Rhaenyra Targaryen: Challenging Norms | Character Analysis Part 1 | House of the Dragon Season 1

House of the Dragon Season 1 introduces Rhaenyra Targaryen. As heir to the throne, her teenage years are tumultuous but set the tone for the rest of the season. I hope you enjoy my Game of Thrones analysis.
▶️ Part 2: • Is Rhaenyra the Hero? ...
▶️PART 3: • Rhaenyra VS Alicent | ...
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📚CHAPTERS
00:00 Rhaenyra Targaryen
01:25 A Woman Heir?
02:31 The Greens VS Rhaenyra
03:20 Daemon VS Rhaenyra
04:19 Fit to Rule?
06:21 Diplomacy
07:26 Privileges and Duties
08:11 Getting Married
09:03 Rhaenyra VS Viserys
09:49 Finding a Husband
10:23 Ready to Rule?
10:44 Complicated Relationships
12:07 Daemon Grooming Rhaenyra
15:00 Gender Inequalities
15:35 Competing for the Throne
15:57 Marrying Laenor
16:43 A Wedding Under Siege
17:16 A Private Wedding
17:45 Danger is Coming

[@mattwho81]

Rhaenyra problems all stem from the fact that she’s not fighting to improve the lot of women in Westeros, she merely wishes to be the exception. Much like Cersei she resents not being born male. Rhaenyra had nothing but contempt for the very traditions and customs that she would need to support her claim to the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra life can be summed up thus: “The rules don’t apply to me.”

[@inescastro2780]

This

[@katiemartin6991]

It's so refreshing to hear someone actually refer to Daemon and Rhaenyra's as grooming. I feel like so many people just glance over the fact that he's her significantly older, power-hungry uncle and already abuses his wife. He doesn't actually love her and he would kill her boys to claim the throne for their own son in a heartbeat.

[@yusufraage8554]

whatever.

[@nadjapavlovic5953]

@@yusufraage8554 an intelligent answer

[@krishan8735]

Thank Christ. Its so good to hear someone not thirsting over Matt Smith and recognise Daemon for what he is.

[@PrincessVelaryon]

He is never a good character but for some reason we like him 🤦🏽‍♀️😩

[@krishan8735]

@@PrincessVelaryon whilst I'm no expert on psychology or relationships,I heard someone say that, sometimes, when we're enamoured by someone so much, we can justify, or even flat out ignore their obviously wrong tendencies. And I think that's exactly what's happening with the people who look up to Daemon as an ideal/good partner. They're so captivated by the sexy charismatic bad boy aspect that they completely turn a blind eye to the fact that he tries to usurp the throne from his niece, grooms said niece, murders his wife, neglects his children/is a bad influence on them, and strangles his niece, who is now his wife, over something his brother did and had which Rhaenyra had absolutely no part in. Yeah, if you couldn't tell, I fucking hate Daemon XD

[@masonstauffer5974]

Rhaenyra fatal flaw from what I can see is her desire to have her cake and eat it too. She wants to have freedom from the responsibilities of being the monarch but at the same time she does not want to relinquish all the wealth and privilege of her position.

[@PhotoJeticPoet]

Sounds like every real leader i know of.

[@made-line7627]

@@PhotoJeticPoet And most teenagers haha

[@9xprincess]

SPOT ON!!!

[@sydnitheromantictaylor112]

Agreed

[@doriandolez7919]

I think there's more. If it was the wealth she wanted, she could've stayed the eldest daughter. Viserys, Alicent and Aegon all would have met her in her needs, letting her stay in charge of Dragonstone. Her son would still be the lord of the tides, which would make her position somehow better than the one Daemon had as the king's brother and she would be free and rich. The problem is her pride both Viserys and Daemon practically installed into her. From her blood will come the prince that was promised, her father said, she is a part of Aegon's prophecy and he believes in her. I bet Daemon convinced her about Valyrian (and her own) superiority. After that it was either bowing the Alicent's (read: traitor's) children or actually being the heir. She didn't like the first opinion and the second one required from her to stay at court where she was more or less alone and "attacked" for the questionable birth of her children. So she left. (Also to Daemon she said: I cannot face the greens alone. Let us bind our blood. With you as my husband my claim would not be so easily challenged. Yes Daemon is a powerful dragonrider and all that but he is also someone who shares mindset with her, or taught her his. Most likely they both hate the Hightower or even think of the greens as the lesser Targaryens)

[@ravengrey9709]

The issue with Rhaenyra was that because of her privilege she never tried to do the work that was necessary to assure her spot on the throne. She notes how the system is already rigged against her for being a woman, but instead of trying to play that system or push her father to start slow changes in it, she rebels against it in a way that results in negative consequences again and again. I wish I could say that this is something that only occurs in her youth due to her immaturity but it continues into her adulthood with how she moves towards Dragonstone where she is cut off from the key politics that she now more then ever needed to focus on leaving her dependent on her father and decades-old oaths to assure her position when she knows that the green are a threat and that Otto wants Aegon on the throne.

