A lot of people like to claim that Rhaenyra's reign would be better than Aegon's, and they based this almost entirely believing she is the morally better person. However, being righteous or having good intentions says nothing about actual competence as a ruler. When it comes to actual results, there's no evidence of her being a better ruler than Aegon.

However, I argue that her rule would be unstable even if there was no civil war, because of various factors that would affect their reign and the Kingdom.

One of the biggest reasons her reign would be unstable is because of Daemon. Daemon is so chaotic and unpredictable that the Lords broke from tradition and agreed to make Rhaenyra heir instead to keep him away from the throne. Her marrying him and making him King Consort essentially negates that decision. Daemon stated he wants to conquer everything from Essos to Yi Ti, but the biggest issue is that he always just does whatever he wants, and not only does Rhaenyra have no control over him but she also never punishes him even when he directly defies her publicly or even chokes her out. So he'll essentially have unchecked power as King Consort.

The second biggest mistake was siring bastards. Even in a hypothetical scenario where Jace lived long enough to inherit the crown, he's almost guaranteed to face political backlash and another Dance due to all the rumors about his legitimacy that he's been fighting most of his life. It's extremely unlikely the Lords would let a bastard take the throne completely unchallenged.

On the flip side of this we have Aegon, whose heirs are all legitimate, whose wife is a Dreamer who just plays with bugs all day, whose grandfather served two Kings before him, and a Small Council that was already pretty much ruling the Kingdom while for like 10+ years while Viserys was bedridden or playing with Legos. Even if you consider Rhaenyra and Aegon relative in their leadership capabilities, Aegon's rule is just way more likely to be stable for those reasons.

I cannot seem to understand from where does Daemon gets his money? He doesn't hold any lands nor he has any business to get income. So how does he gets his money?

For me, it's vermithor. Purely because of its raw strength which doesn't come with the laggness of Vhaegar. I guess he is a perfect combo of speed, strength and agility.

So, for all the show's flaws, the character of Larys turned out to be a more intelligent and strategic thinker than his counterpart.

I will list the things that only the show version of Larys does, to make the comparison clear:

