaenys under the bus and sacrifice her to appease the realm and Green Aligned Factions.

[@laurashortill8623]

Rhaenerya could’ve taken a page out of her ancestress Rhaenys I’s book and taken lovers with features like her husband. Or, like Emperor Augustus’ daughter Julia, never took a lover until she was already pregnant with her husband Agrippa’s baby.

[@nuclearcrocodilia8475]

Viserys had five children and the only one that would've made a decent ruler was raised by Otto's family.

[@laurashortill8623]

True. Hightower competent rule following admins steeped in a culture that is feudal and unfair but hey at least there are rules v. Targaryen privileged nuke-wielding lizard people blinded by their own self belief in their self importance.

[@gameryazov8327]

Daeron the Daring, the only likeable Green in the books. Hope they don't butcher him on the 'fanfic' show

[@laraanne5133]

He was horrible did you see what he did in the war !!!!!!!!

[@Guremien]

​@@laraanne5133he did war.

[@TheOriginalAliKat]

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.

[@KaiHung-wv3ul]

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.

[@nowhereandeverywhere6017]

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

[@Trissogynist]

Hi. I'm from the future. A dog gets more sympathy than B&C and Jaehaerys is forgotten after ep 3.

[@khfan4life365]

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.

[@carastone3473]

Don't get it TWISTED! All of these royals see the common folk as a means to an end. Aegon is no different. Remember he's a rapist of servants, likes trashy brothels, and greatly enjoys the CHILD FIGHTING PITS! Rhaenyra didn't want to run away Criston Cole so he acted like a big baby about it and turned SIMP for Queen Alicent. She absolutely DID cry for Harwin. She wasn't ALLOWED to grieve publicly, which sucked, because she was a married woman! It was obvious through the few interactions we saw on the show, that Harwin and Rhaenyra loved each other. (Remember on the beach when she told Daemon she was sorry about Laena's death and he told her, 'Don't be. At least I am allowed to mourn my losses.'?) You sound very much deadset on hating Rhaenyra, and that's fine, but you're blinded to the fact that, again, through the interactions they showed us (especially the day of Joffrey's birth), Rhaenyra and Viserys loved each other very much. I felt she should have stayed in King's Landing instead of running off with her family to Dragonstone, but her kids were actually better off without Criston's constant neglect/abuse and the nastiness of Alicent's children toward them.

[@e443productions9]

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.

[@guerreiroazul3230]

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.

[@martezanthony]

I actually never thought we see her as a Cersei type, but I see it. I hate it, but I see it.

[@luke1397]

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.

[@robot8290]

Bc of what the greens did to the treasury of kindslanding…

[@carastone3473]

Because the Greens literally HID all the money away! This is mentioned by Tyland Lannister at the Green Council in episode 9.

[@fuckoffgoogle1657]

You fail to mention that she wasn’t trying to withdrawal money from the iron bank to aid any of the people, it was to continue to fund her retinues. When she couldn’t get ahold of the funds she took her wroth out on the small folk. Look at her tax policy and tell me what about this is okay to you. 🤨

[@fuckoffgoogle1657]

Show watchers have a rather tainted perspective of the canon. In the books no one is the good guy but she becomes a super villain before it’s over

[@laraanne5133]

How you explain her cruelty to the velaryons and addam and nettes ?????😊

[@sneza3204]

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.

[@sorensaur]

Love the voice, love your takes and the way you portray them! Amazing to see other people's opinions :D you get a sub for this one mate!

[@KevinHwoarang]

I'm just happy I read the books... TV will always disappoint because it truly throws away the imagination.

[@sneza3204]

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.

[@laurelsilberman5705]

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!

[@markavaldez11]

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.

[@Daniel-ug4pu]

Ikr I love her personality but I hate when people say it's only the system yes it's sum but she also set her self up for hard ship

[@AmStronggg]

Great video sir 💯

[@sardonically-inclined7645]

To be fair, Viserys was terrible teacher to all of his children. I'm still Team Green, though.

[@kamkaml2539]

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

[@lordfreerealestate8302]

She literally stomped on innocent peasants with her dragon to make a point.

[@kostyannakon]

Wow, your voice is like Johnny Depp's!