[@etiennemarquis28]

Dragonstone is where the next in line trains before they sit the iron throne and Rhaenyra stayed in kings landing alot longer than she should have before moving to dragonstone. Likely because she was afraid of leaving her farther with the greens.

[@badgaltinginnit]

Thats a becoming perspectuve. Imo, the consequences of said actions wouldnt exist if we just allowed women to live how they want. Which is rhaenyras whole thing - shes living the way she wants to. She has privilege because shes the princess & heir, but I wouldn't doubt that she would live similarly if she wasnt. Imo, It wasnt her privilege that made her act like that. it was her, acting how she wanted. Rhae being protected by the king is just a byproduct of the situation... A situation created by patriarchy.

[@user-yj7ve5zv9n]

@Aennmoy1322 she could not live similar if she wasn't the princess

[@yamatonadeshiko567]

@@badgaltinginnit Even if women were allowed to live how they want, Rhaenyra will always have to make sacrifices if she wants to stay as heir and perform her duty. She can't have it all.

[@badgaltinginnit]

@@yamatonadeshiko567 she does make sacrifices tho. But the patriarchy prevents ppl from seeing them.

[@scorpioj3]

Rhaenyra is the very epitome of love is the death of duty while Alicent is the epitome of duty is the death of love.

[@ToyKennections]

Another great bit of insight! I never even stopped to think that Rhaenyra's legitimacy was usually acknowledged in private, meanwhile her own father would undermine it publicly even if unintentionally. Well presented, Gui!

[@guihuppe]

Thanks!! And happy new year 🎉

[@ShawnMendesisDatingSatan]

Great job. I never thought about how many times viserys undermined her claim/private things should have been public. It contrasted a lot with how the greens were all about image/public perception.

[@guihuppe]

Thanks for your positive feedback ☺️

[@kittycheshire5099]

What Rhaenyra doesn't seem to understand is that if she's going to be the first Queen Regnant of Westeros, everything she does is setting an example for future Queens. This means she has to be perfect, she has to rise to the occasion and prove that she can be just as good, if not better, than any man. But she doesn't realize that this is something she has to fight to earn, not something she is inherently entitled to. Rhaenyra could have put her energy into studying and preparing to one day rule, but she instead sleeps around and has three obviously bastard sons. She really doesn't understand that there are many who will jump at any excuse to bring her down, she just keeps giving them opennings. Even Alicent was originally on her side, but then Rhaenyra lied to her and their friendship tore. Her behavior, which would have been no problem if she were a man (but she's not, and that can not be ignored), scandalized Westeros and alienated many people who might have supported her. She made many mistakes, and because of the example she left, there was never another reigning Queen of Westeros.

[@mercuriology45]

it’s funny because in the original draft of dance, Rhaes kids weren’t even bastards and the dance still happened. I agree on what you said a lot of it, however she was always too nurtured by Viserys, to even think that she was gonna be ursurped, both viserys and her didn’t see any conflict arise. Monarchy and nobility in westeros, doesnt work in earning a position(although its how it should suppose to be) if Aegon was the heir, simply by being a man he would have his right, not too much work to put. Not to mention that her being heir is enough for her to feel entitled to it. she has always been too nurtured to think that something was gonna happen, even sadly Rhaenys warned her about it “the day your father has a son what will you do”. We do see that she did help rule in kingslanding over a decade, even in dragonstone she has to rule over the land there. Moving from kingslanding was one of her fatal mistakes. “she instead sleeps around” see i dont think its fair to hold her down accountable for her sexual agency, because regardless of how it was, she was already doomed, otto had already been planning. She had that freedom to explore many things, that other women in westeros weren’t. not to mention that the friendship between rhae and Alicent had already dissolved even before the lie, they were taking steps to reconciliation. The show wants us to criticize how terrible the system is for women, rather than be like “why didn’t rhaenyra bow to the rules”. The story wants us to criticize the system and why it was so bad for women.Her decisions weren’t what led to a civil war, rather her gender. What led to a woman never inheriting the iron throne, wasnt rhaenyra having bastards or “sleeping around” (both aegon and rhae are remembered badly in history) it was the fact that there was a civil war because of succesion. Even with bastards and all she had even more support than Aegon in the books.