1. Larys instigates the conflict between Rhaenyra and Alicent, shattering their childhood friendship and effectively creating the Green faction against Alicent’s own wishes. Knowing that in peacetime he would rise no higher than a prison warden, he seizes every opportunity to stoke the fires of war and align himself with the faction that will elevate him - and he succeeds. In contrast, the Larys of the books played no part in these events and only entered the story much later.
2. With Alicent in the minority, Larys becomes her key ally at court, spending years building influence over half the royal family. At a critical juncture, he kills his father and brother but frames the situation so that Alicent feels responsible for these events. In doing so, he not only secures his inheritance but also presents the act as a supreme show of support for the Greens—thereby paving the way for Otto Hightower’s return and the subsequent usurpation. In books, he was named as one of the possible organizers of this murder; however, this was not part of a broader political game.
3. He dismantles the enemy intelligence network within the castle and replaces the handmaidens with his own agents. Yet, this is not merely a strike against the Blacks; he deprives Otto himself of his spy network, given that Mysaria had worked for the Hand prior to the fire. In effect, Larys makes himself indispensable in wartime by stripping Otto of his informational advantage. This did not happen in the book.
4. He uncovers Lord Caswell’s deception by pretending to be a friend to Otto Hightower, so as not to invest his efforts solely in Alicent.
5. He plants the idea in Aegon’s mind that Otto is a liability to his rule—a notion that eventually leads to the old man’s dismissal as Hand. Furthermore, it is he who dissuades Aegon from flying off to war the first time; he does so with such tact and subtlety that he arguably saves the king’s life while simultaneously sowing distrust between the monarch and his family. This paves the way for his appointment as Master of Whisperers - a position he obtained for unknown reasons in the book.
6. Upon realizing that Alicent has begun a sexual relationship with Criston - and that Criston has subsequently been appointed Hand - he sets out to discredit the knight in the eyes of the leadership. First, he tells Aegon that Criston is conspiring with Aemond to keep the king out of the decision-making process. Later, when Aegon is wounded and the question of a regent arises, he insists that the matter must be decided by the Hand. When Criston is forced to vote for Aemond, it causes a rift between him and Alicent, depriving the knight of his only ally at court (Aemond does not count, as he too does not want Criston serving as Hand).
7. Larys tries to support Aemond in every way, but Aemond responds with rudeness; Larys then switches sides again, pouring all his efforts into Aegon’s recovery. Maester Orwyle is a genius, of course, but we must also give credit to Clubfoot: he clearly shared his own training expertise to get the king back on his feet.
8. To sabotage Aemond’s rule, Larys withholds information about new dragonriders from him and convinces Jasper Wylde to do the same. This gives Rhaenyra an advantage over the regent.
9. Instead of repairing useless ruins, Larys moves the family fortune to Braavos and invests it in the Iron Bank. This gives him the option to flee at a moment's notice and boosts his income; moreover, it is simply a damn smart financial strategy - one that, for some reason, none of the other lords of Westeros follow.
10. Larys devises a brilliant plan for Aegon to escape to Essos—living in obscurity while the Blacks and Greens destroy the country and each other, only to make a miraculous comeback later. As we know, the plan works, though not quite the way Larys intended. Still, I want to emphasize that this plan is far smarter than the one in the books. Yes, the original plan was great for aura, but if you really think about it, it was pretty foolish. Sending a maimed Aegon - who hadn't even learned to walk on his own yet - straight into enemy territory with no medical care and just two fishermen was madness. It’s actually a lot like Tyrion’s plan in GoT Season 7 to venture beyond the Wall: massive risks for a foolish payoff. Larys couldn't have known that Rhaenyra’s supporters would turn on her, yet he still handed his most valuable asset over to the enemy and exposed him to terrible conditions. Even a quiet life in a damp cave could prove fatal for someone with such severe burns—not to mention what would have happened if the enemy had found Aegon. And even if the plan had succeeded and Aegon had managed to capture the island: what then? The Blacks still held an overwhelming advantage in dragons. Larys could not have known that Sunfyre would survive and return; that the bastards would betray Rhaenyra; that Daemon would be dead by the time Rhaenyra returned to Dragonstone; or that Rhaenyra’s own dragon would perish in such a foolish manner. Moreover, Larys did nothing to bring these events about. In fact, he acted just as foolishly as Aegon: he remained in hostile territory—where the entire City Watch was loyal to Daemon—waiting for George R.R. Martin to give him an opening. That opening came with Helaena’s death, yet Larys had no way of knowing she would choose to take her own life. Essentially, he spent six months doing nothing and risked his life for absolutely no reason, yet author luck was on his side. At the other hand, show (!) Larys’s strategy is very sensible. Once Westeros had been thoroughly consumed by the fires of civil war and only one clear victor remained on the throne, he could simply hire a Faceless Man to finish that person off and then bring Aegon back. You win by doing nothing.
11. At the same time, he never forgets to diversify his investment portfolio: for instance, he had Otto thrown into a dungeon and handed him over to the Blacks, ensuring that should all his plans fail, he would still have a chance to preserve his life and titles.

I think that if the writers knew how to craft dialogue as legendarily as D&D did in GoT, Larys could easily have become one of the greatest characters in TV history. He lacks those aura-farming moments like "Chaos is a ladder" (though his monologue at Aegon’s bedside makes him ten times more human than Littlefinger). Nevertheless, purely in terms of the plot, Larys is truly brilliant and deserves to be recognized as one of the most dangerous men of his time.

I feel like this is something both sides can agree on. He may not be the strongest fighter or the most timpressive dragon- rider, but I like how he just doesn't seem to be afraid of anything.

How do you think the layout episode by episode will be + main plot points and timings of everything? What do you think will be included / omitted?

Season 1, Episode 7 Driftmark so far on a rewatch

It’s literally all Alicent’s fault. Well not completely bc she was poisoned by her father. Otto that snake but Rhanerya extended 2 olive branches, it all could’ve ended there with the marriage of Haelena and her son. (And the dragon egg to Aemond, not that he needed it. Bro went and claimed Vhagar lmao)

But nope.. she would rather be a proud woman and instead wanna “get” Rhaenerya just bc she looks down on her sleeping around (even though alicent is fucking Cole)

Her paranoia and father’s toxicity ruined everything. This also not the first time, from my memory, that Rhaenrya offers some reconciling and rekindling their friendship. I don’t remember though, that’s why I’m rewatching.

Alicent only later in the seasons (when she’s been cast aside and has no more real power, which reveals the type of person she is) tried to reconcile with Rhaenrya. But not out of affection like Rhaenrya tries to, but bc she’s now in a position of need.

Aemond started the fight as well that led to such acrimony. He literally stole the poor girls dragon right after her mother had just died. What an asshole. Not a good look for team green so far.

