#Baelon son of daemon

[goodqueenaly]

Thank you for the great answer about if Daemon and Laena’s “Baelon” lived! Now, I’m wondering, post-Dance would some people want “Baelon” to be king instead of Aegon 3? In the OTL, A3 was the heir according to the Blacks and Greens, as Rhaenyra’s oldest living son and the most senior male-line descendant (Daemon’s son). But here, Baelon is Daemon’s oldest son, not A3. Would some hardcore mens-only-succession people want Baelon to be king over his younger half-brother?

I think the choice would probably still have been Aegon the Younger. While it certainly did not hurt the succession argument of the young prince, soon to be Aegon III IOTL, that he was the most senior (and indeed, after the death of Aegon II, the supposedly only surviving) male male-line claimant at the end of the Dance, Gyldayn’s repeated reference to Aegon the Younger as “Rhaenyra’s son” suggests to me that the real strength of his, Aegon’s, claim was in his connection to the would-be queen of the black faction. Daemon’s son by Laena, had he survived, might have been slightly older than his half-brother/cousin, but he would never have enjoyed being acknowledged as a son of the black faction’s claimant, and indeed her heir at the very end of the war (and her life). If the aim of Corlys and his faction at the end of the Dance was to bind up the wounds of the war by giving the crown to Rhaenyra’s son, soon to be married to Aegon II’s daughter, it might have seemed difficult to imagine how the son of the controversial late prince consort of the black faction would have helped appeal to the survivors of both factions, and resorte the realm to peace and stability.

Of course, none of this is to say that this Prince Baelon, had he lived, would not have had strong feelings about his own claim to the crown, nor indeed that his father would not have had such opinions himself. Daemon certainly showed a desire to be king on the Iron Throne, and may well have wanted a son to succeed him in this ambition. Would he have encouraged his elder son to think of himself as an heir, even over Aegon the Younger? Would young Baelon have been as stalwart as his father had been, in asserting his own claim to the throne as the most senior male-line male prince?

(And, obviously, all of this is assuming no changes to OTL. Would Daemon, with a legitimate son in hand, have still had Laenor murdered in order to marry Rhaenyra? Would Daemon and his son have acted any differently during the course of the Dance? Would Baelon have been sent away with Aegon and Viserys, and if so, would Baelon have been captured like Viserys or flown away like Aegon, or suffered some other fate?)

[gotham-at-nightfall]

Daemon meets Caraxes

By Acker

[midnight--sadness]

i love the way that a dragon's coloring is sometimes connected to its rider's family.

meraxes had silver scales and was ridden by rhaenys. rhaenys' son aenys had a dragon named quicksilver, and though we don't know her coloring, given her name and her pale white fire, it is probably silver as well. aenys' daughter alysanne had silverwing, described as a silvery dragon.

three generations of rulers who had silver she-dragons.

jaehaerys i rode vermithor, the bronze fury, and his son baelon the brave rode vhagar, who was described as bronze.

aemon and alyssa, brother and sister, both rode red dragons, caraxes and meleys, respectively.

rhaenyra has the yellow-gold syrax, and her son lucerys who rides arrax, described as having yellow fire and gold eyes and crest.

(could even connect this to aegon ii's sunfyre, who is golden and has pink membranes, matching to rhaenys' meleys and rhaena's morning, who is fully pink.)

helaena and daeron, also brother and sister, rode dreamfyre and tessarion, both blue dragons (although in different shades).

although we dont know his coloring, stormcloud, based on his name, was probably (dark) grey, which would match with the (light) grey color of seasmoke, who belonged to laenor, aegon iii's stepfather.

and of course, there is the connection between the conquerors' dragons balerion, meraxes and vhagar with dany's children drogon, viserion and rhaegal.

[viihelii]

“it's a pity, don't you think, that you never knew your mother?”