[@soniaiboyako4023]

@@mercuriology45 On Alicent's end their relationship hadn't dissolved until the lie. Like Rhaenyra was mad but it was very clear Alicent was doing a lot of things to try and mend the rift, and the lie about that night was what broke something in her ability to blindly trust her. And even then, she initially did blindly trust her but what really did it was learning that Cole was in the mix too

[@spacehekate6167]

Oh wow this blatant misogyny in all of this 💀💀

[@spacehekate6167]

So, Rhaenyra can’t have flaws just because she’s female? A 14 year old needs years to adapt into a completely different person to their real nature. And she endured that for the 10 years she was bullied by Alicent and the Greens. Her personality changed drastically. And yes, she IS entitled to the throne. She was crowned heir ffs. Viserys chose Rhaenyra to be heir because of her knowledge, diplomacy, and wilfulness. Did you miss all the times that Rhaenyra showed her knowledge of the seven kingdoms? Moving on. Her husband was gay, yet she needed heirs so how would she do that? R*ping her husband? No clearly you haven’t put yourself in her shoes or you just don’t have morals. Laenor and Rhaenyra came to an agreement to avoid unpleasantness and her children were all officially legitimized by the king. And anyway. We’re you any better at age 16? She developed and matured into a wise woman by the time the time jump happened. Stop applying these double standards to her 24/7. She’s a human too.

[@spacehekate6167]

@@soniaiboyako4023 You realize Alicent is who broke trust first right?? She went behind Rhaenyra’s back for months to hook up with her father. That was already the first betrayal. Rhaenyra had no reason to continue that friendship beyond that point. It is RHAENYRA that should not trust Alicent. Besides, Rhaenyra never lied. Daemon and her never had s3x. Future Alicent projects all her internalised misogyny unjustly upon Rhaenyra but that’s never criticised, is it.

[@natalhab]

Thank you for talking about those little moments, that for a modern audience is 'she takes no shit' but in reality she is ostracizing whole families and political allies And more! A great exemple: What she did in Storm's End on the marriage tour, that was so bad, probably a mini war started between the houses at that moment. These houses hate each other and any motive is good enough to kill each other, she could say no gently. Lord Baratheon was probably pissed this started on his great hall, and talked shit about her, his son heard and when it was the time to make alliances, guess who the Baratheon choose?

[@sydnitheromantictaylor112]

Rhaenyra messed up when she didn't choose a husband when she was on tour. By not choosing a husband ends up with her marrying Laenor which wasn't a good match due to Laenor being repulsed by women intimately. I get criticizing Rhaenyra for having illegitimate children but at the same time I'm not as harsh on her for that (I wish she had those kids by someone with Valyrian features) because she can't force Laenor to keep trying to have sex with her and people knew Laenor was gay.

[@maylynbayani]

She could easily inform her father snd the velaryons so they can arrange an annulment. Or heck, she could even have an affair with her uncle. Having bastards is not the issue. It's pushing those very obvious bastards to be heirs which could make a precedent, triggering a succession issue in other houses

[@sydnitheromantictaylor112]

@@maylynbayani exactly 💯☺️💪

[@thalmoragent9344]

​@@maylynbayani She could've made Aegon III the heir, though this bites her in the back, cause she looses Velaryons support, and acknowledges her Eldest sons as Bastards

[@Simon-A.-Tan]

She messed up by being bratty towards all of her vassals on that tour, and by humiliating the Baratheons even further by suddenly abandoning post at Storm's End. Since Rhaenys got ditched as a potential ruler, her Baratheon relatives have always felt slighted. Yet unlike with the Velaryons, Viserys never bothered to restore that bridge, likely making their family feel even more dismissed by the crown. Otto definetly had his hand in that as well, as you could get from episode 1, when he tried to incite Viserys against a Baratheon tournament rider who was honouring Rhaenys. Then Lord Bormund Baratheon hands you his place to host your parade of suitors, only for the princess to bugger off when she's no longer in the mood. Then she expects Luke to receive a warm welcome at Storm's End in episode 10....

[@Palepetal]

People were so critical of Rhaenyra for having bastards but Laenor is not attracted to women. What is she supposed to do? Force herself onto him? She needs to start producing heirs as expected in her culture. But at the same time she should have found a man who was also Velaryon to be the father. That way her kids would look like Laenor and people wouldn't question the legitimacy of her children. Rhaenyra was not politically savy enough to get herself on the Iron Throne.

[@immortan-valkyrie90]

This video has more analysis and understanding of the text better than those 'official' channels like The Take. I really appreciate the dedication to this story and nuances to be explored. I know everyone likes to state whether they're team black or team green, but ultimately Westeros will suffer because of the powers of the ruling classes. Great work and I can't wait to see more analysis videos.