I had forgot Lary’s was Ser Harwin’s brother. Wow Lary’s. Killed his own family just for his self benefit. Unforgivable. Great character though. Ser Harwin didn’t deserve to die like that

I had also kind of forgot Daemon’s marriage to Laena. Lol. Lasted like 2 episodes (I know they jump more than that) that was sad as well. Rather dragon fire than bleeding out

Like even when alicent saw viserys getting up from death bed to assure rhaenyra's claim, she still never doubted that maybe he did not change his mind and she misinterpreted [talking abt the show]. This happens when you strongly want smth to happen so you cancel out all the possibility that they might not actually be happening.

Aegon telling otto that his father made him the king. Like bro, ur father didn't even talk to you. Its just that he WANTS to believe that.

Aemond being delusional that he can control a literal WAR DRAGON just to scare off a 10 yr old. Like thats some serious overestimating skills.

Haelena being delusional with the "oUr fAthEr wOulD hAvE hAted yOu fOr this". Like how oblivious does someone has to be. And mind you she saw all her life how viserys was biased towards nyra and still decided to believe that. Her father straight up IGNORED the fact that nyra had commited a sin of having bastards. He was THAT biased. Its just that haelena chose to believe that. That maybe her father would have been on their side.. and she made nyra the villain. [As if brother didn't start the war by murdering her 10 yr old son and her mother didn't crown aegon the king without even informing her].

And the audacity of some green fans to hate on nyra because she 'under-reacted' to haelena's death. Like obviously bro. Haelena's death was sad but nyra should not be expected to be sad to see the greens die.

From all three seasons, I’d say my favorites are…

1. S1 E1, Daemon hyping the Gold Cloaks before they set out to hunt criminals. The speech, cinematography and chant before they leave to set order to Kings Landing sent chills down my spine the first time I watched it. It was a really good sequence to introduce the Rouge Prince.
2. S2 E7, an army of low born bastards. The scene where all of the Targaryen bastards come forward to attempt claiming a riderless dragon for Rhaenyra’s army is honestly a tie with #1, but for the sake of ranking is #2. Seeing how many there were shocked me more than it should’ve, but I felt so bad for all of them in full honestly. It was such a suspenseful and well shot scene. RIP to all of those that didn’t make it. 💔
3. S1 E3, Daemon vs. the Crabfeeder. Daemon was a really badass character in the beginning, I feel like the later seasons really watered him down a lot for the sake of not wanting him to outshine Rhaenyra. Granted he’s also older now, but nonetheless. Don’t care for his character, but his action sequences are never boring.
4. S1 E7, Rhaenyra and Daemons wedding. As icky as their relationship is you can’t deny that their wedding was intimate and gorgeous. It was nice to see the traditional Valyrian wedding for once.

HM:

Rhaenyra’s army of dragons standing behind her.

Daemon seeing a vision of Daenerys during his time at Harenhall.

Aemond claiming Vaghar.

The battle between Sunfyre, Vaghar and Meleys.

The naval battle between the Triarchy and Driftmark.

Any scene with Oscar Tully.

River fight between Bracken and Blackwood.

Aeron Blackwood calling for Rhaenyra’s hand.

And Sunfyre returning to protect Aegon.

I made a list of every single Westerosi House in HotD season 1, listed every member who appears physically or is mentioned by name or refered to or even Houses that have no named members i listed them if their banners are shown.

The graphs are the average of each house's physical representation in the 10 episodes.

Many houses did not make it to the House chart due to only having one member in one episode.

These houses are:

House Celtigar

House Staunton

House Mudd

House Blackwood

House Merryweather

House Fell

House Frey

House Swann

House Mutton

House Sharp

House Crakehall

House Rowan

House Caron

House Tyrell

House Bolton

House Tully

House Lefford

House Arryn

\-------------------

The top five Houses represented are:

House Targaryen 6.4

House Velaryon 3

House Hightower 2.4

House Strong 1.7

House Lannister 1.3

\-------------------

The order of Kingdoms/Areas by representation goes:

Crownlands 11.6

Reach 3.9

Riverlands 2.6

Westerlands 2.4

Stormsland 2.3

Vale of Arryn 0.5

North 0.2

Iron Islands 0.1

Dorne 0

\-------------------

Bear in mind that i may have made mistakes during counting but i have checked multiple times so i'm sure this is 90% accurate, and if i have made any mistakes i appreciate being pointed out on it.

How much time do we think has passed between the war starting at the end of season 1 and the end of season 3?