[acewithapencil]

Lucerys meeting his loved ones in the afterlife ❤️🥲

[translannisters]

Look the AO3/Tumblr brain trust did shape my perception of this and I'm not going to pretend it didn't. But also as generally unenthusiastic about Fire & Blood as I am I do think understanding whatever the fuck Baelon and Alyssa had going on is crucial to understanding what the fuck Daemon had going on with regards to his brother and his niece. You are NOT going to get a normal conceptualization of yourself and your family relationships when you grow up being considered the Boy Version of your mother whose relationship with your father seems to have gone down in the popular consciousness as the absolute pinnacle of idealized Targaryen incest. There's a chilling dissonance to F&B's recounting of Alyssa's story not least in that we'll never know how she actually felt about her brother beyond the anecdotes specifically told to justify their arranged marriage - but we have a much better idea of how Daemon felt about his brother and what it led to (and not to extrapolate too much but. I think we also have a decent idea of what it did to Daemon to be unable to fulfill the - horrific - duty prescribed to the mother he took after because of his gender! And certainly of what it did to Viserys to grow up with "sisterwife who happily dies for you in the birthing bed because she can't die for you on the battlefield" as the romantic duty owed to him as his birthright!)

[allyriadayne]

i understand aegon and viserys's existence is a threat to jace just based on the fact they're legitimitet and he isn't but i find all the discourse around the fandom about there inevitably being a succession war/crisis between them a bit silly since we know aegon and viserys weren't interested in being king. aegon was famously a very reluctant king only getting the throne as a child because there was literally nobody else and viserys was perfectly content rulling as hand without the title. i'm just not getting usurper vibes from them either in a scenario where jace succeeds rhaenyra after a peaceful reign or in a jace survives the dance scenario. the next generation after them however is a different disscusion.

i agree with you. it doesn't seen likely aegon and viserys would raise banners to usurp jace, esp in an scenario where they are the only surviving sons of rhaenyra after the dance. if anything it'll make them closer. i also think jace seeing all the threats to his crown would do something to curtail the influence his brothers might have in court, he can trust /them/ but not greedy advisors whispering in their ears. it's honestly a tricky situation where there is no winner because he either forces his brothers into celibate orders or insults them by marrying them into very minor houses without much power. and /those/ children will be assimilated into the main line asap.

and the next generation....assuming viserys marries larra and has aegon/naerys/aemon. tricky! esp if you consider the theory 4egon poisoned viserys and that the rogares might want more control and influence in court.

[maegalkarven]

The "They used to tease me because I was different" genuinely made me laugh bc like.

Aemond...sweetie. You were not different. Your brother was a twat and exposed your insecurities, dragging others into it, but you were NOT different.

Viserys claimed a dragon. (who then died I believe solely from embarrassment bc...Duh. it's Viserys we're talking about)

Rhaenys CLAIMED a dragon. Daemon CLAIMED a dragon. Laena CLAIMED a dragon. Shit, even Helaena ends up CLAIMING a dragon.

And you know what it means???That in their youth they DID NOT have a dragon. They did not have a dragon egg or the egg did not hatch. Aemond, you were NOT different.

And I blame mostly Viserys because how hard was that to explain it to a child?!

[horizon-verizon]

In the book, Aemond seems to have quite an obsession with Daemon. Where do you think it comes from, and how would you interpret/characterize it ?

I’m still thinking about it in ways that aren’t already know or talked about in the current fandom and here on Tumblr. So bear with me here. I might do many edits on this post in the immediate and far futures.

*Update* I was right.

In all and of the two, Daemon acts more out of love than Aemond does, even with him being as violent and brutal as he is. Daemon is flawed and cruel, while Aemond is evil and cruel, though both are ambitious. They both acted out of a lack of love or attentions or recognition at some point.

By and large, Aemond is a character who finds his personhood only through disenfranchising others. He is the potently evil shadow of Daemon. Aemond is a character who lacks love or a true understanding of respect and considers Daemon the beast to slay to solidify and validate his own existence, worthiness, and masculinity.

A)

Aemond is Daemon’s narrative and literary foil. 

A foil is:

a literary device designed to illustrate or reveal information, traits, values, or motivations of one character through the comparison and contrast of another character. A literary foil character serves the purpose of drawing attention to the qualities of another character, frequently the protagonist. This is effective as a means of developing a deeper understanding of a character by emphasizing their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, a literary foil allows writers to create a counterpart for the protagonist that puts their actions and choices in context.

B)

Both

They are both fighters with skill. Both are brutal and willing to get violent (but in different ways and reasons). Both are Targaryens and proud of it. Both want the throne or a strong claim to it. Both are second sons tasked with the role of supporting their older, not-very-competent or completely incompetent brother to keep or gain the throne and are passionate about it (for different reasons). Both squirm with the thought that their existence and purpose is to support such brothers but for different reasons.