[@guihuppe]

Thanks for the positive feedback 🎉

[@thatonkgau5221]

Rheanyra's biggest and most fatal flaws are her ego, entitlement and naivety. She wants to have her cake and eat it too,she wants to be free of her responsibilities as Heir but also wants to maintain her comforts and privileges as a royal. She keeps trying to have it both ways and keeps defying tradition and breaking the rules. Rheanyra's arrogance leads her to believe as a Targerian she is above the rules but as you mentioned her disregard for the rules and traditions turn loyalist into enemies like Cristian Cole.

[@josefinacabrera589]

FINALLY someone talks about how creepy Daemon is towards Rhaenyra, and how he gr*omed her!

[@taterichter6668]

he really didn't how many interactions did he have with her? you're also looking at it with our current view of our current values.

[@peenoice5176]

​@@taterichter6668didn't grr said he groomed her and I don't think perception matters here.

[@Tyler_W]

I don't think young Rhaenyra was fit to rule at all. Her older self seems much more well-rounded, shrewd, mature and considerate of the lives of her subjects. She still has a problem with wanting to have her cake and eat it too (as another commenter said perfectly), and she does seem to at least be a good mother. I think she's far better suited to it now than she was, but I definitely get the complaints other characters have with her. I'm on team small folk, so I have no horse in this race either way. They all kinda suck and have their redeeming qualities alike, and both sides behave like degenerate savages as far as I'm concerned.

[@made-line7627]

Great points, and very true.

[@lordfreerealestate8302]

Team Small folk ftw!

[@muther1997]

I think goin to dragonstone was her biggest mistake. She definitely matured but cut herself off from the court while the green ran the small council and built the power base, giving them the ability to challenge her

[@Palepetal]

Older Rhaenyra is probably more fit to rule than Aegon, but she would not have been a very good queen if she ascended without any problems. She'd probably be a pretty average queen. She also should have removed her illegitimate sons from inheriting the Iron Throne by changing inheritance laws and letting them inherit Driftmark and marry them to Laena's twin daughters. Rhaenyra also should not have married Daemon. No one wants Daemon to be king.

[@thecreatordiesalone8703]

Her short reign was bad even as an adult

[@elithesia781]

What makes me angry at the House of the Dragon fandom is how so many people seem to ignore what makes Rhaenyra such an interesting character: The balance of her good and bad qualities. The show does a pretty decent job (in my opinion) in explaining what would lead Rhaenyra becoming the way she is in contrast to someone like Alicent becoming the way she is. Constant shielding from what should the consequences of her actions and gradually coming to believe more and more in her own privilege because of that protection that she still doesn't properly acknowledge leaves her woefully underprepared to rule even into her adulthood, but you still sympathize with her pains because there's certain things we know about her feelings that not everyone in the story does. However, the Team Black side of the fandom in particular (not blaming any one person and it's not wrong to be a fan of Team Black, but the pattern does unfortunately exist) have a tendency to whitewash and brush off the bad deeds and faults of Rhaenyra and Team Black while exaggerating and screaming at those of Alicent and Team Green, when the reality is that the whole Game of Thrones has always been about a crap ton of bad/selfish/power hungry people clawing at the throne for their own purposes. But with Rhaenyra in particular being labeled as the protagonist, people think they can't root for her if she's not morally good, and thus downplay a great deal of her actions so they can feel better about saying they like her when all that actually does is take away from the nuance of her character. TLDR: Embrace women's wrongs

[@leogad669]

Great take. People tend to confuse being dislikable with being a good character. The same goes for Daemon. Horrible person, but very interesting character.

[@jordangene1923]

So I'm not the only one who noticed 🤔

[@sydnitheromantictaylor112]

In episode 4 when she didn't tell Alicent about her and Criston was okay to me. I don't think owed Alicent that information when Alicent was secretly seeing Viserys after Aemma's death for 6 months and didn't tell Rhaenyra about it.

[@ythelldoineedahandle]

Alicent was ordered by Otto, her father and the Hand to keep her visits secret though. R lied to A's face and A stuck out her neck for her with Viserys.

[@jennyyyy189]

I agree, when Alicent confronted her about it, you could see in Rhaenyras eyes that she lost Alicent as an ally and knew it, that's why she lied to her Some people honestly expect her to throw herself to the wolves, when even her own best friend would have shunned and shamed her for being groomed by her uncle

[@lilchaos9212]

Alicent was literally told not to by Otto and Viserys himself. She was told by the KING to not say anything, and Rhaenyra would've confronted him about it if she knew which would then put Allicent's head on the chopping block. But Rhaenyra could've told Allicent about Criston since she was the princess and could've quashed any rumours and punished Allicent should it leak. There is a big difference between those two situations.