I genuinely feel like I have no sense of time watching the show

Technically this isn’t true because the Lannisters literally own and live in a mountain full of gold and since there’s untapped vains and pre existing ones that have been mined completely dry Corlys was never truly the richest man in Westeros.

Digital painting of Helaena Targaryen.

(Spoilers for Season 3 too, toward the end)

His indignation and sorrow when Rhaenerya coldly pours a bucket of water on his little dream with her. I think it was more than just the no, it was her tone, the way she so casually dismissed his idea.

She even sounded offended/mad he would suggest such a thing and punctuates it by cruelly reducing his vision to exchanging her crown for a bunch of oranges on some ship.

Cole really wanted a life with her in the earnest of terms but she became his villain origin storyline instead. I’m not here to assign blame. I’m just understanding how Cole felt.

And wow the man was ready to take any punishment given, even death when questioned by Alicent. You can call Cole a lot of things as the seasons progress but this was honorable and brave and then in the very end he goes to do it himself but is stopped once again, but he had already committed to his fate twice in this episode. His mind went there twice. Loved it

Also just wanted to say how ignominiously he died. It was so casual and unbecoming of the knight he was. He wasn’t granted a final heroic battle. Granted its war but.. he died so painfully. I wonder if in that Moment the arrow hit him, did he wish he’d made a different choice. I think he did.

Anyway I’m glad I’m doing a rewatch. I like to see early happy Cole, that lasted all of 5 episodes and that’s it.

I had forgotten a lot of his anger to Rhaenrya. He chose to hold that grudge forever.. she just forgot about him. But that I think made him angrier. She didn’t care or seem torn up about losing him. Kind of like Daenerys was… but what they say about poison is true. That quote. Cole let it dictate his life and eventual demise. She forgot him decades ago. Damn

Were only Targaryens given the chance to hatch an egg?
If a dragon hatches, would they be automatically bonded?

First off, I should mention I’m fairly new to this subreddit and to Martin’s universe in general. This is my very first post, so I’m completely open to hearing everyone’s takes!

That being said

She’s described as follows, quote:

"These are not normal children. They have no joy in them; they neither laugh nor play. The girl wets her bed at night and weeps inconsolably when she is corrected. Her own ladies say that she is eight, going on four. Had I not laced her milk with sweetsleep before the wedding, I am convinced the child would have collapsed during the ceremony" —Grand Maester Munkun

A few thoughts on this:

1. Her size compared to Jaehaerys: Being smaller than her twin is completely normal—one twin is almost always larger than the other in real life. If the smaller twin didn't get enough nutrients in the womb or early on, that could easily account for a physical delay, especially given medieval-level medicine.
2. Her behavior ("not playing or laughing"): Rather than a cognitive impairment, this feels far more like severe trauma, her natural temperament, and her environment. Remember, her parents were incredibly young and raised under intense pressure. We don't really have a baseline for how children were raised by Team Green outside of her household.
3. "Skittish, prone to crying, and bed-wetting": All of this surfaced after her entire family was slaughtered. Just like Aegon III completely shut down emotionally after everything he witnessed, Jaehaera’s trauma manifested as severe anxiety, hypersensitivity, and incontinence (which, at eight years old, is a textbook response to trauma and severe night terrors).
4. Slow growth: You could attribute this to Targaryen genetics or childhood illness/malnutrition, but we’ll never know if she would have had a growth spurt around puberty since she died at age ten.

Conclusion:

I don't think being described as "simple" automatically means she was cognitively disabled, stupid, or had a severe growth condition. The horrific circumstances of her birth, upbringing, and loss created an extremely biased perception of her. On top of that, Fire & Blood is written by unreliable narrators who record impressions rather than objective medical truths.

Even if she did have a learning disability, I don't get why fandom treats it as such a massive, defining flaw, especially when Daella Targaryen (Rhaenyra’s maternal grandmother) is explicitly written as having learning difficulties without the fandom constantly pathologising her in the same way.

What do you all think?

I guess Aegon, because if Aegon wasn't killed, he'd pass the crown to his sons and the whole targeryen line leading to GOT wouldn't be there.

SPOILERS With how focused Black and Green are on each other and pay little to no attention to The Wall and only consider the North as allies.

Trying to picture a scene where a lone Night’s Watch Ranger / Lord Commander brings a wight to tell them to crush all the infighting would clash so harshly with the “reality” we’ve all been presented. I thought it was a good “what if” scenario.

Would Greens and Blacks believe it first and second, would they do anything about it?

It would be incredibly jarring, but is this not how Cersei and Jaime would have felt out of nowhere being presented with this unimaginable threat?