And as @theblackqveen says, they even both have a connection to Visenya the Conqueror through her dragon and her sword.

Daemon

1)

Daemon is uncaring of not-family people. Not hateful, just uncaring and thus willing to spill their blood if that will bring him results (Jaime Lannister).  Canonically (not HotD), he is a charismatic, violent, and ambitious man.  He creates the gold cloaks and inspires the preexisting city guardsmen into believing in their own validity and strengths by revamping their looks, etc.

His mother died when he was 3 from labor complications. Unlike Viserys who seemed to have responded to this by being too much a people pleaser, Daemon sought to completely look out for a small set of people he would think of as his family or “close ones”. 

Baelon’s grief would have inspired such reactions from his sons--Viserys to be eager and affectionate, obviously caring. He wants to believe that hospitality and following a sense of duty to those around him will bring him love or contentment. He may have found it difficult not to judge Daemon for taking a “misguided” approach or path, so when Daemon disagrees with him or disobeys his order or does something that is conventionally upsetting, he may have found it difficult to relate to Daemon or see things from his persepctive. While Daemon would, in my mind, is outwardly or superficially crotchety and unwilling to seek/initiate obvious intimacy but needing to be validated through his family and loved ones. However, he doesn’t think words or hugs brings comfort or favorable outcomes--he depends on action. 

So he develops his own moral compass that is just adjusted to “do these people act like I matter to them and do they matter to me” all the fucking time because he comes from a dwindled, fraught lineage (Rhaenys' death in Dorne; Aenys' conflicts and stress with the Faith; the Faith; the conflict with Maegor and threat towards Jaehaerys/Alysanne; the internal issues in Jaehaerys' early reign and Rogar Baratheon; Aemond, Baelon, Alyssa, Viserra, Daella, Daenerys-- nearly all Jaehaerys and Alysanne's children die & Jaehaerys' political focus on the Targ's dominance-survival). That plus he wants to, in some way, bring glory, prosperity, and more power to his house.

Daemon and Viserys would have still received the genuine love of their father, Baelon, and would have grown up together as caring brothers, enough that they would know they loved each other. We have reason to believe that his upbringing was still loving and that he maybe thought himself his brother and father’s caretakers. If not in traditional sense, in that he is the one who will do “what it takes” to keep them afloat. In his mind. Especially after his father passes form a “burst belly”, leaving him and Viserys alone. Seeing how Viserys is so eager for validation and willing to have others have a say in what he does, it makes sense that he falls into this protector role even deeper.

2)

He also wanted to be an example of excellence and make a name for himself, especially with being a second son and without a clear, solid inheritance of authority. Second sons in this feudal society are thought of as “spares” in one sense, since if their older brothers die they can take their place and inherit the family resources and the authority over the house. so he’d have felt more pressure to prove himself in the shadow of his brother (while he wasn’t much of a warrior or inclined to develop physical prowess, Viserys was also considered quite attractive before he gained weight).

3)

He supports Viserys in that he was wiling to use a group of fighters to go against Corlys and his group for Viserys’ claim before Jaehaerys I called for the Great Council of 101 A.C:

Reports had reached the court that Corlys Velaryon was massing ships and men on Driftmark to “defend the rights” of his son, Laenor, whilst Daemon Targaryen, a hot-tempered and quarrelsome young man of twenty, had gathered his own band of sworn swords in support of his brother, Viserys. A violent struggle for succession was likely no matter who the Old King named to succeed him.

(Fire and Blood; A Question of Succession)

Yet, at 16 Alysanne marries him to Rhea Royce (the Runestone heir), and while this was a good practical marriage for creating more ties to the Vale and setting up Daemon with some money through his wife’s properties, etc., Daemon did not like the atmosphere, look, anything of the Vale, probably how far away it was from King’s Landing/Viserys--thus the emotional and physical isolation. That he was basically sidelined by his family, kept apart.