[@spacehekate6167]

Exactly. Someone with common sense.

[@rhaenyraitargaryen6360]

The comment section are making really great points about the character and flaws of show Rhaenyra, but because the show is not 100% canon to the books (I know that it is historical and some are unreliable, but most of the book is what really happened) people are seeing the discrepancies and her inability to rise to the occassion of learning how to rule. Rhaenyra was not even 10 years old when she was named heir and she served as cupbearer and later sat on the small council to learn about how to run the kingdoms. She was doted on by her parents and she was extremely close to her father and they were always together at court. It was expected of her to claim the posession of Dragonstone as it entailed one of her titles as heir, but this lead the Queen to grow her power at court. Nonetheless, Viserys loved Rhaenyra's children and even in one case, Jace sat on his lap and Viserys told him how he would be king one day and he would inherit the throne.

[@elizabeththequeen57]

Now that is the highlight of my New Year's Eve

[@made-line7627]

This is the first time I've gone to watch a video of yours and had a commercial pop up first, so I hope that that means your videos are now being monetised! I'm really glad I found this channel, as your insights and opinions about ASOIAF/HOTD are really compelling and entertaining, and I look forward to (hopefully) many more. Happy New Year, and thankyou for the great content ☮️

[@guihuppe]

🎉Thanks Made-Line! Happy new years to you!

[@themoondeer1545]

Great video as always. You notice so many things that might get lost because of the shows pace and time skips. 😻

[@vietto9726]

You must be French. At first, I thought you came from an English speaking country because your pronunciation was excellent. This video is so good that I liked and subscribe your channel immediately. Keep up the good work!

[@guihuppe]

Thanks! I'm Canadian 🇨🇦

[@lorealiiiii]

this is so great editing thank you!

[@guihuppe]

Aaaw thanks!!

[@Piotr12396]

Queen rhaenyra Targaryen 🔥

[@Jonny-317]

Amazing video!

[@guihuppe]

Aaaaaw thanks 😍 happy new year 🎉

[@mianadahlia]

Excellent work! 👏love the sequence to justify the analysis. pls do a follow up on the older version 🖤

[@guihuppe]

I will! Thanks for your comment!

[@sofiadacasa3251]

Viserys es el culpable de todo. Viendo la serie por segunda vez me di cuenta de que no es solo un mal rey, pero una mala persona en general. Muchos parecen ser fans de Viserys y dicen que era un buen hombre, pero un mal rey o que si que era un buen rey. Viserys no es bueno en nada, y mientras no parece importate cuando esta rodeado de los lores del reino (la mayoria andalos) es algo que obviamente le afecta con los miembros de su familia. Se cree mejor que lores porque es un Targaryen y es rey, pero entre los Targaryen es el más débil. Su hija tiene un dragón y es la jinete mas joven de la historia de su casa. Su hermano es un gran guerrero con una de las espadas ancestrales de la familia (la cual no usa como bastón como Viserys) parece ser un buen comandante y la gente común lo adora, por no mencionar su dragon y su conexión con este. Rhaenys no fue elegida reina, pero Viserys sabe perfectamente que fue por ser mujer. Ella es mas inteligente que él y habria sido mejor monarca. Viserys siente celos de su familia. Es un padre terrible para todos sus hijos Rhaenyra incluida. Ignoró a sus cuatro hijos con Alicent y nunca ayudo a Rhaenyra en nada. Obviamente él la favorece sobre los otros, pero lo único que ha hecho por ella es protegerla en cuanto a la paternidad de sus hijos y lo hace porque es su culpa (y de Corlys y Rhaenys). Rhaenyra pasó su vida pensando que no era suficiente para su padre incluso después de hacerla heredera. No le dejaba tener voz y la obligó a casarse con Laenor por su propia jodida con los Velaryon. Que Rhaenyra no escogiese un marido en el tour no es algo tan malo como todos lo ponen . No esta escogiendo solo un marido, esta escogiendo un consorte, el futuro padre de sus hijos. Necesita confiar en que esa persona no la mataría o encerraria para reinar a través de su hijo (y esto es Westeros, no te puedes fiar de casi nadie) Es un marido horrendo. Mató a Aemma poco a poco con cada embarazo y luego la abrió en canal como a un pez. Se casó con Alicent porque quería, no por tener herederos. Él quería acostarse con ella y tener una enfermera personal. No me gusta Alicent, pero siento pena por ella . Es también un hermano horrible. Nadie habla mucho de esto, pero Viserys es un capullo con Daemon. La mayoría dicen que Daemon es el mal hermano o que solo quiere el trono, pero fue Daemon quien levantó un ejército para que su hermano consiguiese el trono en vez de Rhaenys. Si Daemon realmente quisiese el trono tanto como para matar a su familia podría haberlo hecho después de la muerte de Aemma y Baelon. En conclusión, Viserys es horrible, espero que Aemma, Baelon, Alyssa, Alysanne, Aemon, Jocelyn, Rhaena, Rhaenys y Visenya le estén dando una paliza en el más allá

[@ino7604]

You have some great content! Glad I found your channel. Subscribed!

