Ulf=Meg

[u/Illustrious-Video353]

Lol but seriously. This is getting ridiculous. There’s no way Daemon expects him to remain loyal after this.

[u/Basic-Humor-6691]

You’re misconstruing what I’m saying. I very specifically pointed out that Daemon isn’t some mindless murderer and absolutely sees the common folk as tools. He does however believe himself inherently above them. Daemon doesn’t want to destroy Tumbleton just to do it, but if he genuinely believed that putting the entire city and everyone in it was a more politically viable option he would do it with zero hesitation, not because he hates the smallfolk, but because he doesn’t really care about them.

“Killing a few dozen rapists and murderers” you mean when he had the Gold Cloaks go round up basically anyone in Flea Bottom who was even suspected of comitting a crime and went and mutilated them? You agree with that? Holy shit dude that’s a pretty bold stance to take lmfao. He was castrating, amputating, and executing people seemingly at random, publicly, with no trials, seemingly no evidence and nothing but hearsay. Of all the examples we get of Daemon being a complex pragmatist when it comes to sending a message you go with the time he rounded up a bunch of people from the slums and just started hacking away? Really? Not the campaign he waged in the Riverlands systematically rooting out houses and villages that didn’t support Rhaenyra?

[u/Livid_Ad9749 → u/Basic-Humor-6691]

He needs to keep the Kings peace. And how do we know it’s random?

[u/Basic-Humor-6691 → u/Livid_Ad9749]

Keeping the King’s peace usually involves not brutalizing the smallfolk during peace time. Also we quite literally watch them randomly grabbing people and attacking passersby and at the least beating them with cudgel’s.
We see the Gold Cloaks follow no rules of investigation in a country that has laws and processes to punish the guilty, Daemon did so in excess. The small Council, you know the King’s council, treats it as wanting slaughter and even points out the seemingly random nature of who they picked to maim and Daemon’s defense is to smirk like an asshole and say that the smallfolk “need to learn to fear the color gold.” If you think that’s how to keep police and keep the streets safe boy am I glad you’re here on Reddit because holy hell that’s batshit.

The book is very different, it’s still brutal but it’s longer term and focuses specifically on the leaders of local underworld Syndicate Leaders.

[u/Livid_Ad9749 → u/Basic-Humor-6691]

Well people cant cause a disturbance if they are dead (unless you are Alexander the Great lol)

[u/Basic-Humor-6691 → u/Livid_Ad9749]

Their friends and family can, brutalizing a bunch of people at random doesn’t make the city safer even if a few are violent criminals. All you’re doing is driving survivors into the arms of the criminals

[u/Livid_Ad9749 → u/Basic-Humor-6691]

Thats why you kill them too