He likely thought that since Viserys already had Aemma Arryn (the person who even was the scion of the Lord of the Vale, he himself didn't need to also marry another Vale woman not of his choosing). [headcanon]

Viserys did not let him annul his marriage to Rhea despite its failure. Viserys is directly involved with Mysaria losing her child with Daemon when he forced Daemon to bring back the dragon egg and send her off to Lys:

When he learned that his concubine was pregnant, Prince Daemon presented her with a dragon’s egg, but in this he again went too far and woke his brother’s wroth. King Viserys commanded him to return the egg, send his whore away, and return to his lawful wife, or else be attainted as a traitor. The prince obeyed, though with ill grace, dispatching Mysaria (eggless) back to Lys, whilst he himself flew to Runestone in the Vale and the unwelcome company of his “bronze bitch.” But Mysaria lost her child during a storm on the narrow sea. When word reached Prince Daemon he spoke no syllable of grief, but his heart hardened against the king, his brother. Thereafter he spoke of King Viserys only with disdain, and began to brood day and night on the succession.

(Fire and Blood; A Question of Succession)

4)

He was also not at all attracted to his new wife. So now he knows what it’s like to be a political tool, or he feels like more of a device than a person part of something “great”? (I say somewhat facetiously, he still is a feudal man who is very proud of his aristocratic lineage throughout all 3 of his marriages)

And so their marriage becomes barren (no kids). She comes to hates him too for not loving her home, for openly showing his disdain for it and for her, and perhaps she feels he is unwilling to do his duty like her and she feels resentment towards him and his ability to just fuck off while also being happier with him gone [headcanon].

Daemon doesn’t and never has considered her “family”, is the point nor ever to be in the same league as him, not just because she wasn't royal. Partially because Targs are and have been considered unique and nation-movers right from the Conquest in broader Westerosi culture. She is not a Targ or someone he can think of as his match or someone he thinks could do as much a a Targ can, which presents very interesting questions as to whether or not his pride can be equated to Lannister exceptionalism...I'd say that, eh. The Targs have put their money where their mouth was in most of their generations (and we the readers know that like the Starks but more apparent, the Targs are the closest to being magical beings or have the closest access to real magic) while the Lannisters are more famous and powerful in the main storyline bc of Tywin's reputation gained from the Rains of Castamere/friendship with Aerys II (a Targ) and Steffon Baratheon [the allegiance gives power trio for a while that reflected back on Tywin]. So there's a level of him not believing that they could ever relate to each other. He might have thought it was like trying to get an elephant to mate with a zebra.

I don't think that we should tell people they shouldn't dislike him for that bc yes his person can read as arrogant and he's still a prince/male who has a lot of benefits over a woman like Rhea (but not the authority she has over her own men as a female ruler in her own right, which some might argue grinds his gears more as a second son and this is actually a very interesting and valid thought...but I also doesn't think it bothered him for long to have a wife who has more practical power over others than him since his marriage to Rhaenyra saw no attempts of him barrowing over her, so that would support the idea that Rhea having this wasn't really the issue). But considering how

Still, it's not because of anything she did to him, but because she was someone who enables him to be in a position that he really does not want to be in and he believes it’s unlikely that he’d ever get any sort of glory or power all the way in the Vale, away from King’s Landing, away from the throne. It’s also probable that she also had a very different--sort of "duty is everything, sacrifice your pleasure and making compromises aside"--personality than his, thus convincing him even less to actually try to forge some sort of bond with her. Stern, but too serious, punctilious, and [for him] overly tradition-bound and scrupulous. But who knows?! [headcanon]

Laena and Rhaneyra, though? They both obviously had a lot more in common with him other than being dragonriders than he ever did with Rhea. Laena has her adventurous-ness and some daring, and Rhaenyra has pride and that “restlessness” that Viserys of HotD mentions, that unwillingness to accept a lot or assignment. They are also both his closer blood relatives, real family (remember that he grew up alone with his brother and father, a small set emotionally dependent on each other but also probably not that expressive). Those marriages were better for him, both personally and politically.

Daemon also named his kids after loved people in his life or people who will give love to his daughters.

“Baela” -- “Baelon”. “Rhaena” -- “Rhaenys”.

Viserys (II) after Daemon's own brother, Rhaenyra after her father, and both to spite/oppose Alicent & give their son the cloak of Targ-ness and kingliness: out of pride/love, the latter the stranger reason while the former the icing on the cake.

Aegon (III) after Aegon the Conqueror (king-liness and house pride) & to spite/oppose Alicent.

"Visenya", after the woman who loved her siblings and son and put them first over herself or the realm.