[@guihuppe]

Thanks 🎉

[@finikama]

Good analysis.

[@guihuppe]

Thanks ✨

[@muther1997]

I think the hardest part about picking sides in this show is just how shitty everyone is

[@acrazysheepdog1555]

6:54 what’s the piano music playing? I’ve heard it before but can’t remember the name

[@ericjensen7580]

Good choice of music...reminds me of a WWI documentary (to be fair, this is 1912 westeros)

[@PrincessVelaryon]

Brilliant analysis 👏

[@PerfectlyImperfect93]

Commenting this before I watch the whole vid. Why didn’t Viserys just keep Daemon as his heir and marry him to Rhaenyra like Daemon said. Also, he shouldn’t even have remarried.

[@faisalkamal4319]

Nah Targaryens generally aren't fit to rule

[@dreamgirl1652]

It's not their fault, incest has it's consequences.

[@danellyhughes]

@@dreamgirl1652 So true, not only that but prophecy

[@johndinobuff583]

Well, Aegon ended the wars of the seven kingdoms by uniting six of them. Jaehaerys made the continent peaceful for 50 years and there'll be Daeron II, Viserys II, Aegon V etc who would reign justly. It's a misconception that they were terrible people. They were just like other families in Westeros. They were able to create laws as they were unopposed due to their dragons. If it's the Lannisters, Starks, or the Arryns, they would have other families rebelling every time, just like what happened after Robert's death, and that would not allow a good transition of consolidation of power. (Robert was able to consolidate power as the idea of one king has been established already for hundreds of years)

[@made-line7627]

But they _are_ fit (well, most of them) 💋

[@user-yj7ve5zv9n]

@@dreamgirl1652 I am still courious why the incest did not have more severe consequences

[@maylynbayani]

I think she already ruined her chances during her tour for a fiance. This is a medieval setting so propaganda is done through royal progress. She was young and petulant during the tour and caused a fight between a house while in the stormlands. She could have matured later on but that first impression is pressed upon the lords.

[@rainbow_doglover8301]

Why why whyyyyy didn’t Viserys just abdicate and help out Rhaenyra with her transition to being queen before he died?

[@tickledeggz]

In the books its because hes a lot like Robert Baratheon (great at parties, terrible in small council meetings) , in the show its because he feels the weight of responsibility, despite the Targaryens and Velsryons having more mature dragons + riders than ever before or agian, he understands that its just more to kess up when ue gets it wrong, also at what point in the show did Rheanyra ever display to him that she was ready? Its forgivable to an extent because she was a child, but she wasnt exactly easy to deal with.

[@knullhast]

The reason Viserys didn't push hard for Rheyneras claim is beacuse it did undermine his own. Rhaenys claim would then have been bigger than Viserys. IF Rhaenys became the Queen tho her air would have been gay.

[@lalesskahernandez9903]

Yo la verdad no siento pena por alicent por q ella es hipócrita todo lo q le critica a rhaenyra ella lo ace a escondida por cuidar a sus hijos y respeto a los q bueno les gusta el personaje y si en primer lugar me gusta más las versiones de alicent y rhaenyra en el libro por q en primer lugar no son amigas y aquí en la serie se lo an iventando y perdieron tanto tiempo en eso y no le dieron protagonismo a otros personajes alicent la verdad ni es un personaje tan importante cuando ya comienza la danza de dragones y ellas 2 luchan por lo q ellas creen q es correcto alicent por q dice q aegon es su primer hijo barón y se merece más el trono q rhaenyra y por q tiene miedo q cuando muera viserys les pase algo asus hijos igual rhaenyra ella como es la heredera ella lucha por lo suyo y por q le an quitado el trono y también por miedo a q le pase algo Asus hijos las 2 son ambiciosas y aran cualquier cosa por sus hijos lo q no me gusta q en la serie es q nos quieren acer creer q solo los hombres son más ambiciosos q las mujeres por ej otto o daemon y rhaenyra y alicent son las pobres q ellas son víctimas de los hombres y eso en el libro no es así ellas son fuertes y luchan por lo q ellas quieren ojalá en la s2 cambien eso y q Los escritores no les de miedo q las mujeres tengan sus propias ambiciones y ellas aran cualquier cosa por proteger a su familia

[@guihuppe]

▶ Part 2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aF7LgniBmM6to8U ▶PART 3: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGOvmZyIoLmSba8

[@je3720]

Again another superb video but pls tell us what products your using on your skin it looks Ah-mazin!!! So Flawless yet not heavy or unnatural!

