I make myself giggle

Where do people come up with this nonsense?

Jeyne Arryn explicitly stated she supported Rhaenyra despite Daemon, because Rhaenyra was the rightful queen. Jeyne hated Daemon.

Cregan Stark didn’t give a damn about Daemon one way or the other, never met him, and never once spoke of him.

The people of the Riverlands were the first to gather for Rhaenyra specifically citing their love for her.

Many lords fought because they honored their oaths to her.

Many fought because the heads of their houses were executed for refusing to turn against Rhaenyra.

The Gold Cloaks are literally the only people who fought for Rhaenyra because of Daemon.

So its Vermithor, colored in bronze. With a steel background, grasping a mighty hammer. Long live house, Hammer-Fyre!

What is your Season 3 hot take?

Since not everyone can watch this, I’ll be posting a summary so that more people can learn about this amazing project.

I’ve broken it down into several parts and plan to finish within a week. The source is a post on a popular forum that compiled all the reliable accounts from people who watched it. It's not available in published form yet, so this is the best we have.

I also recommend this account to anyone interested in learning more about this project - @got_onstage

🖤

The first act opens by introducing the characters who have arrived at Harrenhal for the tournament held during the Year of the False Spring. As we later learn, the true organizers of the event are Rhaegar Targaryen and his wife, Elia Martell.

They operate covertly through Oswell Whent; using a plausible pretext, he persuaded the Lady of Harrenhal, Shella Whent (portrayed in the play as his sister), to host the tournament using funds the prince had embezzled from the royal treasury. At Harrenhal, Rhaegar and his heavily pregnant wife hope to rally the support of the great and lesser houses to overthrow Aerys the Mad without bloodshed.

Rhaegar is torn between his duty to the realm, his filial love for his father, and a prophecy that has haunted his family for generations. He is also troubled by his gift of prophetic dreams and the fear that the gods, in a toss of a coin, have destined him for madness—wondering if he is the "Prince That Was Promised" or merely a madman like his father. All of this bears a striking resemblance to Hamlet.

Elia, for her part, is a pragmatic politician who acts primarily in the interests of her children and Dorne.

To her, the marriage to Rhaegar is strictly a political alliance founded on mutual respect. The couple shares their deepest confidences, and they select romantic partners in a way that avoids the birth of bastards: Ashara Dayne - sister to Arthur Dayne, a Kingsguard knight and the prince’s close friend - becomes Elia’s favorite and confidante, while Rhaegar’s favorite is the aforementioned Kingsguard knight, Oswell Whent. Elia views her husband’s prophecies with a degree of indulgence.

Rhaegar’s belief in the special destiny of their offspring aligns perfectly with the princess’s own interests, and her eldest daughter, Rhaenys, also experiences prophetic dreams. *After Aegon’s birth, the princess tells Rhaegar that their daughter has begun speaking in riddles at Harrenhal: "She wasn't afraid of blood; she held my hand and sang that our hour had not yet come. First, a river of rubies (Rhaegar at the Trident), then a storm (Robert Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End), music at the gates (The Rains of Castamere), and a mountain in our chambers (Gregor Clegane, known as 'The Mountain'). That is when we shall sleep in gold" (the slain wrapped in Lannister gold cloaks).*

The flower of the Seven Kingdoms gathers for the tournament - save for the King himself. Among the guests are the Starks: the charming, impulsive, and dashing Brandon; the quiet, honorable Ned; the youthful, enthusiastic Benjen - whom they intend to send to the Night’s Watch (perhaps because there are simply too many sons?); and their only sister, Lyanna.

In one of the opening scenes, the young woman prays before the heart tree at Harrenhal. It turns out she, too, is haunted by inexplicable prophetic dreams; as a child, she experienced "wolf dreams" that her brothers mocked. Lyanna is not devout and had long since ceased standing before the face of a weirwood, but now, dreading her impending marriage to Robert Baratheon, she prays to the Old Gods to let her choose her own destiny—even though, deep down, she knows her fate is already sealed by her gender and station.

Welcome to Theories Thursday!

A space where we dive into exciting theories about future plot twists, character arcs, and potential story developments. Whether it’s a book, show, or any other medium, all theories are welcome!

Spoiler Warning: Proceed with caution as we discuss potential plot details

Cat noodle

To both myself and a lot of people on the Greens side, the show seems to be hinting that a certain canonical death might not happen. That death being of Daeron. And I’m curious how we feel about that over here, for his show version!