5)

He strategizes more logically than Aemond does and is less prone to act on his anger. Contrast this QUOTE with THIS and THIS.

6)

He specifically distrusts other houses and nonfamily bc the Targs are the pinnacle of power with their dragons, conqueror past, and prestige. He knows other lords--like Otto and pretty much all the mentioned Hightowers (think Maegor, Ceryse Hightower, and the High Septon at the time)--will always have their own agendas.

The reason why Valyrian dragonslords literally kept it in the family was to keep their control of the dragons within their respective families so people like the Lannisters (Queen Dowager Rhaena, Jaehaerys' and Alysanne's older sister) or some nondragonlord Vlayrian family couldn't then acquire dragons to use them against them.

Again, bc he and his brother and father became their own unit--and then it was just him and Viserys--that sense of needing to stick together against others would and did only strengthen.

Aemond

1)

Aemond, by contrast, has little justified reason to hate Rhaenyra like Daemon hated or grew emotionally distant from Viserys. 

While Alicent taught him to hate her, he still grew up with the assumption that he could and should destroy/rape people because his male, trueborness allows him to. His preoccupation with his maleness makes him think that he should usurp the heir, even though the law and precedent of “King’s word is law” (Viserys naming Rhaenyra as his heir and never straying) justifies his & the Greens’ treasonous actions. 

Daemon, though he hated that Viserys named Rhaenyra as heir and not him, never actively tried to depose her or his own brother. Does Daemon have his own classist entitlement and ambitions, of course! He's a very proud prince in a feudal system with a family/house with a relatively short but twisted past as monarchs. He is also the person who walked around with non-nobles like a smallfolk in KL, like those in the City's Watch and inspired people to want to follow him.

2)

While Aemond grew up dragonless for 10 years, he was surrounded by family and Hightower supporters since birth who show no sign of mistreating him, at all -- unlike in the show. He does claim Vhagar he at 10, which is impressive (while cradle-bonding is not as impressive, nor did he surpass Rhaenyra, who claimed Syrax at 7. Just saying).

He has a history where his mother teaches him and his siblings to see Rhaenyra as unfit because she has extramarital/maybe premarital sex with unassigned men and gave birth to illegitimate children. The V boys, in Alicent’s eyes, don’t deserve to live or inherit the throne because of what the Faith says about bastards and because they are in the way of her own hous, herown, and her children’s power. Bastards are socially stigmatized and unfavorable because they are believed to be inherently untrustworthy and evil (Faith of the Seven). 

By having bastards, Rhaenyra acts “unwomanly” and against the standards set for her gender–how can she be a good ruler?! 

To him, Rhaenyra is a whore and an inferior person, her sons lesser than himself because their bio parents weren’t married (rumored but we know who the daddy is, not that it matters), and duty and custom goes above everything else, as Alicent teaches him.

3)

So it is Aemond’s duty to make sure that Aegon gets the throne, and for that to happen, Rhaenyra needs to go. Preferably violently. Alicent and Otto both emphasized this to him and Aegon practically since birth, and he would have grown up with this being understood as his main and single purpose. Daemon is what he sees as the obstacle to that goal.

However, Daemon supported more out of love and regard for what he believes would maintain his family's lives and power than duty and to prove his own male privilege. But Aemond sees in Daemon a competitor and his only worthy rival because of those similarities I just listed under “Both” as well as being the person who supports the enemy of the Greens (maybe not the Visenya bit...I doubt Aemond ever seriously thought about how they share a piece of her or her beyond the idea that she was a “witch”, even though he rode her dragon and they both have a strong hand in usurping a rightful heir [Maegor vs Aegon the Uncrowned]).

And with Aemond, perhaps following duty and acting out his role, like Daemon, is a way for him to claim some sort of love from his family, but as @hamliet says, I think love is a transaction for the Hightowers and reinforced that lack in Aemond, creating a cycle of dependency and focus on gaining power through his privilege.

EDIT #1 (inspired by mononijikayu's reblog HERE):

Daemon grew up knowing Alysanne was a huge part of making policies and supporting Jaehaerys' rule; his mother, Alyssa, was a Targ woman known for her actively practicing agency, and his father Baelon never married again after her, preferring to keep the memory of her close and continue to make sure she lived on; and he grew around Rhaenys since they were both children.