[@guihuppe]

Aaaaw thanks. I'm glad it looks good on camera. There's no secret though. I wear foundation for my main videos + good lighting + colour correction in post-production.

[@debamlyabanerjee4067]

Make a video on aegon and aemond

[@guihuppe]

I'm tempted to wait for Season 2. Do you think there is enough to cover for Aemond and Aegon in Season 1?

[@debamlyabanerjee4067]

@@guihuppe ok my friend

[@mg-cx5tv]

The weird thing is when Robb Stark married that doctor and broke his promise to Frey , when he work from honor and that made many lords leave him then audience said he is an idiot who is not playing the game of thrones , in case of Ned stark audience said that he is a fool who was trying to apply rules of north in Kingslanding but just as you criticise Rhaenyra for being a fool then in eyes of her fans you are not criticising her for being a fool but you are criticising for being a woman 😂. This is weird that audience just are not consistent in their opinions .

[@percyweasley9301]

❤❤❤😊

[@StanleyMabonga]

Why is Rhaenyra temperament to rule always questioned yet no man who inherits power ever recieves the same scrutiny? The double standard annoys me. Temperament has never mattered in monarchies.

[@dreamgirl1652]

Daemon is a very trouble Man, he should not rule🤡.

[@PhotoJeticPoet]

@dreamgirl1652 if we're being honest, none of the people in line for the throne are fit to rule.

[@quietcontender6969]

Its just a double standard that doesn't benefit women. But really in westeros she shouldn't rule and she's not fighting for women's rights

[@dreamgirl1652]

@@PhotoJeticPoet you got it

[@dreamgirl1652]

@@quietcontender6969 😂🤣

[@jeffreysamson5938]

In basic terms the present rhaenryna makes a terrible queen.

[@spacehekate6167]

Shut up Jeffrey 😂

[@jeffreysamson5938]

@@spacehekate6167 most black fans dont even like rhaenerya. but those who r other black members are more loved. And many of them make better rulers than her.

[@spacehekate6167]

@@jeffreysamson5938 bullshit. most team blacks adore rhaenyra and prefer over the child gr00mer, daemon.

[@KittySnicker]

I love her. She takes what she wants and shows that women are humans with sexual needs and makes no apology for it. Yet she’s far from perfect and shows growth and restraint in her approach to politics.

[@spacehekate6167]

10000% best character development

[@peenoice5176]

I don't think sexual needs is the problem since she could have chosen a husband at the tourney. The problem is her rebellious nature. She wants the throne but none of the responsibilities and expects everyone due to her right which she doesn't respect btw seeing how she continually sired Bastards.

[@martincolton32]

Absolutely not fit to rule

[@CJDM310]

Rhaenyra is about 19 in this episode. So at this point it’s not the age it’s the incest. 14:12

[@scorpioj3]

It is still grooming. Her uncle knew her since she was 14 and even lived in the same roof. It's the age and incest.

[@daynejoseph2366]

The issue of succession can’t simply be brushed off as discrimination against women. Patrilineal descent clears up lots of confusion with inheritance. A woman heir is fine while she is alive, but what happens when she’s gone? If she has children then one can assume that the throne passes to one of her children. However let’s say Rhaenyra straight up married Jason Lannister. I’m sure Jason would want the throne to pass to him. He has a twin brother Tyland Lannister. If something happen to both Rhaenyra and Jason, would Tyland push for the throne? What about Daemon? Would he feel that the throne should remain occupied by a Targaryen and he feels he should have it even though his niece is a Lannister now? Succession disputes can get funky. Patrilineal descent mitigates a lot of the stench.

[@spacehekate6167]

Succession disputes happen, but the Dance was specifically about enforcing the law that women cannot inherit the throne. That’s it.

[@kaiserfranzjoseph9311]

She is just a bad leader almost noone likes, her being "userped" would propably be a good thing if the civil war didnt cost the realm so many resources. When Viserys dies you can clearly see just how unpopular she is, the only people supporting her are the Velarions because Rhaenys feels bad for her, some of her kingsguard and others close to her and possibly the starks because they north take that whole legitimacy and honor shit way too seriously. The reason she has any chance at victory isnt that she is a good leader and people like her, its because she has some of the strogest dragons in the world to hardcarry her in her attemt to get the crown

[@mercuriology45]

book wise Rhaenyra had even more supporters than Aegon. when Aegon gets crowned they scream “long live the queen”. She is described as the “ realms delight” bc how beautiful and charming she was. Also oaths in westeros are not some sort of “yeah ill see if i support you” they represent some legality and breaking them can be dangerous. Which is why a lot of ppl supported her.