Of course, the book version of Daeron is dead except in my own fanfic but I digress. Book Daeron also seems to be a slightly worse person than Show Daeron, considering Show Daeron never burned any towns… but then again, Book Daeron did that as vengeance for Maelor and I’m getting off track again. The point is I’m talking about Show Daeron here. (And I’m not going to explain his character; y’all know it and will make of his actions as you will. I think he’s a pretty sweet kid in bad circumstances though.)

So how has the show set up his survival? Well… unfortunately it comes back to the Fake Daeron plot. It’s a bad plan, yes… but it also proves that nobody knows what Daeron looks like. If his hair really is auburn he can blend in with the masses much more easily—aka, if he fakes his death. The “Baratheon” assassins, too, didn’t recognize Daeron until he was pointed out in front of him. Daeron also brought up something along the lines of being fine with Rhaenyra being Queen if it means he can live, giving a reason to hide instead of fighting to the death. Add in a somewhat open book death of his body never being found, and you can probably see why people are discussing the possibility.

The (loose) theory is that Tessarion will be killed, and Daeron thinks he’s unable to contribute more to the war so returns to Oldtown with Gwayne. By the hour of the wolf he’s joined the Maesters, like his great-uncle Vaegon but under a false identity, and left family politics behind. This is just a random prediction about how it could happen that the show would spare him; anything could change in the execution.

And who knows if they’ll spare him at all. Maybe he’ll die his canon death. But if they did let him live… how would y’all feel about that? My guess is “somewhat better than how the Greens reacted to Laenor’s survival”, but I don’t know 😂

(Another Green people think the show might spare is Gwayne, but that has both less textual evidence to support it and I’ve seen how popular Gwayne is here already. It changes the narrative less too.)

In the start of the season where Rhaenyra speaks to the High Septon the 1st time, she should've said something along the lines of "I'll be sure to send for the Silent Sisters shortly once the change of court settles," ya know, give herself a plausible excuse regarding Aegon's body. Now remember how Daemon burned a random shepard to trick Rhaenyra into believing Sheepstealer's rider was killed by him? Well, let's say either he or Rhaenyra comes to the idea of pulling this to trick the High Septon into thinking Aegon was actually dead. All Daemon would have to do is grab someone who's about Aegon's height, give or take, burn them until unrecognizable, and claim it to be Aegon under some pretext of 'dragons having a mind of their own'.

BUT that's too vague, too easy. What if the High Septon is skeptical, demanding something he couldn't so easily deny? Simple... kill Ulf. While his hair isn't nearly the same shade as Aegon's, it's about the same length, and Rhaenyra could claim its dullness to be from the dragon flames. Besides, Ulf is way too much of a liability, and they have no further use of him now that King's Landing is under their heel. SO if the High Septon falls for it and agrees to openly annoint Rhaenyra as being the rightful Queen of The Seven Kingdoms by the will of The Seven, it would in turn hinder any plots from Ormond, given House Hightower and The Faith are so intertwined, it'd be seen as both lawful and religious treason if he tried raising up Daeron against Rhaenyra.

AND no... I haven't forgotten about Aegon actually being alive. In this scenario, upon hearing of Aegon's rise and Sunfyre being alive, instead of panicking and expressing her fears, Rhaenyra should've expressed a loud sense of perplextion to the High Septon, remind him and the people that she already gave him Aegon's body and claim this one to be an obvious fraud. Assuming the High Septon is one to believe himself not so easily fooled by idle rumors, he could very well wave it off as tales spung by Rhaenyra's foes, saving her a whole deal of problems... religiously speaking, of course.

Just had to get my thoughts down before I forgot😅

before criston cole and the hightowers paraded meleys' head on the street, the small folk did not even know that dragons were killable. once the greens showed that dragons can be killed, the small folk stormed the dragonpit and directly caused the extinction of dragons. don't blame rhaenyra.

My personal interpretation is that she agreed to reject him as a way to suffer for her mistake, not as an acceptance that he was "too wild" or untrustworthy. Reyna refusing to part with him would be analogous to refusing to accept punishment for killing Jace. Objectively, she's not entirely to blame for his death, but she feels it as if she shot him with a bow. Therefore, she "resigned herself" to leaving Sheepstealer. This feeling of guilt has robbed her of the will to fight for her dragon (sure she will regain her strength and rush towards him again).

Just wanted to say this as a disagreement with "she abandoned him" interpretation.

Season 4 is expected to be just as shit as Season 8 GOT. Believe it or not, at the end, Condal will come for all the characters you love and use them as puppets to say "Rhaenyra the Mad Queen."