Part of his deal with Rhea Royce, therefore, was that he disliked that she was totally emotionally incompatible with him (his own parents were Dragonriders and we as people/humans can and often try to find partners that match the arrangement our *healthy* parents had...if he wants to marry in the traditional Targ way [we remember that Westerosi lords are allowed and did marry first cousins], it is not discriminatory as much as it is almost typical of a nobleman to want to marry within traditions...there is no real indication that he hated Rhea's entire person just because of her looks in the book and after inspecting the context but it certainly was his excuse).

[amazingmotionpicture]

"I will never be a son" House of the Dragon S01 EP01

[stromuprisahat]

Princess Alyssa was brought to bed again in 84 AC. After a long and difficult labor, she gave Prince Baelon a third son, a boy they named Aegon, after the Conqueror. “They call me Baelon the Brave,” the prince told his wife at her bedside, “but you are far braver than me. I would sooner fight a dozen battles than do what you’ve just done.” Alyssa laughed at him. “You were made for battles, and I was made for this. Viserys and Daemon and Aegon, that’s three. As soon as I am well, let’s make another. I want to give you twenty sons. An army of your own!”    It was not to be. Alyssa Targaryen had a warrior’s heart in a woman’s body, and her strength failed her. She never fully recovered from Aegon’s birth, and died within the year at only four-and-twenty. Nor did Prince Aegon long survive her. He perished half a year later, still shy of his first nameday. Though shattered by his loss, Baelon took solace in the two strong sons that she had left him, Viserys and Daemon, and never ceased to honor the memory of his sweet lady with the broken nose and mismatched eyes.

Fire and Blood (George R. R. Martin)

[goodqueenaly]

If Daemon and Laena had a son, how do you think that would affect the Velaryons? With a legitimate grandson, would they want to leave Driftmark to HIM instead of Jace, who will marry Baela? I feel like in the OTL, they were OK with this situation since their real heir was Baela and her blood would continue Driftmark, but here she is not the real heir. "Baelon" is. Thank you!

To be clear, it doesn’t seem to have ever been the case that Jacaerys was the intended successor to Driftmark. Describing when Corlys Velaryon suddenly sickened in 126 AC, Gyldayn notes that his legal heir would nominally have been “his eldest grandson, Jacaerys … [sic] but since Jace would presumably ascend the Iron Throne after his mother, Princess Rhaenyra urged her good-father to name instead her second son, Lucerys”. Likewise, the green offer at the outset of the Dance specified that “[Rhaenyra’s] second son, Lucerys, would be recognized as the rightful heir to Driftmark, and the lands and holdings of House Velaryon”. I am also acting on the presumption that the son in question would have that same short-lived Prince Baelon whom Laena died giving birth to at the start of 120 AC (and that the rest of the history up to this point would have gone the same as well, of course).

All of that is to say, by the time this Prince Baelon would have been born (and certainly by the time he would’ve been a potential heir to Driftmark), I don’t think the Velaryons could have acknowledged this Prince Baelon as heir to Driftmark without severely compromising their position. After all, even if Lucerys hadn’t been formally named heir to Driftmark by 120 AC, he had certainly been held out as the (ostensibly) legitimate second son of Laenor Velaryon, with the probable expectation that either he or big brother Jacaerys (or even younger brother Joffrey) would succeed their “father” to Driftmark. To have Corlys suddenly declare after 120 AC “just kidding, I’d like to have my daughter’s son be my heir” would raise a pretty huge eyebrow as to why Corlys would be skipping over his apparently legitimate male-line grandson for a female-line grandson. With rumors already rampant about the true paternity of Rhaenyra’s “Velaryon” sons, such an act might have been no less than dumping wildfire onto the embers of rumor - seemingly publicly declaring that the Velaryons believed that Rhaenyra’s sons were illegitimate - which the green faction in turn might have seized upon, either to drum up more support against Rhaenyra and/or to push Viserys for a change in the succession. (Not to mention that Rhaenyra and Daemon had already agreed IOTL to betroth Jacaerys and Lucerys to Baela and Rhaena, respectively, by 120 AC; the Velaryons already had a means, however much they might have privately wondered about Rhaenyra’s sons’ paternity, of guaranteeing that Velaryon blood would inherit Driftmark in the future.)