[@kaiserfranzjoseph9311]

@@mercuriology45 you said it right, in the books. that whole realms delight stuff was when she was a child, before anyone even considered the option of her becoming queen. The oath the lords had to swer was decades old and more with daemon in mind than a possible new child and viserys did kind accidentally decide aegon should be king on his deathbed (it was accidental and a missundertanding but that still counts). Of course most people will see that as a cheap lie but from the greens point of few going against aegon would be the oathbreaking move now. But in the end who broke oaths and who didnt is always up to the victor to decide and to most in westeros it propably doesnt seem like thats going to be rhaenyra

[@maylynbayani]

@@mercuriology45 the oaths were made when there was no legitimate male heirs of viserys. He already have three legitimate born sons at this point. Also, the edict of a king is only good when he's alive. He is also never above law. If that's not the truth then why was Jaime not prosecuted when he killed Aerys? Or why was Joffrey supplanted when there was no clear proof of his bastardy and Robert made him crown prince. Even the Targs themselves follow male leadership considering Aegon became King regnant when Visenya is older than him. Why was she not Queen Regnant then? Truth of the matter is, the lords of the realm follow male primogeniture and they would never allow bastards to be heirs since it would create succession issues on their own houses, something that escaped Rhaenyra. No one would willingly act againts their own benefit and put themselve in danger for a girl who could not even prove she could rule well. Her reign was always meant to be questioned as Rhaenys said.

[@badgaltinginnit]

11:40 this framing strips coles agency in the situation. Rhae didn't exploit him, he choose to engage, just as much as she did. Cole became an enemy because he's an incel and couldn't handle rejection. Not because she turned him into an enemy

[@guihuppe]

I get your point, but Rhaenyra is in a position of power over Criston. He serves at the pleasure of the Royal Family and reports directly to Rhaenyra who is heir to the throne...

[@badgaltinginnit]

@@guihuppe and cole is many years her senior - there are power dynamics both ways. I think the way the act was shown in the show, it clearly shows that it was a decision made by both of them (I.e. the 40 mins it takes cole to take off his armour and him looking at his cloak before CHOSING to disregard his oath) - there was no coercion. But to each their own I guess. I just didnt like your semantics passing off the blame to rhaenyra when I believe the fault lies with cole himself

[@jennyyyy189]

Yeah I saw people saying she raped him, when he weighed his options pretty carefully in this scene and thought about it very hard. Nothing up until this point indicated to him, that Rhaenyra would have done something bad to him or told on him to her family, if he rejected her. It was a moment of weakness for him that he regretted when she didn't want to marry him, if the roles were reversed people would be saying regretting isn't rape.

[@maylynbayani]

@@badgaltinginnit Rhaenyra could easily lie to defend her honor if he chooses to reject her anyway. Both scenario would get him killed. Sleeping with her though would atleast get her participation to cover the act. Also, there is no such thing as consent in medieval Europe, only power play. She has full control over his fate and you cant say that did not affect his reasoning. You cannot apply modern sensibilities in what is obviously a medieval set up. Anyone who has a younger boss in the company knows they still have to placate or submit to that person. Even if the said person push an employee (whether younger or older) to have sexual relations, one cannot claim the position of power did not come into play when the employee submits.

[@badgaltinginnit]

@@maylynbayani could is hypothetical, she did not, so theres that. We must use the information shown to us, not hypotheticals of what you interpret the situation to be. Consent and power play is the same thing, just different semantics... You say I can't use a modern lense, and i didnt; but youre using very current modern frameworks to try and disagree with what I said. Rhaenyra does not have complete control of his fate. He equally bears responsibility for what he did. Tbh, even more so because its HIS oath. He is much older than rhaenyra and he knows the consequences of his actions of hes caught. But he does the act anyways. If you really want to dive into the medieval lense, then it makes even less sense to blame rhaenyra. Like I said, cole is much older, hes in the highest position of a power a knight can be at and hes a man. We see clearly that rhaes gender omits her from being seen as the true heir. She expressed interest and he had the decision to not sleep with her. Had he declined, he could have slandered her to the lords and ladies. History does not take kindly to women... They would have easily believed him. But he wanted to be intimate; and then he was scorned because he convinced himself that they were more than they actually were. Cole had the ultimate control of his own choices in that situation and I dont see it any other way.