Which is not to say young Prince Baelon wouldn’t have been important. As a roughly nine year old boy at the start of the Dance, it’s unlikely that he would have done much in the way of fighting - yet as the paternal half-brother of Aegon III, this prince would have been a very obvious choice as the young king’s heir presumptive (especially if he managed to stick around where Viserys had “disappeared”, and of course assuming he survived the Dance alive and relatively speaking well). Where Baela and Rhaena were both (Seven save the realm /s) girls who could only be expected to marry and provide the king male heirs of their bodies, this Baelon would have been a male heir, who could in turn continue the male line of House Targaryen. It’s too hard to speculate how history might have changed, but it’s interesting to consider.

[gotham-at-nightfall]

Valyrian Couples: Part I

Aegon I Targaryen & Rhaenys Targaryen

Aenys I Targaryen & Alyssa Velaryon

Aegon (son of Aenys) Targaryen & Rhaena Targaryen

Jaehaerys I Targaryen & Alysanne Targaryen

Baelon (son of Jaehaerys) Targaryen & Alyssa Targaryen

Viserys I Targaryen & Aemma Arryn

Rhaenyra Targaryen & Daemon Targaryen

Aegon III Targaryen and Daenaera Velaryon

Viserys II Targaryen and Larra Rogare

Daeron I Targaryen, Daena Targaryen and Baelor I Targaryen

By JotaSaraiva

PART II

[midnight--sadness]

im sorry but why did i just realize that jace, luke and joff are the great-grandsons of both aemon AND baelon and alyssa

in the same way that baela and rhaena are the granddaughters of baelon and alyssa AND the great-granddaughters of aemon

[bimyself06]

Modernau where the Targaryens are a mafia but make it a crime comedy:

Baelon lived became head of the Mafia when Jaehaerys croaked, made both Rhaenys and Viserys his co-heirs. Aemon, Alyssa, Aemma, any Targaryen or family member who died in unclear ways, were all killed by the Hightowers who want to supplant the Targaryens as the Boses of the Mafia. Baelon married Daemon to both Laena and Rhaenyra as both girls are his heirs oldest children, and he wants to keep the power in the family(something he believes his father should have done instead of attempting to marry his youngest children off to other families leading to either their deaths ofmr estrangement, when he became boss he called Saera back), betweenthe three of them they have 9 children(Jace, Luke, Baela, Rhaena, Joffrey, Baelon II, Aegon III, Viserys II, and Visenya). After Aemma's death, Viserys still marries Alicent(despite everyone being against it) and still has four children with her.

Since Viserys went against his orders, Baelon removed him and his children from Alicent from the mafia succecion and gave the position of heir to Rhaenyra. When Baelon eventually retires, it's Rhaenys, Laena, and Rhaenyra who are in charge and decide to continue Baelons's plans for the Hightowers.

They begin by destroying all business deals the Hightowers have, bringing their fortune down as they try their best to keep everything afloat. When realizing that with their businesses are being destroyed, they try to find a way to put one of Alicent's children at the helm of the Mafia by marrying either Baela or Jace. Unfortunately(for the Hightowers, that is), Rhaenyra and Laena had anticipated this, so they betrothed Jace and Baela.

But it wouldn't be me if I didn't add a splash of JaceLuke and Baena, so while Jace and Baela are engaged, they both are having a relationship behind everyone's back with their beloved brother/sister(except Laena, Daemon, Laenor, Baelon, and the R's know;they have walked in on them so many times). They make it game to be as affectinate/inappropriate in front of the Hightowers as they can be, Daemon is so proud.

Ps: if anyone wants to write this let me know

[darkestspring]

Literally anyone who questions about his successor. Viserys: (¬､¬)

Otto, about to open his big fat mouth again:

Viserys: Enough with all of your foolery! My son- nephew will be heir to the iron throne! I annul my daughter’s, Helaena, marriage to Eggony-

Alicent, pinches her nose: Aegon.

Viserys, ignores his queen wife: and betroth her to baelon and wed them in a fortnight— and whatever firstborn they’ll both have, regardless of their gender, will become his heir.

Helaena, gapes and claps happily: (▰˘◡˘▰)

Helaena is very pleased, aegon is happy he doesn't have to marry his sister or be king. Aemknd is a little jealous but baelon is the most responsible person he knows. Baelon proposes for aemond to be his hand as he hold onto helaena gently.